The cyberattack was a serious criminal event that affected you, our customers, as well as our employees and our systems. On August 18, 2026, we begin our participation in the Nova Scotia Energy Board's public hearing to answer questions about our response before, during, and after the attack that was discovered last year.
Opening remarks by Lia MacDonald, Senior Vice President, Technology
Good morning, Mr. Chair, Members of the Board, and stakeholders.
We are here today to discuss the sophisticated criminal cyberattack (Attack) experienced by Nova Scotia Power in 2025. The Attack had a significant impact on customers, our employees, and corporate systems, which in turn impacted public confidence. We acknowledge the work ahead of us to restore our customers’ trust and we are committed to earning it through transparency and accountability, including being here today to discuss the Attack and our response in more detail.
Everyone at Nova Scotia Power recognizes the concern, frustration, and uncertainty the Attack created for hundreds of thousands of current and former customers whose information was part of the breach. This concern is particularly understandable given that the compromised information included highly sensitive personal data, including Social Insurance Numbers (SINs). Nothing is more important to us than regaining the trust of those we serve, and we understand that trust must be earned through our actions, not our words.
This Attack was a serious criminal act. While that fact is important, it does not change our responsibility to our customers. Cybersecurity and privacy governance is not a one-time effort, but an on-going and ever-evolving commitment. Threats continue to evolve, and our systems, processes, training, and expertise must evolve with them. Customers rightly expect us to learn from this incident and act on those lessons. We accept accountability for the stewardship of the customer information in our care, and we accept responsibility for continuously strengthening our safeguards against evolving threats.
From the moment the Attack was discovered, our focus was on protecting and being transparent with our customers, containing the incident, restoring critical systems, supporting affected individuals, and working openly with regulators and law enforcement. The measures taken were informed by the information available at the time, guided by cybersecurity and privacy experts, and directed toward minimizing impact on customers and preventing further compromise. As the Office of the Privacy Commissioner recognized, Nova Scotia Power undertook significant remediation efforts and has since committed to additional security, governance, and privacy enhancements to further strengthen our protections going forward.
Our teams worked around the clock to contain and respond to the Attack, but this was not an event that could be resolved immediately. Recovery required careful rebuilding of systems, validation of data, implementation of enhanced security controls, and restoration of customer-facing services while continuing to provide reliable electric service to more than half a million Nova Scotians.
Since the Attack, our focus has been on restoring systems safely and securely while strengthening our cybersecurity and privacy posture. We are pleased to report that major systems have been restored, and Nova Scotia Power has returned to normal operations across most of the areas of the business. Nova Scotia Power has also implemented significant enhancements to its cybersecurity and privacy posture, which is detailed in the Company’s Rebuttal Evidence.
We do not view this as the conclusion of our work. Rather, it was a defining moment that reinforced the need for continuous vigilance, stronger safeguards, and greater resilience. We are committed not only to recovering from this incident, but to restoring confidence, learning from what occurred, and emerging as a stronger and more secure organization for our customers, employees, and communities.
One of the central issues in this proceeding is communication with customers. Consistent with PIPEDA's breach notification requirements, Nova Scotia Power issued direct notifications to affected individuals where the circumstances indicated a risk of significant harm as that information was confirmed. The notices were designed to provide sufficient information to enable customers to understand the nature and potential consequences of the breach, assess its significance to them, and take steps to reduce or mitigate potential harm. The notices also identified available support measures, including credit monitoring, insurance, and identity protection services offered to customers which have been extended to a term of five years. Our team also established a dedicated cyber incident website, issued ongoing public updates, provided frequently asked questions, offered guidance regarding identity protection (via phone, online, and in-person channels), and continued communicating as new information became available. While there may be differing views about whether more could have been done or done differently, and while we continue to learn from the impacts of the Attack, we believe our actions demonstrate a well-coordinated and meaningful effort to keep customers informed throughout the recovery process.
One of the other central issues in this proceeding is the billing issues experienced by some customers. We know that the cyber incident created challenges in billing operations, causing concern and frustration for those customers. We took practical steps to reduce the impact of billing disruptions on customers, including the suspension of late fees and disconnections, recruiting meter readers to obtain readings for customer bills, offering payment plans and interest-free payment arrangements, and providing advance notice before normal collection practices resumed. Beyond these measures, we offered customers the flexibility to defer payment completely if they had concerns about their estimated bill amount and have honoured this flexibility since the spring of 2025. These measures were intended to reduce the impact on customers while the Company restored its systems.
We continue to participate fully and openly in the Board's ongoing process. This hearing is an important opportunity for the Board to examine what happened, the actions we have taken, and the work required to protect customers going forward. We know there will be difficult questions, and those questions are appropriate. Our responsibility is to answer them, demonstrate that we have learned, and continue the work required.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and continue our commitment to transparency with the Board, stakeholders, and our customers.
Lia MacDonald, Senior Vice President, Technology
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We have been working collaboratively with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner throughout its investigation and value its thorough review as part of the recovery, remediation, and restoration efforts following the criminal cyberattack.
Read More about Our Commitments: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada investigation
We know that recent challenges with estimated billing have caused frustrations and concerns, and that this year’s cyber incident has impacted you and your trust in us. We're holding a series of in-person community sessions across the province to help our customers understand the options related to their bills. Our promise to all you—and all our customers—is where we’ve made mistakes, we will fix them. If we have overestimated or underestimated your bill, we will fix it. If you have overpaid, we will fix it.
Read More about Our Customer Care team is hosting in-person support sessions
On behalf of our entire team at Nova Scotia Power, thank you for the invitation to attend today’s committee meeting.
Read More about Standing Committee on Public Accounts: Opening remarks
