ServiceOntario has notified police authorities and is investigating a reported security breach of its service kiosks.
The Ontario government has temporarily shut down all its kiosks across the province following the discovery of “security violations” at several of the terminals, according to Minister of Government Services Harider Takhar.
“Recently there have been security violations at a few ServiceOntario kiosks,” Takhar said in a statement released last night. “Police have been advised and investigations are underway, but, out of an abundance of caution, I have made this decision to ensure that ServiceOnatrio’s customers continue to be protected.”
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ServiceOntario, however, did not elaborate on the nature of the breach. However, the release did mention that the move comes at a time when the Toronto and Peel police are warning about new methods being used by cyber criminals to skim debit and credit card information in the Greater Toronto Area.
ServiceOntario kiosks deliver birth, marriage and death certificates as well as driver’s licenses. Ontarians use the kiosks to change their address information for their health cards and to obtain vehicle registration stickers.
More than 500,000 people use the kiosks each year.
Takhar yesterday urged users to go online at serviceontario.ca to access services, or they can visit one of our nearly 300 ServiceOntario centres.
Nestor Arellano is a Senior Writer at ITBusiness.ca. E-mail him at [email protected], follow him on Twitter, connect on Google+, read his blog, and join the IT Business Facebook Page. 
