The City of Côte Saint-Luc would like to inform residents that OnSolveCodeRed, a notification service we used until early 2025, was the victim of a cybercriminal attack. During this incident, usernames and passwords stored by OnSolveCodeRed were stolen.
We no longer use this system, but we are sharing this information because cybersecurity affects everyone, and it is important that residents understand what this means and what to do. This platform operated completely independently from all municipal technology systems.
Was my information in danger?
In that system, you had two options: You could submit your phone number without creating an account. Or you could create an account with a username and password. Most people did not create an account, because the first option was easier. A smaller number of residents did create usernames and passwords. So what this means is that the username you created and your password might be visible to cyber criminals. Even if you do not remember which option you chose, the advice below is the same for everyone.
Why this matters
Cybercriminal attacks happen often at many websites, including large companies. When this happens, criminals may steal usernames and passwords.
Here is the key point: If you use the same password on more than one website, and one of those websites is hacked, the criminals can try that same password on other sites and pretend to be you.
Think of it like this:
- If you use one key for your house, your car, your mailbox, and your garage,
- And someone gets a copy of that key,
- They can open everything.If each lock uses a different key, then even if one key is stolen, the others stay safe.That is why it is so important to use a different password for every website.
What should I do now?
For most residents, there is likely no direct impact from this specific incident. However, this is a useful reminder to protect yourself online in general.
Here are simple steps you can take:
- Use a different password for every website.This is the most important step. If one password is stolen, criminals cannot use it anywhere else.
- Change your passwords from time to time.This helps protect you even if a website has a problem that you never hear about.
- Consider using a password manager.Apple, Google, and Microsoft all offer built-in password managers. These tools can:
- Create strong passwords for you
- Remember them for you
- Enter them for you when you sign inYou do not need to remember every password yourself. You only need to remember how to sign in to your password manager.
The OnSolveCodeRed system was completely separate from every other system used by the City of Côte Saint-Luc. In other words, apart from your telephone number, your name, and possibly the username and password you created for that system, no other information held by the City was involved in this incident. We use different systems for different types of information, which limits what can be affected when one system has a problem.