Pair charged in alleged BMO, Simplii cyberattacks

The RCMP has laid charges against two Montréal men for alleged cyberattacks against Bank of Montreal, Simplii Financial, and Canadian Tire Corp.

Following investigations by the RCMP’s cybercrime division, charges were laid in a Québec court against Jacob Costanzo-Peterson and Félix Costanzo-Peterson . They’ve been charged with unauthorized use of a computer, identity theft and possession of a device to obtain unauthorized use of computers.

The allegations have not been proven.

Both men are scheduled to appear in court on the charges on Nov. 5. They previously appeared to face weapons charges that were also brought as a result of the RCMP’s cyber investigations.

The charges follow a pair of investigations — Project “Arrogance” that examined an attack on Canadian Tire’s customer loyalty program in 2017, and Project “Assemble” that investigated reported attacks on BMO and Simplii in 2018.

Ultimately, police collected evidence connecting the incidents.

The RCMP said that the current case highlights the importance of partnerships between law enforcement and the private sector in solving crimes.

“If it had not been for the valuable collaboration of these three companies, we would not have been able to bring these two individuals to justice. These partnerships are key in solving these types of crimes, which unfortunately sometimes go unreported,” said Alexandre Beaulieu, officer in charge of the RCMP Cybercrime Investigative Team, in a release.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.