Police are investigating after a Nova Scotia politician said criminals obtained “intimate images” of him and his wife and distributed them without consent after he turned down demands for payment.
Rick Burns, MLA for Hammonds Plains-Lucasville, said in a statement released Wednesday evening that criminals hacked his e-mail and demanded money. When he refused to pay, the hackers accessed personal images of him and his wife and distributed them.
“To have such intimate images accessed and released is a gross violation of our privacy and is completely unacceptable,” said Mr. Burns, who is the ministerial assistant for the Department of Cyber Security and Digital Solutions and has 20 years’ experience working in IT and project management.
“This is bigger than me. This is a gross violation of my wife’s privacy, and we are both victims of a grotesque crime.”
He added that while he understands being an elected official comes with increased scrutiny, no one signs up for having their privacy violated in this manner and no politician’s partner deserves to be targeted in this way.
Mr. Burns declined an interview with The Globe and Mail.
Police say an investigation is being led by RCMP and Halifax Regional Police with help from their digital forensic unit and the National Cybercrime Coordination Centre.
On Tuesday, Halifax RCMP responded to a complaint from an MLA stating that their computer had been hacked and they were being subject to extortion, an RCMP spokesperson told The Globe in a statement.
“The hacker demanded payment in Bitcoin and threatened that if the funds were not paid, intimate images would be shared,” Corporal Mandy Edwards said.
In a separate statement, Premier Tim Houston publicly condemned the incident and called for justice, saying he was “deeply troubled” to learn that Mr. Burns and his wife are victims of a “criminal blackmail and extortion scheme.”
“When criminals target public officials with blackmail, they are attempting to compromise the people Nova Scotians have chosen to represent them and shake the very core of our democracy,” he said.
Mr. Houston added that he’s confident police will thoroughly investigate and hold those responsible to account.