For the second time in as many months, private information from a Newfoundland and Labrador agency has been exposed over the internet.

In late November, the provincial government disclosed that lab test results had leaked out after an external consultant removed a computer from the Provincial Public Health Laboratory and then installed a file-sharing program.

Jerome Kennedy said it is not yet clear how significant a second reported security breach has been.
(CBC)

In the new instance, data from the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission may have been exposed, Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy said, as well as justice department files related to occupational health and safety.

A private contractor, who had been working for the commission, had had files on a personal computer, but then connected that computer to a file-sharing program.

"We do know that they are commission files and that there are some justice files relating to occupational health and safety," Kennedy said Friday afternoon.

File-sharing programs, which include popular music-swapping titles like Kazaa, are notorious for security risks, because without proper restrictions, any file on a user's hard drive can become accessible to another program user.

Tony Joseph & Sons, a New York-based security firm, which also detected the November breach, informed the provincial government of the second incident.

"The investigation is very early on," said Leslie Galway, the commission's chief executive officer.

"We are not aware of whether our clients are actually involved with the information on that computer specifically, and what sort of information may be there."

Kennedy was told of the potential breach on Tuesday, but did not disclose it until the end of the week.

Kennedy said the government is expecting more information early next week, and a full written report within a week.

"At this stage, we don't know the extent or nature of the breach," Kennedy said, "nor the types of information that may have been exposed."