Science & Tech · Cybersecurity · 1 hr ago
Toronto Crime Stoppers pauses tips after data breach
Toronto Crime Stoppers has paused its tip service after learning that hackers stole data from its system.
The software company Navigate360 said the stolen data included 176,859 Toronto tips submitted between January 2022 and November 2025, along with 14,973 names.
Navigate360 has not said whether those names belong to tipsters, people named in tips, or both, and it has not provided the tip text to the Toronto organization.
The breach reaches beyond Toronto: more than 1.5 million Canadian tips were exposed, and CBC found that about half of the leaked tips it examined contained personal information.
Crime Stoppers is meant to let people share information about crime without giving their names, so the exposure put the promise of anonymity in doubt.
Toronto police have suspended their use of the program while they review the breach and assess safeguards.
Toronto Crime Stoppers says it is seeking a safer way to accept tips and plans to share more details in the coming days.
Toronto Crime Stoppers has paused its tip service after learning that 176,859 Toronto tips were included in data stolen in a breach.
Navigate360, the software vendor, also reported finding 14,973 names in the Toronto data but has not said whether they belong to tipsters, people named in tips, or both.
The organization has told the vendor and Canada’s National Anonymous Call Centre to stop receiving and processing Toronto tips.
Toronto police have suspended their use of the program while reviewing the breach and additional protective measures.
CBC reported that more than 1.5 million tips from Crime Stoppers chapters across Canada were exposed.
- Who
- Toronto Crime Stoppers paused its tip service, and Toronto police suspended their use of the program.
- What
- The pause followed disclosure that Toronto tips were among data stolen in a breach.
- When
- The pause was announced late Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
- Where
- Toronto, Canada.
- Why
- The breach exposed Toronto tip data, and the vendor has not disclosed the contents of the stolen tips or whose names were found.
Toronto Crime Stoppers
Crime Stoppers in New Brunswick
Response to breach
Toronto Crime Stoppers
Toronto paused its program and asked people not to submit tips.
Crime Stoppers in New Brunswick
New Brunswick said it would continue its program.
Reasoning
Toronto Crime Stoppers
Toronto said it needs a safer way to protect tipsters.
Crime Stoppers in New Brunswick
New Brunswick said its cybersecurity team reset passwords, required two-factor authentication and would train local tip operators; it had been assured the software was safer and more secure than before the breach.
The breach occurred, and stolen data was made available to CBC by Distributed Denial of Secrets.
Navigate360 told Toronto Crime Stoppers that Toronto data had not been taken.
Navigate360 told Toronto Crime Stoppers that its data was affected but did not say what was exposed.
Navigate360 provided unique IDs for more than 176,000 Toronto tips and said some potentially contained personal information.
CBC reported the extent of the leak, and Toronto Crime Stoppers announced it was pausing its program.
- Toronto tips in vendor figures
- 176,859
- Names found in Toronto data
- 14,973
- Canadian tips CBC reported exposed
- More than 1.5 million
- Toronto tips CBC found affected
- More than 179,000 over 25 years
- Vendor
- Navigate360
- Toronto police response
- Suspended use of the program while reviewing the information and additional measures
5 sources
Crime Stoppers breach raises fears for tipsters as police suspend use of hacked platform
Toronto crime tips org freezes operations after details of data breach come to light
Toronto Crime Stoppers temporarily stops accepting tips after data breach
More Canadian Crime Stoppers chapters pause program after CBC investigation reveals details about data leak
What people are saying
This week’s reporting shows that for some of them, that promise was broken. We are deeply sorry.
Until we have a safer way to protect you, please do not send us tips by phone, online, or through the app.
Although this breach is concerning and certainly a stain on our program … we have been assured that the software is safer and more secure than it was prior to the breach.
Posts on X
The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) is aware of new information regarding the cybersecurity incident involving P3, a third-party platform used by Crime Stoppers programs to receive and manage anonymous tips. DRPS works with Durham Regional Crime Stoppers in support of