When computers in the McGuinty premier’s office started malfunctioning early in 2013, the government’s IT staff quickly suspected a special password as the culprit, a retired civil servant said Thursday. “That was one of the first things we thought of,” Tom Stenson, then the manager of IT support for the premier’s office and cabinet office, told the criminal trial of two key McGuinty aides. The trial has heard the password was requested by then-chief of staff David Livingston to clear hard drives of personal information before Premier Kathleen Wynne took over from McGuinty in February 2013. Livingston and deputy chief Laura Miller are charged with breach of trust, mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system in the alleged wiping of hard drives during the political transition period. At the time, the McGuinty government had been under pressure to reveal documents related to the controversial closing of natural gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga before the 2011 election.

Source: thestar October 26, 2017 22:18 UTC