Alpha says Elora’s paid parking system was not ‘hacked’

CENTRE WELLINGTON – The township and a former contractor are offering two very different accounts about what led to the dissolution of a paid parking agreement after users were directed to adult websites.

Centre Wellington officials had been mum on details since the incident in June, but are now responding to a letter from Alpha Parking Solutions that is circulating in the community.

The letter claims the township unnecessarily terminated its contract after newly installed parking kiosks in Elora began sending people to adult websites rather than an online payment system.

The township notified Alpha of this on June 10.

According to the Alpha letter, “the system was immediately isolated, and it was determined that no attempts to breach the system had occurred. The system was functioning normally with no issues.”

The letter claims an employee from another municipality uploaded a file infected with malware using a device with access to the system.

Only those paying for parking using a QR code were forwarded to other sites, the letter claims. The letter insists the system was not “hacked.”

“The situation was limited to the mobile use component and there was no issue with the data or payment functions,” it states. “The issue was identified and resolved within four hours.”

The letter states the township instructed Alpha to shut down the system until further notice.

After 72 hours, township staff terminated all scheduled meetings and did not return phone calls, the letter states.

And without further information but still accruing costs to license and operate servers, Alpha “made the decision to close the data files and remove the access authorities,” the letter states.

It goes on to say that in an Aug. 3 email, township CAO Dan Wilson took that to mean Alpha was terminating the contract.

The decision by township staff “to terminate and remove these machines after months of installation efforts is disappointing,” the letter states, adding that the program had been “exceeding revenue collections.”

The township issued a press release on Sept. 21 stating that with the letter circulating, it could now say more about what had happened.

And it claims “the termination of its relationship with Alpha was desirable in order to protect the continuity, integrity and long-term viability of services for Centre Wellington residents and businesses.

“Staff were not satisfied that the provider’s security controls and proposed measures provided sufficient confidence that township information and services would be adequately protected going forward.”

The township is transitioning to an in-house model of parking control “that requires careful preparation, including the development of procedures, staffing, training and the procurement of necessary equipment,” the release states.

Township officials were previously not able to say much about the situation while things were still up in the air, the release notes.

“Now that additional information is circulating publicly, the township is able to provide further context regarding the concerns that led to the termination of its relationship with Alpha,” it states.