File photo of a Goldcorp mining operation.
A computer attack on Goldcorp Inc. has resulted in a data breach, highlighting the growing propensity of criminals to target confidential corporate information.
David Garofalo, chief executive of Vancouver-based Goldcorp, said he has handed the matter over to police.
"At this point, it's a criminal matter," he said. "Our systems are secure, our business is running normally. We don't pay criminals."
Mr. Garofalo said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case because of the police investigation, but indicated that Goldcorp was not unique in being targeted by such cyberassailants.
"My understanding is that they target a lot of companies," he said. "They do it for money. In that case, the answer is obvious to me – you don't pay criminals and then you call the police."
He said he was disturbed by the release of personal information, but was not as concerned about potentially important corporate information being leaked. "From a public company standpoint, we have to have everything that's material in the public domain anyway," Mr. Garofalo said.
Goldcorp, which held its annual general meeting on Thursday, employs more than 15,000 people and operates mines in Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America.
The breach was reported on Wednesday by The Daily Dot website. It said hackers appeared to have dumped a mountain of Goldcorp's confidential corporate and employee information online.
The sample data spanned a wide variety of information, including employees' performance and T4 statements, contract agreements with other companies and budget information for 2016, according to The Daily Dot.
The breach was confirmed by Christine Marks, a Goldcorp spokeswoman, who said the company's information technology team has been working with independent technology security firms "to rapidly gather facts, provide information and support to affected employees, and enact a robust action plan."
The plan includes immediate modifications to prevent another breach, as well as increased network security, she said.
It is not the first time that hackers have targeted a Canadian miner.
Detour Gold Corp., a small Canadian gold miner, confirmed last year that its computer systems had been hacked. According to a report on the website www.databreaches.net, the attack was the work of Russian hackers who did it as retribution for Canada's economic penalties against Russia.
Hackers have also attacked large multinationals such as Sony, Home Depot and JPMorgan in recent years.
Ian McGugan