Manitoba auditor general calls for better cybersecurity, financial reporting

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s auditor general is calling for better cybersecurity at the province’s main health-care planning body, and better financial reporting from the provincial government.

In the first of two reports released Thursday, Tyson Shtykalo said Manitoba Shared Health has a process to respond to cyberattacks but has not been running tests for scenarios such as ransomware or data theft.

“Since no tests were performed, the effectiveness of the (process) cannot be evaluated to ensure that Shared Health is prepared to promptly respond to a major cybersecurity event,” the report said.

The report recommends annual testing and more training for cybersecurity incident response team members.

“Without formally communicating existing plans and procedures to the … team and providing members with necessary training on their roles and responsibilities, there could be delays in responding to cybersecurity incidents at Shared Health,” the report stated.

Shared Health said it is working on the recommendations and plans to develop a regular schedule for testing the system.

The second report looked at the provincial government’s financial report for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which included a deficit of just under $2 billion.

The report said there was an unprecedented number of errors in the financial information prepared for the audit, which needed correcting.

“We found that in many cases the amounts recorded in the accounting records were not adequately supported or did not match the supporting documentation,” Shtykalo wrote.

The lack of supporting documentation included areas such as the calculations of the government’s contractual obligations.

Shtykalo said the problems do not bring into question the major spending and revenue numbers in the government’s year-end financial report, but point to a need for better preparation and a shortage of trained financial personnel who prepare the statements.

“Unfortunately, in the current year, the issues persisted and were exacerbated by the loss of key senior staff members during the audit. The province needs to build capacity, including improvements in staffing, training, review, (information technology) infrastructure, and external support,” the report said.

The government responded by saying it continues to work on hiring more chartered professional accountants in a competitive market. It also said the office of the provincial comptroller “has turned its attention to learning and training sessions to support and onboard new staff members”.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press