Cops arrest man in relation to string of UVic break-ins
Compared to the past, UVic crime scene now lacking sophistication
For the second time in recent years, enterprising thieves have taken advantage of the Christmas break to perform unauthorized wealth distribution at the University of Victoria.
In a press release today, VicPD say that an arrest was made on January 16 in relation to a series of break ins that have occurred at UVic. The 38-year-old man, whom police claim to have been responsible for several break-ins, has been released with conditions.
Items believed to be stolen include generators, tools, and electronics in various buildings on campus. In an incident last week, Campus Security talked to a man walking out of the UVic bookstore at around 4:30 a.m. in the wee hours of the morning. He fled after a brief conversation with Campus Security. Saanich police arrived late to the scene. The stolen items have not been recovered.
Nine of the 11 known recent break-ins occurred in the last 90 days, with the earliest dating back to June 2021.
This incident has been widely reported by local media, including the Times Colonist, Vic Buzz, and others. But they fail to mention the long and storied tradition of thievery at UVic. (And no, I’m not talking about tuition.)
Thefts are becoming less sophisticated over the years
Between December 2018 and January 2019, a theft of around 15 computers in the Maclaurin building was successfully conducted with the assistance of swiped keys during the Christmas break.
At the time, CTV called it a ‘large-scale computer theft.’ Victoria News noted that no arrests were made. In an interview with Victoria News, Campus Security Director Tom Downie said that students were not notified at the time.
Students were also not notified when the master keys to Maclaurin were purloined over Easter break in 2019. According to internal UVic documents obtained by the Seagull, over 200 doors had to be rekeyed. This costed the university between $75 000 and $80 000. It is unknown if a suspect was ever identified.
But there have been even more dramatic heists at UVic. Electronics and an entire friggin safe was stolen from the Michael Williams building in January 2012. It led to a data breach of more than 11 000 people who had been employed by UVic, with fraudulent purchases made on at least two accounts caught up in the breach.
An unencrypted USB-drive filled with banking information, social insurance numbers, and payroll information were all taken, . The person(s) involved were careful to not leave incriminating video evidence.
"There's no lucky break, like videos of the culprit or anything like that," said Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen to CBC News at the time.
The persons involved left this cheeky note along with most of the stolen items, found in Langford the same month. Police say that most of the information on the hard drives was wiped clean, and the most important hard drive that contained most of the personal information was not recovered. Clearly, it was a sophisticated operation. The culprits were never identified.
Despite this incident, UVic declined to purchase cyber liability insurance in 2014 after ‘evaluation.’
Last year, over 3 000 UVic students had their health insurance data breached, as reported by the Martlet in June 2021. According to internal documents dated May 2019, UVic is considering “moving forward with preparing a recommendation to purchase, but has not yet decided on limits and insurer.”
Clearly, UVic’s crime scene has really gone to the gutter.
No more master key thefts. No more cryptic type-written notes. Data breaches are no more than ‘routine’ security failures by some outsourced company and not mission-impossible style heists. We’re now getting the bottom of the barrel in terms of criminal talent.
So here’s my message to any future and enterprising thieves looking to rip-off UVic: Gardening tools and generators aren’t cutting it.
If you really had to steal our tuition dollars, do it as dramatically as possible.