Foreign hackers break into Canadian government computers: Report
Posted February 16, 2011 9:49 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, On. – A CBC news report says a cyber attack on the Canadian government has given foreign hackers access to highly classified information.
The network says the attack has forced at least two key departments offline as counter-espionage agents scramble to determine how much sensitive information may have been stolen, and by whom.
Sources tell CBC the attack was first detected in early January and was traced to computer servers in China. But they don’t know if the hackers are Chinese or simply routing their crimes through the country to cover their tracks.
Government officials have said little about the security breach so far, only referring to it as an “attempt to access” federal networks.
CBC’s sources say the attackers infiltrated computer systems at the finance department and the treasury board as part of a scheme to steal key passwords that unlock entire government data systems.
It remains unclear if the hackers managed to compromise other government networks, but internet access in the departments affected was shut down once the attack was detected.
