'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
CTV
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Shannon Salter spoke to reporters on Friday, disclosing the first breach detected by government teams was April 10. On April 11, Salter said, Microsoft’s cybersecurity response team, DART, was enlisted to assist as was the Canadian Cyber Centre.
Salter insisted that there is no evidence at this point that any sensitive information was compromised.
Further “incidents” took place on April 29 and May 5 by the same “threat actor” and it wasn’t until May 8 that the provincial cabinet was notified after a classified briefing with the cyber centre. Premier David Eby was briefed on April 17.
“The province is doing a significant amount of work in this area and we have a staff within citizens services, of 76, whose sole focus is security of government information systems,” said Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. “The reality is, this is the world we live in and it is constantly evolving and government places a high priority on evolving and keeping up with the changes we're seeing.”
When CTV News asked whether the activity against B.C.'s systems is related to Russian state-backed hackers accessing Microsoft systems, leading to warnings for American government agencies, Salter would not comment. Microsoft Canada also declined commment.
Several cybersecurity experts who’ve discussed the province’s cybersecurity breaches with CTV News support the NDP’s decision to wait to get a handle on the situation before going public.
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