Foreign hackers attack Canadian government
An unprecedented cyber attack on the Canadian government from China has given foreign hackers access to highly classified federal information. An unprecedented cyberattack on the Canadian government, apparently from China, has given foreign hackers access to highly classified federal information and forced at least two key departments off the internet, CBC News has learned. The attack, first detected in early January, left Canadian counter-espionage agents scrambling to determine how much sensitive government information may have been stolen and by whom.
Highly placed sources tell CBC News the cyberattacks were traced back to computer servers in China. They caution, however, that there is no way of knowing whether the hackers are Chinese, or some other nationality routing their cybercrimes through China to cover their tracks. So far, officials in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government have been all but mum on the extraordinary breach of security. The government initially issued a terse statement, passing it all off as merely an "attempt to access" federal networks. It has refused to release any further information.