Hackers shutdown Canada gov't database
Canada's Finance Department and Treasury Board have been forced to cut their internet servers after hackers gained access to government databases. The Canadian Treasury Board -- which supervises bureaucratic and government operations -- released a statement saying it had detected an "unauthorized attempt to access its networks.”
The hackers also targeted Defense Research and Development Canada -- a civilian branch of the National Defense Department that supports science and technology matters for the Canadian Forces. Computers of senior government officials were accessed by hackers in an effort to steal passwords to unlock government data systems. The hackers used a technique known as “executive spear phishing.” They first targeted the computers of senior officials in the departments. They then created messages that appeared to be from those officials to contact the information technology (IT) section that handed over passwords of various government computer systems. The cyber-attack has been traced back to Chinese computer servers, but Beijing has denied any involvement.