Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) detected a “cyber incident” on March 18, two months after Global Affairs Canada experienced a similar disturbance.
In a statement to CTVNews.ca, a spokesperson for the organization said “mitigation actions” were immediately taken and an investigation is underway.
“As a scientific organization, the NRC remains constantly vigilant to the risk of cyber-attacks. Procedures and controls are in place at the NRC to mitigate these risks; these procedures and controls made it possible for the organization to respond quxjmtzywickly to the March 18 incident,” said Christine Aquino, director general of communications.
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A memo on the NRC website notes several applications have been taken offline and may be unavailable.
On Jan. 19, the same day the Global Affairs Canada breach was detected, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) issued a bulletin warning operators of critical infrastructure in Canada to be aware and take steps to mitigate Russian state-sponsored cyber threat activity.
While NRC staff haven’t specified a direct Russian link, Aquino stated the research body is working with Shared Services Canada, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the CCCS in response to the issue.
The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), through Canada’s Cyber Centre, said it was aware of foreign cyber threat activities, including Russian-backed actors, targeting Canadian critical infrastructure network operators and their operational and information technology.
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The new National Research Council facility is seen in Montreal, on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. The facility will begin producing Novavax doses of COVID-19 vaccine when the building is finished later this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
