Global Affairs Canada hit by 'cyber incident' same day warning about Russia was issued

Canada's foreign affairs department experienced a 'cyber incident' last week that is still under investigation and has left the organization without access to some 'internet-based services,' the federal government has confirmed. The 'incident' was discovered the same day the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security issued a bulletin warning about Russian state-sponsored cyber threat activity amid ongoing tensions with Ukraine.

In a statement the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Shared Services Canada said that the issue at Global Affairs Canada was detected on Jan. 19.

While it remains unclear whether there is a direct link, the breach was discovered on the same day that the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security issued a bulletin warning operators of critical infrastructure in Canada to be aware and take steps to mitigate Russian state-sponsored cyber threat activity.

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), through Canada’s Cyber Centre, said on Jan. 19 it was aware of foreign cyber threat activities, including Russian-backed actors, targeting Canadian critical infrastructure network operators and their operational and information technology.

This urging came amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, in which Canada is backing Ukraine. The federal government has joined other nations in calling for Russia to de-escalate and pull back the troops it has amassed at Ukrainian borders.