Canada’s national police targeted in ‘alarming’ cyberattack

Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), has announced that its systems were targeted by an “alarming” cyberattack, but there was no impact on operations and no known threat to the safety of Canadians.

The attack, which occurred on February 23rd, 2024, has prompted a criminal investigation and raised concerns about the security of sensitive information.

While the RCMP insists there is “no known impact on RCMP operations and no known threat to the safety and security of Canadians,” the very nature of the breach is cause for concern. The agency is working diligently to assess the situation, but the full extent of the attack and the potential consequences remain unclear.

“The situation is evolving quickly,” the RCMP stated, “but at this time, there is no impact on RCMP operations and no known threat to the safety and security of Canadians.” They further emphasized, “While a breach of this magnitude is alarming, the quick work and mitigation strategies put in place demonstrates the significant steps the RCMP has taken to detect and prevent these types of threats.”

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The RCMP is collaborating with other Canadian government entities to determine the scope of the breach, identify the perpetrators, and hold them accountable. This incident comes amidst a growing trend of cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure and government institutions around the world.

The Canadian government’s Global Affairs department was also recently compromised in a cyberattack, raising concerns about the vulnerability of sensitive government data. Cybersecurity experts warn that these attacks pose a significant threat to national security and public safety.

The Global Affairs department said at the time it had activated an unplanned IT outage on Jan. 24 to “address the discovery of malicious cyber activity.”

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said last year that the country’s critical infrastructure was increasingly being targeted by cyberattacks, posing a significant threat to the economy of the world’s fourth-largest crude oil producer.