Canada’s foreign affairs department hit by data breach
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Global Affairs Canada said it activated an unplanned IT outage on Jan 24 to “address the discovery of malicious cyber activity”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
OTTAWA - The Canadian government said on Jan 30 that its global affairs department had suffered a data breach and that there was unauthorised access to personal information of users, including employees.
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said in a statement that it activated an unplanned IT outage on Jan 24 to “address the discovery of malicious cyber activity”.
The department, which includes the Canadian trade and foreign ministries, did not say when the data breach occurred.
Canadian media, citing unnamed sources, reported earlier that internal systems were vulnerable between Dec 20 and Jan 24.
GAC said its critical services and external communication channels were accessible and operational and that IT teams were working to restore full connectivity.
The department said it was contacting those affected by the breach with mitigation measures and that employees working remotely in Canada had been provided with workarounds to continue their duties. REUTERS
