Recent reports have surfaced about an attack that was able to access two key Canadian government departments, which may have lead to confidential information being stolen. The attacks happened last month, but as the CBC reports, the Canadian government has been quiet about the whole ordeal.
As the reports suggest, the attacks accessed the Finance Department and Treasury Board, where the hackers were able to gain control of at least one of the computers. The attacks were traced back to a Chinese server, but officials are still unclear if the hackers were actually Chinese or were simply routing through the server.
The Canadian government released a statement shortly after the attacks, claiming it was simply an "attempt to access" federal computers. However, a source confirms now that the hackers were successful in accessing the computers.
It's still unclear how much, or if any, information was stolen, or even if more departments were compromised. When the attacks were detected, Internet was immediately shut off to prevent further information from being uploaded back to the server. The attacks took place in a senior government executives office, in n attempt to steal passwords that would allow the hacker access to entire data systems.
Thanks to Simon for the tip!
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