Pro-Russian hackers are believed to be behind a string of cyber attacks that targeted several Canadian government websites last week.
Experts have suggested that the attacks that hit websites belonging to the Prime Minister's Office, the National Capital Commission (NCC), Hydro-Québec, and the Cornwall Community Hospital in Ontario were done to cause disruption amid Canada’s continued support for Ukraine.
Speaking with CBC News, Brett Callow, a cybersecurity threat analyst at Emsisoft, said the goal of these hackers is to create “so much minor disruption that people become resistant to the government's continuing to provide support to Ukraine.”
The fact that the attacks last week overlapped with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s visit to Canada is likely no coincidence either, he added.
Similarly, cybersecurity specialist and Carleton University associate professor Jason Jaskolka explained that institutions such as hospitals are “ripe targets” for cyber attacks because of the value they provide to communities.
“In some cases, it's really just a flex of muscle,” he told CBC News, noting how the disruption caused by attacks is meant to act as a deterrent for further sanctions against Russia.
Pro-Russian hackers have taken responsibility for some of the attacks that occurred last week, including an outage that impacted the website of the Prime Minister’s Office.
In an email obtained by CBC News, the Privy Council Office said the website was facing occasional disruptions and that they were collaborating with Shared Services Canada and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security to investigate and resolve the issue promptly.
The attack on Hydro-Québec was also claimed by pro-Russian group NoName057(16), who said in a Telegram chatroom that they were “continuing our visits to Canada.”
Philippe Archambault, the ulitlity’s head of media and government affairs, said the attack did not impact any critical systems nor did it cause any users’ personal data to be compromised.
A statement posted by the NCC on its website offered similar reassurances, clarifying that neither its systems nor any personal data had been compromised by the attack.
Additionally, the Cornwall Community Hospital also confirmed the occurrence of a “cyber incident,” noting that it may have caused “some delays to scheduled or non-urgent care” but it did affect patients’ electronic health records.
A recent report from Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) examined the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on cybersecurity, noting how the war has resulted in a surge of “hacktivist” DDoS attacks, data leakage, and website takeovers.
“Unfortunately, the growing involvement of non-state actors attacking on an ideological basis and the manipulation of information by malicious actors will continue to sow uncertainty across the landscape in actual and perceived security threats,” said Steven Silberstein, CEO of FS-ISAC.
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