Canada Issues Statement on Hacking but won’t Comment on Chinese Involvement

Canadian officials have confirmed that they are aware of the hacking incident which breached the security of a domestic manufacturer of software that big energy firms in the country are utilizing. They declined to comment on the reported Chinese involvement in the incident.

photo credit: realhackings.com

Telvent Canada Ltd, owned by France’s Schneider Electric SA warned their customers of the attack. It hit the operations in the US, Canada and Spain according to a report on the cybersecurity news site rebsOnSecurity.com. Canadian public safety ministry spokesman Jean-Paul Duval said in an email that "The Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre is aware of this incident and is already working with stakeholders in government and the private sector” about the problem.

The cybersecurity news site cited security experts who said digital fingerprints left during the attack pointed to Chinese hackers. If it is proven that Chinese hackers were involved, this would complicate matters more for the conservatives running the Canadian government. They are deciding on whether to accept the bid of China’s CNOOC Ltd to take over the Canadian oil producer Nexen Inc. A group of legislators have already expressed wariness over the proposed move as they are uneasy over China’s unfair business practices which are a common perception of both consumers and business leaders worldwide. Chinese involvement in various hacking incidents of companies in the US and other countries has constantly been alleged although Beijing denies involvement every time. Duval refused to comment when asked about the Chinese involvement this time.