Data breach at Global Affairs Canada affecting some users' personal information

'Large amount' of information could've been leaked Former CSIS officer Neil Bisson says the data breach was likely organized by a 'foreign state' that has hostility towards Canada.

There has been a data breach at Global Affairs Canada involving the personal information of some users, including employees, and affecting remote access to the department’s network, according to the department.

The government has confirmed the breach, amid media reports of an extensive cyber incident involving internal systems, citing unnamed sources within the department.

“The Government of Canada deals with ongoing and persistent cyber risks and threats every day,” reads the statement from GAC spokesperson Marilyne Guèvremont on Tuesday.

“Given its profile, Global Affairs Canada takes a proactive approach and employs a variety of security monitoring measures to detect and address potential risks.”

“The Department is closely monitoring the situation and is conducting an investigation into the matter,” Guèvremont added.

An IT outage was “intentionally activated” last week following the “discovery of malicious cyber activity,” according to the statement, which adds that critical services and external communication channels are intact.

The statement also says GAC is working with IT partners to restore connectivity to the network. On-site connectivity is still working, according to the department.

Guèvremont’s statement says GAC will not be commenting further for security reasons, but that the issue has been reported to the Privacy Commissioner.