The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is currently dealing with an alarming cyber attack initiated by an unidentified threat actor.
RCMP Cyberattack Is Alarming!, Says Royal Canadian Mounted Police
“The situation is evolving quickly but at this time, there is no impact on RCMP operations and no known threat to the safety and security of Canadians,”
“The quick work and mitigation strategies put in place demonstrate the significant steps the RCMP has taken to detect and prevent these types of threats,”
Spokesperson for the RCMP said in a statement to CBC News.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that a “breach of this magnitude is alarming.”
RCMP Cyberattack, What Happened?
On Friday afternoon, the primary websites of the RCMP based in Ottawa seemed unaffected by the cyber attack. However, on Sunday morning, all of their main websites began displaying an Error 404 message, indicating an issue with accessing the requested pages.
Among the affected websites were those for the RCMP divisions in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. However, websites for other provincial divisions like British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario appeared to be functioning normally during this time. The only accessible page was the Contact page on the RCMP’s website.
It is worth noting that Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the government’s cybersecurity and electronic intelligence agency, recently advised IT departments to remain vigilant for potential cyber attacks.
This caution is due to the fact that Saturday marks the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is concern that threat actors associated with the Russian government or groups sympathetic to Russia may exploit this occasion to launch cyber attacks against nations that support Ukraine.
According to the CSE, these attacks could range from website defacements and denial of service attacks to more severe forms of cyber activity.
Earlier this week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was recognized for its contribution to the successful operation against the LockBit ransomware gang.
When asked for additional details, Marie-Eve Breton, an RCMP media relations officer, reiterated the statement given to CBC regarding the matter.
“While a breach of this magnitude is alarming, the quick work and mitigation strategies put in place demonstrates the significant steps the RCMP has taken to detect and prevent these types of threats.”
In response to a follow-up email questioning the severity and nature of the breach, including inquiries about potential hardware damage or involvement of ransomware, Marie-Eve Breton stated that the RCMP is unable to disclose further information due to ongoing cyber and criminal investigations.
This indicates that the RCMP is currently in the process of gathering details and assessing the situation, and does not want to disclose any specific information at this time.
“As previously stated, at this time, there is no impact on RCMP operations and no known threat to the safety and security of Canadians,”
“Further, there are no known impacts on safety and security partners in Canada or abroad.”
She wrote in a reply.
