Cyber attack likely state sponsored: B.C. official

• The head of British Columbia's public service said Friday there was high confidence that cybersecurity attacks targeting the provincial government's networks were conducted by a state or state-sponsored actor.

Shannon Salter, who is also deputy minister to the premier, said in a briefing that there was no evidence sensitive information was compromised.

The incidents were revealed on Wednesday by Premier David Eby who called the attacks “sophisticated.”

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said later that police were involved in the investigation, as well as the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is part of Canada's national cryptologic agency, the Communications Security Establishment, providing guidance, services and support to government on cybersecurity.

Salter said Friday that she couldn't comment on whether the government knew the identity of the state or state-sponsored actor behind what she said were three separate incidents.

The problem was first noticed on April 10, then confirmed and reported the next day, she said.

Salter said she first briefed Eby on April 17, but cabinet was not briefed until Wednesday, the same day the incidents became public knowledge.

Salter said the attack involves over 40 terabytes of data, four times the data held in the U.S. Library of Congress. However, she would not say if the hackers targeted a certain area of government records such as health data, auto insurance or social services.

The province holds the personal data of millions of British Columbians, including social insurance numbers, addresses and phone numbers.

Government officials say it's unclear what the motivation was for the attack. There was no ransom demand.

A government source said Wednesday that the incidents were related to a directive to all provincial employees early last week that they should immediately change their passwords.

That directive had previously been described by B.C.'s Office of the Chief Information Officer as a precaution, in a statement suggesting the government was “routinely updating security measures.”

Farnworth said on Thursday that there had been a delay releasing information about the attacks because cybersecurity experts advised the priority was protecting the system and its information before going public, something that could potentially increase vulnerability.

The government cyberattack came amid other incidents in the province in recent weeks, including hackers targeting B.C. libraries and demanding a ransom not to reveal user data, and an attack that forced retailer London Drugs to shut down stores across Western Canada for more than a week.