BC government systems hit by cyberattack traced to state actor

TLDR:

• A state actor or state-sponsored actor attempted to breach government systems in a cyberattack on B.C. government systems.
• Three separate attempts were made over the last month, leading to investigations by the CCCS and other agencies.

The head of B.C.’s public service announced that a sophisticated cyberattack was directed by a foreign state, with no sensitive information compromised. The attack was first detected on April 10, with ongoing investigations to determine the motivation behind the attack.

Salter and Farnworth provided details of the timeline of the attack, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity measures and investments to protect government systems. The B.C. government is working closely with federal partners to enhance security controls.

Despite no sensitive information being compromised, actions were taken to notify public service workers to change their passwords. The motivation behind the cyberattack remains unknown, with a focus on analyzing over 40 terabytes of data to identify the state or state-sponsored actor behind the incident.

The government assured the public that operations and services were not interrupted due to the cyberattack, and ongoing efforts are in place to safeguard against future breaches.