Offering a rare glimpse at the priorities of a top spy organization, Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) said it conducted a handful of state-authorized hacks last year in order to disrupt the operations of drug traffickers, violent extremists, and a ransomware gang.
The disclosures in the Canadian intelligence agency’s annual report underscore some of the main national security threats that face Canada and its closest allies: ranging from the import of illegal drugs to cyberattacks. The spy agency, CSE, is tasked with collecting foreign intelligence, defending government systems, and disrupting online adversaries.
Read more…
Source: TechCrunch News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Quebec: Police arrest three in connection with massive Desjardins data breach
June 12, 2024
Laval police say they arrested three suspects Wednesday in connection to a massive data breach at Desjardins Group made public in 2019. The data breach at the Quebec-based credit union is thought to be one of the largest ever among Canadian financial institutions, affecting roughly 4.2 million people and 173,000 businesses. The leaked information includes names, ...
- UK and Canada governments launch full investigation into 23andMe mega breach
June 11, 2024
Data watchdogs in the UK and Canada are now jointly investigating the data breach that hit 23andMe in October 2023. The incident saw a threat actor post 13 million pieces of 23andMe data for sale on the dark web, including people’s origin estimation, phenotype and health information, photos and identification data, raw data, and some other ...
- Canada does not have the tools to fight cyber crime, says watchdog
June 5, 2024
Canada’s federal government does not have the capacity and tools to effectively fight cyber crime in part because of excessive bureaucracy and staff shortages, the country’s top watchdog said on Tuesday. In an official report, Auditor General Karen Hogan said she found breakdowns in response, coordination, tracking, and information sharing between and across the organizations responsible ...
- LockBit demands $25 million from Canadian pharmacy chain London Drugs after ransomware attack
May 23, 2024
The recent cyber-incident against Canadian pharmacy chain London Drugs was indeed a full-blown ransomware attack, with sensitive data being stolen, and a major ransom being demanded, the company has confirmed. In a statement given to The Register, the company said it had been hit, but stressed it also had no intention of paying the ransom demand. ...
- U.K., U.S. and Canadian cyber authorities warn of pro-Russia hacktivist attacks on OT systems
May 3, 2024
The U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and other international cyber authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have warned about pro-Russia hacktivist attacks targeting providers of operational technology. OT is hardware and software that interacts with the physical environment and includes smart water metres, automated irrigation systems, dam monitoring systems, smart grids and IoT ...
- The Fall of LabHost: Law Enforcement Shuts Down Phishing Service Provider
April 18, 2024
In late 2021, LabHost (AKA LabRat) emerged as a new PhaaS platform, growing over time to eventually offer dozens of phishing pages targeting banks, high-profile organizations, and other service providers located around the world, but most notably in Canada, the US, and the UK. The popularity of the platform meant that at the time of the ...