Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has suffered a data breach with unauthorised access to personal information.
A statement from GAC, a government department which manages diplomatic relations, promotes international trade and provides consular assistance, said: “An unplanned IT outage is currently affecting remote access to GAC’s network in the country. The department’s critical services and external communication channels remain accessible and operational.
“This partial outage was intentionally activated on January 24, 2024 to address the discovery of malicious cyber activity. Global Affairs Canada is working with IT partners, including Shared Services Canada and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (part of Communications Security Establishment) to restore full connectivity as soon as possible.
“On-site employee connectivity in GAC buildings is fully functioning, allowing for normal computer/network access. Employees working remotely in Canada have been provided with workarounds to ensure they remain operational.
“The Government of Canada deals with ongoing and persistent cyber-risks and threats every day. 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.
“Early results indicate there has been a data breach and that there has been unauthorised access to personal information of users including employees. The department is contacting those affected with mitigation measures to ensure that sensitive and personal information is secure. The incident has also been reported to Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner. “We cannot comment further at the moment on any specific details for operational and security reasons.”
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