British Columbia government hit by ‘sophisticated cybersecurity incidents’

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VICTORIA — BC Premier David Eby said late Wednesday that the province has identified “sophisticated cybersecurity incidents” involving government networks.

A government source later said the incidents were related to an order early last week to all provincial employees to immediately change their passwords.

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British Columbia’s Office of the Chief Information Officer had previously described this policy as a precautionary measure in a statement, noting that the government “routinely updates security measures.”

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Eby said in a statement that the provincial government is working with the Canadian Center for Cyber ​​Security and other agencies to determine the extent of the incidents, but there is currently no evidence that sensitive information was compromised.

Eby said the investigation is ongoing and more work is needed to determine what information was accessed.

He said the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner had been informed of the incidents.

Eby said the government would be as transparent as possible “without compromising the investigation” and provide public updates.

Government officials received an email late Wednesday from Shannon Salter, deputy minister to the prime minister and head of the civil service, informing them of the incidents.

“As work continues to investigate these incidents, please change your password from 10 to 14 characters as requested and respond promptly to any other instructions to improve security,” said the email, obtained by The Canadian Press has.

A statement provided by the Office of the Chief Information Officer last Thursday suggested that the initial request to update passwords earlier in the week was routine.

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“The OCIO is taking preventive measures to protect government data and systems,” the statement said.

“For security reasons… the length of the password has been increased from 10 to 14 characters. Routinely updating security measures from time to time helps ensure the security of government data and systems.”

In other incidents in recent weeks, hackers targeting B.C. libraries tried to extort a payment in exchange for not revealing information about patrons, while retailer London Drugs was forced to close its stores for more than a week remediate a cybersecurity breach.

The government source said staff had been told there was no evidence the government incident was linked to the library attack or the London drug trade shutdown, but the matter was still under investigation.

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