A highly sophisticated cyberattack against Canada's National Research Council infiltrated a system that contained personal information, the privacy commissioner's office said Thursday.
Canadian officials have put the blame on the attack on the Chinese government.
The privacy commissioner was first informed of a security breach on July 23 and was told on Monday that the personal data was in fact exposed.
A spokesperson for the ministry told 麻豆影视 that while the attack is a "serious security issue," the full extent of the breach is not yet known.
"We are following developments very closely due to the potential implication for personal information," Tobi Cohen said in a statement on Thursday.
China, meanwhile, has accused Canada of making "baseless accusations."
颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 said Thursday that the Chinese government 鈥渃onsistently opposes criminal activities鈥� aimed at sabotaging computer networks, 鈥渁nd has been cracking down on such activities firmly.鈥�
Gang made the comments in response to a reporter鈥檚 question about Canada鈥檚 claims.
鈥淚t is irresponsible for the Canadian side to make groundless accusations against China when there is no credible evidence. We are strongly opposed to that. We urge the Canadian side to correct their mistakes, stop making baseless accusations and redress the negative impacts incurred by their statement.鈥�
The statement comes two days after the NRC confirmed a 麻豆影视 report that a 鈥渉ighly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor鈥� had targeted the agency鈥檚 computer systems over the last month.
NRC president John McDougall said that the 鈥渉ighly sophisticated鈥� cyberattack may have compromised scientific and industrial trade secrets and told employees not to to plug memory sticks, smartphones or tablets into their computers.
The NRC is Canada鈥檚 leading science and technology agency. It conducts research into satellites, space and industrial innovations, and genetically modified foods, among other areas.
As a precaution, the NRC鈥檚 computer networks have been isolated from the government鈥檚 IT network, the Treasury Board said.
鈥淲e have no evidence that data compromises have occurred on the broader Government of Canada network," a Treasury Board statement said Tuesday. The agency added that it could take security experts up to a year before a more secure computer system could be put in place.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who was on a three-country tour through Asia earlier this week, raised the matter with his counterpart in Beijing during 鈥渇ull and frank discussions,鈥� CTV鈥檚 Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported on Tuesday.
This is not the first time Chinese hackers have penetrated Canadian government computers. They have previously targeted the Finance department, the Treasury Board, the Bank of Canada, and even the email accounts of members of Parliament.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife
