A hooded man holds a laptop computer as a cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS Kacper Pempel Illustration File Photo
OTTAWA, Jan 24, Reuters - Hackers launched a cyber attack on Canada's foreign ministry last week, and some services are still down, officials said on Monday without disclosing who Ottawa thought was responsible.
The incident was detected last Wednesday, a day before Canada's signals intelligence agency said network operators of critical infrastructure should boost their defenses against Russian state-sponsored threats.
Critical services are currently functioning. The Treasury Board, which has responsibility for government operations, said that access to internet and internet-based services is currently not working.
It said there was no indication that any other government departments had been impacted, adding that no more details would be released.
When asked whether Russian actors were responsible, neither the Treasury Board nor the foreign ministry responded.
Canada has taken a strong line against Russia's military build-up on the Ukrainian border.
Ottawa rarely speaks about hacks into its systems. In 2011, officials said a highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor had broken into a leading research body. In 2014, a former Canadian cabinet minister said Chinese operators were suspected of hacking into the Treasury Board and finance ministry in 2011.