China is scanning Canada's cyber defences, state watchdog issues warning

By Thomas Seal

 

The Canadian government warned Friday that “a sophisticated state-sponsored threat actor from the People’s Republic of China” has been scanning the cyber defenses of important public entities.

 

“Reconnaissance scanning is not an indication of compromise” but may precede malicious actions, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said in a statement. The targeted organisations included government departments and agencies, federal political parties, the House of Commons and Senate, critical infrastructure, defense, media and think tanks. The scans have occurred throughout the year.

 

“It is the equivalent of someone walking around a building to see if there is an alarm or security camera, or trying the windows and doors to see which ones are unlocked,” the center said, urging groups to bolster their defenses. 

 

Canada is in the midst of a high-profile public inquiry over foreign interference in its politics, finding that China made some attempts to meddle in the last two elections. 

 

Last week, Bloomberg News reported fears among UK officials that Chinese state actors have made widespread and likely successful efforts to access British critical infrastructure networks.