China-Based Hackers Targeted House of Commons

Some of the hacking attempts uncovered last month were directed at MPs with large ethnic Chinese constituencies.

Details continue to roll in about the cyberattack that temporarily shut down internet operations at major government departments last month. Not only was internet security compromised at the Finance Department and the Treasury Board, but the computer system at the House of Commons was also breached. The attacks have been traced back to Chinese internet servers, and while hackers from another country could have simply routed the attack through China, most experts have no doubt the Beijing government was behind the sophisticated operation. The discovery of the attack has raised concerns about Canada’s internet security. While the U.K. and the U.S. spend $1 billion and $55 billion on cybersecurity each year, Canada spends only $90 million.