The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has warned that a sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored cyber threat actor has been actively scanning Canadian cyber defenses throughout 2024, targeting critical institutions and infrastructure.

The reconnaissance scanning has targeted multiple sectors, including government departments, federal political parties, the House of Commons and Senate, critical infrastructure, defense organizations, media outlets, and think tanks.

While these scans do not necessarily indicate a breach, they often precede malicious cyber activities.

The Cyber Centre describes these scans as equivalent to someone examining a building’s security measures, checking for vulnerabilities in its defenses.

This activity is part of a broader pattern of Chinese cyber operations that surpass other nation-state threats in volume, sophistication, and targeting scope.

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The warning comes amid heightened concerns about Chinese interference in Canadian affairs. The country has been conducting a high-profile public inquiry into foreign interference in recent elections.

Chinese cyber threat actors frequently operate under the directives of PRC intelligence services, seeking information that aligns with Beijing’s national policy objectives.

The Cyber Centre has noted that while the direct threat to Canadian infrastructure may be lower than to U.S. targets, Canada would likely be affected by any disruption to U.S. systems due to the interconnected nature of their infrastructure.

Defensive Measures

The Cyber Centre advises organizations to:

Be prepared to isolate critical infrastructure components from the internet
Implement enhanced network monitoring.
Deploy multi-factor authentication
Create and test offline backups
Maintain updated incident response plans

These defensive measures are particularly crucial for provincial, territorial, and municipal governments and critical infrastructure operators who may be vulnerable to these sophisticated cyber threats.

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