Cyber attacks hit Canada, websites down for three major ports

Several ports in Canada have suffered multiple cyber attacks this week, but the ports remain open and cargo is moving.

The Port of Halifax in Nova Scotia and the Ports of Montreal and Québec were targeted by a ‘denial-of-service attack’ which flooded their websites with traffic, causing them to crash.

While the external websites of the three ports have been taken out of commission, there has been no data breach, and port operations have not been affected.

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According to CBC News, the Port of Halifax’s spokesperson Lane Farguson said: “What’s important is that our internal systems continue to operate normally and port operations have not been affected by this. Traffic continues to move through the Port of Halifax.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Port of Montreal told Radio-Canada that the port’s security team had confirmed that port operations were unaffected and that there was no risk of a data breach.

The Port Authorities in Montreal and Québec are currently investigating the attacks.

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While the websites of the three ports are currently offline, there are alternative methods of contacting the ports that do not require using the websites. The Head of Communications for the Port of Montreal, Renée Larouche, said that suppliers who want to contact the port can use telephone calls instead.

Cyber attacks are a growing concern for ports around the world, as they can cause significant disruption to port operations and pose a threat to the security of port data.

At the very beginning of this year, the Port of Lisbon suffered a cyber attack which raised concerns about the potential exposure of confidential information. The hackers reportedly stole vital port-related information and published it.