Global Affairs Canada hit by massive data breach, investigation launched

(Aanchal Nigam / Red Maple)


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Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) systems suffered a massive data breach. 

As per reports, the early indications reveal “unauthorised access” to personal information of users including employees.

Currently, GAC is reportedly taking steps to protect the sensitive information of employees and network security. 

An internal message sent to GAC staff, seen by several media outlets including Global news, stated that the department is taking multiple steps in order to safeguard employee’s personal information as well as GAC’s corporate networks.

The measures, according to the message, were triggered after the discovery that Virtual Private Network (VPN) managed by Shared Services Canada (SSC) “was compromised and used to access Global Affairs Canada (GAC) HQ VPN-related network traffic.

Furthermore, GAC has asked all its staff members to pay attention to all the messages that are broadcast on the topic to ensure that all steps are taken.

On Tuesday afternoon, GAC stated that an “unplanned IT outage” is presently impacting the remote access to the department’s network across the country.

The partial outage was intentional and it was activated on Jan. 24, 2024 to address the discovery of malicious cyber activity.

The department is working in collaboration with its IT partners including Shared Services Canada and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security to restore full connectivity.

An investigation has also been launched into GAC data breach. The department is reaching out to those impacted with the mitigation measures to secure sensitive information. The incident has also been reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

It is pertinent to note that it is not the first time that Global Affairs Canada has been compromised.