B.C. collaborates with federal government to fight cyberattacks

A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., on December 19, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The British Columbia government says it’s collaborating with the federal government to protect its information systems from cyber attacks.

The Ministry of Citizens' Services says in a statement that the new agreement provides the province with access to cyber defence services, which will improve its ability to defend, detect, and respond to cyber threats.

The announcement comes after the B.C. government said in May that it had experienced a “sophisticated” cyberattack, initiated by state or state-sponsored actors, promoting investigations by police, the federal and provincial governments, and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

Hackers also targeted B.C. Libraries and the retailer London Drugs in May, forcing the company to shut down its stores across Western Canada for more than a week.

The Ministry of Citizens' Services says it has also taken recent action to improve its security controls, including using tools to gain better insight into suspicious activity on B.C. government networks and working with cybersecurity experts at the Canadian centre, with Microsoft.

The ministry says the government fends off about 1.5 billion unauthorized access attempts every day.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.