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Canada Warns Hacktivists Altered Industrial Controls in Water, Energy and Farm Systems

Officials urge immediate hardening of exposed industrial equipment.

Overview

  • A joint alert from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and the RCMP details multiple recent intrusions into internet-accessible industrial control systems.
  • Incidents included changed water pressure at a municipal facility, manipulation of an oil and gas Automated Tank Gauge, and altered grain-dryer temperature and humidity.
  • Authorities assess the activity as opportunistic and attention-seeking rather than state-sponsored, though it produced false alarms and degraded service.
  • Guidance calls for removing direct internet exposure, enforcing VPNs with multi-factor authentication, deploying intrusion prevention, and conducting vulnerability management and penetration tests.
  • Operators are asked to report suspicious activity via My Cyber Portal or contact@cyber.gc.ca, with officials noting similar warnings from U.S. agencies and the recent TwoNet decoy case.