The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has issued a warning regarding hacktivists interfering with online systems controlling water, energy, and agricultural facilities. In a recent alert sent to information security officers, both the Cyber Centre and the RCMP have received numerous reports of incidents involving internet-accessible industrial control systems.
According to the centre’s alert, there have been instances of tampering with water pressure at an undisclosed facility leading to service disruptions for a community. Additionally, another incident involved the manipulation of an automated tank gauge at a Canadian oil and gas company, triggering false alarms.
A third case outlined in the alert described unauthorized changes to temperature and humidity levels in a grain-drying silo on a Canadian farm, potentially creating hazardous conditions. The Cyber Centre, a division of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), emphasized that while individual organizations may not be primary targets, they could still fall victim to opportunistic hacktivists seeking to garner media attention, discredit organizations, and tarnish Canada’s reputation.
