National Defence looking at potential ‘impacts’ after cyberattack on military contractor

Department of National Defence (DND) is probing for potential “impacts” after a military contractor notified them of a recent cyberattack, allegedly by a ransomware group with Russian ties.DND confirmed Tuesday that CMC Electronics, a Montreal-based aerospace company, recently alerted the Canadian government to a “cyber breach related incident” at their company in late May.

Canadian spy agency targeted foreign hackers to ‘impose a cost’ for cybercrime Procurement records show the company has done millions in work for the Canadian Armed Forces, chiefly in aerospace engineering and research and development — approximately $19.5 million since 2011, according to DND.The majority of the contracts (66) were for research and development or engineering services.The government announced on May 30 that CMC would be part of a team working on an $800 million job to upgrade Canada’s 85 CH-146 Griffon helicopters.“DND/CAF does not comment on the cyber or IM/IT approaches of third-party vendors; however, we recognize the importance of cyber security in defence and defence contracting,” said Jessica Lamirande, a spokesperson for National Defence, in a statement to Global News.Lamirande added that none of DND’s internal systems employ CMC Electronics technology.“We are continuing to monitor this situation, while ensuring DND/CAF information is safeguarded.”Repeated efforts to reach CMC Electronics were unsuccessful.