Quebec government says data not compromised after websites hit by cyberattack

The Quebec government has been hit with a denial-of-service style cyberattack allegedly carried out by the pro-Russian hacker group NoName, with some government-linked websites down as a result.

Eric Caire, the province’s cybersecurity minister, told reporters today the websites hit include the province’s Treasury Board, the Quebec securities regulator, the Economy Department and Investissement Quebec, a provincially run investment fund.

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Caire attributed the attack to NoName but said there’s nothing to indicate personal data was compromised.

The province’s Cybersecurity and Digital Technology Department says in a statement the attack took place between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and certain websites could be down temporarily.

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A denial-of-service attack occurs when attackers flood an internet server with traffic and overwhelm it, triggering a crash.

The hacker group, which has reportedly acted before on Moscow’s orders, has taken part in a slew of cyberattacks on the United States and its allies in the past and claimed responsibility for an attack on Hydro-Quebec’s website and mobile app in April.

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Specialists from the Cybersecurity Department and the agencies that were targeted are carrying out an investigation and are trying to get access restored as quickly as possible.