Officials say they are working to "contain and eradicate" the virus and restore the systems, but they don't yet know how long that will take.

"Ransomware is one of the largest threats to the upcoming election," said Microsoft Corporate Vice President Tom Burt.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's investigation into the attacks is still ongoing.

Most of the infiltration attempts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified, they said. The company would not comment on who may have been successfully hacked or the impact.

The incidents involved Canadian Tire in February 2017 and Bank of Montreal and Simplii Financial in May 2018.

While Huawei Canada President Eric Li said the company will not spy on Canadians, technology experts warn 5G comes with too many risks.

Hackers obtained and attempted to use the GCKey passwords and usernames of 9,041 people, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said in a statement Saturday.

The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) announces that it was the target of a hacking attempt a month and a half ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is concerned about such an attack and anybody engaged in such activity should "expect consequences."

U.S. and Czech officials sounded alarms Thursday that their health-care system and research facilities are either ongoing or expected in the coming days.