A Montreal-based aerospace company contracted to the military has suffered a crippling cyberattack – one that the government is trying to determine the extent of.
The Department of National Defense (DND) confirmed earlier this week that the vendor in question, CMC Electronics, alerted the government that it had sustained a “cyber breach related incident” in May.
According to procurement records, CMC had done millions in work for the Canadian Armed Forces, mainly in engineering and research development. DND noted that CMC had been contracted for such work for approximately $19.5 million since 2011. Most of the contracts, about 66, were for research and development of engineering services.
News of the hacking comes after the federal government announced on May 30 that CMC would participate in a joint $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,” a DND spokesperson told Global News.
The spokesperson also gave assurances that none of DND’s internal systems employ CMC Electronics technology, adding that the department is “continuing to monitor” the situation while ensuring both CAF and its own information is safeguarded.
