(Quebec) The main government sites have been put back online while 473 others are still being analyzed, confirmed Minister Éric Caire, who was appointed Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital on Wednesday. The analyzes carried out so far do not show any intrusion or cyberattack against the government.
The new Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital, Eric Caire, took stock on Wednesday of the preventive closure, Sunday, of 3,992 government sites and services following the discovery of a major security flaw affecting servers across the world.
A total of 1,044 sites were brought back online after investigation and 473 are still being analyzed. For the 2475 other sites targeted by the preventive closure, analyzes are carried out from priority sites to less important ones. Ultimately, they will all have been scrutinized, we are assured.
“The main sites are back in operation, whether it be Québec.ca, the sites of the [Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec], from Revenu Québec or Hydro-Québec, […] therefore the main sites used by Quebecers are in operation, ”assured Minister Cairo. He ensures that the analyzes carried out so far have shown no signs of intrusion or theft of data.
The “Log4Shell” flaw has been detected in computer systems all over the world. It allows a cyber hacker to execute computer codes on organizations’ servers and take control of their system. A Java library from the Apache company, widely used around the world, is affected.
To “correct the flaw”, you must install a new version of this library. “Afterwards, you have to do a series of tests because sometimes, by solving one problem, you introduce another. So we want to make sure that this news [bibliothèque-là] only corrects the problem and does not lead to others ”, explained Minister Cairo, in the press.
New function
The latter had just been sworn in as Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital. He takes the head of this new ministry, the creation of which was unanimously adopted by the National Assembly at the beginning of December with the adoption of Bill 6.
Minister Cairo was until then Minister Delegate for Governmental Digital Transformation. “Cybersecurity is now becoming a state issue,” he said on Wednesday.
Its role “encapsulates” the new powers resulting from the adoption of Bill 95, which will accelerate the digital transformation of the government and strengthen cybersecurity, in June. In addition, Minister Cairo believes that Quebec’s response to the security breach report on Friday was greatly improved thanks to this legislative tool.
“I am categorical: if we had not had these two tools [lois 6 et 95] at the end of the week, it is clear that we would still be wondering what we are doing, ”he ruled.