A computer failure hit the aluminum production company in Sept-Îles, caused by a “security incident related to the intrusion of an unauthorized third party”.
Updated yesterday at 10:02 p.m.
Cybersecurity specialists are investigating the event that occurred overnight from Thursday to Friday, Aluminerie Alouette said in a statement.
In recent days, several experts have warned that Ukraine’s allies could suffer cyberattacks from Russia. Asked during a press briefing about a possible link between the conflict and the event at the Aluminerie Alouette, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, said he had known “for a very long time that Russia has been using cyberattacks to trying to destabilize democracies around the world”.
The Prime Minister assured that the country’s cybersecurity centers are working to protect Canadians in the virtual world.
[Les centres de cybersécurité] are currently working to follow up on the attacks we receive, but also to prevent other attacks.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Despite the disruptions, “aluminum production continues in a safe manner,” assured the Sept-Îles company. An update will be made shortly, indicated the Aluminerie Alouette, in its press release. At the time of this writing, the company had not responded to an interview request from The Press.
Hit where it hurts
In response to economic sanctions imposed by the West, the best means available to Vladimir Putin is to use cyberattacks, according to Nora Boulahia Cuppens, professor of computer engineering at Polytechnique Montreal and expert in computer security. The President of Russia could therefore target “infrastructure that can freeze a country or affect the economic aspects”, she explains, without however specifically mentioning the case of the Aluminerie Alouette.
But during a cyberattack, it is difficult to find the person who committed the gesture, supports Frédéric Cuppens, professor of computer engineering at Polytechnique Montreal and expert in computer security. “They make sure to attack in a masked way, in order to avoid that we go back to them”, he underlines.