Quebec pig breeders are the victims of a computer hacker who has paralyzed the activities of their association and deprived them of income since October 24.
Silence still reigned on this subject on Wednesday at the association of Pork Breeders of Quebec, where no one wanted to answer questions from The Press.
In a written statement, Tristan Deslauriers, director of public relations and secretary general, simply confirmed that “Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec were unfortunately the target of a cybersecurity incident on the night of October 23 to 24, which may have resulted in the compromise by an unauthorized third party of certain data in our systems.”
Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec manage the marketing of pork produced in Quebec by more than 2,000 producers. The last message sent to them on the association’s website dates back to October 24 and reports a “major computer failure”.
“All systems are down, including systems for breeders, slaughterhouses and transporters. All our operations are suspended, including the payment of pigs to breeders scheduled for today (October 24) which is postponed to a later date,” said this message.
The producers must have found it taking a long time since a week later, activities were still paralyzed. On Wednesday, the association informed The Press that she expects a return to normal in the coming days. “Payment for pigs to breeders resumed this morning,” assures the spokesperson.
The association says it has opened an investigation into the incident and warned people who could be affected by the leak of confidential information.