{"id":57608,"date":"2015-07-29T23:14:32","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T15:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=57608"},"modified":"2015-07-29T23:17:37","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T15:17:37","slug":"government-reacts-cautiously-to-possible-classified-document-breach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/07\/29\/government-reacts-cautiously-to-possible-classified-document-breach\/","title":{"rendered":"Government reacts cautiously to possible classified document breach"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OTTAWA — The federal government is saying little about an apparent breach involving classified information — one that could snowball into a serious compromise of closely guarded secrets.<\/p>\n

Digital hacking collective Anonymous made good late Monday on a threat to release what it says is the first of many sensitive documents.<\/p>\n

It posted online what appeared to be a 2014 Treasury Board memo about funding of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s overseas communications capabilities. But as of Tuesday morning, the document could not be accessed through the original link.<\/p>\n

It was disabled by Lunaweb Ltd., which runs upload site DocDroid, “because it seems to be leaked” and DocDroid is “simply not the right place,” said Lunaweb’s Josias Montag.<\/p>\n

“Such documents should be published on WikiLeaks; they do have the resources and experts for such things.”<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press could not confirm the document’s authenticity and Jeremy Laurin, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, would not comment.<\/p>\n

Laurin said Tuesday that officials “continue to monitor this situation closely.”<\/p>\n

One senior official said it was still unclear Tuesday as to whether the document, which appears to be genuine, was indeed pilfered by hackers, or simply leaked.<\/p>\n

“There are obviously concerns about the document being released, except there’s no confirmation it has been obtained through a hacking,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.<\/p>\n

Anonymous has carried out cyberattacks against governments, corporations and others in the name of free speech, Internet liberties and anti-capitalist causes.<\/p>\n

In a video statement discussing the document, Anonymous denounced the July 16 fatal shooting of a supporter in Dawson Creek, B.C., during a confrontation with the RCMP.<\/p>\n

Officers challenged and subsequently fired on the man, who was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask — an Anonymous trademark — outside a public hearing for a dam project to be built by BC Hydro. A knife was recovered from the scene.<\/p>\n

The man has been identified as 48-year-old James McIntyre. B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, is probing the death.<\/p>\n

The Anonymous video begins with a moment of silence for McIntyre, “our fallen friend.” The shadowy, loosely knit collective is demanding the immediate arrest of the RCMP officers involved.<\/p>\n

“Unless and until that happens we will be releasing stunning secrets at irregular intervals.”<\/p>\n

The video harshly criticizes the Harper government, police, security agencies and corporations, saying they have branded “anyone opposing their fossil-fuel agenda to be a terrorist.”<\/p>\n

It also denounces “covert, warrantless surveillance” and the government’s recently passed omnibus security bill, known as C-51.<\/p>\n

“Anonymous has been collecting bits of evidence and making plans for many months,” the video says.<\/p>\n

The group seems to have selected the initial document for posting because — if authentic — it shows federal ministers made decisions over at least a four-year period to update security systems domestically and internationally.<\/p>\n

“Congratulations, you left many doors open for us,” the video says. “We are now privy to many of Stephen Harper’s cherished secrets.”<\/p>\n

Anonymous has claimed responsibility for a June attack that shut down several federal sites and wreaked havoc with email — billing it as a protest against the federal security legislation that broadened CSIS’s mandate, boosted information-sharing and expanded no-fly list powers.<\/p>\n

No personal information was compromised during the cyberattack, Blaney said at the time.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the federal official said Tuesday, there is obviously interest in “trying to identify these hackers, it goes without saying.”<\/p>\n

“All the agencies involved in security… we’d really like to be able to put an end to this.”<\/p>\n

Last week Blaney’s department announced $142 million in new digital security spending, which will fund initiatives including an RCMP investigative team to combat high-priority cybercrime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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