House of Commons Administration Says It ‘Prevented’ Chinese Hack MPs Weren’t Warned About

House of Commons Administration Thwarted Chinese Hack, MPs Were Not Informed

April 30, 2024 TruthUSA

MPs raised concerns about not being informed about a Chinese hack targeting them, but the House of Commons administration stated that they had successfully prevented the cyberattack.

According to spokesperson Mathieu Gravel, the House of Commons Administration confirmed that the existing risk-mitigation measures had effectively averted any attack. He mentioned, “The administration thoroughly investigates all incidents identified by its security partners, and there were no cybersecurity impacts on Members or their communications.”

On April 29, Liberal and Conservative MPs disclosed that they were targeted by a Chinese hacker group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT31), allegedly supported by Chinese intelligence.

They expressed discontent for not being warned about the threat. Tory MP Garnett Genuis and Liberal MP Judy Sgro claimed their parliamentary privilege was violated and requested the House speaker to address the issue.

The attack was reportedly directed towards parliamentarians who are part of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of cross-party legislators from various countries aiming to reform democratic countries’ dealings with Beijing. There are currently 18 Canadian MPs who are members of IPAC.

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The FBI discovered malicious cyber activities around 2021 and informed Canadian authorities shortly after. Information about the hacking operations was revealed in an unsealed U.S. Department of Justice indictment against the alleged Chinese hackers in late March.

Canada’s electronic espionage agency, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), relayed details about the hack to parliamentary officials in June 2022, shortly after receiving the information.

CSE mentioned that this was part of their routine engagement with the House of Commons and Senate officials regarding various cyber threats.

CSE spokesperson Janny Bender Asselin stated, “In this instance, the House of Commons provided MPs with a general message.” However, Mr. Gravel did not confirm whether MPs were briefed on the specific issue.

According to Mr. Gravel, the House of Commons cybersecurity team continually monitors malicious activities and conducts awareness campaigns to share cyber risk mitigation strategies with MPs. He also mentioned that the cybersecurity team collaborates directly with MPs affected by cyber threats.

Tory MP Stephanie Kusie, a member of IPAC, mentioned in an interview with The Epoch Times that she was not personally contacted about the issue. She stated, “There was a general advisory issued, but nothing specific about this particular threat.”

It has become a pattern in Canada for MPs not to be informed by the government about threats from the Chinese regime.

Tory MP Michael Chong was unaware of being a target of Chinese intelligence until the Globe and Mail released intelligence information in May 2023. Senior ministers also claimed ignorance about the issue.

Subsequently, the Liberal government issued a new directive to security agencies to proactively disclose foreign interference threats to parliamentarians.

A public inquiry into foreign interference has been initiated since then. Recent hearings revealed that politicians and parties were not alerted despite the federal government detecting foreign interference attempts during the 2019 and 2021 elections.

For instance, the elections integrity task force suspected Beijing would target specific ridings before the 2021 vote, but security-cleared party representatives from major parties stated that they did not receive this information.

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