Cyberattack Disrupts IT Systems at Major Canadian Power Provider

Major Canadian electric utility Nova Scotia Power and its parent company Emera are currently recovering from a recent cyberattack that caused some of their business operations to be disrupted. On April 25, both businesses detected unauthorized access to certain areas of their business servers and Canadian network, which led to the initial discovery of the incident. To contain the breach, they quickly shut down and isolated the impacted systems.

Customers found it challenging to access standard support channels as a result of the cyberattack, which affected a number of IT services, including Nova Scotia Power’s customer service phone line and online portal. No new information has been released since the company’s last update on April 28, which stated that they were still working to restore these systems.

Nova Scotia Power has assured the public that the attack had no impact on electricity delivery, despite the disruption to business applications. Approximately 550,000 customers in Nova Scotia are still receiving power from the company in a safe and dependable manner. Emera, which operates electric and natural gas utilities serving around 2.6 million customers in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, also confirmed that there was no impact on its other utility operations.

The companies stressed that there was “no disruption to any of our Canadian physical operations, including at Nova Scotia Power’s generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, the Maritime Link, or the Brunswick Pipeline” in a public statement. Additionally, they verified that Emera’s utilities in the US and the Caribbean were unaffected.

Nova Scotia Power is currently investigating whether any sensitive customer or business data was compromised during the incident. While ransomware attacks are a common threat to energy companies, no known cybercriminal group has claimed responsibility for this intrusion so far.

The energy sector remains a frequent target for both financially motivated hackers and state-sponsored groups. Recent high-profile incidents, such as the Volt Typhoon group’s access to the US electric grid, highlight the ongoing risks facing critical infrastructure providers.

Nova Scotia Power has yet to release further details as the investigation continues. The company is working closely with cybersecurity experts to restore all affected services and strengthen its defenses against future attacks