The federal government recently revealed whether they have ever paid a ransom due to a cyber attack, and that’s leading the Official Opposition to wonder why the provincial government can’t do the same.
David Brazil brought up the situation in the House of Assembly yesterday.
He was referencing comments Federal Minister Bill Blair made on VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly following questions about ransom attacks on federal agencies.
(Minister of Public Safety of Canada,
Bill Blair. Image via CPAC.)
Blair was asked if the feds have ever paid a ransom, to which he replied “no, no sir we have not.”
The bluntness of that response has the provincial PCs wonder why the province cannot divulge the same information about the cyber attack that brought the health care system to its knees, but Justice Minister John Hogan is sticking to his guns.
Minister of Justice and Public Safety John Hogan
Brazil asserts that they still aren’t getting the answer to the “common sense question” of whether a ransom was paid. Hogan counters that they have disclosed all that they could while keeping in line with the advice they were given from cyber security experts that they should not disclose information about a ransom.
