Theft of NS Power customer data is likely ransomware attack: security experts

HALIFAX – Security experts say the theft of customer data from Nova Scotia's electric utility has the hallmarks of an extortion attempt by cybercriminals.
In a news release following the April 25 data breach, the utility said it notified police about the theft and confirmed that 'certain customer personal information was accessed and taken by an unauthorized third party.'
Nova Scotia Power, however, refuses to say whether it was being extorted by criminals. But cybersecurity experts have little doubt about what happened. Power lines are seen in Dartmouth, N.S., on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
The breach at the utility 'walks, talks, barks like a ransomware attack' or other similar forms of cyber extortion, David Shipley, CEO of New Brunswick-based Beauceron Security, said in a recent interview.
Ransomware extortionists use malicious software to infiltrate a system to prevent companies from accessing files and then demand a ransom — often cryptocurrency — to unlock them. Shipley said there are also instances of 'double extortion,' cases in which cybercriminals steal data and threaten to sell it unless they are paid.
Natalia Stakhanova, the Canada research chair in security and privacy at the University of Saskatchewan, said in a recent interview it appears 'a ransomware attack happened.' She said, 'these kinds of organizations have been the target of attacks for a very long period of time. Certainly, Nova Scotia Power is not the first one.'
Casey Spears, Nova Scotia Power's social and digital adviser, said last week the company wasn't releasing details about the breach, adding, 'we have committed to notifying customers whose data has been affected as soon as our investigation allows.'
Mark Plemmons, vice-president of intelligence operation at Dragos Inc. — a global cybersecurity firm that specializes in utilities and large industrial companies — said Tuesday his firm documented 30 cases last year of ransomware attacks against electrical utilities around the world. The Dragos annual report also documented 80 ransomware groups in 2024, compared to 50 the year before.
All four experts say the attack likely involved a criminal organization attempting to make a profit, not a state-sponsored group trying to harm Canadians.
Had the attack against Nova Scotia Power, a subsidiary of Emera, been directed at its infrastructure — at shutting down power plants — then that would have been a sign of the participation of a state-sponsored group, Shipley said.
Plemmons, for his part, said groups who try to infiltrate the operations of utilities use 'living off the land techniques,' designed to look like legitimate activity within the network. 'Once they get in, they blend in and are very difficult to differentiate from legitimate users,' he explained. Those kind of techniques don't seem to have been used in the Nova Scotia Power attack, he said.
The difficulty in the ransomware scenario is bringing the extortion to an end, Shipley said. A recent example, he said, is the breach last December of data belonging to students and staff across Canada held in the PowerSchool system. The Toronto District School Board said this week that four months after it paid a ransom to retrieve the personal information, the board discovered that a 'threat actor' made a separate ransom demand in exchange for the same stolen data.
'So, you can't exactly take it to the bank, even if you do pay them, that they're going to delete the data,' Shipley said.
The cybercriminals could also sell the information on the 'dark web' — a part of the internet accessible only through special software. 'We see all kinds of crazy things with identity theft, and it can be extraordinarily painful for individuals. The average Canadian loses about $4,000 when their identity gets hijacked,' Shipley said.
Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Sign up for The Warm-Up
Stakhanova said the intrusion highlights the need for Ottawa and provincial governments to bring in regulation requiring stricter protections of personal information held by companies and public institutions.
'As customers, we are very unprotected. We have no control over what happens with the data, our personal data, and we have no say over how the company should protect it and how the company should act in unfortunate cases like this,' she said.
Rebecca Brown, a communications officer with the Nova Scotia Energy Board, said in an email that the regulator would hold a 'formal proceeding' into the breach.
'The scope of the matter is still to be determined,' she noted, adding the review could include studying the cause of the incident and Nova Scotia Power's response, as well as the impact of the breach on the utility and ratepayers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

National Observer

an hour ago

• National Observer

Ethical investments can make a difference

These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity. Tim Nash is changing investment finance to support the continuation of life on Earth. As the founder and president of Good Investing, this young economist and new dad from Toronto has supported individuals, not-for-profits, charities, universities and corporations to align more than $9 billion of their money with their ethical, environmental and fiscal values. Tell us about your project. People choose their level of engagement. For the merely curious, we offer an informative podcast covering ideas, like the progress of the clean economy and the concept of green bonds. Thousands of those who wish to begin their values-aligned investment journey have opted to join our virtual classrooms. We make it easy for folks to take charge of their own investing and thus, to avoid the often significant trailing fees charged by brand-linked financial advisors. Others want one-on-one advice about options which we provide for a fee unrelated to their investment choices, so they can be confident they are getting straight-up, honest advice, free from industry bias. For those who don't want to manage their money themselves or who want values-aligned financial or estate planning, we partner with sustainable investment companies. Decision-makers in universities, pension plans, charities and not-for-profits, who are trying to align their institution's investment portfolios with their sustainability goals, benefit from understanding the data and research we provide demonstrating that fossil fuels are often not the most lucrative or resilient options when compared with the growing power of the clean economy. I also enjoy helping university student divestment groups learn about options. I like knowing I am helping make their powerful voices for change even more effective, and they will carry the knowledge they gain into their working lives. We are not brokers, advisors or money managers. We are coaches and teachers supporting people to make intentional decisions about where their money is invested. If a million Canadians can see for themselves that aligning their values with their money can be both profitable and impactful, we believe the entire system will tip to become the norm for everyone. This is already a multi-trillion-dollar trend and it is having a significant impact. I want to be part of empowering Canadians to amplify that wave. How did you get into this work? Tim Nash is changing investment finance to support the continuation of life on Earth, as the founder and president of Good Investing. My dad worked in the investment industry and discussion of financial markets was common at home. I was unhappy with the economics classes I took at university because they almost never discussed any impact other than financial return. On a student exchange in New Zealand, I had a spiritual epiphany when I encountered a 2,500-year-old tree. I understood that its secret to sustainability and that of all life on Earth is a deep connection to the Earth. I discovered in myself a deep empathy and resulting grief for all the life that has ended because humans have failed to maintain that tie. I resolved to dedicate my life to changing that. This is the way that I have chosen. What makes it hard? The main barrier is not money or even the market. It is mindsets. My ability to earn a decent living from this project is relatively recent. What keeps you awake at night? I am soon to become a father of a daughter. Will my efforts, and those of the millions of others around the globe who are working to decouple rising emissions from economic growth, succeed soon enough to leave her a livable planet? What gives you hope? The people who ask for my help are earnestly trying to do the right thing. They often feel alone, and it is a delight to introduce them to the size and scale of the existing movement they are joining. In 2009, there was $1 trillion invested in the clean economy, protecting water and growing renewable energy, green infrastructure and electrifying transportation. In 2025, that number has grown to $20 trillion. It's unstoppable. What do you see if we get this right? An economy that works for everyone, including the most vulnerable and the life on this planet on which we depend. What would you like to say to other young people? Hope is a sweater you decide to put on every day. It's a choice, but you will be warmer if you make it. Put your own oxygen mask on first. We will spend the rest of our lives contending with the wicked problems climate change brings. Promise yourself to be there for the long haul by taking care of yourself and those around you every day. Whatever your work or studies, find the places where the light shines brightest for you. It's only sustainable if it feeds you. What about older readers? Your money and the money held by the organizations you participate in, like your pension fund, not-for-profit or church, can work for your values, but if you don't pay attention, it is likely undermining them. Get some good advice and then, start making deliberate decisions to funnel it toward the common good.

CBC

an hour ago

• CBC

Nova Scotia Power to challenge $10M penalty at public hearing

Two years after the Nova Scotia government slapped Nova Scotia Power with a $10-million fine for failing to meet renewable energy targets, the utility is poised to argue in a public hearing that it shouldn't have to pay. Lawyers for Nova Scotia Power will appear before the Nova Scotia Energy Board this week in a hearing that's expected to last several days. They'll try to convince the board that the utility should not be punished for missing the legislated target because it did all it could to meet it. In a pre-hearing submission made to the board, Nova Scotia Power described the decision to apply a fine as "flawed" and "illogical." The utility is asking the board to overturn the penalty entirely or to have the fine reduced. Nova Scotia Power fell 8 points short Nova Scotia Power was supposed to be generating 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. When it missed that deadline because of delays to the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam in Labrador, the province granted some leeway, creating an "alternative compliance plan." Under the new plan, Nova Scotia Power was to deliver a three-year average of 40 per cent renewables by the end of 2022. But as the deadline approached, the utility conceded that it would again fall short. It achieved an average of about 32 per cent renewable energy from 2020 to 2022. Again, it blamed the problem-plagued Muskrat Falls project. Nova Scotia Power is arguing that even though it didn't meet the target, the penalty was not warranted because it did its due diligence and "honestly believed" energy from Muskrat Falls would be flowing to Nova Scotia in time. Both of those are listed as acceptable defences in the province's electricity regulations. Energy from Muskrat Falls started flowing to Nova Scotia before the end of 2022, but it wasn't enough to meet the modified target. Nova Scotia Power said there was no time to pivot to other renewable energy sources to make up the shortfall, noting that new wind projects take about five years to bring into operation, and importing hydro through New Brunswick would have been impractical "even if cost were not a consideration." "Unfortunately, it was a race against time and NS Power did not quite get to the finish line," the company said. The province chose the maximum allowable fine under the law, but Nova Scotia Power says the fine "is grossly disproportionate and without any justification" since it came close to meeting the 40 per cent target. The regulations prohibit the utility from recovering the penalty through rates. In other words, Nova Scotia Power customers can't be put on the hook for the $10 million. The cost would ultimately fall to shareholders of Emera, Nova Scotia Power's parent company. Province 'cannot trust' NSP A pre-hearing submission made on behalf of Nova Scotia's energy minister defends issuing the penalty and says it's the only mechanism available for encouraging compliance. "[The minister of energy] cannot trust that NS Power will meet future [renewable energy standard] obligations, or, more critically, its sustainability standards legislated for 2030." The submission questions whether Nova Scotia Power exercised due diligence in trying to hit the target. It says "there were options" the utility could have explored to mitigate the Muskrat Falls shortfall. Nova Scotia is asking the board to uphold the penalty, or put it back in the hands of the energy minister to reconsider the amount. Challenges of renewable transition The penalty is just one example of how the transition to more renewable energy has been challenging for Nova Scotia Power. The utility had to scramble to buy alternate fuels because of the Muskrat Falls delays, and the price was much higher than the hydro electricity would have been. Nova Scotia Power eventually secured a federal bailout to avoid a massive rate hike for customers. Nova Scotia has more renewable energy targets coming up, which also come with the risk of penalties. Nova Scotia Power is supposed to get off coal and hit 80 per cent renewable energy by 2030. The energy board has called the timeline "very tight." Adam Fremeth, an associate professor of business, economics and public policy at Western University, said the renewable transition is proving difficult for other jurisdictions, too. He said more hiccups should be expected. "The energy transition is not a linear process," he said. "It's up and down, there's obstacles that are … going to come in the way. Some are going to be technical, some of them are just going to be the nature of such a large change in a major industry." Fremeth, who specializes in the study of energy policy, said penalties for utilities that fail to hit renewable targets are common across North America. But, he added, many other jurisdictions have more clarity in their rules than Nova Scotia. He said he hopes the dispute between Nova Scotia Power and the provincial government leads to updates of Nova Scotia's renewable electricity regulations. "I think that type of development would be a positive turn for this," he said.

Vancouver Sun

2 hours ago

• Vancouver Sun

Majority of Canadians say Air India bombing not treated like national tragedy: poll

Forty years after the Air India bombing, the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history, more than half of Canadians say that it has never been treated like a national tragedy. On June 23, 1985, Canadian Sikh terrorists blew up a bomb aboard Air India Flight 182, en route from Montreal to London, with a final destination of Mumbai. The plane exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 people aboard. The debris washed up in Ireland. Of those aboard the plane, most of them were Canadian citizens. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Yet, 32 per cent of Canadians told the Angus Reid Institute that they had never heard of the attack. Just nine per cent said they know a lot about it. Among those who say they do know about the attack, 60 per cent say it hasn't been treated as a national tragedy. 'It continues to be not just a faded page in Canadian history, but almost a blank page, particularly among young people in this country, among young Canadians, the lack of awareness is really very stark,' said Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute. In fact, the pollsters found that if they asked Canadians what was the deadliest attack in Canadian history, only 17 per cent identified the Air India bombing. Twenty-seven per cent identified the Polytechnique massacre in Montreal in December 1989, which left 14 women dead, as the deadliest, followed by 18 per cent who said the mass shootings around Portapique, Nova Scotia, in 2020, which killed 22 people, as the deadliest. While one-third of Canadians say they'd never heard of the Air India bombing, a majority — 59 per cent — say they know the main details. However, the number of Canadians who don't know about it has grown to 32 per cent from 28 per cent two years ago. 'This has never actually been treated like a Canadian tragedy,' said Kurl. 'The vast majority of victims were not white and or not of European descent. It was 1985; that absolutely plays a role, or is a factor, in the way this was handled.' Knowledge is particularly low among the youngest Canadians. Just five per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34 say they know a lot about the attack, compared to seven per cent of those aged 35 to 54 and 15 per cent of those 55 and older. Those who say they know a little bit, just the main details, are concentrated in the eldest demographic too, with 74 per cent saying they know at least that much. 'How have 40 years gone by? How have 268 Canadian citizens been murdered, and our country has not just forgotten this, the data shows us, for many, particularly for younger adults today, is they just never knew anything about it,' said Kurl. In the aftermath of the attack, only one person, Inderjit Singh Reyat, was convicted, and he pleaded guilty to manslaughter for a bombing that killed two Japanese airport workers at Narita International Airport; it was supposed to bring down a second Air India flight. Only 29 per cent of Canadians can report accurately that nobody was convicted; in 2023, when pollsters asked the same question, 34 per cent knew the truth. Seventy-one per cent believe there should be an exhibit about the bombing at the Canadian Museum of History and 65 per cent say it should be taught in schools. Fewer of those polled, just 41 per cent, support displaying wreckage from the bombed plane in Canada. There are a number of conspiracies about the Air India bombing, and the polling finds that 51 per cent of those polled believe there is too much disinformation about what really happened. One conspiracy theory blames the Indian government for the attack. In fact, 10 per cent of Canadians believe the Indian government was behind the attack, while 28 per cent correctly identify violent factions within the Khalistan movement. (Sixty-one per cent of Canadians say they don't know who was responsible.) There will be ceremonies across the country to mark the anniversary of the bombing, and 13 per cent of Canadians say they would be interested in attending a memorial service, a number that holds roughly consistent across the country, except in Atlantic Canada, where 21 per cent say they would be interested. Such services have led to controversy as some attendees in the past have belonged to the Sikhs for Justice group, which supports the establishment of a Sikh homeland, and which believes one of the alleged architects of the attack is in fact innocent. Sixty-three per cent of Canadians say it is inappropriate for Khalistan supporters to attend such a memorial, including 69 per cent of those who say they know a lot about the Air India bombing. 'It's striking to see that in five or 10 years, a lot of the people who have tried to carry this torch of awareness while at the same time continuing to grieve for their loved ones, they're going to be gone. They're not going to be here anymore,' said Kurl. The polling was conducted online between June 13 and June 15, 2025, among a sample of 1,607 Canadian adults. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to region, gender, age, household income, and education, based on the Canadian census. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .