Massive software flaw with global reach forces Quebec to shut government websites

MONTREAL — Quebec says it is shutting down almost 4,000 government websites as a preventative measure following threats of a cyberattack.

Minister of Digital Transformation Éric Caire held a press conference today in Quebec City, announcing the decision to shut all the province’s official websites until further notice. 

The closure comes on the heels of a recently discovered software vulnerability in a Java-based library of an Apache product, which the Department of National Defence says could affect thousands of organizations worldwide. 

Caire says the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, used widely around the world, has assessed the current threat at a 10 out of 10.

He says Quebec was made aware of the issue on Friday and has been working ever since to identify which websites are at risk, one by one, before putting them back online. 

He says there has been no indication that systems have been compromised.

Videos

Slide

Slide

Slide

Slide

Slide

Federal Defence Minister Anita Anande issued a statement today saying  the government is aware of the security risk and calling on Canadian organizations to “pay attention to this critical internet vulnerability. ” 

The Canadian Press