Canadian Security Intelligence Service Website Temporarily Down After Cyberattack

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) website was temporarily down due to a cyberattack on Monday, making it the second such attack in less than two weeks on a Canadian government website. A report by CTV News, which cited sources, said that the latest hit was a denial of service attack.

Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for the ministry of public safety and emergency preparedness, said, according to CTV News, that the website was temporarily offline and that "no information has been breached. We are taking cybersecurity very seriously."

The report said, citing sources, that the person behind the latest attack had conducted several attacks against many Canadian municipal and police websites before. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by a person using the Twitter account @TWITRis4tards, Global News, a local news website, reported. However, authorities have not confirmed the identity of the hacker.

The suspect is reportedly trying to drive the attention of the authorities toward Bill C-51, which was passed in February and gave the Canadian government power to intervene and stop "violent Islamic jihadi terrorists" supporting the Islamic State group.

The hacker also reportedly believes that a teenager, who was charged in November last year for calling in fake emergencies that led police teams to investigate the incident, was framed.

Less than two weeks back, many government websites, including ServiceCanada.gc.ca and Parl.gc.ca, were attacked, for which the Anonymous group claimed responsibility, according to CTV News. However, unlike the previous attacks, sources told CTV News that this time the person was working alone.