Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report
The Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report is a compilation of summaries of publicly available emergency management information concerning critical infrastructure.
A summary of feedback results is now available.
News | Cyber tracking | Relevant links | Note to readers
DIR10-120 - June 23, 2010
News
Heavy rains in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan: Update
To update on Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report DIR10-119, on June 22, the Calgary Herald reported clean-up efforts were underway for Medicine Hat; however the local state of emergency remains. Some parks and roads remain closed. The priority is on assessing the damage to homes and businesses; however, it is still unknown how long it will be before flood-stained buildings are considered safe. The Edmonton Journal reported that portions of the Trans-Canada Highway reopened on June 22. The artery was open to local traffic only and the crossing into Saskatchewan remained closed.
The National Post reported that CP Rail was rerouting freight traffic, some via other carriers, after flooding damaged its transcontinental line. CP had its tracks between Maple Creek, in southwestern Saskatchewan, and Medicine Hat, in southeastern Alberta, knocked out on June 18. CP was unsure how long the line would be closed but issued a service bulletin on June 20 indicating that it was expected to be out for at least three days. CP was redirecting traffic, which includes grain, cars and consumer goods, onto its own northern line as well over lines in Canada and the United States.
On June 22, Alberta Environment issued a Flood Warning Update, which indicated that a High Streamflow Advisory was issued for the South Saskatchewan River including the City of Medicine Hat and for all tributaries flowing north out of the Cypress Hills.
Source article – Calgary Herald, June 23, 2010
Source article – Edmonton Journal, June 23, 2010
Source article – National Post, June 23, 2010
Source article – Radio-Canada, June 22, 2010
Source article – Alberta Environment, June 22, 2010
Public Safety Canada Geomatics provides a map of the affected areas.
For Alberta, the AMA provides current road reports.
For Saskatchewan, the Government of Saskatchewan provides current road reports.
Airspace restrictions come into effect for G8 Summit
On June 22, The G8-G20 Integrated Security Unit announced that airspace restrictions issued by Transport Canada for the G8 Summit will come into effect on June 24 at 04:00 EDT and will remain in place until June 26 at 16:00 EDT. The RCMP reminds pilot operators who plan on accessing the airspace within 30NM around Deerhurst to review the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM – Toronto FIR). Additionally, all aircraft operating within the airspace must have mode C transponder capability.
Source article - G8-G20 Integrated Security Unit, June 22, 2010
NAV CANADA provides more information on flight restrictions for the G8 and G20 summits, including NOTAMs.
Leamington ends state of emergency
To update on Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report DIR10-110, The Windsor Star reported that Leamington, Ontario, lifted its state of emergency on June 22, more than two weeks after a tornado struck the south section of the community. Access and private roads are now open. Leamington Mayor John Adams indicated that cleanup will continue over the next several weeks but that the community is now in recovery mode. The F1 tornado caused an estimated $2 million damage. Leamington has received $800,000 in emergency funding from the province and has applied for financial assistance under the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program.
Source article – The Windsor Star, June 23, 2010
CFIA issues Health Hazard Alert for certain Montréal smoked meat products due to possible Listeria: Update
To update on Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report DIR10-115, on June 22, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued an Expanded Health Hazard Alert regarding Lesters brand Montréal Smoked Meat pouches that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The update was issued to include additional distribution information.
Source article - Canadian Food Inspection Agency, June 22, 2010
The CFIA provides more information about Listeria monocytogenes.
Spam campaign with Zeus malware using terrorism theme
On June 21, The New New Internet reported that a recent spam campaign containing Zeus malware has used concerns over terrorism to send messages that appear to be sent by the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration and Department of Defense. Recently, researchers at Sophos Labs discovered a low-yield campaign that targets government users with enticing subjects like “Report on Defending and Operating in a Contested Cyber Domain” and “RE: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.” The e-mails contain links to the supposed reports, which actually are zip files containing the Zeus Trojan.
Source article - The New New Internet, June 21, 2010
Tool uses clues to help ID actual attackers
On June 22, DarkReading reported that in July 2010, a researcher at Black Hat USA plans to give away a homemade tool that helps organizations find information about the actual attacker behind malware. Malware writers leave clues that can help identify certain information such as their native tongue, their geographic location and their ties to other attacks, which could lead to their true identities. Greg Hoglund, founder and CEO of HBGary, has been studying malware from the Operation Aurora attack that hit Google, Adobe, Intel and others, as well as from GhostNet, In both cases, he discovered key characteristics about the attackers. Mr. Hoglund indicated that the key is to gather and correlate all of the characteristic "markers" in the malware that can, in turn, be traced to a specific malware writer.
Source article – DarkReading, June 22, 2010
Cyber tracking
CCIRC security publications
Over the course of the past 24 hours, CCIRC has not released any security publications.
CCIRC provides a list of recent and archived security publications.
Threat and vulnerability monitoring
CCIRC is currently tracking the following computer-based threats and vulnerabilities for relevant impact on Canadian critical infrastructure. Personnel responsible for information, systems and network security should continue to monitor and apply appropriate security precautions.
Relevant links
Below are links to sites related to Canada’s critical infrastructure.
- Food Recalls and Allergy Alerts
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
- Health Advisories, Warnings and Recalls
Health Canada
- Disease Outbreak News
World Health Organization
- Travel Health Notices
Public Health Agency of Canada
- Transportation - Safety
Transport Canada
- Travel Reports and Warnings
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
- Weather warnings for Canada
Environment Canada
- Earthquakes
Earthquakes Canada
- Hurricanes
Canadian Hurricane Centre
- Hurricanes
U.S. National Hurricane Center
- News Releases
Infrastructure Canada
-
Note to readers
Public Safety Canada collects information related to cyber and physical threats to, and events concerning, Canadian critical infrastructure. This allows Public Safety Canada to monitor and analyze threats and to issue alerts, advisories and other information products.
Links to sites not under the control of the Government of Canada are provided solely for the convenience of users. The Government of Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The Government of Canada does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.
Public Safety Canada respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that information products are available in both English and French. However, users should be aware that some links direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written.