The Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) complex in Ottawa, on Oct. 15, 2013.
Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Tech giant Microsoft Corp. says Canada was among the targets of a major hack that is believed to have been carried out by Russian intelligence against U.S. government computer systems, private companies and others around the world.
Ottawa has said little about the sophisticated cybersecurity breach. However, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said Texas-based SolarWinds Inc.’s’ widely used network-management software was targeted in order to breach government and corporate networks.
Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a blog late Thursday that his company was hacked in connection with the attack on SolarWinds and that Canada was also hit.
“While roughly 80 per cent of these customers are located in the United States, this work so far has also identified victims in seven additional countries,” Mr. Smith said. “This includes Canada and Mexico in North America; Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom in Europe; and Israel and the UAE in the Middle East. It’s certain that the number and location of victims will keep growing.”
Mr. Smith said more than 40 organizations were hacked including U.S. government agencies, companies with contracts with the U.S. government, tech companies and think tanks. He suggested Russia was behind the hack, pointing to the cybertechniques the country used in the 2016 U.S. election and French presidential election of 2017.
But he said this sophisticated cyberintrusion is far more worrying.
“This is not ‘espionage as usual,’ even in the digital age. Instead, it represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world,” he wrote. “The recent attackers used a technique that has put at risk the technology supply chain for the broader economy.”
Canada’s Communications Security Establishment, which is responsible for electronic surveillance and cybersecurity, said Friday that it is assessing the situation and working to ensure federal information technology (IT) systems and networks remain secure.
“While this situation remains ongoing, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is actively engaged with our government and non-government partners sharing cybersecurity advice and guidance, mitigation, and operational updates,” CSE spokesperson Evan Koronewski said in an e-mail.
Mr. Koronewski said the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, a unit of CSE, has issued a Cyber Alert with recommended actions and mitigation advice including isolating SolarWinds servers and blocking internet egress from servers or other endpoints with SolarWinds software.
“The Cyber Centre does not comment on reporting by Canadian organizations regarding cyber incidents. As a result, we do not have any further information to add on potential targets and/or victims,” he added.
The Department of National Defence (DND) said it had used SolarWinds products in the past.
“The contracts for SolarWinds software identified, used at CFB Shilo, expired about ten years ago and did not involve the specific vulnerable version reported by U.S. agencies,” said Daniel Le Bouthillier, head of media relations at National Defence.
However, he said DND is assessing and monitoring “our systems to ensure our personnel, operations and capabilities are protected.” He provided no further comment.
Shared Services Canada, which manages the majority of Ottawa’s IT infrastructure, said that at this point, none of the SolarWinds platforms and products used by the government have been affected by the incident.
“As this is an ongoing issue, Shared Services Canada continues to assess the situation and is working with its government partners to ensure networks remain secure,” the department said Friday.
The U.S. government’s CISA said the hacking operation, which is believed to have started in March, breached U.S. federal agencies and “critical infrastructure” in an attack that was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo.
“This threat actor has demonstrated sophistication and complex tradecraft in these intrusions,” CISA said. “Removing the threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging.”
CISA has not said who it thinks is the “advanced persistent threat actor” behind the “significant and ongoing” campaign, but many experts are pointing to Russia.
“The magnitude of this ongoing attack is hard to overstate,” former U.S. Homeland Security adviser Thomas Bossert said in an article in The New York Times. “The Russians have had access to a considerable number of important and sensitive networks for six to nine months.”
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had nothing to do with this hack.
“Even if it is true [that] there have been some attacks over many months and the Americans managed to do nothing about them, possibly it is wrong to groundlessly blame Russians right away,” Mr. Peskov told the Russian news agency Tass.
President-elect Joe Biden vowed to make the breach a top priority when he takes office in early January.
“We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place,” he said in a statement. “We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in co-ordination with our allies and partners.”
Most job search advice is cookie-cutter. The advice you’re following is almost certainly the same advice other job seekers follow, making you just another candidate following the same script.
In today’s hyper-competitive job market, standing out is critical, a challenge most job seekers struggle with. Instead of relying on generic questions recommended by self-proclaimed career coaches, which often lead to a forgettable interview, ask unique, thought-provoking questions that’ll spark engaging conversations and leave a lasting impression.
Your level of interest in the company and the role.
Contributing to your employer’s success is essential.
You desire a cultural fit.
Here are the top four questions experts recommend candidates ask; hence, they’ve become cliché questions you should avoid asking:
“What are the key responsibilities of this position?”
Most likely, the job description answers this question. Therefore, asking this question indicates you didn’t read the job description. If you require clarification, ask, “How many outbound calls will I be required to make daily?” “What will be my monthly revenue target?”
“What does a typical day look like?”
Although it’s important to understand day-to-day expectations, this question tends to elicit vague responses and rarely leads to a deeper conversation. Don’t focus on what your day will look like; instead, focus on being clear on the results you need to deliver. Nobody I know has ever been fired for not following a “typical day.” However, I know several people who were fired for failing to meet expectations. Before accepting a job offer, ensure you’re capable of meeting the employer’s expectations.
“How would you describe the company culture?”
Asking this question screams, “I read somewhere to ask this question.” There are much better ways to research a company’s culture, such as speaking to current and former employees, reading online reviews and news articles. Furthermore, since your interviewer works for the company, they’re presumably comfortable with the culture. Do you expect your interviewer to give you the brutal truth? “Be careful of Craig; get on his bad side, and he’ll make your life miserable.” “Bob is close to retirement. I give him lots of slack, which the rest of the team needs to pick up.”
Truism: No matter how much due diligence you do, only when you start working for the employer will you experience and, therefore, know their culture firsthand.
“What opportunities are there for professional development?”
When asked this question, I immediately think the candidate cares more about gaining than contributing, a showstopper. Managing your career is your responsibility, not your employer’s.
Cliché questions don’t impress hiring managers, nor will they differentiate you from your competition. To transform your interaction with your interviewer from a Q&A session into a dynamic discussion, ask unique, insightful questions.
Here are my four go-to questions—I have many more—to accomplish this:
“Describe your management style. How will you manage me?”
This question gives your interviewer the opportunity to talk about themselves, which we all love doing. As well, being in sync with my boss is extremely important to me. The management style of who’ll be my boss is a determining factor in whether or not I’ll accept the job.
“What is the one thing I should never do that’ll piss you off and possibly damage our working relationship beyond repair?”
This question also allows me to determine whether I and my to-be boss would be in sync. Sometimes I ask, “What are your pet peeves?”
“When I join the team, what would be the most important contribution you’d want to see from me in the first six months?”
Setting myself up for failure is the last thing I want. As I mentioned, focus on the results you need to produce and timelines. How realistic are the expectations? It’s never about the question; it’s about what you want to know. It’s important to know whether you’ll be able to meet or even exceed your new boss’s expectations.
“If I wanted to sell you on an idea or suggestion, what do you need to know?”
Years ago, a candidate asked me this question. I was impressed he wasn’t looking just to put in time; he was looking for how he could be a contributing employee. Every time I ask this question, it leads to an in-depth discussion.
Other questions I’ve asked:
“What keeps you up at night?”
“If you were to leave this company, who would follow?”
“How do you handle an employee making a mistake?”
“If you were to give a Ted Talk, what topic would you talk about?”
“What are three highly valued skills at [company] that I should master to advance?”
“What are the informal expectations of the role?”
“What is one misconception people have about you [or the company]?”
Your questions reveal a great deal about your motivations, drive to make a meaningful impact on the business, and a chance to morph the questioning into a conversation. Cliché questions don’t lead to meaningful discussions, whereas unique, thought-provoking questions do and, in turn, make you memorable.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
CALGARY – Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported a third-quarter profit of $2.27 billion, down from $2.34 billion in the same quarter last year.
The company says the profit amounted to $1.06 per diluted share for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 compared with $1.06 per diluted share a year earlier.
Product sales totalled $10.40 billion, down from $11.76 billion in the same quarter last year.
Daily production for the quarter averaged 1,363,086 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 1,393,614 a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Canadian Natural says it earned 97 cents per diluted share for the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1.30 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 90 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
CALGARY – Cenovus Energy Inc. reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year as its revenue edged lower.
The company says it earned $820 million or 42 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $1.86 billion or 97 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $14.25 billion, down from $14.58 billion in the same quarter last year.
Total upstream production in the quarter amounted to 771,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 797,000 a year earlier.
Total downstream throughput was 642,900 barrels per day compared with 664,300 in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Cenovus says its funds flow amounted to $1.05 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from adjusted funds flow of $1.81 per diluted share a year earlier.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
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