Business

Suncor Energy cyberattack could prove ‘sizable incident,’ security expert warns

Published

1 year ago

June 26, 2023

Suncor Energy Inc. falling victim to a cyberattack may be the most significant cybersecurity breach of an oil and gas company thus far in Canadian history, experts say.

The Calgary-based oil company has provided no details about the attack or which parts of its operations were affected, saying simply in a news release issued late Sunday that it had “experienced a cybersecurity incident.”

The confirmation followed days of public speculation, after social media users complained on Twitter over the weekend about an inability to use credit or debit cards at the company’s chain of Petro-Canada gas stations in multiple major Canadian cities, as well as difficulties accessing car wash services.

On June 24, Petro-Canada’s official Twitter account also issued a tweet saying that the company’s Petro-Points app and website were temporarily unavailable.

As of mid-day June 26, some of Suncor’s Petro-Canada sites remained cash-only, and its app and Petro-Points login were unavailable. Car washes were also unavailable at some locations, the company said via social media.

Ian L. Paterson, chief executive officer of Vancouver-based cybersecurity company Plurilock Security Inc., said these public-facing issues could be “just the tip of the iceberg.” He added that as early as June 23, he was also hearing about Suncor employees being unable to log in to their own internal accounts.

“All of these things put together seem to suggest that there could be a sizable cyber incident that’s taking place,” Paterson said, cautioning that much is still unknown about the current situation.

“I think that this actually could be the Canadian Colonial Pipeline, just in the sense that Suncor is such a large part of the economy.”

@petrocanada would you please fix your mobile app/system. Not able to logon for the whole day!

— DHO (@tbills30) June 23, 2023

In 2021, a ransomware attack successfully targeted the Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the U.S.

It was the largest cyberattack on oil infrastructure in the history of the United States, and forced the company to temporarily halt pipeline operations.

Although the pipeline was only shut down for a few days, the disruption in the U.S. fuel supply caused the rerouting of flights, panic buying and short-term price spikes.

In Canada, there hasn’t been a publicized, large-scale, successful cyberattack on a domestic oil and gas company, though in April an apparent release of Pentagon documents onto social media sites contained a claim by Russian-backed hackers that they had successfully accessed Canada’s natural gas infrastructure.

The leaked documents did not name a specific company, and the legitimacy of that claim remains unclear.

However, cybersecurity experts have been warning for years that this country’s energy industry is an attractive target for cybercriminals.

Earlier this year, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) — part of the federal Communications Security Establishment, which provides the government of Canada with information technology security and foreign signals intelligence — warned that the oil and gas sector attracts “more than its share” of attention from cybercriminals.

The CCCS said that is because of the high value of the industry’s assets and “the degree of customer dependence on the industry’s products,” adding that cybercriminals motivated by financial gain are the top cyber threats facing the Canadian oil and gas sector.

“We assess that ransomware is almost certainly the main threat to the supply of oil and gas to customers,” the agency wrote in a report.

“Since oil and gas organizations are part of Canadian critical infrastructure, they are attractive targets for extortion because of the importance of these products and services to Canadians.”

The CCCS also warned that while politically motivated attacks are less likely, state-sponsored or state-aligned cybercriminals — including those with ties to Russia, China and Iran — have targeted the global energy sector in the past for both espionage purposes as well as with an intent to create mayhem.

“The cybersecurity industry as a whole, and certainly governments both at the federal level and others, have been sounding the alarm for many years that critical infrastructure in particular is vulnerable,” Paterson said.

“This has the potential to be very, very serious for Suncor, and it’s not really a surprise.”

There is no indication that any of Suncor’s critical infrastructure, such as oilsands facilities or refineries, have been affected by the incident.

The company said there is also no evidence that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused.
Paterson said in the best-case scenario, Suncor will have caught the breach quickly. But he said it’s also possible that it could take the company a very long time to resolve the issue.

“The problem here is that it’s such a large operation with multiple subsidiaries with such an expansive set of services,” he said.

“If the threat actor has been present and persistent for a long time, it could take a very long time to root them out.”

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Business

Federal $500M bailout for Muskrat Falls power delays to keep N.S. rate hikes in check

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.

Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”

Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.

The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.

Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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Business

Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

Published

3 days ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

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Business

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

Published

4 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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