QUEBEC CITY -- States are financing attacks against the computer systems of the Quebec government, said Minister for Government Digital Transformation Éric Caire on Friday.
"It is clear that there are well-organized, well-financed groups of hackers in the world, and that these groups are organized and financed through states, and that they target us," said Caire.
He refused to indicate which states are involved and took the trouble to specify that he had to be careful.
The question was asked in the context of Canada's strained relations with China.
States could be interested in the government's data banks in multiple fields, from health services to land data, the minister said.
China, for example, could then acquire land in Quebec, the minister added.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 1, 2021.
