An international group of hacker activists known as Anonymous have been identified as having possibly set their sights on the computer systems of companies working to develop the oil sands industry Bloomberg reports.
According to the aforementioned report, Canadian security agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the public safety department and Communications Security Establishment Canada have all conducted investigations into the potential threat. According to documents obtained by Bloomberg News under the freedom of information laws, threats were investigated from the start of 2011 up until mid-March of this year.
An attack, if one were to occur, would target the computer systems of companies such as Imperial Oil, who are heavily involved (and invested) in developing Alberta’s burgeoning oil sands industry. The industry has been an economic and social lightning rod of sorts given the carbon footprint and environmental repercussions of the extracting process.
Following a July 2011 press release from the group Anonymous that lashed out against the oil sands companies, the RCMP conducted a threat assessment. According to the assessment, corporate security officers were requested to verify that the security functionality of their mail and web serves be double checked and tested.
The oil sands industry represents a major target for another reason. The high profile Keystone XL pipeline project which would have seen Alberta oil shipped across the border into the U.S. would have been just the type of project that would attract hackers and activists.
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