MPs, senator ask why government didn't warn them they were targeted by China-backed hackers

Canadian parliamentarians say they were warned recently that they had been targeted by China-affiliated hackers — and now they're wondering why that warning didn't come from the federal government or any of Canada's security services.

«It is unacceptable that we were not informed,» Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told the House of Commons Monday, after rising on a question of privilege.

Genuis said the FBI told the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) that members of the international organization had been hit with a pixel reconnaissance cyberattack launched by a suspected Beijing-controlled entity in 2021.

He and other Canadian IPAC members only found out last week, he said.

«This was part of a coordinated attack,» Genuis said.

«This was identified as a progressive reconnaissance attack — an attack aimed at gathering useful information to be used for subsequent escalating attacks against us.»

Liberal MP John McKay, another targeted member of IPAC, told CBC News he received a verbal briefing from the group's executive director warning him that the hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT31) was behind the attack and had access to members' computers. The U.K. and U.S. allege the group is an arm of China's Ministry of State Security.

«The problem is that this attack is vague. And it's not clear to me how any information could be accessed or could be used,» McKay said.

«It's a bit disconcerting.»

The story was first reported by the Globe and Mail Monday morning.

«The way I understand it, it's either something or it's nothing,» said McKay.

«I would like to be informed as to whether I should be concerned and, if so, how concerned? And if so, what remedies can I take to protect myself?»

FBI told countries 'several years