According to documents that have recently been obtained by Bloomberg News this month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Public Safety Department, and Communications Security Establishment Canada, have all investigated threats that have been made against the Canadian oil industry by the Anonymous hacker group. Oil companies working in Canada's oil sands have been warned that they could face a cyber-attack.
Thomas Dean, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Queen's University where he researches software security, has said that Anonymous are attracted to high profile projects such as the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and that the chance of attack increases each time the industry makes international headlines.
The RCMP released a report in 2011 following a thorough investigation, in which they stated that "with this most recent threat, Anonymous could target or be targeting the IT infrastructures" of companies including BP Plc, Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc. and Nexen Inc.
"Anonymous has demonstrated that it can effectively mount cyber-attacks with the potential to disrupt corporate or government operations."
The report found that Anonymous has already infiltrated Toronto's police, the Bank of America Corp., and the Australian and Syrian governments.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More