The intrusion was detected and the Council’s IT system was “isolated” to ensure no other Government operated departments are compromised. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was in Beijing and was scheduled to hold a press conference. but it was canceled most probably due to above incident. In response to CBC questions, spokesman Rick Roth from Baird’s office said that Canada did not cancel any events as they were guests in China. Roth also said Baird raised this issue with his Chinese counterpart and the two had a “full and frank exchange of views.” The National Research Council said that it is working closely with its IT experts and security partners to create a new secure IT infrastructure that will take upto 1 years to complete.This is not the first time when Chinese hackers have infiltrated computer system of western governments.  Recent studies show that Chinese state sponsored groups have been active in hacking and stealing defence data from western defence agencies.  In may, the Justice Department of U.S charged five members of a Chinese military group for carrying economical cyber espionage against US businesses followed by a cyber intrusion to gains access to data on U.S. Federal Employees. and adding up the latest from earlier this month when U.S charged a Chinese businessman for stealing Boeing and US Military Aircraft Intel. 

Canada Blames China of hacking into National Research Council   TechWorm - 59