Qulliq Energy

History

2023: Hacker Attack

In mid-January 2023, Canada's major electricity supplier Qulliq Energy was hit by a cyber attack that knocked computers out of service and left its customers unable to pay for services using bank cards. A substation in the city of Nunavut was damaged.

Representatives of Qulliq Energy said that the attack began on January 15, 2023, and although power plants continue to operate normally, computer systems in the customer service and administrative offices of the corporation are not available. The company cannot accept credit card payments, but customers can pay bills in cash or bank transfers.

Qulliq Energy computers don't work, customers can't pay for services

The region's prime minister, Joe Savikataak, said in a statement that the government was working with Qulliq Energy to address the aftermath of the incident, and several Canadian government departments had provided information security personnel, as well as legal advice.

Qulliq Energy plans to notify any customers whose details were stolen during the incident, but is urging people to monitor their bank and credit card accounts for unusual activity. Customers were also asked to change passwords in case hackers gained access to accounts. The company still has phone lines for those who need to report outages or other issues. Qulliq Energy CEO Rick Hunt said the company activated its response plan as soon as it became aware of the potential problem. Qulliq Energy on January 23, 2023 is still trying to determine what information may have been stolen or obtained during the attack.

The population of Nunavut is about 40 thousand people, this is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated regions and is best known for Alert, the northernmost permanently populated place on Earth.^[1]

Notes