Sensitive information collected by Ottawa about Canadians is vulnerable to cyber-attacks because the government has failed to monitor and update its electronic security systems, the federal Auditor-General said yesterday. . . .
Sensitive information collected by Ottawa about Canadians is vulnerable to cyber-attacks because the government has failed to monitor and update its electronic security systems, the federal Auditor-General said yesterday.

Hackers who sneak past potential weaknesses in e-security could view personal information, delete data and use the government sites as a launching pad for viruses or hoaxes on the Internet, Sheila Fraser warned.

In testing 260 government host systems -- Internet-based networks meant to have controlled access -- the Auditor-General found 85 that could be compromised by hackers. One system, which was not identified because of security concerns, posed "an imminent threat" to security, and the department involved was alerted immediately.

In the worst example, staff had failed to set an administrator password for the system, so there was nothing stopping easy access from outside Internet users. This was a serious oversight that could have allowed hackers to hop around supposedly secure government sites, picking up private information or perpetrating hoaxes by misusing government logos -- a risk to the country's reputation abroad.

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