FINTRAC took corporate systems offline after a March 2024 cyber incident
- Organization
- Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)
- Exploit
- Hacking
- Industry
- Government
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, the country's financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering watchdog, took its corporate systems offline in early March 2024 after detecting a cyber incident on March 2.
FINTRAC described the shutdown as a precaution intended to protect the integrity of its systems and the information the centre holds. The agency stressed that the incident did not involve its intelligence or classified systems. It gave no detail about the nature of the attack, leaving it unclear whether the intruders were financially motivated or were seeking access to financial intelligence.
The centre said it was working closely with federal partners, including the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, to protect and restore its systems. The incident followed cyberattacks on other Canadian federal bodies earlier in 2024, among them the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the foreign ministry.
Systems remained offline for weeks. In an update reported on March 22, FINTRAC said forensic work carried out with the Cyber Centre and other federal partners had found no evidence that any information had been removed from its systems or that any information was lost, and that it would return to full operational capacity as soon as it was safe and prudent to do so.