Un ensemble de documents de renseignement Americans Sunk wants hackers, backed by Russia, to have succeeded in gaining access to Canada's natural gas distribution network. A revelation that does not surprise cybersecurity experts.

Oil and gas infrastructure in Canada and around the world is regularly targeted by cybercriminals for financial gain, as well as state-sponsored hackers looking to sow chaos according to experts in cybersecurity. According to Lesley Carhart of the industrial cybersecurity company Dragos, the oil and gas industry is an attractive target for those looking to engage in cyber espionage and sabotage.

For her, the probability of hackers succeeding in disrupting energy supplies or harming people or property through a cyberattack linked to oil and natural gas remains very low. She believes that if a hacker gains access to an oil or gas company's computer servers, it could take years of monitoring for them to learn enough about business processes and internal security safeguards to actually cause an incident.