Canada has identified state-sponsored programs in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as major cyber crime threats for the first time, and says it fears foreign actors could try to disrupt power supplies.
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The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) signals intelligence agency said the programs posed the greatest strategic threat to Canada.
"State-sponsored cyber activity is generally the most sophisticated threat," CSE said in its second national cyber threat assessment.
CSE's first study, released in 2018, mentioned foreign-based actors without identifying them. In July, Canada, Britain and the United States accused Russian-backed hackers of trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine data.
China and Russia have repeatedly denied trying to break into other nations' critical infrastructure.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Canada's claims were groundless and China was itself a victim of cyber attacks.
Canada's relations with China have soured notably during the past two years.
"We certainly have a long history of noting behaviour from China that isn't in accordance with what our expectations are," Scott Jones, head of cyber security at CSE, told reporters.
Jones did not answer directly when asked why the four nations had been named.
CSE said it was very unlikely hackers would try to cause major damage or kill people in the absence of war.
But they "may target critical Canadian organisations to ... pre-position for future activities, or as a form of intimidation", it said.
"State-sponsored actors are very likely attempting to develop the additional cyber capabilities required to disrupt the supply of electricity."
Australian Associated Press
