Councillor who took city IT gear to Russia 'lacked prudence': Gatineau mayor
The mayor of Gatineau, Que., is faulting a city councillor for travelling to Russia with municipal IT equipment, though she assured reporters that city systems do not appear to have been compromised.
Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette responded to the controversy around Coun. Mike Duggan's trip, first reported by Le Droit on Monday. She did not reveal the nature of the equipment, saying that an "analysis" of the situation is ongoing.
"I think that Mr. Duggan lacked prudence in this choice he made to go onto Russian territory with city IT material," she said in French on Monday.
In a text message exchange with Radio-Canada, Duggan declined an interview and neither confirmed nor denied making a trip to Russia. In a subsequent email exchange with CBC, he said his private life is not a valid subject for public reporting and said he would not discuss sensitive matters of information security.
"The current Russophobia, widespread in public discourse, obviously prevents me from making any comments so long as emotions have not calmed down and the facts haven't had the possibility of being taken into account," he said in a French-language email.
City acted 'promptly,' mayor says
Marquis-Bissonnette said the city has protocols to prevent intrusion into its IT systems. She said the city acted "promptly," and that Duggan handed over the material and is co-operating with city employees.
"What seems to be demonstrated is that the servers of the city have not been compromised by the situation," Marquis-Bissonnette confirmed.
Global Affairs Canada advises Canadians against all travel to Russia due to the impacts of the armed conflict with Ukraine and the risk of terrorism.
Duggan is the councillor for Pointe-Gatineau and sits on multiple city committees, including the audit committee and finance committee.
In 2022, Duggan said in council chambers that "certain members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are engaging in a war against Russia on Ukrainian soil."
One cybersecurity expert said Russia may be particularly interested in a politician from Gatineau because of that city's location across the Ottawa River from the capital, and its role hosting major federal government institutions and offices. Gatineau is seen in this drone image from July 2023, taken from the Ottawa side of the river. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)
Councillor should face consequences, expert says
Steve Waterhouse, a former information systems security officer with the Department of National Defence, said travellers should always be aware of cyberrisks abroad. He said Russia is one of the main cyberthreats to Canada and routinely tries to hack devices from Western countries brought to Russian territory.
He said Russian internet service providers would quickly detect that devices are from North America and would likely pass the information onto Russian intelligence services, which could then access the telephone or computer through tampering with hotel WiFi, or through a "microcellular site."
Waterhouse said the Russians might be particularly interested in a Gatineau municipal councillor because of the city's location and its role hosting major federal government institutions.
"I hope there will be some kind of punishment against the way he's acted," said Waterhouse, who is also a lecturer in the microprogram in information protection at the University of Sherbrooke.
If the Russians were able to penetrate Gatineau's systems, he said, they could introduce malicious software that could lie dormant and collect information. The City of Gatineau could also run the risk of a ransomware attack, he said.
Alternatively, a breach could open the door for a cyberattack directly sabotaging critical infrastructure, much like the attacks on municipal water systems in the United States.
