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Daily Brief

The PSEPC Daily Brief is a compilation of summaries of publicly available and PSEPC information concerning critical infrastructure protection and emergency management.

DOB05-247 - 28 December 2005

News

Eastern Canada hit with major winter storm
Beginning December 26, a major winter storm battered parts of Quebec and the Maritimes with heavy snow, freezing rain and high winds, causing numerous power outages, airline delays, dangerous driving conditions and storm surges. In total, approximately 70,000 homes and businesses in Quebec lost their electricity due to high winds and ice build-up on power lines. By the morning of December 27, all but 5,000 homes had their electricity restored. The storm has moved on to Newfoundland and Labrador with 40 cm of snow expected in some areas of the province.
(Source: cbc.ca , cbc.ca MONTREAL , 27 December 2005)
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Canadian beef back in some Tokyo supermarkets
On December 27, Canadian beef was placed back on some supermarket shelves in Tokyo, Japan, following the lifting of a two-year ban on imports.
Entry into Japan’s market is considered key to the long-term recovery plan of Canada's beef industry, which has suffered $7-billion in lost exports since bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in an Alberta cow in 2003.
(Source: GLOBEANDMAIL.COM , 27 December 2005)
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On December 11, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a news release announcing that Japan agreed to reopen its border to Canadian beef and selected beef products from cattle aged 20 months and younger.

In brief

Avian Influenza: Update
The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed two additional cases of human avian influenza H5N1 infection, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 16. The two victims have died from the illness.

Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed that a total of 73 people have died due to infection from the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
(Source: World Health Organization , 23 December 2005)
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Alaskan earthquake prompts tsunami information bulletin for B.C.
On December 24, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck the Rat Islands and Aleutian Islands in Alaska, prompting the West Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami information bulletin to Alaska, Washington, B.C., Oregon and California. The bulletin stated that the earthquake was not sufficient to generate a tsunami.
(Source: USGS , National Weather Service , 24 December 2005)
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The Geological Survey of Canada provides an explanation of the Richter scale.

The B.C. Provincial Emergency Program provides information on tsunami preparedness .

Cyber risk assessment

Over the course of the past 5 days, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has become aware of a new vulnerability that affects Microsoft Windows. This vulnerability has been tested and proven to work against Windows 2003 Server SP0 and SP1 and fully patched Windows XP SP1 and SP2. At this time there is no patch available from Microsoft however, Anti-Virus vendors are releasing out of sequence updates to deal with this vulnerability.

No significant incidents with the potential to affect critical infrastructure have been reported. Accordingly, based on the information available to CCIRC, the cyber risk facing Canadian critical infrastructure is assessed as low. Personnel responsible for information, systems and network security should continue to apply appropriate security precautions and monitor their systems.

See also...

• The Weather Office
• FAC - Travel Updates

Note to readers

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) collects information related to cyber and physical threats to, and incidents involving, Canadian critical infrastructure. This allows us to monitor and analyze threats and to issue alerts, advisories and other information products.

Any suspected criminal activity should be reported to local law enforcement organizations. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) National Operations Centre (NOC) provides a 24/7 service to receive such reports or to redirect callers to local law enforcement organizations. The NOC can be reached at (613) 993-4460. National security concerns should be reported to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) at (613) 993-9620.

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