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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.

DOB05-249 - 30 December 2005

News

CCIRC releases Update to Advisory AV05-038
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB05-248, on December 29 the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) released an Update to Advisory AV05-038. This update draws attention to a Security Advisory released by Microsoft that addresses the Windows Metafile files (WMF) vulnerability.
(Source: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, 29 December 2005)
Source article

To view all CCIRC Alerts and Advisories, click here.

Dauphin River First Nation threatened by flooding
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB05-236, the Dauphin River First Nation reserve in Manitoba is once again experiencing a flood threat due to the rising water levels of the Dauphin River. For a second time this month the only road offering access into the area has been flooded. Earlier this December, approximately 150 residents of the community were temporarily evacuated due to flooding caused by ice jams. Crews are working to build a second road into the area.
(Source: cbc.ca MANITOBA , 29 December 2005)
Source article

Integration of US-VISIT program into every U.S. port of entry completed
According to the media, every port of entry into the U.S.--land, sea and air--is now equipped with the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT), which takes fingerprints and digital photos of many foreigners entering the U.S. in order to check them against criminal and terrorist watch lists. Most Canadians and Mexicans, in addition to American citizens and legal permanent residents, are not subject to the checks.
(Source: The New York Times , 29 December 2005)
Source article (free registration required)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides information on US-VISIT

In brief

Alaskan earthquake prompts tsunami information bulletin for B.C.
On December 29, a magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck southeastern 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 , 29 December 2005)
Source article
Source article

The Geological Survey of Canada provides an explanation of the Richter scale.

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

Avian Influenza: Update
The Ministry of Health in China has confirmed one additional case of human avian influenza H5N1 infection, bringing the total number of cases in the country to seven. The victim has died from the illness.

Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed that a total of 74 people have died due to infection from the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
(Source: World Health Organization , 30 December 2005)
Source article
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Cyber risk assessment

Over the course of the past 24 hours, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has not detected any significant new threats or vulnerabilities. Microsoft is still investigating the WMF vulnerability and has updated their Security Advisory (912840) which can be found here. Anti-Virus vendors are releasing updates to detect this vulnerability. An Update toAdvisory AV05-038 was released yesterday.

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, based on the availability of workarounds and anti-virus solutions to the WMF vulnerability. 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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