Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-003

Daily Brief

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

DOB06-003 - 5 January 2006

News

Manitoba Hydro blacking out towns to clear ice buildup on power lines
In order to clear ice buildup from several power lines, Manitoba Hydro has initiated blackout periods of two to four hours for several southwestern Manitoba communities. The communities affected are Neepawa, Minnedosa, Rossburn, Shoal Lake and the First Nation community of Waywayseecappo. The power lines became ice laden following high levels of air moisture during several days of fog, rain and snow, which made it difficult for crews to keep the lines clear.
(Source: CBC News , 4 January 2006)
Source article

PSEPC Geomatics provides a map (433 kb) of the affected areas.

In brief

Tropical Depression Zeta: Update
As of January 5 at 11:00 AST, the centre of Tropical Depression Zeta was located approximately 1,680 kilometres east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. The storm is expected to turn toward the west-northwest or the northwest over the next 24 hours.
(Source: National Weather Service , 5 January 2006)
Source article

This tropical depression is not expected to pose any threat to the North American landmass.

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 plans to release a security update to address the Windows Meta File (WMF) vulnerability by January 10. Refer to AV05-038 for additional information.

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 medium. Personnel responsible for information, systems and network security should continue to apply appropriate security precautions and monitor their systems.

Recent cyber alerts and advisories issued by CCIRC can be viewed under “Recent analytical releases” at www.psepc.gc.ca/ccirc.

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.

Links to sites not under the control of the Government of Canada (GoC) are provided solely for the convenience of users. The GoC is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The GoC does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.