Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-005

Daily Brief

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

DOB06-005 - 9 January 2006

News

In brief

Canadian Embassy closure in Amman, Jordan
On January 8, Foreign Affairs Canada advised that the Embassy of Canada in Amman, Jordan will be closed until further notice due to a security situation in Jordan.
(Source: Foreign Affairs Canada, 9 January 2006)
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Foreign Affairs Canada provides information and assistance for Canadians abroad on their website under Consular Affairs.

Ice arriving behind schedule
Drivers crossing the Confederation Bridge are not seeing the thin film of ice that usually covers the Northumberland Strait this time of year. The Canadian Ice Service said the strait is warmer than usual, and it warns when the ice does arrive it might linger later into the spring.
(Source: CBC , 9 January 2006)
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The Northumberland Strait separates Prince Edward Island from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. PESPC Geomatics provides a map (193 kb) of the affected areas.

Environment Canada provides information on ice conditions on their website under Canadian Ice Service.

Avian Influenza: Update
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-004, on January 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed two additional cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Both cases are children, aged five and eight years, and both are hospitalized. This brings the total number of laboratory confirmed cases in Turkey to four. Two of these cases were fatal.

On January 9, WHO reported that their avian influenza experts have arrived in the eastern Turkish areas of Van and Dogubeyazit to examine the most recent outbreaks. In collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Health, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Commission, the team will review the current epidemiological situation, including the number of human avian influenza cases, and the ways in which the virus has been transmitted.

Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed that a total of 76 people have died due to infection from the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
(Source: World Health Organization , 9 January 2006)
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Cyber risk assessment

Over the course of the past 72 hours, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has not detected any significant new threats or vulnerabilities. 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.

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.

Some hyperlinks in the PSEPC Daily Brief direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act. Users should be aware that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written.