Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-021

Daily Brief

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

DOB06-021 - 31 January 2006

News

Two major B.C. highways closed due to heavy snow and avalanche threat
On January 30, approximately half a metre of snow fell in a 15-hour period, forcing the closure of B.C.'s Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation stated that plows and sanders were working to clear the estimated 50 centimetres of heavy snow from the Coquihalla Highway, and crews were working to retrieve approximately 50 cars that became stranded on the highway after heavy snow forced them off the road.

Meanwhile, High Avalanche Hazards have forced the B.C. Ministry of Transportation to close the Trans-Canada Highway from Revelstoke to Golden, as well as the Kootenay Pass stretch of Highway 3 in southeastern B.C.
(Source: CTV.ca, 30 January 2006; THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM, 31 January 2006)
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PSEPC Geomatics provides a map (404 kb) of the affected areas.

B.C.'s Ministry of Transportation provides current information on road closures throughout the province in the Drive BC traveller information system.

In brief

Avian Influenza: Update
On January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Ministry of Health in Iraq has reported its first case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The victim, a 15-year-old girl, died from her illness.

On January 30, WHO reported that a collaborating laboratory in the United Kingdom has confirmed 12 of the 21 cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus previously reported by Turkey’s Ministry of Health.

Since 2003, WHO has confirmed a total of 160 human cases with the H5N1 avian influenza, including 85 deaths.
(Source: World Health Organization, 30 January 2006)
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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.

CCIRC is continuing to track an e-mail worm known as B lackWorm/Nyxem/Blackmal/Blueworm/Grew, which is scheduled to delete certain file types on 3 February 2006.

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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