Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-029

Daily Brief

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

DOB06-029 - 10 February 2006

News

North American Electric Reliability Council announcement
On February 8, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) announced that it adopted 13 new reliability standards and approved revisions to three existing standards.

The standards deal with seven critical reliability areas: vegetation management, facility ratings, transfer capabilities, reliability coordination, verification of generator capabilities, transmission and generation protection systems, and undervoltage load shedding.
(Source: NERC, 8 February 2006)
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The NERC is an organization set to ensure that the bulk electric system in North America is reliable, adequate and secure.

Alberta fire evacuees return home
On February 9, residents of Carseland, an Alberta community about 40 km southeast of Calgary, were able to return home after an evacuation order was lifted. The order was issued in response to a huge grass fire that threatened to burn through the village of 660 people.

Much of Alberta is currently experiencing a warmer than normal winter with little or no snow.
(Source: ctv.ca, 9 February 2006)
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In brief

Avian Influenza: Update
On February 9, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Ministry of Health in China confirmed a new case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus in the south-east province of Fujian. The victim is a 26 year old woman who first developed symptoms on January 10.

Since 2003, WHO has confirmed a total of 166 human cases with the H5N1 avian influenza, including 88 deaths.

Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-027, CBC reports that the Nigerian Agriculture Ministry confirmed the H5N1 avian influenza virus has been found in two more Nigerian states. These new cases were found in the Kano state and Plateau state in northern Nigeria.
(Source: World Health Organization, cbc.ca, 9 February 2006)
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The Public Health Agency of Canada provides information on avian influenza.

Hydro One restores power
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-028, on February 9, Hydro One reported that it had restored power to the approximately 100,000 customers around the Georgian Bay and in the southwestern Ontario areas who lost electricity as a result of severe storm conditions.
(Source: Hydro One, 9 February 2006)
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Hydro One maintains information on power outages and restoration estimates.

Hydro One owns and operates Ontario's power transmission network.

Search called off for missing fisherman
Further to PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-028, the search for the missing Nova Scotia lobster fisherman was called off late in the day on February 8.

The fisherman disappeared earlier in the week while moving his lobster traps in the Pennant Harbour area of Nova Scotia’s south shore. The case has been taken over by the RCMP as a missing person case.
(Source: cbc.ca, 9 February 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. 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.