Quebec aluminum smelter Aluminerie Alouette recently suffered a cyber attack that did not paralyze production at the plant, but did affect telephone and e-mail lines at the site. Aluminerie Alouette confirms that the computer failure recorded on February 24 is related to the intrusion of an unauthorized third party into certain information technology systems.
Although production remains operational, the company warns that it is still vulnerable to attacks by sophisticated hackers. Experts warn that ongoing hostilities in Ukraine make the possibility of further attacks more likely than ever.
The plant, with a production rate of 627,000 metric tons of primary aluminum per year, is the second company in Canada to be the victim of a computer attack. “We are convinced that the resilience of the team, which has proven itself many times over, will enable us to overcome this situation successfully,” says Claude Gosselin, president and CEO.
Finally, Aluminerie Alouette has announced that it will spend C$90 million to upgrade its facilities and strengthen its cybersecurity infrastructure.
