Jessica Lamirande: Latest News

Department of National Defence (DND) is probing for potential “impacts” after a military contractor notified them of a recent cyberattack, allegedly by a ransomware group with Russian ties.DND confirmed Tuesday that CMC Electronics, a Montreal-based aerospace company, recently alerted the Canadian government to a “cyber breach related incident” at their company in late May. Canadian spy agency targeted foreign hackers to ‘impose a cost’ for cybercrime Procurement records show the company has done millions in work for the Canadian Armed Forces, chiefly in aerospace engineering and research and development — approximately $19.5 million since 2011, according to DND.The majority of the contracts (66) were for research and development or engineering services.The government announced on May 30 that CMC would be part of a team working on an $800 million job to upgrade Canada’s 85 CH-146 Griffon helicopters.“DND/CAF does not comment on the cyber or IM/IT approaches of third-party vendors; however, we recognize the importance of cyber security in defence and defence contracting,” said Jessica Lamirande, a spokesperson for National Defence, in a statement to Global News.Lamirande added that none of DND’s internal systems employ CMC Electronics technology.“We are continuing to monitor this situation, while ensuring DND/CAF information is safeguarded.”Repeated efforts to reach CMC Electronics were unsuccessful.

An email encouraging members of the Canadian Armed Forces to consider contacting Habitat for Humanity if they can’t find affordable housing is casting a spotlight on a growing challenge facing many military personnel and their families.

Royal Canadian Air Force is being forced to fly its ancient search-and rescue planes even longer as COVID-19 further delays the delivery of replacement aircraft.The Defence Department is playing down any significant impact on the military’s search-and-rescue operations from the new delay, which has left the first of 16 new Airbus-built CC-295s stranded in Spain for at least several more months.

Canadian Navy to welcome first Arctic and offshore patrol ship on Friday Yet while the first Arctic patrol vessel was handed over to the navy on Friday after numerous delays and cost overruns, the Department of National Defence says the facility won’t be ready until 2022.Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande blamed travel difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic for the latest delay, which follows numerous environmental and structural problems over the years.[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]The port was originally supposed to include an airstrip and staffed year-round, but both plans were dropped after the project’s $116-million budget was found to have more than doubled to

Latvia was forced to turn around because of concerns those on board might have been exposed to COVID-19.Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande says the Polaris aircraft carrying about 70 military members and aircrew took off from Canadian Forces Base Trenton on July 2 and those on board had spent two weeks in quarantine.

As the COVID-19 death toll in Italy remains on track to surpass China, a Halifax-class frigate has no plans to back down from its mission in the Mediterranean.