Nova Scotia Power and Emera Hit by Cyberattack, Systems Disrupted but No Power Outages Reported

Nova Scotia Power and its parent company Emera are responding to a cyberattack that disrupted some of their IT systems. The incident came to light on April 25, when unauthorized access was discovered on parts of their Canadian network and servers used for business operations.

In response, the companies shut down and isolated the affected servers. The attack disrupted services such as the utility's customer care phone line and online portal. As of April 28, Nova Scotia Power said it was working to restore the impacted systems, but no further updates have been provided since then.

Despite the cyberattack, there were no power outages. In a public statement, the companies confirmed that all physical operations in Canada, including power generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, were not affected. The Maritime Link and the Brunswick Pipeline also remain fully operational. Emera's U.S. and Caribbean utilities were not impacted either.

Nova Scotia Power is currently investigating whether any customer or confidential business information was compromised in the incident.

While the source of the cyberattack is still unknown, no ransomware group has claimed responsibility so far. Cyberattacks on energy companies are not uncommon, with both criminal and state-sponsored groups often targeting the sector. For example, Chinese hackers from the group Volt Typhoon reportedly gained access to parts of the U.S. electric grid for 300 days in 2023.

Nova Scotia Power supplies electricity to about 550,000 customers, while Emera serves 2.6 million customers across Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.