Canada’s national authority for cybersecurity is urging Canadian critical infrastructure operators to remain “vigilant” against the threat of cyberattacks as the conflict in Iran intensifies.
The cyber centre estimated the probability of such an attack to be between 75 and 89 percent, and said the chance of Canada being targeted ranges from 60 to 74 percent.
He later shifted his position on the armed conflict, saying on March 4 that he doesn’t agree with how the United States and Israel have conducted the operation. He emphasized Canada’s desire for de-escalation and called on all sides of the conflict, including the United States, to “respect the rules of international engagement.”
He then said during a March 5 press conference in Australia that Canada will “stand by our allies” and would “never categorically rule out participation” in the operation.
CCCS said Ottawa’s Feb. 28 statement of support for the military offensive could make Canadian critical infrastructure operators a target for hackers, adding that energy grids and government networks could be targeted.
Other possible targets include health-care facilities and water or transportation services, as well as communication networks such as 911 services and telephone or internet systems.
“Canadian critical infrastructure operators and other possible targeted entities should remain vigilant to threats posed by cyber actors aligned with Iranian interests,” the bulletin says. “Pro-Iran hacktivists will likely view Canada as a target for low-sophistication disruptive cyber activity due to Canada’s public support of the US/Israel military activity.”
The United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, killing Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as several leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran has responded by launching retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S.-related military installations in nearby Arab Gulf countries. But cyber action and online harassment could also be part of Iran’s response, and both are possible in the coming days, the bulletin warns.
Growing Cyber Threats
A 2025-2026 threat assessment report from the CCCS previously identified Iran, in addition to China and Russia, as the “greatest strategic cyber threats to Canada.” The report also issued a warning about cyber threats from state-affiliated groups in North Korea and India.The centre operates under the Communications Security Establishment Canada, the federal agency tasked with cybersecurity and foreign signals intelligence.
Its threat assessment says Iran is increasingly willing to conduct cyberattacks beyond the Middle East.
“Its persistent efforts to track and monitor regime opponents through cyberspace present a growing cybersecurity challenge for Canada and our allies,” the report cautions. “While it is unlikely that Canada is, at present, a priority target of Iran’s cyber program, Iranian cyber threat actors likely have access to computer networks in Canada, including critical infrastructure.”
Civilian critical infrastructure could be classified as a “legitimate target” for cyber sabotage during a military conflict, the threat assessment states.
Iran has multiple cyber tricks in its arsenal, the report adds. State-sponsored hackers in the past have performed denial of service attacks, attempted to manipulate industrial control systems, and accessed government and private networks in various countries to encrypt, wipe, and leak data.
Iran has established a network of hacktivist identities and social media platforms that take advantage of these disruptive occurrences to disseminate the regime’s messages, while ensuring Tehran’s official involvement remains “ambiguous and deniable,” the report says.
It also warns that these state-sponsored hackers are believed to surveil individuals in Canada whom the Iranian regime perceives as a threat, such as political activists, journalists, human rights researchers, and members of the Iranian diaspora.
