Nova Scotia Power asks regulator to approve $6.8M for cybersecurity upgrades

Blair Rhodes · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 4:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

Nova Scotia Power is asking the province's inferior regulator for support to walk $6.8 cardinal to upgrade its cybersecurity.

Portions of the utility's petition to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board are redacted, truthful it isn't known precisely however the wealth would beryllium spent.

The inferior identified 12 sites that would person cybersecurity upgrades nether the plan, but the locations are redacted.

A spokesperson for Nova Scotia Power says the program is preventative.

To date, Nova Scotia Power hasn't been taxable to the benignant of cyberattacks that person been aimed astatine utilities and different indispensable services astir the world.

But successful its yearly menace assessment, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said attacks don't person to beryllium aimed astatine Nova Scotia to person an interaction successful the province. The appraisal notes that powerfulness grids are truthful interconnected that a disruption elsewhere connected the continent could origin problems successful Nova Scotia.

Attacks increasing much complex

The centre says Russia, China and Iran are among countries committing a batch of resources to cyberattacks, which it says are increasing much sophisticated.

Four years ago, Russian hackers were blamed for an onslaught connected the health-care strategy of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Nova Scotia Power has already allocated immoderate of the wealth successful its petition — just implicit $285,000 for cybersecurity upgrades successful 2023 and $1.4 cardinal successful 2024. The rest would beryllium utilized to upgrade information this twelvemonth and next.

Anyone who wants to marque a remark to the UARB connected the Nova Scotia Power connection indispensable bash truthful successful writing.

The committee is giving radical a week to awesome whether they privation to person input successful this decision. The deadline for written submissions is May 14.