Ontario city facing full $18.3M cyberattack bill after insurer denies claim
Hamilton taxpayers are looking at fronting the full cost of a devastating 2024 cyberattack after the city’s insurance company denied its claim.
Councillors were told at the general issues committee meeting on Wednesday that the city’s claim was denied because multi-factor authentication had not been fully implemented at the time of the attack.
According to the city’s insurance policy, no coverage was available for any losses where the absence of multi-factor authentication was the root cause of the cyber breach.
“I understand why Hamiltonians are frustrated — this was a serious and costly breach,” Mayor Andrea Horwath said in a news release Wednesday.
“We expect our public systems to be strong, secure, and dependable. This incident highlights that the city fell short of that standard — and we’re not okay with that.”
Attackers demanded $18.5M in ransom
On Feb. 25, 2024, Hamilton experienced a cyberattack that disabled roughly 80 per cent of its network and impacted services like business licence processing, property tax, transit planning and finance and procurement systems for weeks.
A few systems were unrecoverable, the city said, including permit applications and licensing, fire department records management and traffic signal system management.
The attackers launched a complex ransomware attack through an external internet-facing server, the city said. After covertly studying the city’s systems, they encrypted systems and data to render them unusable and attempted — but failed — to destroy all the city’s backups.
The attackers demanded a ransom of roughly $18.5 million in exchange for a decryption tool to unscramble the city’s data. The city did not pay the ransom, adding it contained the incident within two days and managed to provide critical services throughout.
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“Paying the ransom would have increased the City’s risk and financial exposure,” the city said in the news release, saying technical advisers added decryption tools from cybercriminals are very often unreliable.
“Even with a working tool, safe restoration would have taken significant time and money. Additionally, paying ransom funds could fuel future cybercrime and support international organized crime and terrorist organizations.”
City has spent $18.3M in upgrades so far
Mike Zegarac, general manager of finance and corporate services, told councillors on Wednesday the city would have to incur costs regardless of whether it had paid the ransom.
To date, the city has spent $18.3 million on immediate response, system recovery and third-party expert support. There may be additional invoices still to be received for some items that will be included in future reports, staff noted.
Of the $18.3 million, $14 million has been spent on external experts who have helped the city’s response, redesign and future strategies, staff added.
At the general issues committee meeting Wednesday, Ward 2 Coun. Cameron Kroetsch took issue with the “looseness” of Hamilton’s cyber strategy.
“There weren’t protocols in place for many parts of the city, including how we connected to devices … and there was virtually no training provided whatsoever to councillors with respect to what to do here,” he said.
“This didn’t happen due to councillors’ negligence of any kind, or councils for that matter. But there have been several reports I’ve monitored outside of being an elected official where I saw recommendations being made to address this, and the investments not being made to pick up with those for whatever reason … we knew we had these problems with place … this has to be taken more seriously.”
Ward 9 Coun. Brad Clark said he found it “very frustrating” that multi-factor authentication wasn’t put in place years ago after learning from a staff member at the meeting that Hamilton’s insurance company sought it in late 2022.
When its claim was denied, the city obtained a third-party review of the decision and did not pursue further legal action as it learned the insurer’s action was based on coverage terms.
“The city had full knowledge we were not compliant with the exclusion in 2023,” he said.
“How does council find out it wasn’t done if staff doesn’t share it with us? I find it immensely frustrating there has been zero accountability on this; this chamber, we’ll be held accountable in a year and a bit; front bench and all the staff, no accountability for this incident. I can’t explain that to my residents.”
The city has since said it has enhanced its cyber controls and renewed its insurance coverage.
In her statement, Horwath said Hamilton will learn from the incident.
“We acted swiftly, and we’re moving forward with focus and determination. This is also a clear and indisputable reminder that timely investments in public infrastructure help prevent far more costly reactive responses down the line,” she said.
“The City of Hamilton is rebuilding with resilience and future-proofing in mind, while strengthening our systems, improving protections, and ensuring better service and safeguards for our entire community.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to illegally photographing classified U.S. defence facilities at the Space Force military base in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Xiao Guang Pan, 71, of Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful photographing of military installations without authorization on three separate days in early January.
A U.S. District Court in Florida judge put Pan on probation for 12 months and immediately ordered him deported to Canada by U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement (ICE) officers under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, citing his violations of American espionage laws.
Pan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A U.S. Department of Justice official was unsure about where Pan is in the ICE deportation process.
Pan’s guilty plea and deportation come as anxiety grows among U.S. lawmakers and ordinary Americans about hundreds of unidentified drones flying over sensitive American military bases amid concerns about foreign surveillance and spying.
A copy of Pan’s plea agreement reveals a stark contrast between what Pan said he was doing in Florida in January, when he was stopped by police, versus what U.S. federal agents actually found on his drone, phone and storage devices after seizing them.
On an artist biography page published by the Brampton Arts Organization, Pan stated he was born in China in 1953, immigrated to Canada in 2001 and has lived in Brampton since 2003.
Pan worked as a Best Buy Canada technician for 18 years until retirement in 2022, the biography adds.
Pan entered U.S. via Detroit
Pan entered the U.S. on a tourist visa at the Ambassador’s Bridge in Detroit, Mich., on or about Nov. 2, 2024. The court documents don’t suggest what Pan was doing or where Pan travelled in November and December.
The retiree was charged by summons on Feb. 11 after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) detected drone activity near the Space Force Base and called in law enforcement on Jan. 7.
Brevard County Sheriffs responded. They saw Pan operating a DJI Mavic Pro 3 unmanned drone quadcopter from a parking lot in Port Canaveral and learned he’d been in the area for three days.
The local officers then tipped federal law enforcement agencies.
Federal agents caught the Brampton resident using his powerful unmanned drone and a separate camera with telephoto lenses to photograph and video classified military facilities and equipment near the Space Force base on Jan. 5, 6 and 7, without the base commander’s prior authorization as required under U.S. law.
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According to a statement of facts found in the plea agreement, which Pan signed and initialled on every page, U.S. federal agents interviewed him twice – no dates were given – and asked the Canadian what he was doing with the drone.
They also warned him: lying to federal agents is a federal crime in the U.S.
“Pan told the agents that he had flown his drone to take pictures of the beauty of nature, the sunrise, and the cruise ship port. He stated that he had not seen any launch pads and that he did not know that he was near a military installation,” the plea deal states.
Pan voluntarily submitted his devices to U.S. agents for a forensic data extraction.
That’s when the investigators found more than sunrises, nature and cruise ship videos.
The data showed Pan had flown his drone nine times and taken 1,919 photographs and videos during his three-day Florida visit, the plea deal states.
Of those 1,919 photos and videos, 243 photographs and 13 videos showed specific images of Space Force base military infrastructure and launch facilities, including fuel and munitions storage facilities, security checkpoints, and a Navy submarine platform, according to the plea agreement.
On Jan. 6, his second day of flying the drone quadcopter, Pan took nine videos and 166 photographs of Space Force installations.
This time, he launched his drone from a location several miles closer to the base; his photographs and videos captured the same military infrastructure as on Jan. 5, but in higher quality and from different angles, according to the plea agreement.
Pan also captured images and videos of mission control infrastructure and fuel and munitions facilities, including a photograph of a Space Launch Complex and payload processing facilities operated by two defence contractors.
On the third day of his drone flying, and before he was encountered by law enforcement, Pan recorded two more videos and took 56 photos.
Day 3 images included security checkpoints
His Day 3 images and videos showed roads, power distribution infrastructure, security checkpoints, mission control infrastructure, national security space launch infrastructure, fuel and munitions storage, and naval infrastructure, the plea agreement states.
After police stopped Pan on Jan. 7, federal agents interviewed him twice.
During those interviews, Pan was warned that lying to agents is a federal crime. He did so anyway, the plea deal suggests.
In addition to telling agents he flew his drone to record nature, sunrises, and cruise ships and didn’t know he was near a military base, Pan said his drone sends alerts and warnings to his handset and he received no alerts or warnings, the plea deal adds.
Investigators recovered flight log data from Pan’s quadcopter. It showed that on all three days he flew, the drone logged several alerts and sent operator messages about altitude and FAA airspace violations.
On Pan’s cell phone, agents also found several screenshots he created, including several Google Maps satellite overviews of Cape Canaveral. One screenshot taken Jan. 7 while Pan was at his drone launch location, prominently displayed the words “Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.”
Pan surrendered his $5,000 quadcopter
Pan was charged in February after a multi-agency probe led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Homeland Security, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Pan surrendered his $5,000 quadcopter, control equipment and storage devices that housed his videos and photos to the U.S. authorities.
He is also banned from returning to the U.S. without prior consent from the Secretary of the Homeland Security department.
TORONTO – An old bat was a difference-maker for the Toronto Blue Jays in a wild 9-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
Ty France sparked an eighth-inning rally with a solo homer and Addison Barger emerged from a 2-for-30 slump with a two-run double to help the Blue Jays to their AL-best 40th comeback win of the year.
Barger said France “randomly decided” to use one of his old bats from the cage before his pinch-hit appearance.
“I haven’t seen the bat since last year and he had a homer with it,” Barger said. “And I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I’m going to use that.’ And it worked.”
Barger lined a slider from Michael Tonkin (2-1) off the top of the wall in right field to bring home Alejandro Kirk with the tying run and George Springer from first base with the go-ahead run.
Seranthony Dominguez (3-4) got two outs in the eighth inning for the win and closer Jeff Hoffman worked the ninth for his 29th save as Toronto (78-56) took the rubber game of the three-game series.
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Toronto improved its record at Rogers Centre to 44-22, the best home mark in Major League Baseball at the end of the game.
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Barger became a regular in the lineup early in the season after providing consistent pop at the plate. Despite his struggles in recent weeks, he remains unfazed by late-game pressure.
With runners in scoring position in the seventh inning or later this season, Barger is hitting .389 with a 1.161 OPS (on-base plus slugging).
“Addy’s got talent,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “He can do that. We’ve seen him do that, we’ve seen him hit home runs.
“I think it’s just the natural course of the season for a young guy and I think he’s navigating it pretty well.”
On the mound, Schneider went right back to Hoffman a night after he gave up two homers and blew his seventh save of the season.
“It’s like a quarterback throwing an interception,” Schneider said. “You’ve got to have a short memory and you’ve got to move on to the next thing. And you know, Hoff, like everybody else on this team, they move on to the next thing.”
The game had eight solo homers — four from each team — and Toronto clawed back from three deficits before taking its first lead in the eighth.
Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (41) have had more comeback wins.
“These guys do not quit,” Schneider said. “They do not give a (crap) who they’re playing against. They don’t care what the situation is. I love it.”
Andres Gimenez and Davis Schneider, with a pair, also went deep for Toronto. Byron Buxton, with two, Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee homered for the Twins (60-73).
Toronto starter Eric Lauer allowed six earned runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts.
Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson gave up five earned runs and five hits over 3 2/3 frames. He walked a pair and fanned two.
Toronto maintained its four-game lead on Boston in the American League East Division standings. The Red Sox edged Baltimore 3-2.
The Blue Jays will continue their six-game homestand Friday night against the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Shane Bieber (1-0, 1.50 earned-run average) is tabbed to start for Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Addison Barger hit a two-run double in Toronto’s three-run eighth inning as the Blue Jays came back for a 9-8 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
Barger drove a ball into the right-centre field gap to score Alejandro Kirk with the tying run and George Springer with the go-ahead run.
Seranthony Dominguez (3-4) got two outs in the eighth inning for the win and closer Jeff Hoffman worked the ninth for his 29th save as Toronto took the rubber game of the three-game series.
Each team hit four home runs. All eight blasts were solo shots.
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Davis Schneider, with a pair, Andres Gimenez and Ty France, who hit a pinch-hit homer to start the rally in the eighth, went deep for Toronto (78-56).
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Byron Buxton, with two, Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee went deep for the Twins (60-73).
Toronto starter Eric Lauer allowed six earned runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts.
Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson gave up five earned runs and five hits over 3 2/3 frames. He walked a pair and fanned two.
Michael Tonkin (2-1) blew the save and took the loss.
Toronto maintained its four-game lead on Boston in the American League East Division standings. The Red Sox edged Baltimore 3-2.
KEY MOMENT
Blue Jays centre-fielder Daulton Varsho put a charge into the sellout crowd of 42,361 with his catch against the wall in the second inning. He made another brilliant catch in virtually the same spot in the third.
KEY STAT
Toronto owns the best home record in the AL at 44-22.
UP NEXT
The Blue Jays will continue their six-game homestand Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Shane Bieber (1-0, 1.50 earned-run average) has been tabbed to start for Toronto.
The Twins will return home for a seven-game homestand starting Friday against the San Diego Padres.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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