Elections meddling inquiry: MPs testify about cyberthreats [Video]

OTTAWA –

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry Tuesday that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.

It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.

In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.

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Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference Tuesday that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.

Liberal MP …