Cyber attacks have hit federal departments in Ottawa, including the Department of Finance and the Treasury Board. According to reports, hackers seized control of computers in senior government offices in order to steal passwords and access data. “There are no indications that any data relating to Canadians was compromised by this unauthorized attempt to access the [department’s] network,” said Treasury Board spokesman Jay Denney in an email. The Canadian government launched an official cyber security strategy in 2010 in response to growing threats to their computer infrastructure. It is overseen by the Communications Security Establishment Canada and works with the Department of National Defence and CSIS in monitoring and preventing such attacks. While the investigation is focused on Chinese IP addresses, Canadian officials were quick to point out that there is no apparent link to the Chinese government. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said, “China attaches great importance to computer security and consistently opposes and cracks down on hacking activities according to relative laws and regulations.”