Business
Ransomware Attack on Verdance Financial Disrupts Payroll, Business Transfers Across Quebec and Ontario
Montreal, Quebec —
A ransomware attack targeting Verdance Financial earlier this month paralyzed internal systems and disrupted payment operations across Quebec and Ontario, delaying payrolls, stalling business transfers, and throwing small enterprises into temporary financial disarray.
Verdance, one of Canada’s largest credit union networks, confirmed the breach stemmed from a phishing campaign that gave attackers access to back-office infrastructure. While customer-facing services like debit transactions and ATM withdrawals remained online, internal financial systems—including payroll, loan approvals, and supplier payments—were rendered inoperable for several days.
Business Operations Brought to a Standstill.
The fallout was immediate. Small businesses, independent contractors, and freelancers banking with Verdance were unable to send or receive payments, causing ripple effects across multiple sectors.
“I had to tell my staff they wouldn’t get paid on time,” said Marianne Gauthier, who runs a boutique marketing firm in Laval. “We rely on electronic transfers to keep everything moving—this locked us out entirely.”
Some freelancers reported missing project deadlines due to frozen deposits, while others faced penalties for late payments on contracts. Companies requiring urgent wire transfers to secure shipments or pay suppliers experienced severe cash flow constraints.
Slow Response Raises Concerns.
Verdance brought in cybersecurity firm Redfield Mandiant to assist in containment and recovery. Systems were gradually restored over the following days, but the credit union faced backlash over what critics called “slow and vague communication” in the critical early hours of the attack.
In a statement issued after services were restored, Verdance said it was investing $20 million in AI-powered threat detection tools and would accelerate its cybersecurity modernization plans.
A Broader Wake-Up Call;
The Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA) responded by issuing updated guidelines urging financial institutions to:
Implement network segmentation to contain attacks
Run routine employee phishing simulations
Maintain offline backups of payment infrastructure
Cybersecurity experts say the incident highlights just how intertwined digital banking is with day-to-day commerce.
“When a payment network goes down, it doesn’t just affect the institution—it affects the economy,” said a CCUA spokesperson. “Wages, rent, contracts—it’s all connected.”
While Verdance has not confirmed whether a ransom was paid or disclosed the identity of the attackers, the event is already prompting credit unions across Canada to re-evaluate their internal defenses and contingency plans.
Following the risk behind the ROI. — Leila Park
ODTN News’ Ayaan Chowdhury contributed to this report.
Business
Satellite Error Causes Widespread Banking and Transit Disruptions
November 11, 2025 — Monday’s unexpected disruption across Canada’s banking and transit systems has raised new questions about how vulnerable the country’s digital backbone has become to invisible faults, and how easily precision can unravel at scale.
For nearly six hours, payment terminals, trading systems, and commuter networks were thrown into chaos after a timing fault aboard a SkyGrid Communications satellite sent inaccurate synchronization signals to ground-based systems. The result: frozen transactions, halted trades, and locked transit gates across major cities.
From Vancouver’s transit cards to Toronto’s stock exchange, the pattern was clear — infrastructure that once seemed distinct now depends on the same unseen heartbeat pulsing from orbit. When that heartbeat falters, the whole system stumbles.
“It’s astonishing how much of modern life runs on the assumption that time is perfect,” said Dr. Amira Doucette, a cybersecurity researcher at Laurentian University. “When your clocks drift, your trust drifts. Every financial ledger, every secure transaction — it all breaks down.”
The incident began around 9:14 a.m. Monday, when banks, telecom carriers, and public transit systems started reporting timestamp errors. While SkyGrid initially described it as a “configuration anomaly,” federal investigators are not ruling out the possibility of deliberate interference.
“This wasn’t an outage you could see,” said a senior government analyst familiar with the investigation. “It was silence — and in that silence, everything froze.”
By mid-afternoon, synchronization was restored, and queued transactions began replaying. But experts say the episode exposed just how fragile Canada’s digitized economy has become. A single orbital fault managed to slow millions of micro-interactions across sectors, revealing the extent to which precision timekeeping underpins the nation’s trust infrastructure.
Some officials privately compared the event to cyber-operations seen abroad — where technical disruptions are used to mask deeper intrusions or manipulate public confidence. Though SkyGrid maintains there’s no evidence of compromise, the cascading nature of the failure has left analysts uneasy.
“This is the modern equivalent of a power outage,” said Michael Gervais, a former CSE official. “Except now, it’s not the lights that go dark — it’s the systems that decide what’s true, secure, and synchronized.”
A post-incident review is underway involving the Canadian Space Agency, Public Safety Canada, and the CSE, examining why redundant ground links failed to take over and whether the anomaly was purely technical.
For most Canadians, the disruption was temporary — a few failed payments, a stalled subway gate, a flickering stock ticker. But for those watching closely, it marked something bigger: the moment a nation glimpsed how its digital world could falter not from an attack or storm, but from a second of silence above the clouds.
Following the risk behind the ROI. — Leila Park
ODTN News’ Ayaan Chowdhury contributed to this report.
Business
Employee Speaks Out: “We Were Told to Power the Profits, Not the People.”
A siberX Power Co. employee has come forward alleging that internal recovery priorities were deliberately skewed toward restoring AI data centres and corporate clients before power was returned to critical services and residential zones.
In an interview with ODTN News, the employee, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation described the atmosphere inside the company as “tense, chaotic, and corporate-first.”
“We were watching hospitals run on fumes while being told to focus on data clusters feeding multimillion-dollar contracts,” the source said.
“The CEO’s message was loud and clear — get the AI back online, everything else can wait.”
The leak follows an internal email from SPC’s CEO, Elise Varnholt, reportedly instructing teams to “prioritize compute capacity” and “avoid discussing client names” in public statements. The email, which surfaced on social media late Monday, has drawn heavy criticism from officials and citizens alike.
Regulators at the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) have acknowledged awareness of the directive but declined to comment on “ongoing operational decisions” during recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, public frustration continues to mount as large sections of southern Alberta remain without full power four days after the blackout began.
Energy analysts warn that the fallout could extend beyond infrastructure — raising questions about corporate ethics, crisis leadership, and the role of AI-driven industries in critical grid planning.
“When profit dictates the order of recovery, public trust doesn’t just flicker — it burns out,” said Dr. Anika Shah, a crisis management researcher at McGill University.
ODTN.news will keep you updated on this shocking story as we uncover more of the truth behind the crisis.
Following the risk behind the ROI. — Leila Park
ODTN News’ Mira Evans & Ayaan Chowdhury contributed to this report.
Business
siberX Mart Supply Chain Snarled as Digital Transformation Faces Cyber Threats
VANCOUVER, BC —
September 9, 2025 — siberX mart, one of Vancouver’s fastest-growing retail chains, is facing mounting supply chain turmoil after suppliers confirmed they have halted shipments due to breakdowns in the company’s ordering systems.
Distributors tell ODTN News that orders are no longer being confirmed through siberX mart’s digital platform, creating uncertainty about where and when truckloads should be delivered. Several store teams across British Columbia report being told to “hold tight” until directives arrive from the company’s Vancouver head office.
“We can’t send full shipments blind,” said one distributor, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If the system isn’t giving us the green light, we risk losing thousands in misrouted stock.”
A Digital Ambition Stalled by Cyber Risk
The disruption comes at a sensitive time for siberX mart’s leadership. CEO Adrian Blake has been championing a sweeping digital transformation initiative, pitching it as the company’s path toward faster growth and real-time supply chain visibility.
But insiders now suggest the project is faltering under the weight of cybersecurity threats and system vulnerabilities. According to industry analysts, the platform’s instability may have exposed gaps in both resilience and crisis planning.
“When your ordering backbone goes dark, it doesn’t just delay shipments — it undermines trust,” said Dr. Serena Choi, a retail technology expert at the Pacific Cyber Institute. “For siberX mart, the optics are that their big digital bet is going sideways.”
Customer Impact Grows
Meanwhile, shelves at several siberX mart locations are running low on high-demand essentials. Frustrated customers are taking to social media to vent about empty aisles and unanswered questions, with some calling the silence from corporate “unacceptable.”
So far, siberX mart has not issued a public statement addressing the cause of the disruption or providing a timeline for resolution.
For a company that has staked its reputation on technological modernization, the incident is a high-profile reminder that innovation without resilience carries serious risks.
ODTN News will continue monitoring this story as siberX mart works to restore order and confidence in its systems.
Following the risk behind the ROI. — Leila Park
ODTN News’ Mira Evans & Ayaan Chowdhury contributed to this report.
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