GO Transit website back online after being down due to worldwide cyber threat

GO Transit’s website is now back online after it was temporarily taken offline “out of an abundance of caution” due to an ongoing cyber threat that is impacting web services worldwide.

On Friday evening, transportation agency Metrolinx said it was informed by the federal government about a cyber vulnerability regarding web-based services around the globe.

“As an organization, we immediately took proactive steps and began methodically searching our systems to ensure our customers and services are secure and protected,” a statement from Metrolinx read on Friday.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to proactively take down the GO Transit website until we learn more about this vulnerability.”

Metrolinx said it does not believe any of its websites or assets were exploited or compromised.

On Saturday afternoon, roughly 17 hours after the site was taken offline, Metrolinx said the site was up and running again.

The agency said the site has been upgraded to protect it from the vulnerability and that no customer, personal or financial files were compromised.

On Friday, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) also proactively took its systems offline due to the security vulnerability.

“There is currently no indication that CRA systems have been compromised, or that there has been any unauthorized access to taxpayer information because of this vulnerability,” the CRA tweeted Friday night.

Experts say the bug might be the worst computer vulnerability discovered in years.

The vulnerability was discovered in a utility that is found in cloud servers and enterprise software used across industry and government services.

The bug allows for easy access to internal networks where they can steal valuable data, plant malware and erase crucial information.

-With files from the Associated Press.