Some pulp mill employees in Port Alberni and Crofton are temporarily off the job after a malware attack put a halt to paper production.
Paper Excellence Canada said in a statement that its IT systems had been impacted by malware.
The attack affects the company’s corporate office in Richmond and its mills in Crofton, Port Alberni, Howe Sound and Powell River and has impacted the company’s ability to use its communications systems as well as some production capabilities.
Paper production is on pause at the Crofton and Port Alberni mills, but pulp production is continuing in Crofton.
“Right now we do have employees who have been sent home because we didn’t have work for them,” said spokesperson Graham Kissack.
The company said they’ve isolated the IT systems at each facility and are working to determine the scope of the impact.
Kissak said the company is considering manually restarting the paper machine.
The company brought in external advisors to assist in the investigation and Kissak said it’s too early to comment on how the attack occurred.
Paper Excellence is headquartered in B.C. and has nine facilities in Canada and France.
