A stop sign is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (Andre Forget, QMI Agency file photo)

OTTAWA — Computers at Canada's foreign affairs department were attacked by foreign hackers, QMI Agency has learned.

The revelation comes on the news that at least two other key departments — including the Finance Department — fell prey to attacks from hackers allegedly based in China.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s unclassified e-mail system was affected by a Trojan-horse bug linked back to servers in China last year, sources told QMI Agency.

The department refused to say how it dealt with the incident or what information was compromised.

Thursday, however, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day said a breach at his department last month had not jeopardized sensitive information.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the most aggressive (attack) but it was a significant one, significant that they were going after financial records,” he said, adding “we were able to shut things down and protect information.”

Day said the department’s “internal operations” were affected because they had to immediately shut down certain parts of the network. All were in the process of being re-opened, Day said, noting the budget’s timing would not be affected.

“The budget's on track,” he said.

Security experts raised the alarm the feds had been the subject of a huge security lapse and could be ill prepared for cyber espionage.

“Unfortunately, the controls in place were not sufficient,” said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) senior intelligence officer.

“I think it is Beijing spying on Canada. It is cyber-spying at its best probably tele-commanded by the Chinese government,” he said.

While Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said cyber attacks were nothing new, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said cyber security was a “big issue” and Canada was working closely with its allies.

David Harris, former chief of strategic planning for CSIS, said the departments infiltrated held extremely valuable information for competitor countries, let alone those seen as hostile.

“We are into issues of budget secrecy right now, consider the market implications. You could have a country or nation-state making sudden investments on the strength of intelligence it gleans about budgetary intentions," he said.

Harris also suggested foreign hackers might be after top-secret information Canada holds about its allies, such as American weapons programs and military arrangements.

“Allies don’t continue to share information with countries that allow their secrets to be pillaged. This fact presumably explains some of the government’s panic,” he said.

— With files from Reuters