Canada's national police force was hit with a cyberattack on Friday which was described as one of an "alarming" magnitude. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is now launching a criminal investigation into what happened and how their systems were able to be breached.

Experts have been warning of the dangers of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and government operations. The Canadian government's global affairs office was targeted in a prolonged security breach last month due to "malicious" cyber activity that impacted internal data from the agency's staff.

The RCMP says it is working with other Canadian government partners to continue "assessing the breadth and scope of the security breach and hold those responsible accountable." Read more about this story on our LinkedIn page