Tips to PembinaValleyOnline.com have indicated another round of cyber attacks has swept through the Pembina Valley.

A local commercial IT Director, who requested to remain anonymous, says specific businesses haven't been in the sights of hackers, rather the Pembina Valley region itself seems to have been targetted by ransomware, malware and virus attacks.

He says the people behind the attacks don't necessarily know a specific business or individual even exists "until somebody opens the door for them... they rely on users to do the wrong thing, open the wrong email."

One of the largest manufacturers in Winkler, Triple E, confirmed they were experiencing network issues Thursday, but did not confirm if they were related to these reported attacks. According to local sources the business was not at full operation Thursday.

One resident explains her husband has been off work without pay for two days because of the server issues at Triple E. " We can probably manage because I work full-time and elsewhere. However, it will still be tight for us and I'm sure that there are people who will have trouble making it through this time. It's going to affect a lot of people."

PembinaValleyOnline has not been able to independently verify any specific businesses impacted by the alleged cyber attacks.

Last week Winkler based Solutions IT was raising awareness around a vulnerability in commercial phone systems.

Solutions IT's Wes Ens noted businesses are constantly bombarded with phishing scams and ransomware attacks seeking vulnerabilities. For the best protection, he explained a three-source data back-up plan is recommended, with one source secured offsite.

Ens stressed online security breaches often have costly consequences in terms of both financial and productivity loss.

RELATED ARTICLE: Local Businesses Warned Of Phone Hack https://pembinavalleyonline.com/local/local-businesses-warned-of-phone-hack