TAGGED AS CYBER SECURITY
Feds give $675k for UWaterloo cybersecurity project
telecom | 08/16/2022 5:03 pm EDT
The federal government Tuesday announced $675,000 in funding for a University of Waterloo-based project aimed at shoring up cybersecurity in quantum computing.
The project, called Laying the Foundations for a Quantum-Safe Canada, aims to raise "awareness and preparation...
CSE discovers more than 2000 cyber security incidents last year
telecom | 06/29/2022 5:01 pm EDT
There were nearly half a dozen cyber security incidents targeting federal institutions each day in the last fiscal year, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) revealed Wednesday in its annual report.
The data was taken from information from the agency’s...
ISED contributes $80M to fund cyber security project
Media | 02/17/2022 5:16 pm EST
The Department of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development announced...
CIRA poll finds Canadians support new privacy laws and cyber attack prevention measures
Media | 05/26/2021 6:19 pm EDT
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority...
Feds launch new cyber security program
telecom | 05/06/2021 5:15 pm EDT
The federal government is looking to enter a multi-year funding agreement with experts who will form its new Cyber Security Innovation Network. The four-year, $80 million investment to support three or more Canadian centres of...
Government investing in new cyber security initiatives
telecom | 08/13/2019 5:45 pm EDT
The federal government announced on Monday the creation of the CyberSecure Canada program, a new certification program for Canadian businesses to further promote cyber security as a central tenet of...
OPC to monitor Equifax for six years
telecom | 04/09/2019 5:12 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Tuesday that it has concluded its investigation into the Equifax Inc. data breach and it will monitor the company for the next six years.
It said in a press release that “both Equifax Canada and its US-based parent company...
Be ‘wary’ of regulating online speech: Facebook
Media | 01/22/2019 5:57 pm EST
While online misinformation needs to be taken seriously, that doesn’t...
Elections bill doesn’t ‘sufficiently protect’ against foreign meddling: senators
Media | 12/07/2018 2:22 pm EST
A Senate committee is concerned that the elections modernization bill introduced earlier this year and ahead of the 2019 federal election won’t do enough to “sufficiently...
Public Policy Forum to track online disinformation
Media | 11/29/2018 3:13 pm EST
Ottawa-based think tank the Public Policy Forum says it’s launching a new project to track, analyze and eventually find a way to counter "fake news." It’s digital democracy project will start by studying the effects of...
1-in-10 say ISPs should play a role identifying ‘fake news’: survey
Media | 11/28/2018 2:21 pm EST
There’s a lack of consensus over who should help Canadians determine what...
CSE has worked with nearly all wireless providers on cybersecurity
telecom | 11/02/2018 5:15 pm EDT
The Canadian Security Establishment (CSE) says it has worked with 31 Canadian wireless providers “to help mitigate the risk of cyber espionage and network disruption through the exploitation of...
Artificial intelligence tests yielding promising results: Corus CEO
Media | 11/02/2018 12:09 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Corus Entertainment Inc. CEO Doug Murphy told an industry...
Create cybersecurity ministry: senate committee
telecom | 10/29/2018 4:37 pm EDT
The federal government should appoint a minister of cybersecurity, the Senate banking committee said in a...
BlackBerry to offer ransomware recovery service
telecom | 08/09/2018 4:56 pm EDT
In a bid to combat the growing problem of ransomware, BlackBerry Ltd. announced in a release on Monday an...
CSE watchdog oversight, fall launch for cybersecurity centre
telecom | 06/12/2018 7:49 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) now has a leader in current Communication Security Establishment (CSE) deputy assistant minister of IT security Scott Jones, the government said Tuesday as officials revealed further details about its $507.7 million...
CRTC consulting on NG911 network efficiency
telecom | 03/26/2018 1:29 pm EDT
The CRTC said Monday it is asking for input on next-generation 911 (NG911) network design efficiencies...
BlackBerry launches cybersecurity software for cars
telecom | 01/16/2018 5:01 pm EST
BlackBerry Ltd. is making available a new cybersecurity product initially aimed at carmakers, the company...
Over 800K Canadians involved in Uber hack
telecom | 12/12/2017 6:30 pm EST
The Canadian division of Uber Technologies Inc. said about 815,000 riders and drivers in Canada were...
Under C-59, unauthorized data collection still a risk: professor
telecom | 12/06/2017 4:14 pm EST
OTTAWA — On Tuesday morning, University of Ottawa law professor Craig...
Committee tells Equifax compensation meagre after breach
telecom | 12/05/2017 12:47 pm EST
OTTAWA — The House of Commons’ ethics committee did not mince words with two Equifax Inc. (Canada) executives appearing before them Monday afternoon, imploring the company — at times in a fiery tone — to seriously consider better compensation and protections for...
Goodale offers telecoms a hand in network security, SS7
telecom | 11/24/2017 5:53 pm EST
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the country’s telecoms can...
25% would return to online business affected by cyberattack: CIRA
telecom | 11/14/2017 7:07 pm EST
A large majority of Canadians are aware of the dangers of keeping their personal information online, but it might not stop their online shopping habits, according to survey data released by the...
PM outlines new parliamentary committee to oversee security agencies
telecom | 11/06/2017 5:33 pm EST
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the creation of a new National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians in a press release on Monday. This new body will “have the...
Resources ‘already stretched’ as breach reports set to increase: OPC
telecom | 11/03/2017 12:45 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien does not think...
Give telecoms more power to deal with cyber threats: bankers’ association
telecom | 10/27/2017 1:57 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Telecoms should be able to block “bad data” and share...
Facebook outlines plans to tackle ‘election integrity’ in Canada
Media | 10/20/2017 5:08 pm EDT
Facebook Inc. is teaming up with Ottawa-based digital literacy group,...
CSE releases anti-malware tool to public
telecom | 10/20/2017 4:37 pm EDT
Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is stepping up its efforts to combat malware by allowing the public to use one of its security tools. The organization will release its cyber defence tool, called...
Bell beefs up security, web performance with Akamai deal
telecom | 10/18/2017 5:47 pm EDT
BCE Inc. is looking to strengthen cybersecurity and web performance for its...
Ottawa opens autonomous car test track
telecom | 10/13/2017 5:16 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, is now home to the first Canadian autonomous vehicle demonstration track on public roads with integrated municipal wireless infrastructure, representing an opportunity for communication companies to test their technologies in a real...
Telus leads in end-of-summer lobbying activity
Media | 09/25/2017 5:31 pm EDT
Telus Corp. was far and away the busiest industry stakeholder when it came to...
Equifax breach hits 100,000 Canadians
telecom | 09/20/2017 2:16 pm EDT
Equifax Inc., the credit reporting agency that was the subject of a massive hack earlier this month, said it believes about 100,000 Canadians are affected. The information leak involves personal information including names,...
Regulatory rejigs, cultural changes in store as Parliament resumes
Media | 09/18/2017 1:56 pm EDT
Everything old is new again when it comes to telecom and media issues...
Equifax investigation a ‘priority’ for privacy commish
telecom | 09/15/2017 4:31 pm EDT
The privacy commissioner’s office is investigating the Equifax Inc. breach. It said in a release Friday it launched the investigation “after receiving several complaints and dozens of calls...
Increase transparency in RCMP stingray use: OPC
telecom | 09/14/2017 2:56 pm EDT
The federal privacy commissioner’s office has found that while RCMP use of IMSI catchers wasn’t lawful in some instances, the agency has since changed its policy, and the office was satisfied by RCMP responses regarding the collection of third-party information and...
Privacy commish issues Equifax advice; Canoe reports breach
Media | 09/13/2017 1:52 pm EDT
The federal privacy commissioner is urging Canadians who are worried about whether their personal information was affected by the Equifax Inc. hack to contact the company directly. “After...
Canadians affected by Equifax breach
telecom | 09/08/2017 2:47 pm EDT
Canadians are among the millions of consumers whose information was compromised in a massive hack of Equifax Inc., a U.S. company that sells credit monitoring and anti-identity-theft products. Equifax said in a...
Gov’t releases data-breach reporting rules
telecom | 09/01/2017 5:29 pm EDT
Organizations that suffer a breach of users’ personal information must conduct a risk assessment to...
FCC recommends SS7 best practices for service providers
telecom | 08/28/2017 2:38 pm EDT
The United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is...
SS7 protocol concerns intensifying: security expert
telecom | 08/08/2017 5:58 pm EDT
Despite recent calls to limit encryption by some government officials and intelligence heads worldwide,...
CSE watching proposed U.S. IoT security bill
telecom | 08/03/2017 4:39 pm EDT
Four United States senators are proposing a bill that would require minimum cybersecurity standards for Internet of Things (IoT) devices bought by federal agencies. The bipartisan Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity...
Non-profit gives tech leg up to telecoms, smaller businesses
telecom | 07/28/2017 4:09 pm EDT
Canada’s big three wireless providers are now cooperating on a...
BlackBerry call encryption approved for U.S. government
telecom | 07/21/2017 4:12 pm EDT
Blackberry Ltd. will now be able to provide its mobile device...
Canada in top 10 for cybersecurity: ITU report
telecom | 07/05/2017 3:07 pm EDT
Canada is a leading country in its commitment to cyber security, according to a new report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The Global Cybersecurity Index 2017 report, released Wednesday, listed Canada in the number 10 spot for countries most committed to cybersecurity. Singapore took the top spot, followed by the United States, Malaysia, Oman, Estonia, Mauritius, Australia, Georgia, and France. Canada was among 21 countries that are considered “leading” on cybersecurity in five categories. Those five categories include legal, organizational, technical, capacity...
Civil society groups take aim at Five Eyes on encryption
Media | 06/30/2017 3:51 pm EDT
More than six dozen civil society organizations and individuals have come out to reiterate support for stronger data encryption in a letter addressed to a quintet of the world’s intelligence...
Privacy improvements in Bill C-59, but some concerns remain: experts
telecom | 06/22/2017 5:16 pm EDT
In their initial impressions of the government’s biggest attempt to...
CSE to work more directly with telecoms on network security
telecom | 06/20/2017 5:38 pm EDT
OTTAWA — New national security legislation proposed Tuesday will enable...
‘Primary contact point’ needed for connected car safety: BlackBerry
telecom | 06/06/2017 2:17 pm EDT
OTTAWA — If the government expects to make connected cars safe and...
IMSI catchers difficult to identify: Rogers’ Cawthray
telecom | 06/05/2017 5:12 pm EDT
TORONTO — IMSI catchers present a challenge for telecoms because identifying them while they’re operating is like finding a “needle in a haystack,” said Stewart Cawthray, general manager of enterprise security at Rogers Communications Inc.
Speaking during a panel...
Canadian cyber security spending lagging: survey
telecom | 05/24/2017 11:33 am EDT
Investments in cyber security are not keeping up with the pace of potential future hacking attempts at Canadian companies, according to a new survey. About 46 per cent of executives at 50 Canadian companies surveyed via...
Canadians becoming more lax about security updates: Ekos
telecom | 05/18/2017 4:43 pm EDT
Fewer Canadians kept their security software up-to-date in 2016 compared to five years ago, according to a recent report by Ekos Research Associates Inc., while a little over half of small-and-medium...
Bell suffers breach of customer information
telecom | 05/15/2017 6:23 pm EDT
BCE Inc. said Monday that an anonymous hacker has gained access to customer information. The telecom said in a press release late Monday that the information the hacker obtained “contains email addresses, customer names...
Hospitals, companies subject to global cyber attack: report
telecom | 05/15/2017 5:30 pm EDT
More than 200,000 computers in at least 150 countries were subject to a cyber attack by extortionists seeking cash over the weekend. Among the attack victims were hospitals in the United Kingdom,...
Privacy proponents point to problems with connected cars
telecom | 05/02/2017 7:19 pm EDT
Connected cars “raise significant privacy concerns,” Vincent Gogolek, executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, told a Senate committee Tuesday....
Nat’l security committee recommends status quo for lawful access
telecom | 05/02/2017 7:11 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Members of a House of Commons committee studying Canada’s national security framework said they weren’t compelled to increase the ability of law enforcement to obtain...
Use of AI will bring benefits to telecoms, but also risks
Media | 05/01/2017 5:22 pm EDT
Artificial intelligence is a tool telecoms will increasingly use to manage networks and enhance various products, but its susceptibility to hacking will also pose big security-related concerns,...
Cyber security costs to outpace spending by 2022: Juniper
telecom | 04/25/2017 5:04 pm EDT
Global cyber security spending is expected to reach almost $135 billion by 2022, but that will be dwarfed by losses due to security and data breaches, according to a new report by Juniper Research....
Bell says retroactive regulation can’t be basis for simsub ban
Media | 04/11/2017 9:11 pm EDT
The CRTC can’t retroactively apply regulations established almost a year after the fact to justify its prohibition simultaneous substitution during the broadcast of the National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl, BCE Inc. argued in court documents filed in its joint appeal of the decision. In a memorandum of fact and law filed with the Federal Appeal Court April 5, Bell said that the Simultaneous Programming Service Deletion and Substitution Regulations, which came into force Dec. 1, 2015, aren’t applicable to the Jan. 29, 2015 CRTC policy that first...
‘Unprecedented’ collaboration necessary for connected cars: lawyer
telecom | 04/11/2017 8:44 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada must develop a national policy and form a multi-party committee involving different levels of government to help inform decisions on autonomous and connected cars, a...
Federal gov’t investigating source of IMSI catchers on Parliament Hill
telecom | 04/04/2017 8:25 pm EDT
The IMSI catchers found to be in use in Ottawa around Parliament Hill are not being operated by a Canadian agency and an investigation has been launched to find the culprits, Public Safety Minister...
Connected cars ‘smartphones on wheels,’ Senate committee hears
Media | 04/04/2017 7:57 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The development of connected and autonomous vehicles might be the thing that makes the issue of cyber security tangible, a Canadian intelligence official told senators Tuesday....
Appoint cyber czar, endorse certification program: Chamber of Commerce
telecom | 04/03/2017 8:59 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility, but the federal government needs to take a leadership role to help stem the flow of money draining from the Canadian economy due to...
Encrypted messaging apps no place to hide, says U.K. official after killings
Media | 03/27/2017 8:23 pm EDT
Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp messaging service should not be a place “for terrorists to hide,” according to U.K. Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who appeared on a Sunday BBC program and called for co-operation from communications companies in the wake of last week’s terror attack outside the British houses of parliament. “We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp — and there are plenty of others like that — don’t provide a secret...
Rogers launches social-media cyber security tool
Media | 03/15/2017 6:47 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. has rolled out a security tool aimed at helping businesses safeguard their social media accounts, the company said in a Wednesday press release. Social Media Security “monitors,...
StatsCan, CRA outages ‘preventative’ measure: gov’t officials
telecom | 03/13/2017 9:00 pm EDT
OTTAWA — A known software vulnerability led the federal government to pull Statistics Canada and Canada Revenue Agency websites offline late last week, officials said Monday, calling...
Trump, Trudeau commit to ‘further cooperation’ on cyber security
telecom | 02/13/2017 7:24 pm EST
The United States and Canada will continue co-operating on cyber security and the security of critical infrastructure, the two countries said in a joint statement Monday as Prime Minister...
Giuliani to advise Trump on cyber security following BlackBerry partnership
telecom | 01/12/2017 5:05 pm EST
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, will provide “his expertise and insight” to president-elect Donald Trump on private sector cyber-security issues, the transition team...
Tom Wheeler leaving FCC in January
Media | 12/15/2016 5:53 pm EST
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler is leaving his post as head of the United States regulator on Jan. 20, 2017. Wheeler said in a written statement Thursday that serving as chairman...
Another Yahoo breach involved 1 billion accounts: reports
Media | 12/15/2016 4:52 pm EST
Yahoo Inc. has found a new security breach that has compromised more than one billion user accounts, a figure that is double the breach it discovered only a couple of months ago, according to...
Most Canadians satisfied with Internet service: CIRA
Media | 12/14/2016 4:48 pm EST
Canadians are “generally satisfied” with the speed of their home Internet service, according to a new report from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). “More than 80 per cent of those surveyed...
Cyberattack cripples sites of major Internet companies
telecom | 10/21/2016 8:03 pm EDT
A Friday morning denial of service (DDoS) attack has taken down or slowed the websites of some of the Internet’s biggest companies, according to reports. The attack targeted Internet...
Government should have cyber security czar, senators hear
telecom | 10/19/2016 8:43 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada should have a federal “cyber czar” focused on the issue of cyber security, Peter Sloly, the former deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service and an executive director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd., told senators Wednesday. The cyber czar would “overarch ministries and other divisions of government in order to co-ordinate and develop a level of cyber capacity and update the strategy on a continual basis,” he said. Sloly, who works in the cyber section of Deloitte Canada’s risk advisory services, was speaking at a meeting...
Cavoukian launches international privacy organization
Media | 10/17/2016 4:19 pm EDT
Ann Cavoukian, executive director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University, is founding an international privacy organization, according to a press release Monday. The International Council on...
Yahoo breach could jeopardize sale, Verizon says
Media | 10/14/2016 7:12 pm EDT
The breach of millions of Yahoo Inc. email accounts revealed in late September could affect the acquisition of the company by Verizon Communications Inc., Reuters reported. The news service quoted Verizon...
Open infrastructure category to include digital: ITAC
telecom | 09/29/2016 7:37 pm EDT
The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) is recommending that telecommunications networks be included in the federal government’s definition of infrastructure to help spur their expansion and development....
Innovation, cybersecurity, CanCon on agenda as Parliament resumes
Media | 09/19/2016 2:54 pm EDT
After 13 weeks off from the Parliament Hill routine, MPs returned en masse to Ottawa Monday for the start of the House of Commons’ fall session, where the stage is set for forward...
Password disclosure law up for ‘public discussion’: Goodale
telecom | 08/17/2016 9:31 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The federal minister of public safety indicated Wednesday a willingness to engage with a freshly passed resolution from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) calling for a law to compel people to hand over passwords to devices seized under a search warrant. The CACP passed the resolution urging the government “to identify a legislative means for public safety agencies inclusive of law enforcement, through judicial authorization, to compel the holder of an encryption key or password to reveal it to law enforcement” on Tuesday as one of four adopted by...
Cyber security consultations begin
telecom | 08/16/2016 3:40 pm EDT
The federal government has launched public consultations in support of its review of cyber security, Public Safety Canada announced Tuesday. In a press release, the department said it will be collecting...
ISED watching Australian cyber security overhaul
telecom | 08/09/2016 8:52 pm EDT
The Canadian government is keeping an eye on how its Australian counterpart is handling security risks to the country’s telecom networks. “Canada can learn from Australia’s experience” in reforming its...
Cyber security consultation to be ‘launched shortly’: ISED
telecom | 06/30/2016 5:34 pm EDT
The federal government will be moving forward with another consultation in the coming months, this time as it prepares to review cyber security measures. A briefing note prepared in advance of...
Privacy commish warns telecoms about transparency reporting, metadata
telecom | 06/09/2016 12:42 am EDT
TORONTO — Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told a telecom industry audience Wednesday that companies should be prudent about the collection and use of metadata, and cautioned companies that...
Cyber security not built into trade agreements: negotiator
telecom | 05/19/2016 8:22 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Don’t look to international trade agreements to keep digital trade secure, participants of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Day event were...