A New Focus on Cybersecurity for Canada

In a world that is becoming increasingly digital and interconnected, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical concern for nations across the globe. Canada, with its highly digitized economy and tech-savvy population, is no exception. The Canadian government has just  released its first-ever federal level cybersecurity strategy, which aims to address the new challenges being presented by an increasing reliance on remote work and cloud-based activities across the country.

The strategy, which was officially announced by the Treasury Board in May, revealed that during 2023, there was a distinct lack of “repeatable” processes to ensure cybersecurity across government departments and agents. Therefore, this new focus is as much about developing a transferable strategy as much as it is about finding those airtight cybersecurity measures that can safeguard the  nation’s digital infrastructure and protect sensitive data.

Canada’s Digital Landscape

Being a tech savvy nation, Canada’s digital landscape has evolved into a multifaceted industry over the decades. Like most major countries, the Great White North is experiencing a tangible digital revolution, boosted in some degree by the move to a work-from-home culture. The past few years has seen hundreds of thousands of Canadians moving to ditch the traditional 9-5 worklife structure, and opting for remote work or freelancing opportunities instead.

In fact, remote work is one of the key areas addressed by this new strategy. Numerous companies have adopted hybrid or fully remote working models, leveraging cloud-based tools for collaboration, communication, and project management. While this shift offers a flexible approach that has increased productivity, it also comes with inherent cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Online and cloud gaming is another core digital sector throughout Canada. The country has a thriving gaming community, with millions of adult residents playing games from distinctive slots titles like Gemstone Guardians to competitive titles like Ninjaz vs Narcos. Gaming makes a significant contribution to Canada’s economy as a number of major development studios are headquartered in the county, but the rise of online gaming platforms and cloud gaming also pose risks to cybersecurity.

And, while this strategy doesn’t directly refer to such activities at this stage, it’s still important to consider activities like eCommerce, social media and even smart home technologies. It wouldn’t be possible to purchase goods and services online, share content and communicate through social media apps or run smart thermostats and security cameras without internet integration. As with everything else connected to the ‘net, these activities can also expand the attack surface for potential cyber threats.

Addressing the Challenges

In the past three years most government departments have switched to hybrid remote work, with employees connecting to sensitive data using their home networks instead of the more secure in-house government intranet system.

Now that a large percentage of these employees continue to work on a hybrid basis there’s a need to address the challenges that arise from working from home, such as compromised data protection and an increased susceptibility to malware and phishing attacks.

The strategy will focus on making remote and hybrid work more secure, rolling out things like expanded multifactor authentication and implementing constant protections against malware and virus attacks. Plus, coming in at around CA$11 million and taking five years to deliver, it’s clear just how seriously the Canadian government is taking this new digital era. As stated by Treasury Board President Anita Anand in an interview with Bloomberg, the government in Canada has a duty to “ensure that our systems are protected”.

The key plans set out in the strategy involve updating ageing IT infrastructure throughout government departments, as well as forming partnerships with universities and colleges across the length and breadth of the country to accelerate hiring processes for cybersecurity professionals. It will all be held together by a newly-formed security operations centre, which will oversee specialized operations centres and a ‘purple team’ of professionals who will launch simulation attacks to periodically assess the gaps in government cybersecurity.