Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Increasing Canada’s Cyber Resilience

Today marks the start of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, to help us celebrate, our member, Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX), has shared with us their perspective on a crucial issue that’s affecting Canadians everyday.

“Individuals, businesses and every level of government are benefitting from technology that is changing the way we work, socialize and advance as societies. At the same time, criminals and nation states are launching cyber attacks against us with increasing volume and velocity. Cyber threats and risks are growing in every industry in Canada; no sector and no organization is immune.

Organizations used to believe that if they did not have trade secrets or intellectual property to steal that they were immune to cyber threats, but that thinking does not apply in today’s world of ransomware attacks. Cyber attackers now want to deny you the ability to use your information – deny your ability to operate – so you will pay their ransom.

A holistic approach to cyber resilience requires paying attention to not only technology but also people and policy. In this constantly evolving and increasingly sophisticated threat environment, it is no longer enough to protect your own IT infrastructure. We execute in an interconnected world with suppliers, smart buildings, smart cities, transportation, payments, IoT devices – an endless opportunity for adversaries. Every piece of your supply chain is a potential risk. Collaboration within industry sectors and across sectors is essential to outsmart the attackers.   

Increasing Canada’s cyber resilience requires a national response. We must enable our collective resources to work together as a team. Companies are realizing that they cannot defend their networks on their own. They recognize that collaborating to share cyber threat intelligence and best practices makes good business sense. None of us are as smart as all of us, that is the reason why the private sector established CCTX.”

CCTX is working together to provide a Canadian perspective derived from the global cyber threat environment. To see how you can get involved and to learn more about the CCTX, click here.