The Chief of Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre, has told a parliamentary committee that Russia and China consider themselves at war with the West and that they are “not just looking at regime survival but regime expansion.” The committee also heard from Caroline Xavier, chief of the Communications Security Establishment, that there is growing concern about cybercrime, with various state-sponsored entities a threat to Canada. country. [node:read-more:link]
As Russia ramped up missile attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, Canada and its partners in the G7, backed by NATO, promised today to support Ukraine with “financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support for . . . as long as it takes.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said the latest attacks were in retaliation for a strike on a key bridge to Crimea, which he annexed in 2014. [node:read-more:link]
A former National Security Agency employee was charged in U.S. federal court September 29 with three Espionage Act offences arising from attempts to sell classified cyber operation information to what he believed was a foreign government. Jareh Dalke, 30, who had worked as an information systems security designer at the NSA for less than a month this summer, actually was trapped by an undercover FBI agent. [node:read-more:link]
British PM Liz Truss has ordered an update of last year’s defence and security review due to what her government describes as a new global environment resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. John Bew, the PM’s special adviser for foreign affairs and defence, is leading the initiative with a view to completing it by year’s end. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. Administration today launched a long-awaited federal cybersecurity grant program that will funnel up to $1 billion to state and local governments to upgrade digital defences. Managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it will begin by awarding an initial $185 million to states before the end of the current fiscal year. [node:read-more:link]
Canada’s security community has become increasingly vocal about foreign cyberthreats and the concern is evidently warranted, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Quebec in Montreal have identified at least 75 attacks since 2010, half involving espionage, and mostly government-orchestrated for political, economic or other purposes. [node:read-more:link]
The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre in China is accusing the U.S. National Security Agency of breaking into computers at Northwestern Polytechnical University, an institution in Xi’an funded by the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology and believed to do military-related research. The newly-reported hacking occurred in June [node:read-more:link]
Cyberattacks on Italian energy operators and infrastructure are increasing, says the country’s National Cyber Security Agency. Following two breaches over the last week, it urges the sector to “raise the levels of protection of digital infrastructure of energy operators” and says it is “constantly updating them in line with the most recent threat information” as attackers use new coding software. [node:read-more:link]
The National Health Service in Britain is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate a recent ransomware attack on a vendor which provides information technology services to more than 1,200 NHS facilities. The vendor says it isolated all healthcare environments where the attack was discovered August 4. [node:read-more:link]
Updated cybersecurity directives for U.S. oil and natural gas pipelines have been announced by the Transportation Security. Initial plans a year ago were widely criticized and now the CSA says consultations with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have resulted in more “technical countermeasures” designed to prevent threats discovered during extended research. [node:read-more:link]
A new Deloitte Canada report raises concerns about the potential of hacking control systems on the latest generation of increasingly connected vehicles. The report examines the implementation of cybersecurity measures and cites, among other things, last year’s hacking of a transport company's 25 automated vehicles. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. administration is hoping to refine its predecessor’s offensive cyber capabilities to fit “within our foreign policy goals.” Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger confirmed the decision July 19, explaining that the review should give U.S. Cyber Command more discretion to engage in time-sensitive operations so as to determine whether cyber capabilities are “resilient, flexible, and ready to be used when needed.” [node:read-more:link]
A former Central Intelligence Agency computer engineer was found guilty July 13 in U.S. Federal Court of the largest data leak in ghe agency’s history. Joshua Schulte, whose previous trial ended with a hung jury in 2020, was accused of handing over reams of classified information to WikiLeaks in 2016 while working in the CIA Center for Cyber Intelligence. [node:read-more:link]
Rapid response to cyberattacks and other malign digital activity is the goal of a new NATO “virtual rapid response cyber capability” as it moves to boost Ukraine’s defences against relentless Russian activity. Agreed to at the latest alliance leaders’ summit, the voluntary program relies on current assets. [node:read-more:link]
The Communications Security Establishment has both defensive capabilities and what are called "active" capabilities – which allow it to disrupt foreign online threats to Canada's system. The 2021-2022 annual report gives some details about the cyber campaigns it is waging to safeguard national security. It notes the CSE has used its active cyber operations capabilities to disrupt the efforts of foreign-based extremists to "recruit Canadian nationals, operate online and disseminate violent extremist material." [node:read-more:link]
