Cyber Security/Protection

Microsoft reports that state-backed Russian hackers have engaged in “strategic espionage” against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries which have sided with Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s so-called “special military operation.” Nearly two-thirds of the targets have been NATO members, notably the U.S. and Poland, and the hackers’ activities have included unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine. [node:read-more:link]

Yves Côté has ended his 10-year term as Commissioner of Canada Elections with a warning that disinformation and foreign interference are two key threats to the country’s electoral system. “There are all kinds of challenges that are lurking and some of them are becoming perhaps worse as we move on with time,” he says, calling on “politicians of all stripes, of institutions, of media, of academics . . . to pull together and say this is a danger.” [node:read-more:link]

The technology that supports the 5G network has been redesigned from previous generations. The speed difference (about 100 milliseconds) may be imperceivable for individual use, but noticeable at a larger scale. This article examines what led to the decision to ban the Chinese tech giant from Canada's 5G network, what other countries are doing, and alternatives to Huawei. [node:read-more:link]

The federal government has banned Huawei from working on Canada's fifth-generation networks over security concerns. The move puts Canada in line with key intelligence allies like the United States, which have expressed concerns about the national security implications of giving the Chinese tech giant access to key infrastructure. [node:read-more:link]

The Israeli surveillance company NSO Group is being sued by Apple Inc. in U.S. federal court in a bid to hold it accountable for surveillance and targetting the San Francisco-based giant’s customers with NSO’s Pegasus spyware. Seeking unspecified damages and costs, Apple said it would donate the proceeds its suit to organizations that expose spyware. [node:read-more:link]

For the second time in five years, fraudsters scammed the City of Ottawa of $558,000 by hacking the email of the executive director of partner agency Salvation Army. The Ottawa Police Service and Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon worked quickly and successfully to recover most of the funds. [node:read-more:link]

The Communications Security Establishment says finding recruitment a challenge even though the government has pledged nearly $1 billion to bolster cybersecurity. The CSE receives 10,000-15,000 job applications annually but only one or two applicants are hired. “Recruitment for high-tech organizations remains challenging and highly competitive,” spokesman Evan Koronewski says. [node:read-more:link]

An alarmingly sophisticated and effective system for attacking industrial facilities, including the energy sector, has been disclosed by U.S. officials. While they have not said which country was the source, private analysts say it is likely Russian in origin and that the priority targets are likely liquefied natural gas plants. [node:read-more:link]

Requests by Ukraine and Estonia to purchase the Israeli-developed Pegasus spyware reportedly have been rejected by the Israeli defence ministry government in recent years over concerns that it would be used to hack Russian phones and sour Jerusalem’s relations with the Kremlin. The ministry prevented the sale by refusing to give export licences to the developer, NSO Group, which has been implicated in other foreign customers’ misuse of the software. [node:read-more:link]

Russia’s pre-dawn kinetic invasion of Ukraine today was accompanied by a massive cyberattack which rendered strategically-key Ukrainian ministry websites unavailable or extremely slow to access. In addition, unidentified hackers had spread malware not only in Ukraine but also neighboring Latvia and Lithuania [node:read-more:link]

Global Affairs Canada access some “internet-based services” evidently remained unavailable today after a “cyber incident” Jan. 19. While it remains unclear whether there is a direct link, the breach was discovered on the same day the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security warned operators of critical infrastructure to be ready for a Russia-based threat. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Cyber Command said Jan. 12 that Iran’s intelligence apparatus has been using multiple hacking tools against computer networks “around the world.” One vehicle is a hacking group known as Muddy Water which has tried to snatch data from telecommunications companies and others across the Middle East and elsewhere. [node:read-more:link]

SolarWinds, a Texas-based IT management and software company, reported Jan. 11 that hackers have supplanted insiders as the largest source of security threats to the U.S. public sector. Some 56 per cent of the 400 respondents to a commissioned survey said the hacker community was a key issue for public sector organizations, followed by careless or untrained insiders at 52 per cent and foreign governments at 47 per cent. Concern evidently was higher at the state and local level than federally. [node:read-more:link]