Vanguard Magazine

36 DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 www.vanguardcanada.com cyBer the digitaL PiVot in managing ConfLiCtS a defence system comprising of the new digital components and the fifth dimension of warfare is one that will better serve the security of the people of canada. The Slow, Emerging Threat of Cyber International incidents like the events of September 11, 2001, create an indelible impression on the world. As we now know, this tragedy has had reverberating effects on almost every sector causing govern- ments around the world to re-think safe- ty and the future of security. September 11th was in many ways one of the most egregious events in recent memory losing thousands of lives and producing a mass dislocation of the global economy. This led to the disruption of one of the great- est economic generating areas of real estate in the world. And as difficult as it was to absorb that moment, people around the world suddenly had available to them a broad catalogue of images and videos on a still-nascent Internet. That aspect of tech- nology shaping societies continues to this day. But now, it is on a scale that affects ev- ery aspect of our personal and professional lives as delivered through mobile comput- ing and data analytics, along with sharp platform and infrastructure improvements such as cloud technology. For practitioners in the defence, security, and intelligence sectors, this post-9/11 environment became a new "adversarial dilemma" within a rapidly emerging "digi- tal battle space." Moving towards 2021, we can see a new type of threat conveyed in the context of the weaponization of a broadly applied science that touches every aspect of our lives. The innovation is called data, and the threat itself is clearly identi- fied as "cyber." The Offensive Approach to Security - Skills Development and New Technologies With data as the enabler for this new digi- tal reality, implementing cybersecurity best practices has become a top priority for in- dustry and governments around the world, where data sensitivity is at the highest lev- el. Maintaining a proactive cybersecurity approach is now deemed essential to miti- gating both short- and long-term risks, particularly for operational organizations. As challenging as the mission has become over almost 20 years, COVID-19 has ac- celerated the need for digital transforma- tion in all areas, including defence. Almost without exclusion, organizations find themselves working remotely. For opera- tional organizations, such as the Depart- ment of National Defence (DND) and the By rAy BoiSVert ANd ShANNoN MccLure Photo: DND

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