Canada's cyber security deficit
Budget 2016
c
cYBer SECURITY
10 APRIL/MAY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com
by valarie Findlay
t
he Canadian government, businesses, and individuals
have developed an inextricable dependence on the In-
ternet that has bestowed significant benefits to our day-
to-day activities but also has left us vulnerable to cyber
threats that endanger our national security, economic prosperity
and way of life.
Tucked away in chapter 5 of Budget 2016, the section on en-
hancing public safety details spending of $139 million with only
$27 million of that earmarked for enhancing the security of gov-
ernment networks and cyber systems, over the next three years
beginning in 2016. It proposes $77.4 million over five years to
implement new measures that will ensure that the government
can "better defend its networks and systems from cyber threats,
malicious software, and unauthorized access."
Although cyberattacks have been rising, the stature of cyber se-
curity appears to have been downgraded — well below that of
the arts.
Compared to Budget 2015, which called for investments of
$36.4 million to support vital cyber systems, $58 million to fur-
ther advance protection of essential systems and critical infrastruc-
ture and another $142 million in July 2015 in response to a rash
of high-profile cyberattacks, Budget 2016 spares very little for
cyber security.
Funding is one factor, and strategy is another — even in 2015,
cyber security practitioners and leaders in policing and IT were con-
cerned that cyber security funding and the federal strategy were too
high-level and too focused on national threats, ignoring the massive
growth in corporate and retail breaches and email scams.
In 2010, the Government released Canada's Cyber Security
Strategy and identified cyber security as the core priority in pro-
tecting the Canada and addressed several key initiatives that in-
cluded securing government systems, partnering to secure vital
cyber systems outside the federal government, and helping Cana-
dians to be secure online.
although cyberattacks have been
rising, the stature of cyber security
appears to have been downgraded
— well below that of the arts.
