Vanguard Magazine

"Kryptera addresses a major concern for companies today – the the of private data, corporate communications or intellectual property by insiders, employees or contractors." — Alastair Sweeny these technologies. I believe future wars will be fought very much online. The modern day enigma equivalent will be a hackathon with a thousand 20-year-olds breaking into our digital worlds – the worlds that will matter to us most on all fronts. What the experts say As usual, I surveyed a few Canadian experts on cyber security to learn more about what they feel are the biggest risks, and how their technologies can help keep companies secure. The first expert that I spoke with was Jeff Joyce from Critical Systems Labs Inc. (CSL), a Canadian-owned engineering con- sultancy that provides a uniquely integrated approach to cyber security in managing risk for complex software-intensive systems across a variety of technologically advanced domains, including aerospace, defence, automotive, maritime, energy, medical tech- nologies and rail signalling. "Cyber threats are increasing in number, complexity and sophistication," Joyce said. "Increasing dependence on software automation, remote operation, and in- terconnection of 'smart' systems are among the technology trends that heighten exposure to cyber security threats for critical sys- tems and networks." Joyce went on to add, "Media has reported cyber attacks on automobiles that have compromised the func- tionality of critical systems such as braking and propulsion. These reports closely coincide with deep concerns in aerospace, defence and other industries that the disciplines of safety engineering and cyber security engineering are not currently integrating their re- spective activities." Another company, RANK, brings big data technology into the cyber security realm. RANK's threat detection platform, VASA, revolutionizes cyber security response through a unique collab- orative discovery process that enables discovery of both known and unknown threats and enables rapid response. Combining big data technologies, machine learning and proprietary algorithms, RANK's user and entity behavior platform helps discover insight- ful information and actionable intelligence around insider threats, targeted attacks, and other vulnerabilities. The VASA visualization is specifically designed to aid the security analyst to drill down on detected threats and hunt for other anomalies in their network. I was also able to talk to Alastair Sweeny from Waterloo-based Kryptera. He said that "Kryptera addresses a major concern for companies today – the theft of private data, corporate communi- cations or intellectual property by insiders, employees or contrac- tors. Companies can spend millions on securing their servers with monitoring software and malware protection, but they still run a major risk of being robbed due to software vulnerabilities, phish- ing or employee incompetence. Most large operations also have massive digital archives that they do not have a real handle on. Copies of files are scattered across countless computers connected to their networks. Cleaning up this mess can be too expensive or too huge to handle. We designed our flagship product, the Kryptera Enterprise Server (KES), to meet these challenges head on." KES Resides on your private network and immunizes valu- able files against cybercrime with the hardest encryption on the market, which according to Sweeny "rapidly mass encrypts and decrypts files, efficiently and with the need for passwords, turning what could be a nightmare into a manageable task (em dash) a serious security problem into a bulletproof solution." Halifax-based QRA Corp builds advanced analysis tools that significantly decrease the cost, time, and effort required to ver- ify early-stage designs of safety-critical, cyber-physical systems. I spoke with Jordan Kyriakidis, QRA Corp CEO, about his opin- ions on cyber security and new technologies: "The biggest risks surrounding cyber security stem from the exponential increase in complexity of integrated and interconnected cyber systems. Al- though tools and methods exist to analyse and probe individual sub-systems (that is, systems with only a few basic functions), vul- nerabilities become extremely difficult to assess as these sub-sys- tems become integrated into increasingly larger and multi-opera- tive systems. Furthermore, although cutting-edge computational technologies are enabling the development of smarter and more powerful integrated systems, these same technologies also allow those with malicious intent to more rapidly infiltrate and threaten these systems. QRA's natural language analysis tool, QVscribe, and systems analysis tool, QVtrace, aim to help domain experts rapidly hone in on potential errors early on, find vulnerabilities, and increase confidence in cyber systems." As the technology environment changes and systems become more complex and integrated, Canadian businesses should be aware of where their vulnerabilities lie and identify the neces- sary technologies to protect these gaps. This need creates an area where Canadian innovations can really prosper, and I am proud that the Canadian government is also highlighting it as a target investment sector. nicole Verkindt is the technology editor of Vanguard Magazine and founder and president of OMX. She is a board member of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and was recently appointed to the board of the Peter Munk School of Global Affairs. T TEChnoloGy wATCh www.vanguardcanada.com DeCeMBer 2016/JANUArY 2017 43

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