The federal government has launched the Cybersecure Canada Certification Program to help Canadian organizations achieve a baseline level of protection online.
But so far, no funding has been allocated.
“What we are doing at this stage is a pilot program in order to get this going. It’s much more about actually focusing on getting the certification for firms than a government investment,” Bill Morneau the Minister of Finance.
Companies, whether for profit or not with up to 500 employees, can sign up for the pilot program.
“We can’t design it completely without actually having businesses engaged at the upfront and that’s what we are announcing here today,” said Morneau
“This is a great attempt by the government to do the right thing, I think the biggest take away is that this is on the government’s radar and they know that New Brunswick is punching above its weight in cyber-security,” said Tyson Johnson the CEO of CyberNB.
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To give the government an edge against cyber criminals, researchers at the University of New Brunswick have been tasked to look ahead for long term solutions.
“More work needs to be done because on the other end the other side is always progressing and bringing new attacks and new threats towards us,” said Ghorbani.
There is no charge to companies participating in the pilot program.