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Canada’s spy service warns cyberspace makes nation’s secrets more vulnerable

Click to play video: 'Bolster cybersecurity investments, training: experts'
Bolster cybersecurity investments, training: experts
A new report says Atlantic Canadian companies and governments are lagging behind the national average in cybersecurity investments. With digitalization increasing and recent hacks to the City of Saint John and Newfoundland and Labrador's healthcare system, some experts say increasing threat risks means more investment and training is needed. Callum Smith reports – Jan 26, 2022

A senior official at Canada’s spy service says the expansion of cyberspace is making it easier for foreign adversaries to pilfer secrets.

Cherie Henderson, an interim assistant director with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, tells a defence conference today that a foreign agent no longer needs to sidle up to their target in a bar.

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They can be at a keyboard in another country, trying to locate a Canadian target’s personal device on a computer network.

In some cases, Henderson says, information gleaned online can help make it possible to do old-fashioned espionage in person.

She says there are many countries that want Canada’s top-notch technology and do not want to take the time to develop it themselves.

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Defence Minister Anita Anand told the conference the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency, is sharing threat intelligence with Ukraine to help defend itself against cyberattacks.

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