Forewarned Is Forearmed

"[Canada] is a]natural target for politically motivated retaliation from a number of actors worldwide. The attraction of cyber to policy-makers around the world is that it's a tool you can use to gather information and influence events."
"The status quo today is that civilians are generally the first targets of state-on-state cyber combat."
"This proliferation of cutting-edge offensive cyber power, combined with an increased willingness to use it with minimal blowback and spiralling distrust, has set the stage for more disruptive and destabilizing cyber events, possibly in the near future."
"If you make a list of critical industry you're going to defend, then that means you're leaving other industry and everyday citizens vulnerable. It would be important to acknowledge in principle that defending all Canadians and businesses is a priority for the government, as opposed to picking a few winners and losers in critical industries."
"If you practise good cyber hygiene it'll eliminate 95 percent of the threats you face. But there is a point where only a military can counter another military operation."
Christopher Porter, cyber security expert, former CIA analyst

A computer expert operates at the NATO Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) technical centre, at NATO's military headquarters SHAPE in Mons, southwestern Belgium in a Dec. 10, 2013 file photo. (Yves Logghe/Associated Press)

Banks in Canada have been victimized by cybercriminals as for example one cybertheft operation in 2016 traced eventually to North Korea that hit a number of Canadian banks. These attacks can produce an effect directly impacting Canadians. FireEye, the cyber security firm that Mr. Porter represents, routinely finds underground operations where thousands of stolen credit cards belonging to Canadians hoisted from large financial institutions and smaller credit unions are for sale.

Mr. Porter also cited the Trickbot malware campaign using hacked wireless routers in control of a virus stealing money from banks and Bitcoin wallets that targeted a Canadian bank, among its victims. Another fifteen Canadian banks were targeted through a more recent campaign named PandaBot. Governments, asserts Mr. Porter, are required to be prepared to assist financial institutions in fighting off the incursions of these cyber operations.

He likens the bank's operative capabilities succeeding in blocking out the average cyber criminal, but when it comes to military cyber weaponry, a robust opposing military defensive is required in that corporate computer systems cannot oppose state-sponsored attacks. He spoke before a House of Commons committee to address Canada's need to prepare itself for cyberattacks.

An issue currently at debate in the present standoff between Canada and China over a Huawei executive in Canadian custody awaiting extradition on a warrant to the U.S. When countries oppose one another's policies for whatever reason, relying on the facility of imposing sanctions to produce economic damage in lieu of outright war represents a conventional, traditional form of pursuing conflict.

Sanctions, while useful, have been overtaken by the more destructive and confusing cyber-intrusions to wreak havoc and influence events. Once used primarily for spy operations to collect data on military operations or corporate secrets, gravitating cyberattacks through military action can be cause "serious disruption". Estonia as an example, can speak on the issue with authority of experience when Russian hackers effectively shut down the country's cyber infrastructure.

And nor has organized crime ignored the potential inherent in the usefulness of cyberattacks with their growing sophistication in targeting individuals, corporations and government agencies for maximum confusion and effectiveness in blackmailing discreetly for profit in untraceable cybercoinage.

In the United States, authorities there fixated on the need to secure election systems such as voting machines and for their trouble saw a major disruption on high ranking political figures through simple email hacks. Governments have a need to recognize vulnerabilities and to be nimble in responding to such cyberattacks in the interests of both national security and individual freedoms.

The House public safety and national security committee had a timely warning delivered on this vital issue for national security. What the Parliament of Canada and the current government does in response will be of interest both for the present and the future, as international tensions keep rising between countries of opposing ideologies and values.

"The cyberespionage threat to Canada is moderate, but could be on the rise. We have observed 10 separate espionage groups from China, Russia and Iran targeting Canada in recent years", Mr. Porter observed.

Attacks targeting banks can have a direct effect on Canadians and FireEye says it routinely discovers underground operations selling thousands of stolen Canadian credit cards, from big-name banks to smaller credit unions. Getty Images