Educating Canadians is key to address cybersecurity threats: CTS panel

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Cybersecurity and data privacy were the focus of the Canadian Telecom Summit’s second panel of the day, moderated by insurance company Marsh Canada's assistant vice president, Joe Ozorio. Experts encouraged everyone to spread awareness of the importance of cybersecurity and emphasized the need for telcos to prioritize it more. No one is invulnerable from a cyberattack, said Robert Beggs, ethical hacker and president of cybersecurity services firm DigitalDefence. Cyberattacks in Canada and around the world are on the rise and he argues companies do not take it seriously enough until it is too late. Beggs emphasized the importance of “failing gracefully,” saying if a hacker that has the resources wants to break into an organization’s network, they will, and so companies should focus on how to bounce back from an attack. He highlighted the financial lucrativeness of cybercrime and its evolution, including the creation of hacking communities and call centers for ransomware payment support. “You're going to get compromised. How quickly can you recover properly?” he asked, “because that is going to be the true measure of success and survivability.” Network redundancy is a key part of that recovery, said panelists, with Georg Serentschy saying that there needs to be more of it, as well as more affordable cybersecurity. Serentschy is managing partner at Serentschy Advisory Services and former CEO of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunication. He explained how threats to network resilience are rapidly changing and that LEO satellites and regulatory intervention could help address lacking redundancy. He emphasized the role that regulators can play in cybersecurity, encouraging them to work together with network operators in identifying weaknesses, educating each other on new tactics like artificial intelligence (AI) powered attacks and scam calls, and sharing metrics. “This can't be a single operation,” said Ann Cavoukian, executive director at the Global Privacy and Security by Design Centre, encouraging that collaboration. “You have to work in tandem with those who are collecting the data and using your data. You need to educate people within those organizations on how they can do it, the vital importance of doing it, and it has to be an ongoing process.” Ozorio closed out the discussion with a call for telecom businesses and regulators to educate Canadians on the key issue of cybersecurity, with Beggs urging them to test their security systems as often as possible because hackers are doing the same 24 hours a day. – Reporting by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Educating Canadians is key to address cybersecurity threats: CTS panel

Brief | November 6, 2023

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Educating Canadians is key to address cybersecurity threats: CTS panel

Brief | November 6, 2023

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