MEETING THE CYBER- SECURITY IMPERATIVE AIn late August, the Canadian Centre for Cyber-Security (CCCS: a federal entity within Public Safety Canada) sounded the alarm. Their assessment found that more than 70,000 instances of fraud in 2022 accounted for at least $530 million in stolen assets, surely an under-stated figure given that an estimated ten percent of victims report such crimes. In briefing the media, government officials warned that criminal hackers are especially targeting education, energy, utility, and health-care facilities. With regards to hospitals, notably, fallout from cyber-attacks has meant otherwise avoidable death. With deepening alliances between organized criminals and hostile states (Russia and Iran both specified), CCCS warned that such nebulous formations will ‘very likely pose a BY JEFFREY ROY GOVERNING DIGITALLY 24 / Canadian Government Executive // Winter 2023 MINDSET & MECHANISMS: threat to Canada’s national security and economic prosperity over the next two years.’ Strangely omitted, one can certainly add democratic stability to the list of concerns, especially given a pending public inquiry on foreign interference that will feature significant digital elements. For government, the dauntingly unprecedented and two-fold cyber challenge is to orchestrate collective digital readiness for the country as a whole – in concert with a variety of stakeholders, while also ensuring the stability and resilience of public sector operations. In the latter realm, the Government of Canada alone estimates that its networks face more than three billion hostile actions daily. While most are harmless automations, just one breach can mean cascading data, financial, and human risks. Even as the formation and efforts of federal entities such as CCCS are a step in the right direction, by its own admission the Government of Canada is not keeping up both internally and across the extended public sector. With more limited media coverage and a general reluctance to admit exposure, less is known about digital readiness and cyber-security within provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, as well as First Naton’s authorities. A 2023 snapshot of select Nova Scotia examples is ominously suggestive: a major cyber-breach of Provincial systems affecting thousands of public servants and citizens alike; a similar though proportionally smaller incident within the County of Kings resulting in the theft of ‘sensitive’ personal information of employees and Councillors; and a critical report from Halifax Auditor General on growing municipal vulnerabili-
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