The head of Canada’s cyberspy agency says Canadian individuals, organizations and critical infrastructure all face an increased threat from cybercriminals looking for economic advantage or to punish people for supporting Ukraine.
In her first interview as head of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the federal agency responsible for signals intelligence and cyber-defence, Caroline Xavier told CBC’s The House that ransomware attacks have become increasingly popular among cybercriminals. And security services can’t fight back without the public’s help, she added.
“It can’t just be on the government. We all have to do our part,” Xavier told host Catherine Cullen during the interview, which airs Saturday.
Even simple steps like keeping software updated and being aware of commonplace scams can help reduce risk across the board, she said. The CSE has compiled a series of guides for individuals and organizations across the country to enhance their online defences.
The House17:53Inside Canada’s secretive cyber-spy agency
The Communications Security Establishment is Canada’s cyber-security organization. It intercepts and decodes intelligence, protects Canada from hacking — and can even strike back against cyberattacks. In her first-ever interview as head of the CSE, Caroline Xavier discusses her agency’s efforts to defend Canada.
“We talk about phishing and emails that could be coming into your organization and paying close attention to who sent it to you,” Xavier said. “We tell you that for a reason, because all it takes is one click to be into a whole new game that you weren’t expecting.”
The CSE has warned Canadians about online risks before, but the threat has become even more apparent in recent years due to a series of high-profile attacks.
The agency said earlier this year that at one point, a cyber actor “had the potential to cause physical damage” to a piece of critical infrastructure in Canada. Hydro-Québec was the victim of a cyberattack on its website in April. Attacks on disparate targets such as Newfoundland and Labrador’s health system and the bookseller Indigo have shut down important systems or exposed Canadians’ personal information.
Hackers temporarily shut down a series of Canadian government websites earlier this year, coinciding with the visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“It’s not uncommon for Russian hackers to target countries as they are showing their steadfast support for Ukraine … so the timing isn’t surprising,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a joint news conference with Shmyhal in April.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal take part in a joint news conference at the Royal York hotel, in Toronto, on April 11, 2023. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Xavier cited the Colonial Pipeline attack in the United States last year as an example of a dangerous assault on critical infrastructure. The CSE issued a report this week outlining the threat to Canada’s oil and gas industry posed by bad actors online.
“Just imagine that if you get to a gas distribution and the pressure mounts, it could potentially explode and that could be really harmful to a local neighborhood, for example, or people that are surrounding it,” Xavier said.
The likelihood of such an attack by a state-sponsored actor in the absence of outright hostilities is very low, said the CSE report.
People grow frustrated waiting in line for gasoline for more than an hour in Greensboro, N.C., on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 after the Colonial Pipeline shut down because of a cyberattack on Friday. The pipeline delivers about 45 per cent of the fuel consumed on the East Coast of the U.S. (Woody Marshall/Associated Press)
Still, the pace of attacks by foreign actors has increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, she added.
“We’re definitely seeing a rise in cyber crime or people that are potentially passionate toward the cause of the Russians rather than Ukrainians, who are perhaps wanting to leverage these opportunities to do harm to those that are mostly supporting Ukraine,” she said.
Steve Waterhouse, a cybersecurity expert and information security lecturer at Université de Sherbrooke, told CBC in April that the Hydro-Quebec attack did not seem to be about gaining access or acquiring information — “at least not at this time.”
“It’s really just to protest against Canada’s involvement with Ukraine,” he said.
3 authorizations for cyber operations
In 2019, Canada armed the CSE with the legal ability to strike back against cyberattackers, although such actions require authorization from the minister of defence.
The CSE has disclosed that in 2021, it received three authorizations for cyber operations. (It may disclose further operations in its 2022 annual report.)
“We have used our foreign cyber operations in terms of disrupting what we would see as cybercriminals potentially wanting to target some of our Government of Canada systems,” Xavier told Cullen.
Xavier did not provide additional details about the nature of the operations. According to its annual report, CSE’s actions disrupted the efforts of foreign-based extremists to “recruit Canadian nationals … operate online” and “disseminate violent extremist material.”
“The when and where we do it is not something we’re able to discuss,” Xavier said.
Caroline Xavier, chief of the Communications Security Establishment, speaks with the CBC’s Catherine Cullen at the CSE’s visitor centre on June 21, 2023. (Jean-Francois Benoit/CBC)
She also declined to say which groups or organizations — or countries — have been targeted by those actions, and downplayed the importance of the specific target.
“My focus tends to be [on] wanting to ensure that I’m following through on the actual action, versus being consumed on exactly who the actor is at that moment in time,” she said.
Canada’s intelligence agencies have repeatedly identified China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as the primary foreign threats in the cybersecurity sphere.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
