An expert has expressed his opinions on Canada’s high cybersecurity global ranking, saying that although the nation placed on the list, it is no guarantee that the country would fare well during an actual nationwide cyberthreat.
Canada placed ninth on the Global Cybersecurity Index by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
According to Satyamoorthy Kabilan, head of the Cybersecurity Centre at the Conference Board of Canada, the report has to be taken with a grain of salt. He explained that the survey only measures whether or not cybersecurity strategies are in place, but not if they are any effective.
“When we don’t actually see what’s going on it’s hard to know whether or not it’s effective,” Kabilan told Global News.
Kabilan pointed out that not all businesses are keen on reporting the data breaches they have sustained, which could skew the cybersecurity index report’s results.
“There’s not really a big push to share [information] because if you’re a private sector company you don’t normally want to share if there’s been a security breach,” he explained.
He also elaborated that public education on cyberthreats should also be considered in gauging a country’s cybersecurity level.
“If we look at Wannacry — it was people clicking on [a link] and allowing the virus in,” Kabilan stated.
Kabilan recommends a two-way approach to educating the public – one side focused on teaching young people about identifying threats and evaluating online sources, and another for older audiences.
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