A former national security adviser believes that the federal government should provide more information to companies about the threats of cyberattacks, helping the private sector improve its defenses against data breaches and the like.
With such information at hand, companies would be more likely to pay closer attention to their current cybersecurity structures and secure insurance for the systems.
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Richard Fadden, who was also the former Canadian Security Intelligence Service head, said in a recent conference on cybersecurity that the government currently has methods to share classified information as part of tendering processes, and he called for officials to use them.
“One of the problems we have in Canada … is that we found it very, very hard to share classified information about cyberattacks with the private sector,” Fadden said at the Disaster Proofing Canada event. “We are starting to expand that kind of sharing, but it’s very hard for someone from [Communications Security Establishment Canada] or CSIS or somewhere else to have conversations with CEOs from major banks or major industries if they can’t share some classified information about the nature of the threat.”
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Fadden explained that the practice is already in place in the US.
The Globe and Mail reported that Fadden shared the stage that day with former Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency head Michael Hayden. Both men were discussing the growth of cyber threats to both the government and businesses. Hayden shared that he was impressed by the “scale” of such cyberattacks perpetrated by Chinese hackers, and the “skills” of the Russians, citing last year’s hack of the Democratic National Committee.
Hayden detailed that the greatest cyber threat to North America will not come in the form of one large attack, but in a series of continuous assaults that weaken key sectors of the economy. He pointed out that it was up to the CEOs themselves to ensure that their companies can protect against data breaches.
“This thing requires such a fundamental rethinking that we, in society, should recognize the private sector is on the front, and the government should assume a supporting role,” Hayden explained.
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