The soft underbelly of cyber security in Canada has been exposed by Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke Member of Parliament Cheryl Gallant: more than 90% of all Federal Government departments are at increasing risk of cyber-attack.
That’s according to testimony given at the Defence Committee meeting on Parliament Hill this week.
The local MP posed the question to Yana Lukasheh, Vice-President, Government Affairs and Business Development with SAP Canada.
Lukasheh’s three-part answer was revealing at the very least.
“Less than 10% of government departments have adopted innovative technologies in the cloud. That leaves them susceptible to cyber security attacks and threats, and we have seen these threats in public media lately with Canadian Revenue Agency and Global Affairs Canada.”
“Technology adoption in the cloud is going to be extremely important in safeguarding our Canadian organizations.”
“If we compare that to other jurisdictions and global allies, they are far ahead in adopting innovative and safe and trusted technologies in the cloud.”
In response to this revelation MP Gallant said:
“After 8 years, it is clear the NDP-Liberal Government cannot be trusted to manage cyber security. Cutting the Defence Department’s IT budget will leave Canada even more vulnerable to cyber attack.”
Last year, the Auditor General of Canada issued a scathing report on the Federal Government’s use of cloud services, stating their audit reveals lax vigilance, confusion as to roles and responsibilities, and inconsistent implementation.
By Rick Stow