As of June 14, the house of commons introduced Bill 26, ‘An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts,’ which will require all businesses and other private sector organizations to report ransomware incidents and cyberattacks to the CSE ( Communication Security Establishment), and including prohibiting Canadian companies from using products and services from high-risk suppliers.
This new Bill would require Canadian businesses in charge of critical infrastructure to report any cyberattacks or incidents they experience to the federal government. In return, we gain a better understanding of each attack, establishing a better framework to better shield systems vital to national security, and this gives the government a new tool to respond to emerging dangers in cyberspace.
In the future, If an organization refuses to report any cybersecurity and digital attacks, it will face a federal penalty.
The Canadian government is already on high alert for cyber attacks by Russia and other countries amid global threat environments; Public Safety minister Marco Mendicino has stated, “the threat is not just to the federal government but also provinces and critical infrastructures.”
In that announcement, it was clear that all organizations were not required to report any cyber attacks; now, the circumstances have changed.
In the last six months, Canadian critical infrastructures and government organizations have been hit with repeated cyber attacks, including Toronto’s Humber River Hospital, the Toronto Transit Commission, the City of Saint John in New Brunswick, and the Newfoundland and Labrador health industry.
To prevent public display, organizations have preferred to pay the fee demanded to make the problem disappear quietly, making it difficult for officials to get a complete picture. Organizations must report and communicate all Cybersecurity attacks to the CSE within 72 hours.
This Bill also intends to amend the Telecommunications Act, adding security as a policy objective and bringing telecommunications in line with Canada’s other critical infrastructure sectors. Enabling the federal government with the legal authority to issue mandates to secure telecoms – including prohibiting Canadian companies from using products or services from “high-risk” suppliers.
Chamber of Commerce Update: Hill Day
If you don’t already know, Idealogical Systems Inc is a member of the ‘Cyber. Right. Now.’ campaign representing small to medium-sized companies within the Chamber of Commerce. From May 30 – May 31, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce hosted its first in-person Ottawa event in over two years.
Our very own Wayne Westernacher-Schneider attended Hill Day on behalf of Idealogical. This is an excellent opportunity for us, as we met with Parliamentarians and government officials in Ottawa to discuss the most pressing issues facing Canadian businesses.
Wayne had the opportunity to meet with several government representatives, including Tracy Gray, Small Business Opposition Critic, to discuss cybersecurity concerns and opportunities. The day’s meetings concluded by significantly advancing a vital goal of the ‘Cyber. Right. Now. Campaign’ – to create stronger connections between the government and agencies involved in cybersecurity and the private sector.
At our following committee meet-up, we will discuss the Telecommunications Act and Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act.
Idealogical Announcements: Welcome to the Team
Since our last newsletter, there have been some changes to our team. The tech team welcomes Eugene Lysikov, Sara Dockens, Omid Bagherzadeh, Howard Ng, Riccardo Medugno, and Vicky Liu.
Our procurement team gave a warm welcome to Joanna Poon. We also welcomed back Natasha Juma , we are more than thrilled to hear her laugh in the office again.
Every day we strive to give great customer service to our clients, and excellent new hires come with that. If you would like to know more about our new team members, visit our website for their own personal bios.
Manchula Day!!
This past month we also had our annual Manchula Day. This day has become an inside joke now; it was originally
intended to punish Manchula for hiding her birthday ( here at Idealogical we love nothing more than celebrating birthdays and to have any excuse to eat a cake ), and we decided to go all out on a made-up birthday day with t-shirts with her face on them, jokes and more.
But now, it has become more of a tradition here; it’s a day where we all get together to relax and spend quality time as a team…. while still celebrating Manchula!!
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