Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
TORONTO — The head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security says ransomware attacks are getting more common and sophisticated, but there’s a lot the country could do to better defend itself.
“The threat is real, the threat is growing and we can’t talk enough about it,” said Sami Khoury, whose organization is aimed at providing the federal government with information technology security and foreign signals intelligence.
While ransomware attackers used to break into systems and take control, Khoury has now noticed many have changed their methods.
Instead of weaseling their way into systems and requesting cash just to give back control, Khoury’s found many attackers are now focused on stealing data and other sensitive information they can threaten to release or sell.
“They recognize that over time companies have become a little bit more sophisticated about having backups, so even if they lock the information technology, they can recover it from a backup,” he said.
“What they’re going after now is information.”
Such incidents have become so common that Khoury considers cybercrime, including ransomware, the No. 1 cybersecurity threat facing the country.
Book retailer Indigo, grocer Sobeys, oil and gas producer Suncor Energy Inc. and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children have all been victims of ransomware attacks over the last year.
Khoury counts about 305 reports of ransomware to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security last year, up from about 295 the year before.
“But I can assure you the real number is nowhere near that,” Khoury said.
“The real number might be closer to add a zero maybe to it.”
The true number of attacks is likely much higher because he’s realized many organizations are too embarrassed to report they’ve been impacted by cybercrimes.
Khoury argues reporting is essential. The more incidents the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security knows about the more specific it can tailor its advice and guidance and the more information it can glean about who might be behind an attack, so they can be stopped.
He also urges organizations to better protect themselves against cyberattacks by using stronger, differing passwords, setting up multi-factor authentication on accounts and…
