Canada taps Israel for expertise on cyber issues

The federal government sought advice and assistance last fall from Israel to toughen Canada’s cybersecurity defences and to find ways Ottawa could encourage private sector investments in cybersecurity, the National Post has learned.

Documents obtained by the Post detail meetings last September between the top members of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, a unit inside the Prime Minister’s Office, and senior federal officials, including Daniel Jean, the national security adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“It indicates that the government has understood that Canada has some catch-up to do,” said Christian Leuprecht, a political science professor at Queen’s University and Royal Military College. He is also one of the research project leaders for the Smart Cybersecurity Network, a project funded in part by the federal government.

“Israel is among the most successful in terms of economies that have figured out innovation hubs and clusters. Israel is really a world leader.”

Other documents obtained by the National Post through the access-to-information law show that Canada’s economic development officials admire and wish to emulate Israel’s significant private sector presence in cybersecurity and software development.

“The basic premise is this: It’s important to have a really robust cybersecurity infrastructure these days in a modern advanced economy,” Leuprecht said.

“You’re not going to be competitive if any (intellectual property) that people develop is subject to getting stolen by third parties, be they other industrial players or competing governments. An economic development strategy goes hand-in-hand with a robust cybersecurity strategy.”

The key group of meetings between Canadian and Israeli officials took place in Ottawa on Sept. 8. They were hosted by Public Safety Canada. Representatives of several federal departments took part in some or all of the meetings.

“There’s tons to learn from (Israel) in terms of how they leveraged their security needs into an opportunity,” said Al Dillon, the managing director of Cyber NB, a Fredericton-based provincial agency whose mandate includes providing and researching secure cybersystems.

“Our (federal) government has not put the appropriate amount of focus and emphasis on cybersecurity in its digital literacy and digital growth programs as of yet. There is active work ongoing but we’re not there yet,” Dillon said.

The Post has learned part of the day for last fall’s Israel-Canada meetings was set aside for a session between a secretive special committee of deputy ministers specifically to deal with cyber issues. Cyber, in this context, can refer not only to aspects of federal government security of its computers but also the government’s role in attracting new investment in computers, information technology and telecommunications.

Since that meeting with the Israelis, Public Safety Canada has quietly published the results of consultations it held with about 2,000 stakeholders, academics, experts and members of the public on cyber issues. The “Cyber Review Consultations Report,” posted online March 9 by Public Safety Canada, spells out potential recommendations for action by the private sector, law enforcement agencies and the government.

“The Government of Canada can provide much needed leadership by creating, adopting and modelling best practices for cyber security, and making efforts to transfer this knowledge to the private sector,” said the review, which was prepared by AC Nielsen of Canada Co.

Review participants told Public Safety Canada that both federal and provincial anti-cybercrime initiatives need more money and resources. There were also suggestions that government offer incentives and tax credits to encourage best practices.