Political blackmail risks grow

CYBERSPY SERVICE EYES POLITICAL BLACKMAIL AS PART OF DEMOCRATIC RISK ASSESSMENT

The threat of political blackmail could figure in a wide-ranging review of risks to Canada’s electoral system, says a senior official from the national cyberspy agency.

Safeguarding personal information on voters lists, ensuring election ballot tallies aren’t manipulated and preventing fake news from swaying the public might also be part of the study, said Scott Jones of the Communications Security Establishment.

The agency is thinking in rather broad terms at this point about the risk assessment the government has requested, Jones said Monday after a talk sponsored by the University of Ottawa’s Centre for International Policy Studies.

But he added the agency is looking to federal ministers for direction on how sweeping the exercise should be.

“What are the things we need to be able to protect against? What are the things we need to be aware of?” asked Jones, the CSE’s assistant deputy minister for information technology security.

The secretive CSE uses highly advanced systems to monitor foreign communications for securityrelated threats and intelligence of interest to Canada. But it also plays a key role in defending federal cybersystems from exploitation.

The Liberal government recently asked the CSE to analyze risks to Canada’s political and electoral activities from hackers, as well as provide cybersecurity advice to political parties and Elections Canada.

The disclosure of stolen Democratic Party emails, published by WikiLeaks, proved highly embarrassing last year to U.S. presidential contender Hillary Clinton.