Expect foreign online manipulation: report
Foreign countries are very likely to try to advance their agendas in 2019 — a general election year — by manipulating Canadian opinion with malicious online activity, says the federal centre that monitors brewing cyberthreats.
In a report Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security warns that statesponsored players can conduct sophisticated influence operations by posing as regular people.
Online operatives create social media accounts or hijack existing profiles, and even set up “troll farms” of employees paid to comment on traditional media websites, social media and anywhere else they can reach their target audience, the centre says.
“Cyber threat actors also try to steal and release information, modify or make information more compelling and distracting, create fraudulent or distorted ‘news,’ and promote extreme opinions.”
The new centre, a wing of the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s electronic spy agency, brings together experts from the CSE, Public Safety and Shared Services.
Stephanie Carvin, a former Canadian security analyst who teaches at Carleton University, said on Twitter: “In light of the #Huawei arrest, a reminder that China takes innocent Canadians hostage on a whim for its own purposes. Would not want to be a Canadian business leader in China right now.”
Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday that his government wants Canadian officials to reveal their reasoning. He said Meng’s legal rights must be ensured, adding that neither Canadian nor American officials had so far responded to China’s concerns.
China’s embassy in Ottawa has also branded Meng’s arrest as a serious violation of human rights.
But Trudeau said Thursday he hasn’t talked to any international counterparts about the affair, and he made clear he’s staying out of it. He said his office got “a few days’ notice that this was in the works” but he emphasized the actions of law enforcement officials are independent from politics.
“We are a country of an independent judiciary, and the appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case without any political involvement or interference.”
Some say Canada’s firm stand against China could have an economic cost as it tries to deepen trade ties. Carvin speculated on Twitter that this could affect the sale of Canadian lobsters, among other things.
Others say Canada needs to stand firm in the face of Chinese pressure. They say Beijing is trying to press Canada where it might sense vulnerability — Ottawa’s own strained relations with the Trump administration in Washington over tariffs and trade.
“It’s the bully next door Trudeau and Canadians have the most to worry about, and if the choice is between Beijing or Washington, Washington will always trump Beijing,” said Hampson.