Feds seek security software for bureaucrats

Bureaucrats considering a little online shopping or Internet poker during business hours beware: Shared Services Canada is looking to stop you.

The federal government’s central IT department is looking for a unified security platform to do everything from pinpointing individual Internet usage to preventing malicious actors from intruding on government networks and blocking pornography and online gaming sites.

“It has become imperative that the (government) consider emerging security technologies for the protection of the perimeter of the (federal network),” reads a document posted to the government’s procurement website this month. “These new security solutions provide many security services on one platform.”

To that end, Shared Services Canada is considering buying a “unified threat management” (UTM) program — a single platform to provide firewalls, virus scanning, intrusion detection, web filtering, and virtual private networking to allow secure connections for public servants working remotely.

The system envisioned by the central IT agency includes the ability to monitor government networks in real-time, from individual web traffic to department-wide analysis. The UTM would need to cover everyone from bureaucrats working from home to public offices in Ottawa.

The system would also prevent bureaucrats from accessing a range of websites in the first place. The list of blacklisted websites is long, and includes porn or sex sites, content spouting “hatred” or “racism,” “illegal” sites, sites promoting violence, online gambling, Internet games, sites known to distribute malware, shopping sites and “sports.”

Websites that might include encryption tools or mask web traffic are also expected to be filtered away from public servants.

Facebook and other social media sites will be available to certain bureaucrats but the platform must have the ability to block certain aspects of those sites.

The Star requested an interview with Shared Services Canada on Tuesday. The department said no one was available.

Over the past few years, a number of high-profile cyber attacks on the federal government have made headlines and put IT security a more mainstream issue. The Heartbleed exploit put thousands of Canadians’ personal information at risk at the Canada Revenue Agency, just at the deadline for filing 2013-14 taxes.

And in July 2014, the federal government made the rare accusation that Chinese state-sponsored hackers were behind a breach at the National Research Council.