Experts to debate digital arms race
OTTAWA — Fears over digital threats to Canada’s critical infrastructure — concerns that may be misplaced — are fuelling an arms race that experts believe countries need to better control, especially after the discovery of a powerful online surveillance tool on a Canadian commercial server.
Federal law prohibits the sale or transfer of technology that would allow anyone to hack into a computer or network. Domestic law enforcement agencies, such as local police and the RCMP, are responsible for enforcing the law in Canada; the Canada Border Services Agency polices the import and export of such technology.
Experts suggest that traditional ways of thinking about arms control can’t apply to cyberspace, where passing software around the world can be done easily and beyond the control of governments.
“We’re in a classic arms race,” said Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab, an elite research centre that monitors how countries use cyberspace. “That’s a pretty dangerous situation to be in when we’re talking about the domain of war fighting not being the land, sea or space, but the ecosystem of information.”
International experts will gather Monday in Toronto to determine how countries can regulate a market where private companies are developing products, and countries are developing digital capabilities, with all concerned that doing nothing could lead to a cataclysmic event that could take down networks controlling power grids or water systems.
Those fears, however, may be misplaced, according to a Department of National
An attack on the grid would likely only affect an isolated area and would be aimed more at undermining a population’s confidence. DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE
BRIEFING NOTE
Defence briefing note.
That briefing note, sent to Canada’s top soldier in April 2012, paraphrased panelists at a CSIS security forum who argued a cyber- attack taking out large portions of a the country’s critical infrastructure “would be very difficult.”
“The complexity of the U. S. power grid would make it very difficult for any entity to commit a cyber attack that would cause it to shut down entirely,” said the briefing note. “An attack on the grid would likely only affect an isolated area and would be aimed more at undermining a population’s confidence in essential public services than crippling the economy.”
Postmedia News obtained the briefing note under the access to information law.
“There are a lot of people who benefit from hyping the situation and using the fear of these threats to defend huge defence expenditures or civil liberties’ violations,” Deibert said.
One such piece of technology, FinFisher, was discovered by Citizen Lab researchers on a Canadian network last week. The program allows its owners to gain access to personal computers, private emails and conversations, without the knowledge of the target.