In order to be properly equipped to fight the warfare of the 21st century, the Canadian Armed Forces will be looking to increase training so as to deal with cyberattacks and recruit more cyber specialists according to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
As part of the Liberal government’s plan to increase the defence budget by 70 per cent over the next decade, the armed forces will be given the necessary means in terms of resources to fight the cyber war and counter online attacks.
“The use of cyber technology in a military context is growing steadily and as such Canada must leverage that technology to maintain a military advantage,” the minister said. “Our forces need to be equipped with the ability to detect, organize and identify cyber threats and be prepared to take appropriate action.”
The minister said that the government is committed to investing over the next two decades in improving cyber and space aspects of defence in the Canadian Armed Forces according to the CBC. Even though the plan is ambitious, the minister said it is achievable.
The new defence policy which was announced on June 7, outlines the plan to be “Strong, Secure, Engaged” by increasing the size of the military, modernizing the submarine fleet, and replacing the CF-18 fleet along with other procurements.
Investing in cybersecurity will be the way to go since cyberattacks are growing with each passing day. For example, in 2016, there were over 1.3 billion records that were breached. This works out to be over 2,600 records every minute.
For the data stolen, 35 per cent was in the technology industry while over 11 per cent was in the retail industry followed closely by 11 per cent in government as well.
If you would like to get some more statistics on data breach, check out the infographic in our Dashboard section on VanguardCanada.com.