According to a study conducted by Blake, Cassels Graydon LLP, most of the cyber attacks that were targeted on Canadian companies were of ransomware genre and alarmingly there was an increase in frequency and complexity of attacks.
Coming to ransomware payments, there was a 25% increase in such attacks exceeding USD $1 million on average.
From now on, Canadian businesses will be required to report any kind of digital assaults within 72 hours under a new law introduced early this week.
Currently, those operating in Finance, telecom, energy, transportation and all other public sectors will have to report within 24 hours of cyber attack.
The new legislation will also give additional powers to Justin Trudeau in securing telecom systems against cyber security threats.
As Canada is using a 5G network to secure its critical infrastructure, some security analysts suggest it could exploit vulnerabilities that emerge as new threats.
New legislation Bill C-26 will also block companies from using the products and services from companies that have been tagged as high-risk suppliers, like Huawei, which has been banned by United States and 7 other countries across the world.
Note- Ransomware is a kind of malware that encrypts files until a ransom is paid. These days’ cyber crooks are indulging in double extortion tactics, where they steal data and force the victim to pay a ransom. And if they refuse, they threaten to leak the stolen data onto the web or claim to sell them on the dark web for a hefty price.
