Public Safety Canada launches public consultation on cybersecurity landscape

Public Safety Canada (PSC) has launched a public consultation on the “evolving cybersecurity landscape.”

On Tuesday, the federal government launched the Consultation on Cyber Security to help identify gaps and opportunities, bring forward new ideas to shape Canada’s renewed approach to cybersecurity and capitalize on the advantages of new technology and the digital economy, PSC said in a statement.

From now until Oct. 15, PSC will be leading the consultation by engaging stakeholders and Canadians on the trends and challenges of cybersecurity, as well as on new initiatives under consideration which will strive to build Canada’s resilience, capability and innovation in cybersecurity, the department said. Topics of the consultation include: the evolution of the cyber threat; the increasing economic significance of cybersecurity; the expanding frontiers of cybersecurity; and Canada’s way forward on cybersecurity.

The statement said that approximately 70% of Canadian businesses have been victim of cyberattacks, with an average cost of $15,000 per incident. In addition, the current global market for cybersecurity products and services is expected to grow to over $170 billion by 2020, and the job market for “cyber pros” is expected to rise by six million in the next four years, PSC reported.

Canada also has more computers per capita than any other country (129 devices per 100 people) and Canadians are the heaviest Internet users in the world, spending more than 40 hours online per person per month.

“Canadians spend more time online than people in any other country,” said Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, in the statement. “We need to get really good at cybersecurity – across our personal, business, infrastructure and government sectors – so we can take full advantage of the digital economy, while protecting the safety and security of Canadians, and selling our valuable cyber skills and products into a booming market throughout the rest of the world.”

Canadians can provide feedback by email to ps.cyberconsultation-consultationcyber.sp@canada.ca or by mail to National Cyber Security Directorate, 13^th Floor, 340 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5K3. More information on the consultation is available at http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cnslttns/cbr-scrt/cbr-scrt-en.pdf.