Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia
Senior Director, Digital Economy, Technology & Innovation & Cyber. Right. Now. Campaign Policy Lead, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Marjorie Dickman
Chief Government Affairs & Public Policy Officer, BlackBerry
The threats we face in cyberspace are rapidly evolving. In a world where our economy and essential services are increasingly online, cybersecurity is critical to ensuring the viability, continuity, and growth of Canada’s economy.
The threats we face in cyberspace are rapidly evolving. In a world where our economy and essential services are increasingly online, cybersecurity is critical to ensuring the viability, continuity, and growth of Canada’s economy.
In this interview, Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia, Senior Director of Digital Economy, Technology & Innovation and Cyber. Right. Now. (CRN) campaign policy lead at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce interviews Marjorie Dickman, BlackBerry’s Chief Government Affairs and Public Policy Officer.
Dickman discusses how BlackBerry, a partner and co-chair of the CRN campaign, can help secure Canada’s digital future by protecting Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Small businesses comprise 98 per cent of Canadian businesses — highlighting the importance of protecting them from cyber threats.
Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia: What’s needed to strengthen Canada’s resilience to cyberattacks? Which sectors do you see as most vulnerable?
Marjorie Dickman: The Government of Canada has made important strides to protect critical infrastructure from cyber threats over the past year. The ongoing review of the National Cyber Security Strategy and the introduction of the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act (Bill C-26) will help protect Canada’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, particularly in key sectors like banking, energy, telecommunications, and transportation.
Additionally, BlackBerry encourages an increased focus on securing Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from cyber threats. SMBs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. In 2021, SMBs made up 98 per cent of all businesses in Canada and employed almost 85 per cent of the total labour force. Supporting the growth of SMBs is critical for Canada’s economic prosperity.
Yet, Canada’s SMBs are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, 47 per cent of Canadian small businesses did not invest in cybersecurity protection in 2021. The following statistics highlight why more needs to be done to help Canada’s SMBs establish cyber defences:
- SMBs face an average of 11 cyber threats per day (BlackBerry 2022 Threat Report
- The average cost of a cyber breach is $7 million (IT World Canada)
- Only 14 per cent of businesses have cyber insurance coverage limits above $600,000 (BlackBerry Cyber Insurance Study)
- 59 per cent of businesses hope that the government will cover damages for attacks linked to nation-states (BlackBerry Cyber Insurance Study)
- Cyberattacks are devastating to SMBs. 60 per cent of SMBs that fall victim to a cyberattack are out of business within six months (BlackBerry 2022 Threat Report)
With the rapid pace of digitalization — especially since the start of the pandemic — Canada cannot afford to leave SMBs exposed to cyber threats.
Bahr-Gedalia: How can SMBs better protect themselves from evolving and increasingly complex cyber threats? How can using Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven solutions reduce risk and costs?
Dickman: By adopting an AI-driven, prevention-first approach to cybersecurity, SMBs can increase their cyber resilience and focus on their growth. With the application of AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, it’s possible to neutralize malware threats before they have a chance to execute on a business’ systems. In addition, AI-driven cybersecurity solutions can help SMBs dramatically reduce the cost associated with recovering from a cyberattack. If malware cannot execute, then the downstream consequences, and the resulting efforts to trace, contain, and remediate the damage from cyberattacks, are dramatically reduced. For example, a Forrester Consulting study of BlackBerry’s CylancePROTECT Endpoint Protection (EPP) solution, which uses advanced AI, found that CylancePROTECT helped a customer achieve a 95 per cent reduction in lost employee time due to faster threat investigation and remediation. In short, AI-driven cybersecurity solutions give SMBs the ability to protect themselves from highly sophisticated cyber threats and achieve cost savings.
Bahr-Gedalia: What can the Government of Canada do to elevate the importance of cybersecurity nationally?
Dickman: One idea would be to consider establishing a cabinet or other senior position responsible for ensuring government-wide coherence and action on cybersecurity. This would send a strong signal that Canada is serious and intends to lead on cybersecurity. It also would help foster cyber resilience by enhancing coherence and collaboration across government on cybersecurity policy and action.
Today, cyber responsibilities in the federal government are distributed across at least 12 federal departments and agencies. Ensuring that all departments operate with a co-ordinated effort and purpose is essential to fostering cyber resilience. A number of other countries already have dedicated senior cyber officials. The United Kingdom has a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Digital and Broadband responsible for cybersecurity and cyber skills. The United States appointed its first White House National Cyber Director in July 2021 to serve as the President’s principal advisor on cybersecurity. And, in June 2022, Australia appointed a dedicated Minister for cybersecurity. By creating a cabinet-level position for cybersecurity, the Government of Canada would elevate the importance of cybersecurity nationwide and send a clear message to all Canadians (and other nations) that the cybersecurity of its businesses and people is a priority.
Bahr-Gedalia: As a partner and co-chair of Cyber. Right. Now., could you summarize in one sentence what the initiative is trying to achieve?
Dickman: The Cyber. Right. Now. campaign aims to make Canada one of the most cyber-secure countries on the planet. It’s a unique initiative championed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, BlackBerry, and more than two dozen leading technology and cybersecurity organizations, including Microsoft Canada, Amazon Web Services (AWS), General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada, Cenovus Energy, Sun Life, BMO, Calian, and eSentire. Together, we’re urging the Government to make cybersecurity a top priority and Canada, a world leader in cyber protection.
