Feds aimed secret cybersecurity briefing at energy sector executives: memo
OTTAWA — Federal security officials have been briefing leaders of major energy and utility firms on cyberthreats, one element of a concerted government effort to underscore the serious risks to the sector.
A newly disclosed Public Safety Canada memo reveals a secret-level June meeting was part of a strategy to raise awareness among company executives about the dangers from malicious cyberactivity — reaching beyond the technical experts who already know about the risks.
The memo, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, says the confidential discussion was co-hosted by Public Safety, Natural Resources Canada and the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency.
The CSE’s Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said in an assessment this year that financially motivated cybercrime — particularly business email compromise and ransomware — was almost certainly the main cyberthreat facing the Canadian oil and gas sector.