More public-private partnerships needed to fight terrorism
Along with other critical infrastructure, Canada's telecommunications networks are vulnerable to homegrown terrorists and radical Islamist ideologues. That was the conclusion of the Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism in its third report.Chaired by Senator Hugh Segal, the committee cited the Chinese-based cyberattacks against the Department of Finance and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat uncovered earlier this year to point out that response to earlier threats has been “too slow and [hampered by] a lack of resources.”
Expressing its view that recent initiatives, such as Canada's Cybersecurity Strategy and the Canada-United States Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure, are “a step in the right direction,” the committee concluded that public safety agencies and private-sector stakeholders, like ISPs and telecommunications companies, need to collaborate and share information.
“This infrastructure would be a choice target for terrorists,” the committee said, noting that more than 50 terrorist organizations were present in Canada and that more than 200 individuals in Canada were under investigation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
