Risky Business: The Cyber and Sociotechnical Security Threats of Crypto-asset Trading
From origins of blockchain technology decades ago to earliest use cases of digital or e-cash and the introduction of Bitcoin as the first cryptocurrency in 2008, few could have predicted the cultural phenomenon and dramatic market growth for Crypto-assets of the last few years — or the dramatic and wrenching collapse of Crypto-asset values and […]
Cybersecurity for Parents & Guardians
Nobody has more to gain from our increasingly online world than our youth. The internet is an extraordinary tool for education and communication, and today’s children and youth will grow up with access to more knowledge than any generation before. Accompanying these extraordinary benefits are real risks associated with the Internet – including cyberbullying, malware, […]
Cybersecurity for K-12 Educators
These resources provide K-12 educators with a modern, curriculum-linked set of lessons and activities covering topics related to digital citizenship, cybersecurity and cyber safety (including cyberbullying and online kindness, communicating safely online, positive digital footprint and more). Lessons are available in four grade groupings: primary (grades 1 to 3), junior (grades 4 to 6), intermediate/senior […]
Cybersecurity for Kids & Youth
We recognize the need for collaboration between the cybersecurity community, academia, and educational partners to help young Canadians build their cybersecurity awareness. Our goal is to support youth in their journey to build cybersecurity literacy while sparking their interest in the constantly evolving field of cybersecurity as a potential career pathway. In collaboration with our […]
Rebuilding Canada’s Public Square: Response to the Government of Canada’s Proposed Approach to Address Harmful Content Online
Social media is in many ways the new public square — where most Canadians now connect with friends and family, and engage in civic discourse. It has become increasingly clear that this new square is having a toxic influence on our society and democracy: hate speech and harassment targeting marginalized people; disinformation enabling extremism and […]
Why Canada Must Defend Encryption
Apple has recently announced plans to scan customers’ mobile devices for pictures uploaded to its iCloud servers as well as texts shared through its messaging app for child sexual exploitation materials, raising significant questions and concerns regarding surveillance and reigniting the debate on encryption. Western law enforcement and intelligence agencies have long warned about their […]
See Something, Say Something: Coordinating the Disclosure of Security Vulnerabilities in Canada
ll-intentioned actors are rapidly developing the technological means to exploit vulnerabilities in the web assets, software, hardware, and networked infrastructure of governments around the world. Numerous jurisdictions have adopted the policy approach of facilitating coordinated vulnerability disclosure (CVD) as one means to better secure the public sector’s systems, through which external security researchers are provided […]
Private Messaging, Public Harms: Disinformation and Online Harms on Private Messaging Platforms in Canada
More than eight in ten people in Canada use online private messaging platforms, such as Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat; and over half are receiving messages about the news or current events at least weekly. This growing vector for news is coming under increased scrutiny, as evidence from jurisdictions around the world reveal private messaging apps’ […]
‘Contextualization Engines’ can fight misinformation without censorship
Search engines transformed the first decade of the millennium. Recommendation engines revolutionized the second decade. Neither in their current form are sufficient for addressing misinformation. They focus on discovery and primarily rely on relevance. But they are not particularly helpful at many other important information tasks, particularly contextualization. We need better tools to help people […]
Facing the Realities of Facial Recognition Technology
Canada’s federal institutions are collecting, using, and disclosing people’s facial information. They are also increasingly relying on technology that uses this information, in combination with automated decision-making processes, to uniquely identify individuals. This is happening in Canada today, without adequate direction and protection from the Privacy Act. The use of this technology raises significant privacy […]