Cyber-defences to be bolstered
Date: Tuesday, April 27 2004
Topic: Canadian News
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Anne McLellan listens as Justice Minister Irwin Cotler outlines points in a new national security policy. Canadian Press/Tom Hanson
OTTAWA -- Canada will work with the United States to set up a continent-wide early warning system against cyber-attacks.
The move to beef up defences against an assault on key computer systems is part of a national security policy announced Tuesday
"We live in an information age where threats are not just physical," the government said in explaining the new policy. "Attacks can be launched from and against the Internet and the systems connected to it."
Up to $85 million has been set aside within the Defence Department to improve assessments of threats and vulnerabilities to computer networks, increase the ability to respond promptly and develop the early-warning system.
In releasing the security policy, the government outlined how it plans to spend a total of $690 million, most of which was allotted in the recent federal budget.
The policy also establishes three new bodies: a federal-provincial forum on emergencies, a national security advisory council and a cross-cultural roundtable aimed at engaging Canada's various ethnic and religious communities on security matters.
© The Canadian Press 2004
Canadian Press
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