Cyber security officials urge 'vigilance' against threats as Zelenskyy visits Canada
CTV
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Canada, top security officials are re-issuing a call to 'adopt a heightened state of vigilance, and to bolster … awareness of and protection against malicious cyber threats.'
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Canada, top security officials are re-issuing a call to "adopt a heightened state of vigilance, and to bolster … awareness of and protection against malicious cyber threats."
The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) emphasized the call especially for operators of government and critical infrastructure websites.
"As previously noted, we have observed that it's not uncommon to see increased distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaigns against NATO countries that support Ukraine, or host visits from Ukrainian government officials," the CSE said in a release published Friday.
Zelenskyy is in Canada to address Parliament Friday in his first visit to Ottawa since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The House of Commons changed its sitting plans for the occasion, seeing the chamber floor opened to Senators, and other dignitaries who will pack in to the viewing galleries above.
The Cyber Centre says Canadian organizations should visit its website to learn more about DDoS attacks and how to deal with them.
DDoS attacks are when an adversary overwhelms a server to deny access to others, but in the process the site is not hacked into. Since earlier this week, there has been a "persistent" attempt to disrupt federal government sites, as well as those in Canadian finance, transportation and energy sectors, according to CSE.
The CSE and the Cyber Centre say they are working closely with other government agencies to "neutralize threats when they occur."
