Hacking:
David beats Goliath

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Canada
and Cybercrime

In 2021 ~86% of Canadian Organizations were victim to at least one successful cyberattack within the year.

In 2021, ~61% of Canadian Organizations were affected by Ransomware Attacks: a type of malicious software that encrypts a victim's data - holding it hostage until a ransom is paid

1/10 of Canadian Organizations paid these ransoms - with a mean payout of ~ $2 million CAD

In 2021, the average cost of a data breach for Canadian Organizations is over $4 million CAD

When it comes to identifying breaches, Canadian companies were 2nd fastest on average - taking 168 days to identify the breach and only 58 days to contain it.

SOURCE

COMPARITECH

2016

23 996

not bad

a worthy opponent

2017

27 829

2018

33 893

now we're cooking

these guys just won't quit

2019

48 318

time to get
serious!

2020

63 523

SOURCE

STATISTICS CANADA

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Year

Number of Incidents

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Cyber Warfare - Current Events

The 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine has brought to light a new kind of warfare. One fought with bits instead of bullets.

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Pro Russian Attacks

More than a month before the invasion, around 70 Ukrainian websites were hit by a cyberattack. These websites displayed threatening messages written in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish to all users who visited the sites.

These messages claimed that the user's data had been stolen and made publicly available online, however Ukrainian officials were able to restore the affected sites and no data was stolen. On the day the invasion began, Russian hackers allegedly managed to hit the satellite internet provider Viasat. This caused "a huge loss in communications in the very beginning of the war" according to a Ukrainian official and service, as this service was being used not only by civilians, but also by the Ukrainian government and military.

They have also been busy with conventional malware attacks. Many Russian launched wipers have been detected - malware designed to wipe (erase) all of the data on an infected device. Some are designed to look like ransomware, however even after the ransom is paid the victim is left with no data. The Russian group Gamaredon was detected spreading a backdoor among Ukrainian organizations. This would allow them to install additional malware such as spyware.

Pro Ukrainian Attacks

On the Ukrainian side, the decentralized hacktivist group Anonymous announced they had 'declared war' on the Russian government on February 24th, the day the invasion began.

The group has since claimed to have disabled sites owned by Russian state media. They also claimed credit for a hack against Russian video streaming services as well as state-owned news channels where clips from the war in Ukraine were broadcast to the Russian people. This is especially significant given the Russian government's heavy censorship of information pertaining to the conflict.

Actions by groups other than Anonymous include efforts like the IT Army of Ukraine, which consists of volunteer hacktivists from around the world. The IT Army is coordinated by the Ukrainian government through social media and a Telegram channel which designates targets to be hit with cyberattacks. They have targeted the websites of Russian banks and infrastructure, and have launched widespread DDoS attacks against strategic targets.