CanSSOC: Harnessing the power of the collective

students in lecture room typing on laptops

When it comes to cyber security and potential threats, the higher education sector faces its own unique set of challenges. Routinely, post-secondary institutions are targets of malicious phishing (i.e., impersonation emails, bogus job scams) and breaches to private data, including research — all heightened in the current pandemic climate.

A national approach

To create a more efficient and collective defence against cyber security threats within Canada’s higher education community, the University of Toronto (U of T) joined forces with other universities to investigate a coordinated and collaborative national approach to higher education cyber security.

Founded in 2019, the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre (CanSSOC) is now developing threat intelligence initiatives that integrate skills and resources within the higher education sector to enable earlier prevention, real-time detection and more coordinated mitigation of cyber security issues. Partnerships with members of the Canadian National Research and Education Network (NREN) the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and early-adopter institutions have been instrumental in helping develop this national approach. As CanSSOC’s member community continues to grow, the power of the collective will make it easier for everyone in Canada’s higher education sector to target and fight cyber security threats.

Watch recorded webinar

On Sept. 21, CanSSOC hosted a webinar on its Threat Feed platform and upcoming Vulnerability Management pilot. Watch the recording.

Follow CanSSOC

Get the latest news on CanSSOC by following the organization on Twitter: @CanSSOC.

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Subscribe to the CanSSOC e-newsletter to be notified of its cyber security pilot initiatives and upcoming events, including future webinars.

Learn more about CanSSOC by visiting CanSSOC.ca.