Isaac Straley, the University of Toronto’s (U of T) Chief Information Security Officer has called for a revamp of the national cyber security strategy in an op-ed published on May 11 in The Hill Times.
The pandemic and the shift to remote work has added to the challenges faced in information security. Given the recent geo-political events and cyber security-related incidents in Canada, collaborating and working collectively would provide a significant opportunity to secure our digital future.
Straley discussed the importance of a more integrated approach for Canadian organizations to partner with federal and provincial government agencies tasked with improving defences. He mentioned how this should go beyond the sharing of information and include security professionals working together with timely access to resources to mitigate risks.
“The old approach of each organization attempting ‘defence in depth’ doesn’t work anymore. What we really need is ‘defence through partnership,’” said Straley.
Straley provided the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre (CanSSOC) as an example of creating a shared approach in the Canadian higher education sector to work against cyber attacks. CanSSOC was founded by six Canadian Universities including U of T and now has more than 145 academic institutions participating.
Read the full op-ed in The Hill Times.