More money for cybersecurity but risk of large-scale attack may be exaggerated, says Toews

Source: Torstar

OTTAWA— Canada’s minister of public safety has suggested that the U.S. defence secretary’s warning of a “cyber Pearl Harbor” attack on key commercial infrastructure may be an exaggeration.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews was asked at a news conference about cyber security whether he believes Canada also faces a potential attack on its public and private networks — on the scale described by U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta.

Toews replied: “I don’t know whether he has overstated it, but certainly there is a risk to cyber security” that every developed nation has to guard against.

Panetta, the top U.S. defence official in the Obama administration, last week warned the U.S. may be vulnerable to a devastating attack on its business, financial and transport computer systems, and called for passage of legislation to bolster the nation’s cyber-protections.



Read more: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1272773--vic-toews-says-claims-canada-facing-a-cyber-pearl-harbor-may-be-exaggerated