Last week, Canada and four other Western countries, including the United States, warned that Russia was preparing to launch massive cyberattacks against Ukraine's allies in retaliation for support for kyiv and sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Rising for years and increasingly sophisticated, "thousands" of computer attacks, including Russian ones, are already targeting Canada every day, according to Cherie Henderson, a Canadian intelligence official.

Canada is even the second country with the most reported victims, after the United Kingdom, according to a report by the American federal police on Internet crime in 2020, which excludes the United States.

The newest is the airline Sunwing.

Affected by a cyberattack at one of its suppliers, it suffered a breakdown, which led to flight delays and cancellations, leaving thousands of passengers on the floor.

Companies can be "surprised and see their activities considerably slowed down", recalls Benoît Dupont, cybersecurity researcher at the University of Montreal.

Some, especially smaller ones, “do not always have adequate resources and cybersecurity investments are not always at the top of their priorities,” he adds.

Just before the invasion of Ukraine in mid-February, the Canadian Center for Cyber ​​Security again urged critical infrastructure managers to take steps to protect themselves from Russian-sponsored cyberattacks.

Industrial espionage, vandalism, theft of intellectual property or proprietary information, paralysis of accounting systems or even the entire site for several days... The risks are numerous and concern all companies, regardless of their size.

Finance, energy, telecommunications

The "finance, energy and telecommunications sectors" are monitored by security centers but "all critical sector infrastructure in Canada is encouraged to become aware of the risks of an increase in cyber threats", indicates to the AFP Evan Koronewski, spokesman for the government's telecommunications security agency.

And they did, according to Trevor Neiman of the Business Council of Canada, which represents Canada's largest employers.

Major Canadian companies have taken, “as the Russian invasion approaches, a number of proactive measures to strengthen their cyber defense” by investing more, explains this representative.

Hydro-Quebec, Quebec's public electricity giant, has increased the level of resources and "surveillance specifically for this threat", spokesperson Cendrix Bouchard told AFP.

In Canada, one in four companies say they have been the victim of a cyberattack in 2021 and more than half say they have paid the requested ransom, according to a Novipro-Léger survey carried out in the fall.

However, the note is more and more salty, being able to rise to several million dollars.

To better protect them, Ottawa announced last year an investment of 80 million Canadian dollars (58.4 million euros) over four years to finance research and development in cybersecurity.

Insufficient, for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which points out that the country is far from investing as much as the other members of the G7.

"Our most direct competitors, in the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom, are investing billions," she laments.

Especially since with the pandemic and the generalization of teleworking, hacking via ransomware – increasingly complex – is experiencing exponential growth on a global scale.

“Malicious cyber actors, whether state-sponsored or not, often seek to take advantage of crises. We have seen this during the pandemic,” said Marjorie Dickman, senior manager at BlackBerry.

“A single successful attack can really harm your business,” laments Rocco Rossi, president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, for whom the fight against cyberattacks is an “ongoing battle”.

"Even after the war in Ukraine, cybersecurity issues will not go away."

© 2022 AFP