Reading this article does not necessarily convince one that it is "peacekeepers" that the web needs; however, it needs something, and it does highlight that Canada is developing some expertise in the area through the citizenlab and other ventures. But, the message is clear that cyber-espionage (and less-so cyberwar) are being carried out by many governments. Here is a case I have not read about before:
EARLIER THIS YEAR, one of the biggest law firms in Canada came under attack. Staff members began receiving e-mails that appeared to be from one of the firm’s partners, who was working on a major international M&A deal. The e-mail’s author cited confidential details of the deal, and instructed recipients to open an attached file.
The file turned out to be a form of malware, giving the e-mail’s real author access to the infected computers. When the law firm began investigating the incident, 20 computers were believed infected. The investigation eventually turned up 500 infected machines.
The law firm contacted a Toronto-based company called Digital Wyzdom, which specializes in investigating such attacks. Daniel Tobok, Digital Wyzdom’s President, says his firm soon traced the attacks to an alarming source -- the malicious e-mails originated from government servers in Asia. Indeed, the servers belonged to the government of the nation where the deal was taking place -- and that government opposed the deal. (Mr. Tobok would not identify his client or the nature of the deal).
Two years ago, Mr. Tobok says such cases -- in which a foreign government played a part, or appeared to play a part, in a cyber attack -- made up about 1 to 5 per cent of Digital Wyzdom’s business. Today, it makes up 10 to 15 per cent of cases.
“Governments are starting to realize that this is a vehicle for making things happen,” Mr. Tobok says of such government-assisted cyber attacks.
“Honestly, unless criminal charges are pressed or our government gets involved through political channels, there’s not much that can be done about it.”
