October is Cyber Security Awareness Month in Canada

By Shannon Devane
LAS – Program Manager – Municipal Risk Management

As we enjoy the last few weeks of summer here in Ontario, it’s hard to believe that the month of October is just weeks away.  October holds some of our favourite seasonal activities as Canadians and it is Cyber Security Awareness month. 

This year’s Federal Cyber Security theme is Generation Cyber Safe: Because online security knows no age. Online security affects all Canadians, regardless of when they were born — that’s why every generation is part of Generation Cyber Safe. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security provides information for individuals, small and medium businesses, large organizations, Academia and Government Institutions. Please go to https://cyber.gc.ca/en to learn more. Cyber Security Ontario has a host of free tools on their website including learning modules, games, videos, knowledge resources and more. 

For municipalities, cyber security continues to be a focus as they work to protect their residents, their businesses and themselves. 2024 has brought changes to the types of attacks entities face when it comes to their systems. For those municipalities hosting large scale events, the Canadian Government issued a bulletin on May 31, 2024, regarding a report published to address the threat of cyber attacks for these events. As per Sami Khoury, Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security - “Over the next year, Canada will host, attend and participate in several major international sporting events. While these provide an opportunity to showcase our athletes’ skills and our national pride on a global stage, they can also expose Canadians to increased cyber threats. Through bulletins such as this one, the Cyber Centre is raising awareness of the threats and ensuring organizations and individuals have the knowledge they need to protect their systems and their sensitive information.” 

To support the sector as the landscape continues to change, LAS has created the Cyber Incident Management for Ontario Municipalities program and developed two (2) education sessions to help manage these risks:

Cybersecurity for Municipal Councillors 
Register Here
September 24, 2024 - 12:00 PM (EDT) to 3:00 PM (EDT)
In the face of a rapidly changing landscape and growing municipal cyber-attacks, it is vital that municipal leaders understand their role in ensuring the cyber resilience of their organization, and in leading through a cyber incident. 

AMO and the Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst are partnering to help AMO members better understand the cybersecurity landscape and critical decisions related to preventing, preparing for and responding to cyber security incidents. This workshop will provide municipal leaders with knowledge that will help them:

Better engage in municipal cybersecurity preparedness and resilience,

• Improve their own personal cybersecurity, and
• Define how they can help lead municipal cybersecurity efforts and better help their constituents.

This ½ day session will be delivered by a Rogers Catalyst Senior Cybersecurity Advisor who will guide participants through short lectures, guided discussions and activities that are focused on the following learning objectives:

1. Appreciate the cyber threats and risks posed to municipal operations, critical infrastructure, and their constituency, e.g., citizen and local major industries – logistics, health, and manufacturing.
2. Identify common technical and non-technical preventative actions and municipal cyber security best practices; and
3.    Define their role in leading municipal cyber security including during cyber security incidents.

Cyber Risk Management for Municipalities
 *This session is open to other public sector entities but is designed for municipalities.
Register Here
October 23, 2024 - 9:00 AM (EDT) to 1:00 PM (EDT)
Join us for a half-day session to explore how we can better manage cyber risk in the public sector space. We will start the day with updates from the LAS Cyber Incident Management for Ontario Municipalities (CIMOM program), MISA Ontario, Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and LAS. We will then move into a four-module workshop designed to support your understanding of cyber risk and how you can better manage it within your context. 

Provided by Toronto Metropolitan University’s Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and led by their Senior Advisor, Cybersecurity Training and Education, this workshop will update you on the cyber threat landscape for municipalities, and help you translate cyber risk into municipal risk, including impacts on municipal operations, critical infrastructure and the local community. You will then engage in discussions around cyber risk mitigation including internal and ecosystem resources that can assist. The workshop will wrap up with a review on integrating risk-based decision-making in cybersecurity incident response, including a discussion of additional risks that may arise during an incident. 

These sessions are intended to compliment the important work of cyber security training for municipal staff provided by municipal IT experts including how to spot phishing attempts, how to create strong passwords and how to protect them.  Happy Cyber Security Awareness Month!