Personal Data of 144K Canadians Breached by Federal Government

Infosecurity | February 17, 2020

New figures tabled in Canada's House of Commons have revealed that at least 144,000 Canadians have had their personal information mishandled by federal departments and agencies over the past two years. The figures were part of an 800-page document written in response to an Order Paper question filed last month by Conservative MP Dean Allison. No information as to how the data came to be mishandled was included in the federal government's lengthy answer.In total, 7,992 breaches were found to have occurred at 10 different agencies and departments. The errors range in severity from minor infractions to serious data breaches that resulted in the exposure of sensitive personal information.

Spotlight

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the nation’s effort to understand, manage, and reduce cybersecurity risk, including by supporting Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies in evolving and operationalizing cybersecurity programs and capabilities. CISA’s Zero Trust Maturity Model (ZTMM) provides an approach to achieve continued modernization efforts related to zero trust within a rapidly evolving environment and technology landscape. This ZTMM is one of many paths that an organization can take in designing and implementing their transition plan to zero trust architectures in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 14028 “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity” § (3)(b)(ii),1 which requires that agencies develop a plan to implement a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA). While the ZTMM is specifically tailored for federal agencies as required by EO 14028, all organizations should review and consider adoption of the approaches outlined in this document.

Spotlight

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the nation’s effort to understand, manage, and reduce cybersecurity risk, including by supporting Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies in evolving and operationalizing cybersecurity programs and capabilities. CISA’s Zero Trust Maturity Model (ZTMM) provides an approach to achieve continued modernization efforts related to zero trust within a rapidly evolving environment and technology landscape. This ZTMM is one of many paths that an organization can take in designing and implementing their transition plan to zero trust architectures in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 14028 “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity” § (3)(b)(ii),1 which requires that agencies develop a plan to implement a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA). While the ZTMM is specifically tailored for federal agencies as required by EO 14028, all organizations should review and consider adoption of the approaches outlined in this document.

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