CANARIE announced today that its Cybersecurity Initiatives Program (CIP) will fund the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre (CanSSOC) to deliver its Threat Feed service to eligible research and education (R&E) organizations at no cost. The CanSSOC Threat Feed uniquely serves the R&E sector by identifying emerging threats based on intelligence shared among national and global partners.
The Threat Feed aggregates and curates threat intelligence from public and private cybersecurity organizations and open-source feeds to deploy directly into organizations’ existing firewalls to block malicious traffic. Once deployed, the service gives organizations the flexibility to automatically block suspicious activity or to manually monitor and prioritize threats. The Feed consolidates and curates threats observed and shared within R&E organizations, providing real-time intelligence about threats specifically targeted at the sector.
A nationally focused entity that delivers collaborative cybersecurity services to the R&E sector, CanSSOC was created by seed investment and leadership from McGill University, McMaster University, Ryerson University, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, and University of Toronto to investigate how Canada’s higher education sector can share services for greater visibility and mitigation of cybersecurity threats.
Launched in November 2020, the CIP funds priority initiatives that strengthen the cybersecurity of Canada’s research and education sector with advanced technologies, improved processes, and broadened expertise. These initiatives are reviewed and recommended for funding by the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee and delivered to eligible organizations through the provincial and territorial partners in Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN), in which CANARIE is the federal partner. To date, 77% of Canadian R&E organizations have enrolled in the CIP. The first funded initiative, the CIRA D-Zone DNS Firewall, is now in use by nearly 82% of CIP participants.
How to Participate
To opt-in for the CanSSOC Threat Feed initiative, organizations must first enrol in the Cybersecurity Initiatives Program. To confirm your organization’s eligibility for the CIP or to initiate enrolment, please contact the NREN Partner in your province or territory. Given their ongoing engagement with member organizations in their jurisdictions, CANARIE’s NREN Partners play a critical role in delivering funded initiatives.
Organizations that have already enrolled in the CIP will be contacted by NREN Partners with instructions for opting in for the Threat Feed initiative. Organizations that are already participating in the CanSSOC Threat Feed Pilot can continue to use the service but must also enrol in the CIP.
All initiatives funded through the CIP are intended to integrate with each other to strengthen cybersecurity at the organization level, and in turn the overall security of the entire sector.
Learn More at Upcoming Webinars
To learn more about the CanSSOC Threat Feed initiative and how it could benefit your organization, please register for an upcoming webinar:
Intelligent Defence: Partnering to Detect and Respond to Cyber Attacks
Who should attend: CIOs, CISOs, Directors of IT and/or cybersecurity professionals at Canadian R&E organizations
May 18, 2021
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET
May 28, 2021
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET
Simultaneous interpretation will be offered for both webinar dates.
To read more about the CIP and view a list of FAQs, please visit: canarie.ca/cybersecurity
About CANARIE
CANARIE connects Canadians to each other and to the world. Our programs equip Canadian researchers, students, and startups to excel on the global stage.
Together with our thirteen provincial and territorial partners, we form Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN). This ultra-high-speed network connects Canada’s researchers, educators, and innovators to each other and to global data, technology, and colleagues.
Beyond the network, we fund and promote the development of software for research and national efforts to manage data generated from research. To strengthen the security of Canada’s research and education sector, we collaborate with our partners in the NREN, government, academia, and the private sector to fund, implement, and support cybersecurity initiatives. We also provide identity management services to the academic community and boost Canada’s startups with cloud resources and expertise in emerging technologies.
Established in 1993, we are a non-profit corporation, with most of our funding provided by the Government of Canada.