Reviews, News and Opinion with a Canadian Perspective

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Websense issued a report highlighting Canada as the new breeding ground for cybercriminal activity. Fiaaz Walji, Websense Canadian country manager talked to us earlier at the SC Congress 2012 (ongoing in Toronto) to cover some of the threats affecting Canada today. While most security news releases are loaded with alarmist claims and scary percentages, the statistics presented by Websense are staggering.

Websense did an exact comparison of the same cyber security stats one year later (Q1 2011 compared with Q1 2012) and found that hackers are still having a field day in our backyard.

170% Jump in Hosted Phishing Sites – Canada ranks #2 in the world for hosted phishing sites, jumping 170 percent in the last year. This is a significant increase and the country ranks ahead of some of the best known offenders like Egypt and Russia.

39% increase in Bot Networks – Cybercriminals’ command and control centers are finding that Canadians make GREAT hosts. In the past year, Canada saw a 39 percent increase in bot network activity.

239% Increase in Malicious Websites - The number of malicious URL’s are also on the rise in Canada. Canadian computer users beware, Canada saw a 239 percent jump in malicious Canadian websites.