Developing Space Technology to Safeguard Canadian Data Against Cyberattacks
January 22, 2025
Developing Space Technology to Safeguard Canadian Data Against Cyberattacks
In the era of online banking, smart phones, and cloud networks that store large amounts of personal information, reliable data encryption is essential. To advance the development of technology that could guarantee the privacy of Canada’s public, private, and commercial data, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded a $1.4 million contribution to QEYnet (Maple, Ontario) for the demonstration of their quantum key distribution (QKD) technology in space.
QKD technology aims to ensure the confidentiality of information exchanged between two parties by using photons (individual particles of light) to generate private encryption keys. QKD in space leverages satellites to securely transmit encryption keys between distant locations using quantum mechanics.
The CSA’s financial contribution will allow QEYnet to test a low-cost QKD technology in space, paving the way for secure global communications and the foundation of future quantum networks.
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Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Releases National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) has released its National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026 (NCTA 2025-2026). As with previous assessments, it provides a snapshot of cyber threats affecting Canada and Canadians and forecasts how they may evolve in the coming years. The Cyber Centre’s flagship report helps build Canada’s resilience to cyber threats.
Canada is confronting an expanding and complex cyber threat landscape with a growing cast of malicious and unpredictable state and non-state cyber threat actors. The Cyber Centre assesses that state-sponsored and financially motivated cyber threats are increasingly likely to affect Canadians, and foreign threat actors are moving beyond espionage to conduct more disruptive activities.
