From: Vancouver Sun

By Jordan Press

OTTAWA—The federal government is more than doubling its spending on building  up its cyber security abilities, announcing Wednesday it will throw $155 million  over five years to reinforce its digital infrastructure.

The money is in addition to funds announced in 2010 to support the country’s  cyber security strategy: $90 million spread out over five years and $18 million  ongoing.

How the money will be spent isn’t clear. In a press release, the government  said the funds would “enhance the capacity of the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre.”

“Canadians and Canadian businesses want to know that the private information  they entrust to government will stay private,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews  said in the release. “Our government is continuously working to enhance cyber  security in Canada by identifying cyber threats and vulnerabilities, and by  preparing for and responding to all kinds of cyber incidents to better protect  Canada and Canadians.”

The announcement comes one week before the auditor general is to release his  fall report, which will include a chapter evaluating how well the  federal government works with provinces, territories and businesses to protect  critical infrastructure against cyber attacks.

Critics have argued that the cyber security strategy, now two years old, is  long on platitudes but short on details.

Cyber security has become a growing issue for the Conservatives and  governments worldwide, especially as more services move online to cut down on  costs.

“Canadians interact with government online more and more. To ensure a  continued secure, reliable and uninterrupted service, we have enhanced the  security of government networks and systems to protect against malicious cyber  threats,” Shelly Glover, parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance,  said in the release.

Earlier this year, a “denial of service” attack took down the parliamentary  website. In 2011, foreign-based hackers using servers in China hacked into  Treasury Board and Department of Finance systems looking for personal and  financial information. In the United States, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta  even admitted last week that hackers have been able to crack American government  systems. Denial of service attacks have taken down websites for a number of U.S.  government agencies, including the FBI.

Amid that backdrop, Panetta warned last week of the potential for a “cyber Pearl Harbor” — a digital attack so  well planned that it would take down key infrastructure and leave the United  States vulnerable to traditional military attacks.