CIRA: One-third of businesses have leaked sensitive information to cyber thieves

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) released its 2018 Canadian Internet Security Survey which provides an overview of the Canadian cybersecurity landscape. The findings of the study are alarming and reveal that more of our personal information has been leaked to cyber thieves by businesses. The full survery can be found here.

In late 2017, CIRA reached out to .CA registrants who identified as either businesses or institutions (this includes non-for-profits and government) to ask them about their cybersecurity concerns, challenges, and awareness. Nearly 2,000 responses from the Canadian business community helped provide insight into the threat landscape in Canada to determine where the challenges are, what gaps exist, and how businesses are coping.

Key facts

·        32 per cent report their users had unwittingly divulged sensitive information due to phishing tactics.

·        77 per cent of small business domain owners report being either concerned or very concerned about being the victim of an attack.

·        In the last year, 19 per cent of companies report being hit by ransomware.

·        22 per cent of large organizations have been victimized by a DDoS attack in the past 12 months.

·        36 per cent of individual domain holders report spending nothing on cybersecurity protection in 2017.