Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

Cyberactivity targeting elections on rise, says report from Canada's e-spy service

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 06 Dec, 2023 06:09 PM
  • Cyberactivity targeting elections on rise, says report from Canada's e-spy service

A new federal report says cyberthreat activity targeting elections is increasing worldwide, and is now more likely to be seen in Canada's next federal ballot.

The report by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security found that in 2022 slightly over one-quarter of all national elections globally had at least one reported cyberincident.

The centre says state-sponsored cyberthreat actors with links to Russia and China carried out most of the attributed activity aimed at foreign elections since 2021.

Russia and China’s cyberthreat activity includes attempts to conduct  denial-of-service attacks against election authority websites, accessing voters' personal information and scanning for vulnerabilities in online election systems.

However, the centre cautioned that online perpetrators are getting better at covering their tracks, and most cyberthreat activity targeting elections remains unattributed.

The report also highlights the emerging phenomenon of generative artificial intelligence, which can produce various types of content, including text, images, audio, and video, sometimes called "deepfakes."

"This synthetic content can be used in influence campaigns to covertly manipulate information online, and as a result, influence voter opinions and behaviours," the report says.

"Despite the potential creative benefits of generative AI, its ability to pollute the information ecosystem with disinformation threatens democratic processes worldwide."

In most cases, it is unclear who is behind AI-generated disinformation, the report adds.

"However, we assess it very likely that foreign adversaries or hacktivists will use generative AI to influence voters ahead of Canada’s next federal election."

Cyberthreat actors are already using the technology to pursue strategic political objectives abroad, the report notes. For example, pro-Russia players have used generative AI to create a deepfake of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy surrendering following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

"We assess it very likely that the capacity to generate deepfakes exceeds our ability to detect them. Current publicly available detection models struggle to reliably distinguish between deepfakes and real content."

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising
Rainfall warnings across Vancouver Island and the inner south coast have lifted in most areas, but the effects of British Columbia's first atmospheric river of autumn could take a little longer to ease. The B.C. River Forecast Centre posted flood watches across western Vancouver Island and for the Englishman River near Parksville, warning of levels seen only once every 10 years on some waterways.

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University
Nearly 1,600 members launched job action on Sept. 26 after being without a collective agreement for 19 months, forcing the cancellation of tutorials, labs, lectures, office hours and the marking of assignments. Key issues included wages, class size and pensions for instructors.  

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo
Mounties in Nanaimo say they're investigating the fatal drug overdose of a woman back in March that they now believe was a homicide.  The Nanaimo R-C-M-P says its serious crime unit is looking into the death of 52-year-old Wendy Head, who was found dead at a home in the city on March 7th.   

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president
London Drugs president Clint Mahlman says the company has no plans to close stores due to escalating violence and theft, though the issue has reached a "crisis point" for Canadian retailers. Mahlman says the company was disappointed to learn that a Vancouver city councillor said on social media that London Drugs was considering closing one of its main stores in the city, at the intersection of Granville and Georgia streets, due to crime. 

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president

Funding for BC hospitals

Funding for BC hospitals
Hospitals in Merrit, Oliver and Salmon Arm will get 7.5-million-dollars in permanent funding from the province to help stabilize physician emergency-room coverage. Health Minister Adrian Dix says challenges like worker recruitment and retention and the ongoing toxic-drug crisis are more prominent in rural and remote communities.  

Funding for BC hospitals

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial
Sgt-Maj. Heather Lew told a B.C. Supreme Court murder trial that she collected a few drops of blood from Ibrahim Ali's finger on Sept. 9, 2018, two days after his arrest and almost 14 months after the girl's body was found. Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the teen.

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial