Canadian Cybersecurity Legislation Lacking, Survey Finds

In a survey released today, Keyfactor, a leading provider of secure digital identity management solutions, revealed that 87% of surveyed cybersecurity professionals think more privacy and security legislation is required to better protect Canada's businesses and consumers.

"While the federal government continues to introduce cybersecurity consortiums and guidance, professionals on the front lines know that consortiums do little to protect their business and consumers from attacks and data loss," said Chris Hickman, chief security officer at Keyfactor. "The resource divide that exists across small and large enterprise, combined with standards inconsistencies, make us vulnerable to attacks."

According to the survey, 58% of respondents think regulators and elected Canadian officials are not doing enough to standardize security guidance on measures like data encryption.

"Many of today's large-scale breach events are the result of basic security measures that are overlooked or neglected," said Hickman. "Attackers looking for low-hanging fruit are commonly able to infiltrate a business's network ? and its customers ? by compromising vulnerable IoT (Internet of Things) devices or stealing highly sensitive keys and digital certificates."

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a tried and tested security tool that protects digital identities across people, software and technology. However, PKI management remains a manual process for many organizations.

The survey also found that:

• 50% of respondents cite manual and complex processes as their greatest challenge in managing PKI
• 43% of respondents were most concerned about their ability to securely adopt DevOps, cloud and IoT

"As the federal election looms, Canadians should closely evaluate each party's cybersecurity pledge and what it means to their own digital security as an online consumer," said Hickman. "Broadly, whether large or small, Canadian businesses are struggling with IT and security resourcing. Without stronger government standardization and actionable support, businesses and consumers downstream face rising security risks."

Survey results were gathered through surveys conducted with IT security professionals at SecTor, Canada's premier IT security education conference. For a complete list of survey results, please visit: https://blog.keyfactor.com/new-survey-finds-security-pros-concerned-about-pki.

About Keyfactor

Keyfactor is a leading provider of secure digital identity management solutions that enable organizations to confirm authenticity, and ensure the right things are interacting in the right ways in our connected world. From an enterprise managing millions of devices and applications that affect people's lives every day to a manufacturer aiming to ensure its product will function safely throughout its lifecycle, Keyfactor empowers global enterprises with the freedom to master every digital identity. Its clients are the most innovative brands in the industries where trust and reliability matter most. Learn more at www.keyfactor.com and @Keyfactor.