Saskatchewan government well-defended against online attacks

The federal government has fallen victim to cyber attacks this week, but the Saskatchewan government's computer network remains secure.

Richard Murray, the executive director of Corporate Services for the province's Information Technologies Office, admits government computers are subject to hundreds if not thousands of similar attacks every day. But he says stringent filters and firewalls are in place that are continuously monitored.

“We've got companies that we hire that come in-house and ensure that we've got appropriate security mechanisms, that our systems are clean, that we're not under attack, that we haven't been breached,” he added.

He explained the kind of attacks that they fend off daily, as well as the “spear phishing” scam that targeted the federal government, aren't any different than the scams average people put up with. Hackers aim to get information or network access through email accounts; failing that, they hope to take over computers to run them as “bots,” which automatically work to propagate the infection.

Murray explained that's why even if their security efforts are impeccable hackers will continue to try and break through their defenses.

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“It's the nature of being on the internet,” he said. “It's like a continual arms race: we build up our security, the attacks get more sophisticated and more numerous.”

He noted any level of government or any business with any significant web presence will be a target.

Murray added that the weakest link is often the humans who use the computers. That's why staff in all ministries were recently alerted to be on the lookout for the kind of phishing scams that have hit the federal government.

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