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The latest data confirm that cyber attacks are becoming more common while our nation has inadequate numbers of cyber professionals to defend government and business digital assets. The national association for the Canadian ICT sector, TECHNATION, says cyber crime is already estimated to cost Canada over $3-billion a year and projected to rise. Addressing the cyber talent gap is critical.Supplied

By 2025, ICTC forecasts employment in the Canadian digital economy to reach 2.26 million – triggering a demand for an additional 250,000 jobs.

Globally, the number of ransomware attacks shot up by 151% in the first half of 2021. Worldwide spending on information security and risk management technology and services is forecast to grow 12.4% to reach $150.4-billion (USD) in 2021.1

Canada is facing a talent deficit that is limiting our ability to harness the full potential of emerging technology. Demand for cyber talent is estimated to be increasing by 7% every year.2

Supply chain attacks rose by 42% in the first quarter of 2021 in the US – disproportionately impacting businesses that work with governments, and impacting up to seven million people.3

According to CSE and the Cyber Centre, the number of cyber threat actors is rising, they are becoming more sophisticated and state-sponsored cyber threats are increasing.4

Since March 2020, nearly 25% of all Canadian small businesses have experienced some kind of hostile cyber incident. The rate of cyber incidents per 100,000 citizens also went up from 73 to 168 between 2016 and 2020. $106-million was lost in Canada due to scams and frauds in 2020.5

  1. Source: “Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Security and Risk Management Spending to Exceed $150 billion in 2021” - Gartner
  2. Source: Cybersecurity Report “The Changing Faces of Cybersecurity - Closing the Cyber Risk Gap” - Deloitte
  3. Source: MORE Alarming Cybersecurity Stats For 2021! (forbes.com)
  4. Source: ncta-2020-e-web.pdf (cyber.gc.ca)
  5. Source: 14 Scary Canadian & Global Cyber Crime Statistics for 2021” - Reviewlution.ca

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