We are proud to call ourselves Canadian. As a Canadian telecommunications business, our industry is characterized for being heavily reliant on technology as domestic consumers are receptive to offerings through digital channels. For this reason, we expect our business and its customers to embrace technology, as most have been doing so already. However, as we further immerse TELUS in technological business processes to increase efficiency, the vulnerability for cyber-attacks will also increase.

Cyber security is an issue relevant to a wide range of industries that together amount for a substantial portion of the Canadian economy, especially at TELUS. In 2017 alone, Canadian businesses spent approx. $14 billion to prevent, detect and recover from cyber security incidents (Statistics Canada, 2018). Since this issue affects the telecommunications industry and our everyday operations, we will work hard to explain all the factors of cyber security and implications of a data breach to give you a holistic view on how we are working towards a safe future.

Motives Behind Cyber Attacks

According to Statistics Canada in 2017, 70% of cyber attackers’ main motive was financial gain, primarily stealing money and/or demanding ransom.

It’s clear that our customers put a lot of trust in us to by giving access to banking and other personal information. This is why we think it’s extremely important for our company to fully understand and analyze the motives behind cyber incidents. This way, we can best prepare our team for these risks.

The following lists the most common motives behind cyber-attack for a financial incentive:

• Insight into an organization’s financial statement and position
• Access to your customer’s credit card and financial details
• Breach sensitive data and/ or intellectual property
• Steal login credentials
• Access to the IT structure of your organization

Despite the fact that the most common motives behind cyber-attacks is financial gain, there’s also a smaller percentage of people who commit cyber-attacks that are motivated by non-lucrative reasons, the main one being identity theft. Some individuals will commit cyber-attacks in order to gain personal information, demonstrate technical ability for a personal sense of accomplishments, or for political reasons.

Now it’s up to you guys to decide what’s worse, stealing money or stealing your identity?

A general understanding of the most common motives behind cyber-attacks allows TELUS and our customers to identify which organizational and personal information we need to protect. This step is critical to properly allocate resources into effective and efficient mitigation risks associated with cyber incidents.

After knowing these motives, please check out our blog post, Secure Your Privacy, Prevent Identity Theft, and Feel Safe on the Internet, for some tips on how you can protect yourself from cyber threats.

Cyber Security as a Source of Opportunities: The Other Side of The Coin

Cyber security in an organization is not only the IT specialists’ responsibility. At TELUS, it is everyone’s responsibility to practice safe privacy. We train all of our employees to follow company safety protocols and have prepared a strong action plan for the worst-case scenario.

With the information we gathered, our team anticipates that the federal government is obtaining and mining relevant data from cyber related incidents in order to establish innovative government programs, such as the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. This particular program aims to combat cyber-attack attempts that threaten public safety and find solutions for safer interaction between Canadian businesses and consumers.

These programs will increase demand for cyber security roles in the Canadian economy. Government programs will not only increase Canadian cyber security job supply for government roles, but also for organizations that will have to comply with the changing cyber security compliance regulations the government plans to enforce.

Source: Towards Data Science

Our advice to our valued customers is not to panic. Instead, look at the issue on a more optimistic perspective as a reminder that this growing risk may also generate opportunities for Canadians to add value to the workforce by finding ways to mitigate cyber incidents and attacks.

As for those who didn’t intend to pursue a career in cyber security and technology, basic knowledge about how to detect and prevent cyber-attacks will gradually become a minimum requirement in the workplace. TELUS will continue to openly communicate with our customers of our projects, policies, and plans for the future and we encourage our customers communicate with us as well. This is an opportunity to get involved- initiate the conversation and together, we can contribute to the safety of our community.