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Cyber security and protecting Canada’s critical infrastructure

Overview

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) is providing national and international leadership in cyber readiness and response.

PSEPC’s Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) serves as a central coordinating point for cyber security to deal with threats and incidents impacting Canada’s critical infrastructure -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Roles and responsibilities

CCIRC performs the following functions:

• Incident response and coordination;
• Monitoring and analysis of the cyber threat environment;
• Warning and technical advice; and
• National awareness and capacity building.

When warranted, PSEPC issues cyber warnings as well as other cyber-related information products to respond to potential, imminent or actual threats, vulnerabilities or incidents affecting Canada’s critical infrastructure. Information is made available to governments at all levels, as well as critical infrastructure sectors such energy and utilities, communications, transportation, and financial.

The complexity and frequency of cyber security incidents warrants a highly-integrated response. The CCIRC operates within the Government Operations Centre and cooperates with other federal departments and agencies, other levels of government, and private sector critical infrastructure organizations, to ensure a coordinated and timely response to cyber security incidents across Canada.

CCIRC will build on PSEPC’s existing international relationships and is designed for improved inter-operability with its allied partners. This includes, for instance, cyber security incident response teams in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia

Information on the PSEPC CCIRC’s products and services is available on its web page: ww2.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/ccric.

PSEPC is committed to protecting the safety and security of Canadians and is the lead department for coordinating the federal response and recovery efforts in the event of an emergency situation, whether natural or man-made.