Many people may not be aware of this, but Alberta is a global leader in neuroscience — the study of the brain and brain behaviour — and, increasingly, the development of neurotechnologies, i.e. the practical applications of this science. One organization that is aware of this fact, and is doing everything in its power to […]
Summer hackathon highlights Alberta’s neuroscience skills Read More »
Cyber Summit is just days away! The annual Cyber Summit will run November 8-10. The conference will kick-off with two half-day workshops: an immersive workshop from Softchoice and AWS on leading your educational institution through its cloud journey, followed by a look at how higher education is implementing Multi-Factor Authentication. This will be followed by
Cybera newsletter — Fall 2021 Read More »
Alberta’s ShareIT public procurement program has passed the spend milestone of $50 million since it was implemented in 2017. This equates to a total estimated savings for its members of +$30 million (over their average education discount rate). This milestone comes as the program adds a variety of new firewall hardware, licensing, and services to
It’s hard to believe, but students are now in their third year of schooling while dealing with COVID-19. During each year – and each interruption – Cybera has seen wildly different network traffic patterns. While I do plan to write about our experience as a whole, I’ll save that for the post-new normal. For now,
Network use jumps in 2021-22 school year Read More »
The partners in Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN) are pleased to announce today that Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security, or MANRS, has been implemented on the majority of Canada’s research and education networks. Ninety-nine per cent of organizations connected to the NREN are now connected to a MANRS-compliant network. An industry-led initiative championed
Canada’s NREN bolsters security with MANRS Read More »
Last year, we wrote about a novel security tool that Cybera’s security team had made open source. The “plaintext password sniffer,” or SniffPass, was first developed by the University of Alberta’s security team to detect and secure their institution against phishing attempts or insecure online passwords. Cybera’s security analyst made SniffPass available in Zeek, a
SniffPass boosts US infrastructure cybersecurity Read More »
This past 2020-21 fiscal year was a record-breaking one for Cybera, both in terms of the number of services we now offer to our expanding member community, and also the savings achieved by those services. But those savings go beyond dollars and cents. Keep reading ShareIT facilitates over $27 million in savings This past quarter (April
Cybera Newsletter – Summer 2021 Read More »
This past 2020-21 fiscal year was a record-breaking one for Cybera, both in terms of the number of services we now offer to our expanding member community, but also the savings achieved by those services. Between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, Cybera’s combined services achieved over $16 million in gross savings for its
Growing our value to the community Read More »
After a year of researching, Cybera (Alberta’s not-for-profit technology accelerator) has unveiled a comprehensive update to its State of Alberta Digital Infrastructure Report. This timely analysis comes as internet connectivity and access to high-speed broadband have taken on heightened levels of importance in the province, due to COVID-19. The updated report, first published in 2014,
New report takes a comprehensive look at Alberta’s internet gaps and opportunities Read More »
On June 4, 2021, participants from across Alberta presented unique solutions and tactics to the issue of rural internet access gaps following the month-long Bridging the Connectivity Challenge Hackathon. This event, which was spearheaded by Cybera and ISAIC, brought together more than 100 registrants to address the following objectives: Use available data to assess the
Responding to the ongoing struggles faced by rural Albertans to access high-speed, affordable internet, the Alberta Rural Connectivity Coalition has unveiled a new website to offer resources and learning events for those wanting to find local solutions. The website will allow communities and networking experts to collaborate on local projects to provide internet to residents,
New website shines a light on Alberta’s rural connectivity gaps Read More »
Partners in the NREN award the second of two collaborative procurements to streamline web conferencing for Canadian higher ed and research institutions. Cybera, working with its National Research & Education Network (NREN) partners, is pleased to announce the second of two awards for a national web conferencing solution. This agreement with BlueJeans will see its
Second national procurement for web conference tool now available Read More »
When Alberta’s K-12 schools resumed in-person classes last week, Cybera’s network team really noticed the difference! On Tuesday, May 25, the amount of traffic running over Cybera’s link to the SuperNet more than doubled, from an average of 8.75 Gbps (while at-home learning was going on), to just over 20 Gbps. Fortunately, Cybera had just
Cybera doubles network capacity on SuperNet, just in time Read More »
Last week, in a move that has already negatively impacted consumer internet costs in Canada, the CRTC reversed it’s 2019 decision to lower the rates charged by large ISPs to wholesale service providers for access to their networks. Wholesale internet providers, such as TekSavvy and Distributel, will now have to pay the higher, pre-2019 rates
How CRTC flip-flop on wholesale internet will hurt consumers Read More »
ShareIT capped off its 2020-21 fiscal year with one of the strongest quarters to date, generating savings of over $3 million between January and March 2021! It was also a record-setting year for the team in terms of catalogue additions and PD&T. The ShareIT program added seven new contracts and hosted 29 information and knowledge
ShareIT Year in Review Read More »
For the last two years, Cybera has facilitated a Shared Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) program for its members. The origin of this program dates back to 2017, when Norquest College and Lakeland College teamed up to share a single CISO: security expert Curtis Blais, who remains the Shared CISO today. Having a Shared CISO
Advice for Alberta institutions looking to make use of a Shared CISO Read More »