To meet the growing cybersecurity threats faced by Alberta’s research, education, and public sectors, Cybera is launching three new services this spring. The goal is to provide members better insights, tools, and advice on how to detect and protect themselves from malicious activity.
The new services are:
- Threat Feed for Education — A threat intelligence feed platform that allows schools to configure their network protection devices against the latest cybersecurity threats. (Available now)
- Miridor — Provides a simple but detailed overview of potential indicators of compromise on members’ networks, to improve their overall security posture. (Launching May 2022)
- Cybera Security Nexus — Expertise and resources to help organizations assess, prioritize, and address their cybersecurity and policy gaps. (Launching May 2022)
“In the conversations we’ve had with our community over the last two years, the number one concern they’ve highlighted has been cybersecurity, and their institution’s abilities to respond to threats that are growing in frequency and sophistication,” says Barb Carra, President and CEO of Cybera.
“With these new services, we want to make it easier and more cost-effective for Alberta organizations to improve their security posture. We also want to ensure we are offering resources for all our public sector members, including municipalities and libraries. Our long-term vision is for all Cybera members to have equitable access to the security resources they need.”
Threat Feed for Education
Available immediately, Threat Feed for Education is geared towards any Cybera-connected, public education (K-12 or post-secondary) member that is not eligible for the CANARIE-funded Cybersecurity Initiatives Program (CIP). Threat Feed allows schools to configure their network protection devices against sector-specific threats.
The service is facilitated by the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre (CanSSOC), and features a curated threat intelligence feed sourced from government entities, commercial threat intel providers, member institutions, and the open-source community. This feed can be deployed into organizations’ existing security appliances — such as firewalls — for activities such as blocking malicious source IPs, domains, and URLs.
“Cybersecurity is a team sport, and tackling the growing cyber threats in Canada will require cooperation and collaboration between all levels of education,” says Jill Kowalchuk, CanSSOC Director. “CanSSOC is pleased to partner with Cybera to offer the CanSSOC Threat Feed service to K-12 schools districts in Alberta. This is an important step in working quickly and efficiently with this community to identify threats and actionable next steps.”
To find out more and register for the service, members are asked to fill in this Expression of Interest.
Coming May 2022
Cybera Security Nexus
The Cybera Security Nexus is a program that offers trusted cybersecurity advice and resources to Cybera members.
It will provide access to:
- An industry recognized IT security assessment framework (available to all members, although post-secondary institutions participating in the Cybersecurity Initiatives Program are encouraged to take part in its National Cybersecurity Assessment launching later this year)
- A CISO-level cybersecurity expert
- A foundational set of digital security policies, standards, procedures, guidelines and baselines.
The Nexus will also facilitate a shared community for cybersecurity training, workshops, and seminars.
Miridor
Also launching in May 2022, Miridor is an intrusion detection system that will give organizations connected to Cybera’s network a simple, but detailed, overview of potential indicators of compromise on their network.
It works by “mirroring” the network traffic of participating members at Cybera’s core router locations, and analyzing that traffic for known suspicious activity. This analysis is catalogued in a customized, web-based database that can be reviewed by the member’s operations team. It also provides exportable data for further investigations by the member.
The service was created to serve member organizations that are not eligible for the Intrusion Detection System available through the Cybersecurity Initiatives Program, although some eligible organizations may choose to implement both systems (see Cybera’s website for more details on how Miridor compares to the CIP intrusion detection service).
For more information about Cybera’s new security services, contact Cybera’s project team at projects@cybera.ca or visit cybera.ca/services/security.