Canada’s Research and Education Community Strengthens Cybersecurity

Cybera is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the first procurement for a new national Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) infrastructure. The SIEM initiative involves a collaboration of 13 provincial, territorial and federal partners of Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN). The proposed solution will enable all partners of the NREN to better identify, manage and respond to cybersecurity threats, and will strengthen the overall security of Canada’s NREN infrastructure.

With cybersecurity threats increasing nationally and globally, collaboration is key to managing and responding to these threats. Strengthening the security posture of Canada’s NREN in this manner significantly increases its trust value for organizations that depend on it.

“The completion of our first national procurement is a meaningful milestone for the NREN,” says Barb Carra, COO of Cybera. “Significant collaboration was required to secure a single SIEM contract on behalf of 13 NREN partners.”

To further strengthen the cybersecurity initiative, each NREN partner organization has plans to acquire and develop the required security expertise to support the effective deployment of the SIEM infrastructure in their region, while strengthening the national cohort of NREN security specialists. Each province and territory also has the capability to deploy the SIEM infrastructure to address their unique regional and infrastructure requirements.

“Our cooperative procurement process and outcome respects the federated landscape by strengthening cybersecurity, while also respecting the individual needs of all NREN partners,” says Bala Kathiresan, Chair of the NREN Governance Committee. “It is a powerful model for digital research infrastructure that relies on investments and support from federal, provincial, territorial and institutional partners.”

For more information about the implications of the NREN SIEM deployment, and the impact on Canadian research and education institutions, contact projects@cybera.ca.


About the NREN:

The National Research and Education Network (NREN) is an essential collective of infrastructure, tools and people that bolsters Canadian leadership in research, education, and innovation. CANARIE and its twelve provincial and territorial partners form Canada’s NREN. We connect Canada’s researchers, educators, and innovators to each other and to data, technology, and colleagues around the world.

About Cybera:

Cybera is a not-for-profit technology-neutral organization responsible for driving Alberta’s economic growth through the use of digital technology. Its core role is to oversee the development and operations of Alberta’s cyberinfrastructure — the advanced system of networks and computers that keeps government, educational institutions, not-for-profits, business incubators and entrepreneurs at the forefront of technological change.

Working with government, education, and private sectors, Cybera is creating a community that champions vital networking and computing services and utilities for everyone, everywhere. We also provide member organizations with unbiased, highly skilled expertise on technology products, processes or services, and access to shared IT tools.

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