The Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (CIC) was established at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in 2017 to provide comprehensive cybersecurity training, conduct research, and promote entrepreneurship.
CIC collaborates with researchers from the natural sciences, social sciences, business, computer science, engineering, and law as well as other national and international research centres. It offers cybersecurity training through graduate and undergraduate programs and workshops. CIC also maintains R&D partnerships with over 20 national and international public and private institutions, filed patents, developed startups, and created publicly available data used for testing and validating cybersecurity solutions.
In addition to holding a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity, Dr. Ali Ghorbani is a professor of computer science at UNB and director of CIC. Dr. Ghorbani has spent over 25 years conducting research in machine learning, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protection. In a career spanning over four decades, he has authored a book and over 300 peer-reviewed articles; supervised over 250 research associates, postdoctoral fellows, and students; co-invented technologies that resulted in four patents; and co-founded three startups.
ONB spoke with Dr. Ghorbani to learn more about CIC and New Brunswick’s broader cybersecurity sector.
What are CIC’s top strategic priorities?
Broadly, it’s about identifying practical problems that require practical solutions. I would highlight three key priorities.
1. Talent development and training — CIC bridges gaps in cybersecurity by training highly qualified personnel (HQP) in the ever-evolving threat landscape. This supports the growth and development of cybersecurity, brings innovation to UNB’s teaching and research, and provides a transformational experience for students. Learn more.
2. R&D — The objective is to create and maintain a robust practical research program and establish R&D partnerships with industry and government. This results in the development of innovative and commercially viable technologies. The Institute’s primary R&D focus areas include Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), Cybersecurity Analytics and Forensics, Cloud Security and Privacy, Information Security, Privacy-Enhancing Technologies, and much, much more.
3. Innovation and Entrepreneurship — Creating innovative cybersecurity systems that establish economic growth and sustainability for Canada and Canadians. CIC continues to be a knowledge leader in cybersecurity and an outstanding player in the global fight against cybercrime. Cybersecurity professors, researchers, PhD students, master’s students, and co-op students are regularly given opportunities to work on research project teams with industry R&D members. CIC currently has research projects with Bell Canada, Huawei, IBM Canada, National Research Council, Scotiabank, Siemens Canada, and TD Bank.
CIC collaborates with multiple private sector partners to provide cybersecurity expertise and solutions. Beyond the names just mentioned, our members also include names like Mastercard, NB Power, Rogers, General Dynamics Mission Services (GDMS), ADGA, CCTX, McCain Foods, IPnet, City of Saint John, and the Government of New Brunswick (GNB/SNB).
These organizations pay an annual membership fee to CIC to benefit from our knowledge and problem-solving capacity. It’s this funding that allows CIC to access other program funding and expand operations, as the Institute does not receive any budget from UNB.
CIC has successfully collaborated with partners on multiple projects. For instance, we worked to explore the cyber threat landscape in South America and LATAM for financial institutions. We’ve also created best practices for sharing threat intelligence solutions, developed a framework for supply chain security, and analyzed user behaviour. The outcome of this analysis was a new AI model that can detect malicious activity.
How has NB’s cybersecurity cluster changed since CIC’s 2017 launch?
The cybersecurity sector has since gained significant attention from the academic community, industry, and government. It is worth mentioning that the government of New Brunswick played a crucial role in prioritizing cybersecurity early on, and this helped raise awareness and promote action in the field. Also, the government and private sector invested in creating essential assets, such as the Cyber Centre in Fredericton.
As a result, New Brunswick has established itself as a leader in cybersecurity, recognized by both the federal government and private sector players. Our cybersecurity ecosystem has fostered strong collaborative relationships and developed great assets and infrastructure. It is vital to maintain and grow this ecosystem; otherwise, we run the risk of falling behind the rest of the country.
Do you feel NB is still well-positioned to lead the country in cybersecurity innovation?
Yes, absolutely. We have a culture of learning and motivation for innovation and developing new products. We’re bilingual, adaptable, and able to create strategic partnerships. And we have assets like the Cyber Centre, and, more importantly, CIC’s recognized leadership and proven partnership/membership model. However, this all depends on industry, government, academia, and non-profits in NB remaining focused, working collaboratively, and supporting each other. It is important to know that the Government of New Brunswick still considers cybersecurity an economic enabler and is prepared to invest in it.
What does CIC consider the main topics of interest/trends to watch throughout 2024?
There are many! I would highlight:
- The growing cybersecurity skills shortage & cybersecurity education;
- Social media threats (disinformation, misinformation, fake/hostile content affecting individuals, organizations, and governments);
- Cloud security;
- IoT vulnerabilities;
- Supply chain security;
- GenAI and AI-powered cybersecurity; and
- More ransomware attacks.
Are there any specific new programs or partnerships worth mentioning?
Cyber attribution is of the utmost importance for the security of Canada. It is a key component of the country’s cyber threat deterrence strategy. CIC is currently working to establish a secure data and analytics centre that will be powered by AI technology. The primary objective of this centre is to collect and maintain information related to cyber activities. It will provide support to governments, industries, universities, and research centres by analyzing and extracting valuable intelligence from cyber-related data over the long term.
The success of this project and future ones depends on securing the necessary funding. To remain competitive and sustain our leadership position in Canada, we have no option but to expand and increase our operation. We plan to scale up by expanding the current team of around 100 individuals to approximately 200 within the next five years. This would require an average annual increase rate of about 15 per cent. We are hoping for the support of our university, government, and the private sector to achieve this objective.
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CIC organizes the annual international conference series on privacy, security, and trust (PST), maintains an active blog and daily cybersecurity news website, and supports national-level policymakers. Follow CIC on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Click here to learn more about ONB’s work in the cybersecurity sector, including how to connect with our team.
