CIRA recommends government develop a Community Emergency Response Team

OTTAWA, July 14 /CNW Telbec/ - In its submission to Industry Canada's Digital Economy consultation, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) recommends the Government of Canada enhance its ability to respond to emergencies by developing a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). CIRA also strongly encourages the government to ensure the CERT has the ability to respond to threats to the Domain Name System (DNS) in Canada through a DNS-CERT.

A DNS-CERT would be made up of technical experts who would be able to respond in a timely manner to threats or damage to the DNS, an essential part of operating the Internet and an integral part of Canada's communications networks. There are many bodies around the world that handle CERT functions for the Internet, and there is increasing activity to develop a global DNS-CERT.

"Certainly, the Internet is critical to not only the Canadian economy, but the well-being of Canadian society as a whole," said Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA. "Canada must be prepared to respond to an emergency that involves the very infrastructure that underpins the Internet for the safety and security of Canadians. For this reason, we recommend that a DNS-CERT be a part of Canada's broad-based emergency response strategy."

In recent years, the global DNS has come under threat in a variety of ways, including attacks from organized crime. Cyber-war and cyber-terrorism are increasingly threatening. According to a report by Symantec (http://www.symantec.com) released in 2008, production of malicious software intended to infiltrate computers may currently exceed that of legitimate software applications.

This is one of 19 wide-ranging recommendations made by CIRA in response to Industry Canada's Digital Economy consultation. CIRA's recommendations range from encouraging the government to leverage its purchasing power to spur the adoption of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the next generation of Internet protocol designed to handle current and future demands for Internet addresses, to recommending the Government of Canada to develop a national digital literacy strategy as part of its digital economy strategy.

As part of its submission, CIRA has developed a theory and a graphical representation of what it calls the Internet value chain - the Internet's unparalleled capacity for enabling economic growth:

    
    The Digital Economy Value Chain

    COMPETITIVENESS
    PRODUCTIVITY
    INNOVATION
    CREATIVITY
    

The Internet stimulates human creativity with new technologies, outlets and opportunities which leads to innovation in products, services and processes. These products, services and processes improve productivity for individuals and businesses, thereby boosting their - and Canada's - competitiveness in the global digital economy.

The Government of Canada launched national consultations on the development of a digital economy strategy in May 2010. The private sector, non-governmental organizations, academia, and the general public were all invited to have their voice heard. CIRA's submission has been made public, and is available on the CIRA website (http://cira.ca).

About CIRA

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the organization that manages Canada's .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community and represents the .CA registry internationally.

For further information: Jennifer Austin, Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing, [phone] ext. 296, [email protected]