CyberSecure Canada

Business Certification for Canada’s National Cyber Security Program

What is the national cyber security program?

Canada’s national cyber security program is called CyberSecure Canada. It is a federal certification program which aims to raise the baseline cyber security posture among Canadian Small/Medium Organizations (SMO), increase consumer confidence in the digital economy, promote international standardization and better position SMOs to compete globally.

How will this help my organization?

It helps build trust in today’s digital world. Once certified by an accredited Certification Body, the CyberSecure Canada certification mark can be displayed to give official federal government recognition that compliance with the baseline security controls has been achieved. This shows customers, partners, investors and suppliers that you meet the standard’s requirements, and therefore provides an assurance that fundamental cyber risk management steps have been taken to safeguard information and systems.

What is Watsec’s role for this program?

Watsec assists organizations prepare for certification by identifying gaps in their current cybersecurity posture versus the current CyberSecure Canada (CSC) standard. Once an organization is ready, they can formally apply to an accredited Certification Body for certification.

What do the CSC security controls include?

The CSC program includes three categories of controls which contain a total of 50 control statements. There are non-technical such as secure user mobility policy, technical in-house such as perimeter defenses, and outsourced such as cloud services. This is a practical standard highly achievable for Canadian Small/Medium Organizations. According to CCCS the standard “… presents the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security baseline cyber security controls wherein we attempt to apply the 80/20 rule (achieve 80% of the benefit from 20% of the effort) to the cyber security practices of small and medium organizations in Canada.”¹

How do I enroll in the program?

For more information about enrolling in the program please click the Contact Us button below and mention CyberSecure Canada in your request.