Radio-Canada will impose unprecedented security measures on its teams who will soon be deployed to China for coverage of the Olympic Games in order to protect themselves from spies and hackers whose threat is increasingly recognized by Canadian authorities. .
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“We know that China is a very curious state, which likes to control a lot of things. So we try to be as careful as possible, to have high-quality IT hygiene, ”explains François Messier, head of mission for the deployment of the 130 people sent to Beijing by Radio-Canada and CBC.
The crown corporation has discussed this issue with the Canadian Embassy in China and experts from Global Affairs Canada as it prepares for the Games, which begin on February 4.
“The people at the embassy even told us: ‘Always take it for granted that you can be heard,’” says Messier.
Destroy this SIM card after the mission
The security plan put in place requires a big adaptation for the staff. Employees will need to learn to limit the amount of software they use, to prioritize communications through encrypted applications, and to look over their shoulders to make sure no one is watching them as they enter their password.
“It is sure that it is quite a gymnastics, it is a lot of practices to introduce for the people”, recognizes Mr. Messier.
No Radio-Canada employee will bring their own cell phone, tablet or computer to China. Each will receive a telephone provided especially for the occasion, which they must return upon their return.
The phones will work with a single-use SIM card that will be destroyed after the Games, says the chef de mission.
In the case of computers and tablets too, devices will be loaned especially for the occasion. They will be blank, with no inside information recorded. After the Games, computer experts will make sure to “whitewash” them to permanently erase any spyware that may have been installed without the user’s knowledge.
Beware of devices that start by themselves
Employees were warned to never plug their device into a USB outlet in an unsecured location while traveling. “We did exercises by giving examples to people. For example, when arriving at the distribution center, during the x-ray inspection of bags, if a security official asks to see their cell phone and plugs it in somewhere, they must then turn off the device and take it to our IT managers who will have to ensure that nothing has been installed on the telephone, ”explains the head of mission.
“Same thing if their device at rest starts working or heating: you have to go see an IT manager to make sure no one has taken control,” he says.
Whenever possible, employees will be encouraged to use the secure internet connection inside the broadcast center or inside competition venues. “But they will never have to access the WiFi of the local business,” warns Mr. Messier, for fear of a vulnerability to hacking.
Obviously, Chinese hackers and spies probably have little to gain by spying on personal messages and documents from a technician or sports reporter assigned to the Olympics. But the Canadian government has made the crown corporation aware that their devices can act as gateways to Canadian networks for certain ill-intentioned actors.
“We all need to strengthen our defenses”
Chinese government-sponsored espionage and meddling has generated a lot of talk in Canada in recent months.
In December, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested a former employee of the Canadian Space Agency, a resident of Brossard, who is accused of using his status to facilitate a Chinese interference operation in a project abroad.
Also in December, an Ontario judge ordered a halt to the legal process against a man accused of trying to sell secrets related to Canadian naval strategy to China because the delays in trying the accused were unreasonable.
In 2020, Press revealed that the FBI believed they had discovered a nest of Chinese spies in Brossard, clustered around a former McGill University professor accused in a California court of stealing trade secrets in order to fuel the development of missiles in China.
PHOTO CHRIS WATTIE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
David Vigneault, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, David Vigneault, called in a public speech last February for vigilance in the face of certain “hostile activities” by the Chinese government on Canadian soil.
“The threat does not come from the Chinese people, but rather from the Chinese government, which pursues a strategy for geopolitical advantage on all fronts – economic, technological, political and military – using all elements of state power to lead activities which are a direct threat to our national security and our sovereignty, ”he said.
“We all need to strengthen our defenses,” he added.