Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
It is a pleasure to be here to share my views on certain concerns I—and my fellow Canadians—have regarding the security of personal information and modern online business practices vis-à-vis the presence of Chinese companies in our society.
I can summarize the situation this way. Members of the public, businesses of every size and governments at every level in the country are, without exception, equal in the face of cyber-risks and cyber-attacks.
Over the past 20 years, we have suffered tremendous economic setbacks because of cyber operations targeting businesses and governments.
During that time, our researchers and developers have come up with cutting-edge technology breakthroughs that make—or, rather, made—us the envy of the world. China's intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security, or MSS, and Chinese hacker groups who support, and are condoned by, the Chinese Communist Party of the People's Republic of China have had a gay old time doing harm to our institutions and businesses.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, as evidenced in its “Canadian National Cyber Threat Assessment 2020” report, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the United States are unanimous: China's pursuit of strategic objectives, such as its Made in China 2025 plan and events marking the centennial of Chinese communism in 2049, pose a major cyber-risk.
During the current public health emergency, Canada's health researchers have noted that internal and external threat actors are hindering the development and deployment of measures to prevent and mitigate the risks of COVID-19.
In the past, threats targeted economic development, government institutions and our way of life—basically, critical infrastructure.
During the past 20 years, China has worked hard to catch up to the west in the areas of innovation and development.