National Defence committee  No. At least, that's not the views I hear at all. However, perhaps it's a matter of maturity in terms of national security issues; we're not always quick to seize the problem and want to tackle it head on.

National Defence committee  I am not at all able to answer this question, quite honestly.

National Defence committee  Are you referring to technology, especially new technologies, innovation?

National Defence committee  I wouldn't be able to prioritize the issues according to their importance, but something is attracting my attention a lot, and that is the Internet of Things. There is an exponential proliferation of connected objects. For Canada, very simply, it means that the attack surface is increasing.

National Defence committee  In my opinion, in comparative terms, Canada is not, at this time, a priority target for Russia or for cyberactors who would put themselves at its service. From what we observe and the information I have, the geographical factor still seems to play an important role. It is the countries that are rather close to Ukraine or Russia and the NATO members that are most targeted.

National Defence committee  I will answer in French, if I may. As far as critical infrastructure is concerned, I think there is a risk. Critical infrastructures are indeed extremely important. They are aptly named because they are critical. Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure are a high-risk but unlikely threat.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair and members of the committee, good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I am a research fellow at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair in Strategic and Diplomatic Studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal. My research focuses on issues related to cyber-strategy, cyber-defence and more generally on the impacts of information technology on international security.