CSA Publish Update On Cybersecurity For Market Participants

Today's issuers, registrants, and regulated entities (collectively, Market Participants) rely increasingly on electronic systems to, among other things, store confidential information, transfer data and intellectual property, record transactions, and track key financial assets. As such, these systems are attractive targets for threat agents seeking to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, reliability or availability of Market Participants' information or their operational capability.

Recent studies suggest an upswing in the frequency and complexity of cyber attacks. Detection of security incidents in 2015 had increased by 38% over the year prior. Cyber attacks are also becoming more costly: a 2016 Ponemon Institute study of 383 companies across 16 industries in 12 countries revealed that the average total cost of a data breach per company was US$4 million, up from US$3.79 million last year.