Security

City tech manager named to Ontario expert panel on cyber security – Belleville Intelligencer


Marc Coyle, manager of information technology at the City of Belleville has been named to an expert panel on cyber security for a two-year term by the Ontario government. DEREK BALDWIN

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Marc Coyle, manager of information technology at the City of Belleville, has been named to an expert panel by the Ontario government to help protect against cybercrime.

Coyle is one of 10 cyber experts who will serve a term of two years on the Expert Panel on Cyber Security to identify and protect against vulnerabilities across the Ontario public sector.

“We’re going to bring together a lot of diverse organizations and the hope is that we can find a shared platform where we increase the security for the province as a whole,” Coyle told The Intelligencer at City Hall Monday.

“It’s encouraging to have everyone in the same room and hopefully the results are as impressive as the initiative.”

Coyle said the threat by cyber criminals upon government systems is real and needs to be countered with all measures.

“There have been a number of municipalities and sometimes police services that have had to overcome attacks at various levels, absolutely. We do need to find an articulate way as a province to respond to these so that everybody knows what expectation is to best protect citizens,” Coyle said.

Along with his panel colleagues, Coyle will advise Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services on issues and risks in the public sector.

“Our government is committed to strengthening our cyber security infrastructure. As the threats of cyber-attacks and hacking become more frequent globally, it’s imperative that we take action now to improve our defences within the broader public sector,” said Thompson in a press release.

“Leveraging the skills and expertise of our panel members will allow us to strengthen the resiliency of our digital infrastructure as we collectively move more government programs and services online.”

The expert panel will submit a final report to Thompson in the fall of 2022, with findings and recommendations to address common vulnerabilities.

Minister Thompson intends to make the report available to the public.

Another component of the strategy is Ontario’s Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, which will support government ministries in the Ontario Public Service and the Broader Public Sector with cutting-edge solutions and resources to tackle cyber threats.

“I am very excited and honoured to be appointed the Chair of the Broader Public Sector Cyber Security Expert Panel to lead and collaborate with a group of highly talented cyber security professionals to improve the cyber security posture of the Broader Public Sector (BPS) partners,” Robert Wong, Chair of the Expert Panel on Cyber Security, said in a press release.

“I also look forward to working with the Minister and Deputy Minister of Government and Consumer Services to develop a comprehensive BPS Cyber Security Strategy to enhance cyber resilience against the ever- increasing volumes and sophistication of cyberattacks and threats to computer systems and networks of BPS agencies and service delivery partners in Ontario.”

Earlier this month, the government announced an academic partnership with Ryerson University’s Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst. The partnership will provide ongoing cyber security support to Ontario’s broader public sector through a new cyber security learning portal, www.cybersecurityontario.ca.



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