To kick off the first week of Cyber Security Awareness Month (CSAM), Vice Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Jean-Marc Lanthier speaks about leading Cyber Mission Assurance and how cyber security in general is both an individual and a team effort.

Cyber security is vital to the safety and defence of Canada, making Cyber Security Awareness Month an important time of the year for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF). This international campaign gives DND/CAF personnel the opportunity to foster understanding on how to protect themselves, their families, their workplace and their devices through cyber security.

This month the Defence team will receive messages and information from senior leaders about the importance of Cyber Security Awareness.  These different perspectives demonstrate the extent to which we live and operate in the cyber domain. To learn more please visit CSAM 2019.

Video Transcript

As the VCDS I am responsible for many things.  Among them are Departmental Security and, more recently, I am the functional authority for the Cyber Mission Assurance Program.  Together, these two make it appropriate for me to kick off this very important month of Cyber Security Awareness.

We hear about the threats every day.  Threats to our personal information and to our defence information. These threats to the operational effectiveness of our systems and our platforms continue to grow and evolve.  These threats must be first understood and then countered in a variety of ways.

Security in general has long been both an individual and a team effort.  Cyber Security is no different.  Individually you must be aware and prepared to counter cyber threats. Collectively, the entire Defence Team must be aware and prepared to work together to mitigate these cyber threats and to ensure the operational and institutional effectiveness of the Department and of the Canadian Armed Forces. Cyber-security is one of the facets of overall security which contributes to mission success  as such, everyone, at all levels, must  recognize it as a force enabler. Your involvement is key.

This month you will receive messages and information from senior leaders about the importance of Cyber Security Awareness.  These different perspectives clearly demonstrate the extent to which we live and operate in the cyber domain. I encourage you all to take advantage of this month of awareness to learn and explore this new domain of operations.  I believe that understanding will be key to future success.