Cybercriminals Target Canadian Servers

Cybercrime in Canada | BCBusiness
Cybercrime in Canada has risen sharply over the last year, with a 239-per-cent increase in malicious sites hosted on Canadian servers.

Hackers set their sights on Canada in 2012 because of the country’s squeaky-clean online reputation.

For once, Canada’s wholesome reputation is working against us. In the last year, cybercrime has skyrocketed, bumping Canada’s rank to the No. 2 spot for hosting the most phishing sites in the world.
According to San Diego-based IT security firm Websence Inc., cybercriminals are taking advantage of Canuck internet service providers because our IP addresses aren’t as carefully scrutinized as addresses originating in other countries. Hence the 239-per-cent spike in malicious sites hosted on Canadian servers over the last year.
To get even more specific, we now host 170 per cent more phishing sites – sites used to “fish” out users’s sensitive information such as bank account numbers and passwords through bogus email links – than we did during the same period last year.
And, unlike our neighbours to the south, Canadian businesses and Internet users aren’t as weary of phishing scams and cybercrime. Unlike the U.S., Canada hasn’t seen many major cycber crackdowns, which makes Canadians and their sensitive data likely targets.