News & Events
Safeguarding Our Secrets 鈥� Recognizing Foreign Intelligence Recruitment Efforts
Developed jointly by the Five Eyes intelligence community, this guidance warns of foreign intelligence services using professional networking platforms, consulting opportunities, and online job postings to target individuals with access to sensitive information. Researchers, graduate students, subject matter experts, and those working in policy, technology, security, or defence related fields may be approached under the guise of legitimate employment or consulting arrangements. The guidance outlines common recruitment tactics, warning signs, and reporting considerations.
Guidance on Risk and Mitigation for the Use of Drones
Published by Public Safety Canada's Research Security Centre, this guidance highlights cybersecurity, privacy, data sovereignty, and operational risks associated with the use of drones in research. Researchers are encouraged to conduct due diligence on drone manufacturers and suppliers, assess potential cybersecurity risks, and implement mitigation measures such as offline operation, dedicated controllers, and secure data management practices.
Researchers should also be aware that separate communications from NSERC and Ontario's Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) have identified restrictions and heightened scrutiny regarding the procurement and use of certain PRC-manufactured drone technologies in government funded research projects. Researchers planning to acquire or utilize drones as part of federally or provincially funded research are encouraged to consult with the Research Security Office early in the process."
November 13
The federal government released new guidelines on integrating security considerations into the procurement of research goods and services to further enhance its overall research security efforts. The government identifies the supply of goods and services as a vector for threat actors to steal, interfere with or gain unauthorized access to knowledge and data.
Researchers are encouraged to conduct vendor risk assessments when purchasing goods and services for their research or laboratories using the questions provided in .
Researchers should also review the following resources:
October 28, 2024
Five Eyes intelligence alliance members 鈥� Canada, US, UK, Australia and New Zealand 鈥� launched , a shared security advice initiative to help protect emerging technology companies, researchers and investors from a range of threats, particularly those from state actors. A guidance document from the Secure Innovation initiative on Security Advice for Emerging Technology Companies and Researchers provides helpful advice to safeguard the research ecosystem.
August 2024
Mitacs has developed a Research Security Plan, which was drafted based on consultations with Canadian research organizations and academic partners, and further updated based on feedback from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
June 2024
The Government of Ontario has published new Research Security Guidelines for Ontario Research Funding Programs.
These guidelines are to provide Ontario's institutions and researchers with an overview of the research security requirements and processes when they apply for a research funding program under the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
The guidelines include: Definitions, Process overview, Application stages, Adjudication stage, Contracting stage and FAQs.
There are notable differences between the federal and provincial research security definitions and guidelines.
March 2024
Tri-agency guidance on research security webpage
This webpage provides up-to-date guidance for the research community with regard to the implementation of research security measures by the federal granting agencies. We encourage the 糖心传媒 research community to familiarize themselves with this guidance, as well as the policies, guidelines and resources provided by the Government of Canada.