National Defence committee  As Mr. Quinn indicated in his opening remarks, our allies are definitely investing in cybersecurity capabilities and improving their capabilities. So is Canada. We take that extremely seriously to be able to ensure that we provide the Government of Canada with the capabilities it requires to meet military missions, as well as missions that the CSE needs to conduct.

National Defence committee  No, not that I would be able to talk about in this room.

National Defence committee  Having read the transcript from the meeting last week and knowing the conversations we've had today, I don't know what differences are being highlighted. If you would like to be specific, I may be able to answer, or you may have to cc that question.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question. As I mentioned, the training of cyber operators in the Canadian Armed Forces is progressive. First they learn how to defend against small networks, small attacks. With experience and additional training, they are prepared, in terms of defence, for more sophisticated attacks.

National Defence committee  The response to that is obviously quite complicated, as it depends on the technologies. I will indicate, as a naval officer and naval engineer, that underwater techniques are some of the most difficult to jam. They're also the most difficult to communicate with because of the medium.

National Defence committee  As I previously indicated, the Canadian Armed Forces take responsibility for defending our networks and IT systems. We have various means and ways to protect our networks and the systems that are being used. We have levels at different granularity. We start off at perimeter defence, which is the external networks, and it goes all the way down to host space, which is, as an example, a laptop or a computer.

National Defence committee  We definitely do security analyses of all of our systems. That's part of our security and accreditation process. Prior to any system going live, we ensure that we understand how they connect and who they connect to. As indicated, I will not be able to go into greater details on any specific systems, given the classification of this room.

National Defence committee  I don't have any information on the attack that you're referencing.

National Defence committee  Absolutely, I did talk about our American interactions earlier, but we do have coordination and discussions with all of our Five Eyes partners, and it's absolutely critical for us to do that. That's done at various levels. We have several interactions as we go through different conferences together, etc.

National Defence committee  I won't be able to give you definitive numbers with respect to the sizes because I don't have the numbers for CSE. That's not within my area of responsibility. With respect to the importance of the two teams working together, as I had previously indicated, the teams work together day in and day out, every single week.

National Defence committee  I have nothing else to add to that, Jon.

National Defence committee  Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question, as I don't know what technology is on those high-altitude objects. I would not want to speculate on what the capabilities are or are not.

National Defence committee  Radio telescopes are not within my area of expertise. I would not be able to answer that question.

National Defence committee  I can't respond to that question, as I believe the two examples with respect to transport in the U.S. and in Canada were linked to software issues. They were not cyber-related, to the best of my recollection. It was several weeks ago. I have no understanding of the link between that and the high-altitude objects, as I've not read into that file.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Jon. I do want to reiterate that absolutely the Canadian Armed Forces are responsible for defending the networks and IT systems for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence. That said, we work very closely with our partners within CSE, RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, etc.