Nova Scotia Power and its parent company Emera were victims of a cyberattack last month. The company said they detected unauthorized access to parts of their Canadian network and servers used for business applications. David Shipley, CEO of Fredericton based Beauceron Security, says conversations within the cyber security sector have centered around “the use and abuse” of artificial intelligence. “These scam compounds in Southeast Asia that are now responsible for billions of dollars in fraud losses through these so-called pig butchering or romance baiting scams,” Shipley says. Pig butchering is an investment scam where fraudsters gain the trust of victims and deceive them into investing into fake crypto assets or other fraudulent investment opportunities. “What we are seeing is the use of artificial intelligence to enable criminals to do more crime at scale,” Shipley says. The U.S. recently released their most recent cybercrime numbers, where they saw $16.6 billion in reported losses due to cybercrimes, Shipley says, Private sectors are also having to shell out for expensive cybersecurity software. “We’re already spending north of $200 billion a year globally on cybersecurity, but still losing hundreds of billions more,” Shipley says. In Canada, the RCMP has seen annual budget cuts for combating cyber-enabled fraud. “We are not investing in the crime that is robbing Canadian seniors of their entire life savings,” Shipley says. “This is a crisis.” Nova Scotia Power said their investigation showed customers personal information was accessed and taken. “We are seeing a significant ramp up in utility impersonation fraud,” Shipley says. “Criminals trying to defraud individuals trying to look like Nova Scotia Power.” Using the personal information taken from Nova Scotia Power enables criminals to have more credible scams, Shipley says. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
