By Christopher Nardi
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Article contentRussia, the report said, made mild attempts to influence public online discourse regarding certain unnamed political candidates.Article content“The SITE TF observed efforts by the Russian Federation to leverage its foreign information manipulation and interference networks online. This consists of a network of websites that launder and amplify Russian government-controlled media outlets’ aggregated items about Canadian candidates and the election throughout the election period,” noted the report.Article contentDespite warning at the onset of the election that India and Pakistan would likely try to interfere in the result, the post-campaign report said nothing about if such efforts were ultimately detected and addressed.Article contentIn the pre-campaign report, SITE noted that “the Government of India had been increasingly relying on Canada-based proxies and contacts to conduct foreign interference-related activities.”Article contentCanadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) deputy director Vanessa Lloyd said all suspected instances of foreign interference were “thoroughly examined” by SITE member organization and brought to the panel of five to determine if they warranted an advisory to the public. She did not specify if any such cases involved India or Pakistan.Article contentArticle contentBut the report also said that foreign interference is becoming harder to detect as techniques become more sophisticated and subtle.Article content“Due to an increase in public awareness and scrutiny of foreign interference, threat actors likely adapted their tradecraft to further conceal their activity, making it even more challenging to detect,” the report read.Article contentThe task force said it did not detect any “significant” cyber incidents or breaches relating to the election.Article contentBut it did notice cyber criminals beginning to use the likeness of party leaders such as Prime Minister Mark Carney and then-NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to push online scams and cryptocurrencies. The scams sometimes paraded as falsified articles made to appear like they were from legitimate news sources.Article content“The SITE TF observed fake news articles and online publicity with sensational headlines about Canadian elections that were being linked to websites promoting financial fraud schemes,” read the report.Article content“These incidents are indicative of a broader trend in impersonation of political figures for the purposes of online fraud and confidence scams.”Article contentNational PostArticle contentcnardi@postmedia.comArticle contentOur website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.Article content
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