The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) today announced six months of free access to CIRA DNS Firewall to all healthcare facilities, small businesses and non-profits to help them protect against a growing number of cyber attacks in the wake of COVID-19.
“Canada’s internet is holding strong against this unprecedented situation. Unfortunately, bad actors will always try to exploit a crisis. As such, CIRA is extending access to the infrastructure and tools we use to keep the .CA domain system safe to those who are helping to keep Canada running, ” Jacques Latour, chief technology officer of CIRA, said in a press release.Â
As part of this initiative, CIRA is allowing all healthcare facilities, hospitals, medical clinics, and non-profits and small businesses with fewer than 100 employees in the country to add CIRA DNS Firewall to their devices and networks for free until September 30, 2020.Â
CIRA is also providing early access to a new free service, CIRA Canadian Shield, for all healthcare workers, educational institutions and small businesses to protect their home networks and personal devices from phishing and malware attacks while working and learning remotely. The solution works by blocking threats at the DNS level.
In addition, CIRA is opening up access to a free Cybersecurity Awareness Training course for students, teachers and remote workers who are learning and working from home.Â
“The internet has proven to be a critical lifeline for both Canada’s economy and society during these trying times. CIRA is proud to do what we can to help protect our critical services and small businesses from cyber-criminals attempting to take advantage of a difficult situation,” said Mark Gaudet, business leader, cybersecurity products at CIRA.
