Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canada must \u201cbe vigilant\u201d of foreign actors targeting the country\u2019s technology, pointing to artificial intelligence and intellectual property as potential targets.<\/p>\n
McGuinty had been asked by a reporter what the government is doing to protect technology being stolen from competitors like China.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a very, very big question. The government has seized with this responsibility nowhere more obviously than I think in the field of artificial intelligence where Canada is becoming a major player,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to be vigilant. We have experience with this issue of the loss of intellectual property over time, for example, of Nortel previously.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGuinty added: \u201cThe safeguards that we\u2019ve got in place now are significant. Our security and intelligence organizations have more than a watching brief on these kinds of activities,\u201d he said on Thursday, announcing over $20 million in funding towards Canada\u2019s third defence innovation secure hub dedicated to quantum technologies.<\/p>\n
Canadian telecom giant Nortel dominated the global fibre optics industry for years before filing for bankruptcy in 2009 and liquidating in 2017.<\/p>\n
Chinese espionage and hacking has been cited as a critical factor in the company\u2019s demise by former company employees and media reporting.<\/p>\n
Chinese hackers are alleged to have had a wide array of access to the former telecommunications giant as far back as 2000, which included downloaded business plans, research and development reports, employee emails, among other documents.<\/p>\n
As Nortel Networks declined, Chinese multinational technology corporation Huawei grew to become one of the more dominant telecom equipment makers.<\/p>\n