Amidst the continued diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, the Justin Trudeau authorities has named India in an inventory of cyberthreat adversaries, whereas additionally suggesting that state-sponsored actors might be spying in opposition to it.
In its newest report titled ‘Nationwide Cyber Risk Evaluation 2025-2026’, the federal government of Canada indicated that state-sponsored actors from India could also be concerned in espionage actions in opposition to it. Amid the continued diplomatic disputes, India ranks fifth within the report, following China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber risk actors probably conduct cyber risk exercise in opposition to Authorities of Canada networks for the aim of espionage,” the report states.
This improvement follows a interval of strained relations since Trudeau alleged that Canada had credible proof implicating Indian authorities brokers within the homicide of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, Surrey in June 2023 — an accusation New Delhi has strongly denied as baseless.
Launched on October 30 by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Safety (Cyber Centre), a part of the Communications Safety Institution Canada (CSE), the NCTA 2025-2026 highlights threats dealing with Canadian people and organisations. Whereas earlier Nationwide Cyber Risk Assessments in 2018, 2020, and 2023-24 omitted point out of India, the 2025-26 report consists of India alongside China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea within the ‘Cyber Risk from State Adversaries’ part, addressing the state-sponsored cyber risk panorama in Canada.
The report states, “India’s management nearly actually aspires to construct a modernised cyber programme with home capabilities, very probably utilizing it to advance nationwide safety, together with espionage, counterterrorism, and efforts to raise its international standing and counter narratives in opposition to India and the Indian authorities.”
The evaluation additional claims that India’s cyber programme probably utilises industrial distributors to strengthen its operations. It asserts that bilateral relations between Canada and India will “very probably” affect Indian state-sponsored cyber actions in opposition to Canada.
In response to the CSE, it and its companions inside Canada and the 5 Eyes alliance are actively monitoring cyber threats from each state and non-state actors, adapting to their evolving techniques. The NCTA 2025-2026 affords Canadians the CSE’s perspective on present and rising cyber threats, detailing how the panorama could shift over the subsequent two years.
The report additionally comes amidst heightened tensions between the 2 international locations as days earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Nationwide Safety and Intelligence Adviser Nathalie Drouin and Deputy Overseas Affairs Minister David Morrison acknowledged leaking info to The Washington Submit which first reported that India’s Union House Minister Amit Shah was behind the marketing campaign of concentrating on Khalistan separatists in Canada.
With PTI inputs
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