Bell Canada adds cybersecurity as core company service
As the inaugural Bell Cybersecurity Summit got underway this morning, Bell CEO Mirko Bibic stressed that the need for protection against cyber threat actors is more than ever before. The event launched the communication company's new focus on cybersecurity protection. "Our ambition is to build a billion dollar AI powered solutions business," says Bibic.
The events marked the launch of the Bell Cyber brand, unifying all of Bell's cybersecurity initiatives under one umbrella name.
The announcement comes as organisations nationwide continue to invest in strengthening their digital defences in response to a range of emerging threats and regulatory changes.
Bell Cyber has been presented as central to Bell's strategy to provide AI-powered and scalable cybersecurity solutions for enterprises and other organisations across Canada and North America. It aims to deliver integrated protection for networks, cloud environments, and endpoint devices, enhancing security and resilience for businesses and institutions operating in an increasingly digital landscape.
Stephen Crawford, Ontario Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, emphasised the real risks of cyber threats and how the provincial governments and Ontario's businesses must be prepared.
"The urgency to protect Ontario has never been greater. Cyber attacks targeting government and public sector organizations, especially in health care, education and social services are increasing in both frequency and severity," he says. "These are not just technical decisions, technical disruptions, they have real world consequences. They can erode public trust and disrupt the lives of Ontarians. As technologies like AI evolved, it can be more difficult to distinguish trusted sources from deep fakes and misinformation."
According to IBM's 2024 Cost of Data Breach report, cyber breaches can cost Canadian organisations, on average, $6.32 million per incident, a 10 per cent increase from 2023.
"Over the past year, cyber incidents have grown more complex, more sophisticated and more dangerous," says Crawford, a statement echoed by Bell Cyber President, John Menezes.
"Our mission is to protect our fellow citizens and enterprises with the most effective, forward looking cybersecurity solutions available in the world of AI speed, adaptability and innovation are non-negotiable. As I often say, yesterday's solutions don't address tomorrow's threats. We must challenge ourselves," he says.
Chris Lynam, Director General of Canada's National Cybercrime Coordination Centre (NC3) and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, RCMP, says our country is under attack every day.
Lynam says threat actors have become business people, operating Cybercrime-as-a-service operations for generating revenue. This includes state employees from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea applying for remote jobs at Canadian businesses.
"Cyber criminals have figured out how to use AI…now full game on, they have figured out how to use normal large language models and jail break them or figure out how to use them for nefarious purposes. They've also custom created their own models that are specifically designed to support cyber crime."
According to the RCMP's Cyber/Fraud Related Losses Trend, Canadian financial institutions lost almost $650 million in 2024. Lynam says that this might only represent 10 per cent of actual losses of that year.
"We need to keep Canadians' data safe, secure and guard privacy, but at the same time, make sure that we don't constrain innovation. And this is work we all need to do together," stated Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation in a video message.
Bell Cyber's stated its goal is to support Canadian business and institutional clients by offering a platform that is able to respond in real time to new threats and align with Canadian data governance needs.
