In Atlantic Canada’s business landscape, there’s a familiar rhythm to how budgets are set. Payroll, marketing, and operations get their moment under the spotlight, scrutinized and justified. Yet, when the conversation turns to cybersecurity, it’s too often ushered off to a back corner, quietly folded into the IT line item. But as recent events have shown, treating cybersecurity as a technical afterthought isn’t just risky – it’s costly.

On a foggy morning in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the wharves are alive with the familiar sounds of Atlantic Canada’s fishing industry: the slap of boots on wet planks, the creak of ropes, and the distant hum of diesel engines. But beneath this time-honoured rhythm, a quieter revolution is underway—one that’s transforming the region’s oldest industry into a high-tech enterprise. Lobster traps and trawlers now share the stage with laptops, Wi-Fi networks, and cloud-based management systems. And with this transformation comes an unexpected, invisible threat: cybercrime.

A human-first look at what happens during an assessment and how it helps organizations grow stronger.
If the words cybersecurity risk assessment make you want to hide under your desk, you’re not alone. For many business owners and leaders, the idea of letting someone poke around their systems and processes to look for weaknesses sounds about as appealing as a surprise tax audit. There’s a fear that someone will come in, wag a finger, and reveal a list of everything you’ve ever done wrong. But in reality, it’s nothing like that.

It started with a ping—just one new email in an inbox already flooded with thirty others. The subject line read, “Payroll Discrepancy – Immediate Action Required.” The employee, halfway through lunch, didn’t think twice. One click later, the company’s entire network was compromised.

Most of us are familiar with the idea of Software-as-a-Service — cloud-based platforms like Microsoft 365, QuickBooks Online, or even Netflix, which offer convenient, subscription-based access to powerful tools or content. But there’s a darker version of this same model that’s quietly exploding beneath the surface of the internet: Cybercrime-as-a-Service, or CaaS. And it’s changing everything about the way cyber attacks happen.

When we talk about the most dangerous and elusive types of cyber threats facing Canadian organizations today, one term continues to rise above the rest: Advanced Persistent Threats, or APTs. Unlike quick smash-and-grab style attacks that make headlines and disappear, APTs are in it for the long haul. They’re the cyber equivalent of someone quietly setting up shop in the attic of your house, and going about their business while you remain blissfully unaware. These threats are sophisticated, carefully targeted, and designed to stay hidden for weeks, months, or even years.