{"id":8320,"date":"2017-12-18T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=8320"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:32:09","slug":"cybersecurity-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/cybersecurity-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity Entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Cybersecurity Entrepreneurs\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Seventy years ago, the brand-new City Works Building #4 \u2014 a 46,000-square-foot industrial structure on the edge of Mechanicsville, a block from the Ottawa River \u2014 became a key operational hub for municipal repair shops, machinery storage and stables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After remaining vacant for nearly a decade, the beautifully renovated heritage building<\/a> has been reborn as Bayview Yards<\/a>, a technology and entrepreneurship centre that\u2019s playing a key role in the development of critical 21st<\/sup> century digital infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton\u2019s Global Cybersecurity Resource<\/a> (GCR) \u2014 a business accelerator and offshoot of the university\u2019s Technology Innovation Management<\/a> (TIM) program \u2014 moved into Bayview Yards back in January 2017 and is the building\u2019s largest tenant after the economic development agency Invest Ottawa<\/a>, which has set up its headquarters in the space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GCR\u2019s mission is to help grow businesses that operate in the cybersecurity realm, strengthen businesses that use cybersecurity as a differentiator, provide cost-effective cyber safeguards to small businesses, and develop talent to meet emerging demands of cybersecurity and technology entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working under the leadership of TIM Director Tony Bailetti<\/a> and GCR Director Dan Craigen, about 40 Carleton faculty, students and alumni are carrying out innovative cybersecurity initiatives in a large open-concept office on the second floor of Bayview Yards that also serves as a base for several start-up companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton\u2019s efforts have led to the pilot deployment of a \u201ccanary\u201d device that can detect potential cyber threats, as well as new learning \u201cpathways\u201d on cybersecurity and entrepreneurship, an advanced \u201ctopic-modelling\u201d tool, and a new global initiative that brings together international organizations to co-create solutions to cybersecurity challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

New Ways of Thinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur role is to bring forward new ways of thinking,\u201d says Bailetti, who is cross-appointed to Carleton\u2019s Sprott School of Business and the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering and splits his time between Bayview Yards and the business accelerator on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe bring together researchers, students, entrepreneurs and experienced cybersecurity professionals \u2014 the theoretical and practical sides collide \u2014 and collaborate to build and test cybersecurity solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re developing both talent and knowledge, and then that knowledge gets transplanted back into the projects we\u2019re working on. This is one of the ways that Carleton is supporting and contributing to the growth of the local and provincial tech community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
GCR Director Dan Craigen and TIM Director Tony Bailetti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The GCR project at Bayview Yards fits within an umbrella of Carleton programs that impact infrastructure protection and public safety, showcasing the university\u2019s strength in computer science, engineering, psychology, sensor research, data science, policy development, entrepreneurship and more.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cCybersecurity is a significant challenge in Canada and around world,\u201d says Rafik Goubran, vice-president (Research and International).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cCarleton\u2019s innovative research in this area can help protect Canada\u2019s critical infrastructure. Our researchers are developing real-world solutions for a wide range of organizations while preparing students for careers in cybersecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are important steps in Ottawa\u2019s continued development into a major technology hub for Canada in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Protecting Networks and Data with Cybersecurity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our lives and economies become increasingly digital, and as the devices we rely on every day increasingly communicate with one another through the Internet of Things, governments, companies and institutions such as hospitals need to be able to protect their networks and data from attacks and unauthorized access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funded by $3 million over two years from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario\u2019s Investing in Regional Diversification<\/a> initiative, the GCR is using academic expertise to tackle cybersecurity challenges while providing students and recent grads with the educational experiences they need to become successful in the tech sector.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cThe reality is that the Internet is just like air \u2014 it touches everything we do,\u201d says Bailetti.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an isolated box, so isolating cybersecurity is a terrible idea. This is a wicked problem, and it\u2019s not just the federal government that\u2019s responsible for solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cybersecurity is particularly problematic for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that typically lack the capacity and the resources to properly safeguard their IT systems. A 2016 study in the United States found that 55 per cent of small businesses experienced a cyber attack within the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Tony Bailetti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To help SMEs protect their assets, the GCR has developed the \u201ccanary,\u201d a sensor device that can be installed in an organization\u2019s server room. More than a dozen Ottawa-area companies have joined a pilot through a partnership with the Barrhaven Business Improvement Area, and others are poised to sign on to the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once installed, the canary detects intrusions, such as a malware attack, and sends an alert to IT professionals monitoring the dashboard at the GCR\u2019s Cybersecurity Operations Centre (CSOC). CSOC personnel analyze the alert and rapidly inform the company that an incident has occurred. The company then determines if the incident is malicious or a false alarm.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cAt a lot of small businesses, the owner is the IT expert \u2014 and he or she is not really a cybersecurity expert,\u201d says Brian Hurley, a Carleton engineering graduate who leads the CSOC project.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThey understand that cybersecurity is essential to their business, but don\u2019t have $100,000 to spend on it. We can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOtherwise, your network is just a black box, and you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on inside it until you get the ransom note.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

A New Generation of Devices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GCR\u2019s goal is to have more than 100 canaries deployed by the end of 2018, with a new generation of devices built by the Makerspace and Advanced Digital Media Lab<\/a> at Bayview Yards, illustrating the synergies that exist between the building\u2019s principal tenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wider rollout will help the CSOC team further enhance the canary, and improve the ability to assess and respond to cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also develop a pool of talented people in Ottawa who understand how to work with these types of technologies \u2014 for example, recent TIM alumnus Ahmed Shah, who does cybersecurity analysis and software development on the canary and monitoring dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, because the project is rooted in open-source software and a relatively inexpensive physical device, the hope is that this approach can become widespread, benefitting businesses and other organizations regardless of where they\u2019re located.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cFor our students to learn, it\u2019s very helpful for them to work for real clients who have problems to solve,\u201d says Systems and Computer Engineering Prof. Michael Weiss, an open-source business and social networks analysis expert and another Carleton regular at Bayview Yards.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe projects our students work on cross business, engineering and science,\u201d says Weiss. \u201cThey have to learn how to speak multiple languages and create a value proposition for someone, such as the ability to detect a security weakness in a piece of software. They wear different hats, like dealing with sales at the same time as doing coding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work here is a way to demonstrate a new role for universities in the local technology community,\u201d adds his colleague, Prof. Stoyan Tanev from the Sprott School of Business and TIM program, whose research interests include technology entrepreneurship, innovation management and design principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have positive relationships with Invest Ottawa, prototypeD \u2014 which runs the Maker Space and Advanced Digital Media Lab \u2014 and everybody else here at Bayview Yards,\u201d says Tanev. \u201cThe Global Cybersecurity Resources creates value for various stakeholders and provides a venue for people who want to learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

An Impressive Range of Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The range of work under way at the GCR is impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the supervision of Tanev, current TIM student Zainab Farhan is helping to develop a prototype social media \u201cpathway\u201d allowing GCR-related companies to demonstrate the distinctiveness of their ventures on social media platforms. These types of pathways allow participants to benefit from peer and self-assessment of their progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not learning just so you will know something and maybe use that knowledge someday,\u201d says Farhan. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cIt\u2019s learning within the context of actually using this information, and learning how to communicate and collaborate within a digital environment at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pathways project is collaborating with technopedagogue Alexandre Enkerli, a part-time University of Ottawa professor and GCR employee who studies the impact of technology on learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Dan Craigen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA big part of this is about not focusing on grading and sorting out students,\u201d says Enkerli. \u201cIt\u2019s about empowering them to be change agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUniversities are contending a lot with our changing society. We\u2019re helping students develop capabilities beyond themselves, including cybersecurity, which is such a big challenge that no one person or institution can take on alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to teach students how to lead action,\u201d adds Bailetti, \u201cand not to sit back and wait for people to tell them what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Using Machine-Learning Algorithms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the projects co-ordinated by Tanev at the GCR, developed with Computer Systems Engineering student Jacob MacDonald and Shah, is the J-tool, a software application using machine-learning algorithms to search through the TIM Review<\/em><\/a>\u2019s 10 years of archives and databases of online newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched as the Open Source Business Resource<\/em> in 2007, the TIM Review <\/em>has evolved from a publication largely focused on how local companies could use open-source applications to a go-to resource for businesses and academics that draws 25,000 unique online visitors each month, 70 per cent of whom live outside the Americas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The J-tool has successfully identified the TIM Review\u2019s<\/em> key themes, identified what was or was not trending, and what has the potential to be a key component for performing literature reviews and more efficiently identifying business and technology trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TIM Review<\/em>\u2019s international scope is mirrored by another cybersecurity-specific project: the GCR\u2019s leadership role in the Global Ecosystem of Ecosystems Partnership in Innovation and Cybersecurity (Global EPIC<\/a>), which brings together 14 international organizations to address cybersecurity challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n