Canada names India on cyber threat list, New Delhi calls it ‘strategic attack’ – Firstpost

Amid escalating diplomatic tensions, Canada named India among its cyber threat adversaries for the first time in its 2025-26 National Cyber ​​Threat Assessment (NCTA 2025-26) report.

The report ranks India fifth after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, suggesting that state-sponsored actors from India may be involved in “espionage” activities against Canada.

However, New Delhi rejected the allegation on Saturday, calling it “another example” of “Ottawa’s ongoing strategy to attack India.

India is also mentioned in the “Geopolitically Inspired Non-State Actors Create Unpredictability” trend, citing as an example how a pro-India hacktivist group claimed to have defaced and carried out a brief attack against the site- Canadian websites after India was accused of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen.

“We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors are likely conducting cyber threat activities against Canadian government networks for the purpose of espionage,” the report said.

India has been cited in discussions of the growing influence of “geopolitically inspired non-state actors”, with one example highlighting the brief cyber attacks by a pro-Indian hacktivist group on Canadian websites.

The group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which allegedly involved defacing websites, shortly after allegations emerged of India’s possible involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen.

NCTA 2025-2026, which highlights the cyber threats facing individuals and organizations in Canada, was released on October 30 by the Canadian Cyber ​​Security Center (Cyber ​​​​Centre), which is Canada’s technical authority on cyber security and part of Communications Security Establishment Canada. (CSE). Evaluation reports are published every two years.

While India was not mentioned in the 2018, 2020 and 2023-24 National Cyber ​​Threat Assessment reports, the 2025-26 assessment lists India – along with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – in the “cyber threat from state adversaries “. ‘ section that presents the state cyber threat ecosystem and discusses cyber threats to Canada.

“India’s leadership almost certainly aspires to build a modernized cyber program with domestic cyber capabilities. India is very likely using its cyber program to advance its national security imperatives, including espionage, counter-terrorism, and the country’s efforts to promote its global standing and counter narratives against India and the Indian government,” the assessment report said.

“We assess that India’s cyber program is likely using commercial cyber providers to enhance its operations. We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors are likely conducting cyber threat activities against Government of Canada networks for espionage purposes,” it further said.

“We believe that formal bilateral relations between Canada and India are very likely to foster Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activities against Canada,” it claims.

The CSE and its Canadian and Five Eyes partners are attuned to cyber threats to Canada from state and non-state cyber threat actors and are monitoring them as they evolve, the report said.

NCTA 2025-2026 provides the Canadian public with the CSE’s current information on state and non-state cyber threat actors conducting malicious cyber threat activities against Canada and how we assess the cyber threat landscape will evolve over the next two years, it added .

Canada faces an expanding and more complex state cyber ecosystem, the report said, and talked about strategic adversaries, emerging cyber programs and the broader cyber ecosystem.

In “Emerging Cyber ​​Programs,” it said, “At the same time, countries aspiring to become new centers of power within the global system, such as India, are building cyber programs that pose varying levels of threat to Canada.” “As emerging states focus their cyber efforts on domestic threats and regional rivals, they are also using their cyber capabilities to track and surveil activists and dissidents living abroad,” it added.

NCTA 2025-2026 also noted “Geopolitical conflicts and tensions inspire disruptive cyber threat activities by non-state groups, commonly referred to as hacktivists” and gave an example of how geopolitically motivated hacktivists typically carry out attacks to win attention, such as distributed denial. denial of service (DDoS) attacks, website defacement and data leaks from Russia and India.

“Diplomatic tensions also inspire hacktivist activity. After Canada accused India of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen, a pro-India hacktivist group claimed to have defaced and carried out brief DDoS attacks against Canadian websites, including the Canadian Armed Forces’ public website” , the report states. .

“This non-state ecosystem is dynamic and unpredictable,” he added.

The development comes as the bilateral relationship has soured since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that Indian government agents were involved in the June 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. , a charge dismissed as absurd by India.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) destroyed the report.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi: “In another category, Canada has put India. This classification is according to the cyber report they issued. It appears to be another example of the Canadian strategy to attack India.” “As mentioned earlier, their senior officials have openly confessed that they are trying to manipulate global opinion against India, as on other occasions, imputations are made without any evidence,” Jaiswal added.

While rejecting India being included in this category, the MEA spokesperson said the allegation against India was “absolutely incorrect”. India claims that the main issue between the two countries is Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

India last month expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrew its high commissioner Sanjay Verma and other “targeted” officials from Canada after strongly rejecting Ottawa’s accusations.

With contributions from agencies.