Security experts say an IT failure that caused Canadian border officials to miss potential security checks on people entering the country highlights a systemic problem that needs to be fixed.
The system stopped working after an unforeseen technical issue during routine maintenance on September 28, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Border agents say they missed potential security checkpoints during the outage, also causing delays of up to 38 hours for some cross-border truckers.
Those security lookouts, according to the CBSA, warn agents about people or shipments that could pose a threat to Canadians.
Kelly Sundberg, a former CBSA officer who now researches border security as a professor at Mount Royal University, said he believes that “without a doubt, people came into our border during those periods that they should not have come in.”
He said those lookouts can warn officers about potential threats to national security that require a mandatory secondary exam.
Without access to those lookouts, Sundberg said, it would not be possible for an officer to learn of any timely report related to an individual crossing into Canada.
“This is just another example of a major red flag that we do not have the resources and people necessary to ensure the integrity of our border,” Sundberg said.
‘Safety standards met,’ says CBSA
A CBSA spokesperson told CBC News that it invoked a contingency plan when the outage occurred to complete inspections and verifications, and that it was not a cyberattack.
“Safety and security standards were maintained at all times. he system outages,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to CBC News.
“Border services officials manually verify travellers’ identities, receive their declarations and carry out any additional checks justified by the individual circumstances of each traveller,” the statement continued.
They did not respond to a direct question about whether border agents had access to security guards during the shutdown.
A systems outage did more than slow cross-border trade at Canada’s land borders last week. The union representing workers says it left Canada Border Services Agency officials without access to security flags. CBC’s Chris Ensing reports.
Mark Weber, president of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Union that represents border officials, said not being able to access security posts was a major concern for his members.
“We’ll get that information once the system is back up and running, which could be long after the truck has been allowed in,” Weber said.
Weber said officers were called to work overtime to deal with the delay created by the outage.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said some truckers entering the country through land crossings between New York and Ontario experienced delays of up to 38 hours.
“There is a loss of productivity in the supply chain. Depending on the delays, there could be factory closures,” said CTA President Stephen Laskowski.
He said shipping companies have been asking the government to upgrade these IT systems for years as a way to protect the supply chain.
“Investing in IT that facilitates trucking trade between Canada and the United States is a nation-building exercise. It’s just not as attractive as others,” he told CBC News.
Computer problems are a complex web, says expert
The CBSA has more than a dozen ongoing projects aimed at improving IT systems that are expected to be completed within five years with a budget of nearly $1 billion.
It also agrees to submit a report on the outage to the Minister of Public Safety within 30 days of the incident.
But border security expert Christian Leuprecht says the blackout has highlighted systemic problems that the government won’t be able to address with money alone.
“The fact that we are working with an antiquated system and the length of the disruption is an indication that once again… we are not prepared for the 21st century in terms of our national security posture,” said Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College and Queen’s University.
He said the CBSA has rebuilt back-end systems in recent years, but believes the government needs to do more to become a data-driven organization.
He said upgrading any system can be complicated because it connects to others and requires constant maintenance.
“We would have to rethink how the federal government does IT because unless and until the government is willing to pay for proper 21st century IT infrastructure and the IT expertise in terms of human resources that comes with that infrastructure, we’re just not going to get a fit-for-purpose solution,” Leuprecht said.
