The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) warned Canadian universities last August to be careful when using Chinese technology, including a platform provided by Alibaba Inc. that helps Chinese students take online Zoom courses in China.
Alibaba provides an accelerated virtual private network server that allows students in China to avoid network congestion and reduce communication delays when taking Zoom online courses offered by Canadian universities.
According to the Globe and Mail, two unnamed sources revealed that last August, Canadian Security Intelligence Service officials briefed the Canadian Universities Chief Information Management Council (CUCCIO) on cybersecurity issues with Alibaba’s online service.
CUCCIO Executive Director Lori MacMullen confirmed there was such a briefing. But she said her organization only coordinated that discussion, and she did not know how many of the 64 Canadian universities attended that meeting.
The intelligence bureau noted that, unlike Western online platforms, the Communist government’s security agencies could use Alibaba’s services for surveillance, the sources said. And it specifically cited a 2017 Chinese law that allows Beijing to order Chinese companies to “support, cooperate and cooperate with national intelligence efforts” when requested by security agencies.
Andy Ellis, former assistant director general of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said Alibaba has had recent disputes with the Chinese Communist government, but they are, after all, Family, and if the Chinese government asks Alibaba, “Alibaba will do it.”
AliCloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, said in a statement that they provide the service to universities and students, but the information transmitted during the process is not visible to them, according to a report in The Globe and Mail.
Stephanie Carvin, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, also worked as a national security analyst for the federal government. Carvin said the Security Intelligence Agency’s briefings to universities show that Canada‘s security agencies are very concerned about cyber risks from countries such as China.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly changed the way universities operate, which means “we’ve become more vulnerable. We may have to pay the price for some of the rather lax security policies we’ve had to adopt,” she said.
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