How do you spend $155M on ‘cyber security’? Shhh! It’s a secret.

Hey, did we ever find out who hacked our federal government last year? Was it the Chinese government? A Chinese company? Somebody else entirely, using Chinese proxies to cover their tracks?  Did we ever learn exactly what the hackers stole from the Treasury Board, the Department of Finance, Defence Research and Development, and the Parliamentary website? Did we ever find out why the hackers did it?

We did not.

The answer to these unsolved mysteries, it seems, is to give Vic Toews’ Public Safety Ministry $155 million dollars for “cyber security.”

What exactly does he mean by “cyber security?”

Is it just about keeping government systems secure, or does it extend to protecting Canadian companies, given the widely held belief that Chinese hacking led to Nortel’s downfall (and Huawei’s rise)?  Does funding “cyber security” just mean building protective measures, or will some of that money go toward developing offensive digital weaponry?  Who exactly are we securing ourselves from?

We don’t know. But  don’t worry — Vic does.

“I’m certainly aware of where threats come from,” says Toews.

That’s a relief.

Follow Jesse on Twitter @JesseBrown