“We’re Being Outpaced by the Threat”: Canada’s New Cyber Defenders Say Training Isn’t Keeping Up

Toronto, ON —

July 27, 2025 — As Canada’s digital infrastructure rapidly modernizes, a new generation of cybersecurity professionals is entering the workforce — and many of them are sounding the alarm from inside the system.

ODTN News spoke with Kareem Nadir, a 26-year-old threat analyst working with the fictional Ontario Public Cyber Response Centre (OPCRC). Like many of his peers, Nadir completed his cybersecurity certification just two years ago. Now, he says, he’s fighting threats that no one taught him to expect.

“No One’s Teaching Us How to Fight What’s Actually Coming.”

Q: What’s the biggest gap in the training you received compared to the work you’re doing now?
A:
We were taught how to respond to known patterns — phishing, DDoS, ransomware playbooks. But what we’re seeing now? Multi-vector exploits that evolve mid-incident. Adversaries using generative AI to craft adaptive lures or pivot through federated cloud systems in ways that aren’t in the curriculum.

Q: Has training adapted at all to meet this shift?
A:
Not fast enough. The frameworks are good, but they’re outdated the moment they’re published. I’m not blaming the instructors — they’re doing their best. But we’re trying to secure quantum-hybrid infrastructure with PDF manuals written for on-prem Windows 10 endpoints.

“The Red Teams Are Simulating 2026 — We’re Still Being Taught 2019.”

Q: What about public-sector cyber drills or tabletop exercises — are they helping?
A:
Some of them, yes. But a lot of them feel like compliance theater. It’s hard to simulate asymmetric warfare in a four-hour roleplay. We need real training environments — adaptive, gamified, AI-driven simulations that replicate the chaos of a true breach. Because the adversaries we’re up against? They already have those tools.

“People Think We’re Hackers in Hoodies. We’re Firefighters With Outdated Maps.”

Q: What’s the public misunderstanding about people in your role?
A:
People think cybersecurity is one person in a basement running scripts. But really, it’s a team sprinting across broken infrastructure while someone rearranges the walls. And when things go wrong, we don’t have 24 hours — we have two minutes to make a decision that impacts hospitals, borders, or banks.

“If We Don’t Invest in Defender Training, We’ll Keep Playing Catch-Up.”

Q: What needs to change right now?
A:
National investment in immersive training. We need a Canadian Cyber Lab Network — real environments, updated constantly, connected across provinces. Let us train the way threat actors do: live, unpredictable, fast. We need tabletop exercises that simulate what a war room really looks like.

Otherwise? We’ll keep producing cyber defenders who are certified, but not prepared.

As cyber threats become more dynamic and deeply embedded in the systems that power everything from healthcare to national logistics, voices like Nadir’s are a stark reminder that Canada’s defensive posture is only as strong as its training pipeline. Without urgent investment in hands-on, next-gen education for frontline defenders, the country risks preparing yesterday’s professionals for tomorrow’s cyber wars — and falling behind before the breach even begins.

Watching the perimeter — and what slips past it. — Ayaan Chowdhury