The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has served its first warrant under Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) to take down a Toronto-based command and control server. The malware family Win32/Dorkbot had reportedly infected more than a million personal computers in 190 countries.
The CRTC has repeatedly stated that it is working together in close collaboration with other countries to address spam, malware and other “online threats”. In this case, the CRTC collaborated with the FBI, Europol, Interpol, Microsoft, and the RCMP, among others. The CRTC Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, Manon Bombardier, has said that “partnerships between domestic and international law enforcement agencies are key in the fight against transnational cyber threats”. CASL expressly provides for sharing information among the Government of Canada, various Canadian enforcement agencies, and the government of a foreign state or international organization, for the purpose of administering and enforcing CASL’s anti-spam and malware provisions.
For more information on CASL’s application to malware, see CASL – Software, Apps and other Computer Programs.
