In both Washington and Ottawa cyber security is top of mind these days, with top level concerns being raised in both capitals.
On Friday the Obama Administration announced it is tightening up America's digital defences to better safeguard computer networks against the threat of hackers and online attackers, both civilian and military.
U.S. President Barack Obama said he will name a new cyber czar to tackle the job, with the aim of further protecting government computers, systems that run U.S. stock exchanges and oversee global banking transactions, and those which manage the air traffic control operations.
Obama said his country has for too long failed to adequately safeguard the security of computer networks, which are hacked everyday, sometimes by foreign governments.
"We're not as prepared as we should be, as a government or as a country," he said, calling cyber threats one of the most serious economic and military dangers the nation faces.
The person who heads the new White House office of cyber security will report to senior security and economic officials, underscoring the importance of computers to the American economy.
The need for improved U.S. cyber-security was driven home in April when reports emerged that cyber-spies had penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system.
Obama also called for greater public awareness of the challenges and threats related to cyber security.
The civilian effort will be complemented by the creation of a new military command for cyberspace at the Pentagon.
North of the border, cyber security is also on Ottawa's radar.
This week Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said cyber security is the new "arms race" as governments fight to protect information systems from nefarious threats around the world.
His remarks came during a news conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.
Van Loan said those threats are ever-evolving. As quickly as new security measures are put in place, he said, people are working on ways to get around them.
"There isn't a day that goes by without someone somewhere trying to breach the Government of Canada's information systems," he said.
"We continue to put up good defences and we continue to be fairly successful at it but it is like an arms race, we get better at it, they get better at it."
