• Elections Alberta used a ‘canary trap’ by inserting fake entries into the electoral list to identify the source of a data leak.
  • Separatist group Centurion Project used the list for an online voter database, leading to a court order to shut down the site.
  • Fake entries from the Republican Party of Alberta’s version of the list appeared in Centurion’s tool, confirming the leak.
  • The canary trap is a technique to identify information leaks, popularized in Tom Clancy’s novel ‘Patriot Games’.
  • The technique is used in espionage and business, and AI tools like WE-FORGE now automate creating fake documents.

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