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Communications Security Establishment

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE; French: Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications, CST), formerly (from 2008-2014) called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national cryptologic agency. It is responsible for foreign signals intelligence (SIGINT) and communications security (COMSEC), protecting federal government electronic information and communication networks,[3] and is the technical authority for cyber security and information assurance.[4]

Communications Security Establishment
Badge of the Communications Security Establishment. The Latin motto reads "providing and protecting information."
Agency Wordmark
Agency overview
Formed1946
Preceding agency
Typegovernment agency responsible for
HeadquartersOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Employees3,018 (2022)[1]
Annual budget$863.6 million (2022)[2]
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Caroline Xavier, Chief of Communications Security Establishment
Child agencies
Key document
  • Communications Security Establishment Act
Websitewww.cse-cst.gc.ca/en

Administered under the Department of National Defence (DND), the CSE is accountable to the Minister of National Defence through its deputy head, the Chief of CSE. The National Defence Minister is in turn accountable to the Cabinet and Parliament. The current Chief of the CSE is Caroline Xavier, who assumed the office on 31 August 2022.[5][6]

In 2015, the agency built a new headquarters and campus encompassing 340,000 m2 (84 acres). The facility totals a little over 110,000 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft) and is adjacent to CSIS.

History

CSE originates from Canada's joint military and civilian code-breaking and intelligence efforts during the Second World War.[7]

Examination Unit

The Examination Unit (XU) was established during the Second World War, in June 1941, as a branch of the National Research Council. It was the first civilian office in Canada solely dedicated to decryption of communications signals; until then, SIGINT was entirely within the purview of the Canadian military, and mostly limited to intercepts.[8]

In March 1942, XU moved next door to Laurier House in Sandy Hill, Ottawa;[9] this location was chosen because they felt it would draw no suspicion to the enemies.[10] In September, the Department of External Affairs established its Special Intelligence Section at XU with the purpose of reviewing decoded SIGINT with other collateral information to produce intelligence summaries.[9]

The original mandate of the Examination Unit was to intercept the communications of Vichy France and Germany. Its mandate later expanded to include interception and decryption of Japanese communications after Japan entered the war. The unit was estimated to have had 50 staff members at any one time. In total 77 people worked there.[10]

By 1945, the disparate SIGINT collection units of the Canadian Navy, Army, and Air Force, were consolidated into the Joint Discrimination Unit (JDU), which was headquartered in Ottawa in the same building as the XU. By the end of the War, the military JDU and the civilian XU were able to coordinate SIGINT collection, analysis, and dissemination so efficiently that it led officials to consider the establishment of peacetime SIGINT operations.[8] In September 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman declared it would be vital to carry out such operations, and Canadian authorities came to the same conclusion in December later that year.[8][11]

On 13 April 1946, a secret Order in Council allowed for postwar continuation of wartime cryptologic efforts and thus the Communications Branch of the National Research Council of Canada (CBNRC) was founded. This agency would be the predecessor to today's Communications Security Establishment (CSE).[8][9][11]

Communications Branch of the National Research Council

Beginning operations on 3 September 1946, the Communications Branch of the National Research Council (CBNRC) was the first peace-time cryptologic agency and was kept secret for much of its beginning.[7] The CBNRC was established through a secret Order in Council signed on 13 April 1946, combining the civilian Examination Unit (XU) and the military Joint Discrimination Unit (JDU) and was located at LaSalle Academy.[8]

With Edward Drake as its first director, the agency worked with intercepted foreign electronic communications, collected largely from the Royal Canadian Signal Corps (RCCS) station at Rockcliffe Airport in Ottawa. CSE also worked with Canadian Forces Station Leitrim (CFS Leitrim; formerly 1 Special Wireless Station till 1949, and Ottawa Wireless Station till 1966), Canada's oldest operational signal intelligence (SIGINT) collection station, established by the RCCS in 1941 and located just south of Ottawa. In 1946, the station's complement was 75 personnel (compared to its around 2,000 employees in 2013–2014).[12] This unit successfully decrypted, translated, and analyzed these foreign signals, and turned that raw information into useful intelligence reports during the course of the war.

CBNRC finally began domestic COMSEC efforts on 1 January 1947.[9] During the Cold War, the CBNRC was primarily responsible for providing SIGINT data to the Department of National Defence regarding the military operations of the Soviet Union.[13]

In February 1950, R. S. McLaren was appointed the first CBNRC Senior Liaison Officer (CBSLO) to Washington, D.C. In March 1962: CBNRC installed its first IBM supercomputer, costing CA$372k. In December 1964, CBNRC began collaboration on "Canadian ALVIS" (CID 610), the first and only Canadian cipher machine to be mass-produced; based on the British ALVIS (BID 610).[9]

CBNRC and the information it gathered and shared was kept secret for 34 years until 9 January 1974, when the CBC Television documentary show, The Fifth Estate, aired an episode focused on the organization, with research by James Dubro.[14] This was the first time that the organization had ever been mentioned in public.[8] This resulted in an outcry in the House of Common and an admission by the Canadian government that the organization existed.[15]

Communications Security Establishment

In 1975, the CBNRC was transferred to the Department of National Defence (DND) by an Order in Council, and became the Communications Security Establishment.[7] CSE was now publicly known, and had diversified since the Cold War becoming the primary SIGINT resource in Canada.

In 1988, CSE created the Canadian System Security Centre to establish a Canadian computer security standard among other goals.[16] This led to the publication of the Canadian Trusted Computer Product Evaluation Criteria.[16]

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Canada's Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) was ratified, receiving royal assent on 18 December 2001. It amended the National Defence Act to formally acknowledge and mandate the activities of CSE. It also made amendments to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the Criminal Code, and the Official Secrets Act (later the Security of Information Act).[8]

In early 2008, in line with the Federal Identity Program (FIP) of the Government of Canada, which requires all federal agencies to have the word Canada in their name,[17] CSE adopted the applied title Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC; French: Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications Canada, CSTC). Since mid-2014, the organization has used its legal name (Communications Security Establishment) and initials (CSE) on its website and in public statements.

In November 2011, CSE was made an independent agency, though still operating under the National Defence portfolio and constrained by the National Defence Act.[8]

In June 2019, the Communications Security Establishment Act was passed as part of an omnibus national security bill called the National Security Act 2017. Coming into force two months later, in August, the act set out the mandate and powers of CSE.[18] As part of the omnibus bill, oversight of CSE activities was assumed by the newly created National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).[19]

Insignia

CSE uses generic identifiers imposed by the Federal Identity Program. However, CSE is one of several federal departments and agencies (primarily those having law enforcement, security, or regulatory functions) that have been granted a badge by the Canadian Heraldic Authority. The badge was granted in 1994, while CSE's pennant was first raised in 1996 to mark the organization's 50th anniversary.

 
Former logo of the IT Security program.
The triangle represented threats, while the arc symbolized protection

From the 1990s to the mid 2000s, CSE's Information Technology Security program used a logo to identify its products and publications; the triangle represented threats, while the arc symbolized protection.[20]

Operations

Unique within Canada's security and intelligence community, the Communications Security Establishment employs code-makers and code-breakers (cryptanalysis) to provide the Government of Canada with information technology security (IT Security) and foreign signals intelligence services. CSE also provides technical and operational assistance to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and federal law enforcement and security agencies, including the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

Signal intelligence

CSE's SIGINT program produces intelligence that responds to Canadian government requirements. At CFS Leitrim, the main military SIGINT facility in the south end of Ottawa, the establishment collects foreign intelligence that can be used by the government for strategic warning, policy formulation, decision-making in the fields of national security and national defence, and day-to-day assessment of foreign capabilities and intentions. The station at Leitrim specializes in intercepting electronic communications to and from embassies in Ottawa. Other Canadian military SIGINT facilities are located at: CFB Gander Newfoundland with a detachment from CFS Leitrim, CFS Masset, BC (under remote control from CFS Leitrim) and CFS Alert, Nunavut.

CSE relies on its closest foreign intelligence allies, the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand to share the collection burden and the resulting intelligence yield. Canada is a substantial beneficiary and participant of the collaborative effort within the partnership to collect and report on foreign communications.[13]

During the Cold War, CSE's primary client for signals intelligence was National Defence, and its focus was the military operations of the then Soviet Union. Since the end of the Cold War, Government of Canada requirements have evolved to include a wide variety of political, defence, and security issues of interest to a much broader range of client departments.

While these continue to be key intelligence priorities for Government of Canada decision-makers, increasing focus on protecting the safety of Canadians is prompting greater interest in intelligence on transnational issues, including terrorism.

Code breaking equipment

 
The NSA's relationship with Canada's CSEC

CSE code breaking capabilities degraded substantially in the 1960s and 1970s but were upgraded with the acquisition of a Cray X-MP/11 (modified) supercomputer delivered to the Sir Leonard Tilley building in March 1985 and the hiring of code breaking analysts. It was, at the time, the most powerful computer in Canada. In the early 1990s, the Establishment purchased a Floating Point Systems FPS 522-EA supercomputer at a cost of $1,620,371. This machine was upgraded to a Cray S-MP superserver after Cray acquired Floating Point Systems in December 1991 and used the Folklore Operating System supplied by the NSA in the US.[21] These machines are now retired.

Little information is available on the types of computers used by the CSE since then. However, Cray in the US has produced a number of improved supercomputers since then. These include the Cray SX-6, early 2000s, the Cray X1, 2003 (development funded in part by the NSA), Cray XD1, 2004, Cray XT3, Cray XT4, 2006, Cray XMt, 2006 and Cray CX1, 2008. It is possible that some of these models have been used by the CSE and are in use today.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
Centre Canadien pour la Cyber Sécurité
Agency overview
Agency executive
  • Sami Khoury, Head
Parent departmentCommunications Security Establishment
Websitecyber.gc.ca

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS or Cyber Centre; French: Centre Canadien pour la Cyber Sécurité) is the Government of Canada authority responsible for monitoring threats, protecting national critical infrastructure against cyber incidents, and coordinating the national response to any incidents related to cyber security.

As a unit under the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the agency is Canada's computer emergency response team (CSIRT) and the Canadian government's computer Incident response team (CIRT).[8]

Officially created on 1 October 2018, CCCS consolidated the existing operational cyber-security units of several federal government organizations, including Public Safety Canada's Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, Shared Services Canada's Security Operations Centre, and the CSE's Information Technology Security branch.[22][23]

History

Formerly known as communications security (COMSEC), the CSE's Information Technology Security branch grew out of a need to protect sensitive information transmitted by various agencies of the government, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), DND, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).[24]

The Cyber Centre was developed in response to CSE's consultations with Canadians in 2016 which identified various issues pertaining to cyber security in relation to the federal government, including accountability, departmental coordination, and leadership. In February 2018, the federal budget allocated funds for CSE, in collaboration with Public Safety Canada and Shared Services Canada, to launch the Cyber Centre.[25]

Officially created on 1 October 2018, CCCS consolidated the existing operational cyber-security units of several federal government organizations, including the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre of Public Safety Canada; the Security Operations Centre of Shared Services Canada; and the Information Technology Security branch of CSE.[22][23]

Prior to opening, in June 2018, Minister Ralph Goodale appointed Scott Jones the head of the new Centre.[26][24]

Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing

Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing
 
Institute overview
Formed2011[27]
Typeresearch institute
JurisdictionCanada
HeadquartersEdward Drake Building, Ottawa, ON
Institute executive
  • Dr. Hugh Williams (February 2009 - February 2015), Director
Parent departmentCommunications Security Establishment
Websitewww.cse-cst.gc.ca/en/tutte-institute

The Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing (TIMC) is a research institute programme of the Government of Canada responsible for conducting classified research in the areas of cryptology and knowledge discovery to support the Canadian Cryptologic Program and its Five-Eyes international partners.[28]

Though officially founded in 2009, TIMC officially opened and formally named in September 2011.[28][27] Named after cryptanalyst and mathematician William T. Tutte, TIMC is based within CSE's Edward Drake Building in Ottawa.[28]

Sponsored and funded by the Communications Security Establishment, the institute is partnered with Institutes for Defence Analyses, CCR Princeton, CCR La Jolla, CCS Bowie, the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, Carleton University, and the University of Calgary and is working to create partnerships with other research institutes, government agencies and universities.[29]

Researchers Leland McInnes and John Healy at the Tutte Institute developed a technique called Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), originally designed to analyze malware. The algorithm and software of UMAP has since been released by TIMC to the open-source community, and is now being used to answer questions about COVID-19.[30]

Facilities

 
The Sir Leonard Tilley Building, former headquarters of the CSE

CSE occupies several buildings in Ottawa, including the Edward Drake Building and the neighbouring Sir Leonard Tilley Building.

CSE moved to the Tilley Building in June 1961.[9] On 26 February 2015, CSE officially inaugurated the Edward Drake Building, named for Lt. Colonel Edward Drake, a pioneer of the Canadian signals intelligence.[7][9]

With the rapid expansion in the number of CSE personnel since the 9/11 attack in the US, the CSE has built new facilities. A new CA$1.2 billion[31] facility, encompassing 72,000 square metres (18 acres), has been built in the eastern part of Ottawa, immediately west of the headquarters building for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Construction began in early 2011 and was completed in 2015.[32]

Governance and mandate

Legislation

In addition to those mentioned below, CSE is bound by all other Canadian laws, including the Criminal Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Privacy Act, Security of Information Act, and the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act.[18]

In December 2001, the Canadian government passed omnibus bill C-36 into law as the Anti-Terrorism Act. The Act amended portions of the National Defence Act and officially recognized CSE's three-part mandate:

  • To acquire and use information from the global information infrastructure for the purpose of providing foreign intelligence, in accordance with Government of Canada intelligence priorities.
  • To provide advice, guidance and services to help ensure the protection of electronic information and of information infrastructures of importance to the Government of Canada.
  • To provide technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies in the performance of their lawful duties.

The Anti-Terrorism Act also strengthened CSE's capacity to engage in the war on terrorism by providing needed authorities to fulfill its mandate.

In the 2007 Proceedings of the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, then-CSE Chief John Adams indicated that the CSE is collecting communications data when he suggested that the legislation was not perfect in regard to interception of information relating to the "envelope."[33]

Communications Security Establishment Act
 
Parliament of Canada
  • An Act to establish the Communications Security Establishment
CitationS.C. 2019, c. 13, s. 76
Enacted bysection 76 of chapter 13 of the Statutes of Canada, 2019
Assented to21 June 2019
Effective1 August 2019
Status: Current legislation

Communications Security Establishment Act

In June 2019, the Communications Security Establishment Act (CSE Act) was passed, as part of the National Security Act 2017. The Act, which came into force two months after passing, notes that there are five aspects of CSE's mandate:[18]

  • The acquisition of foreign intelligence (SIGINT)
  • Cybersecurity and information assurance to help protect electronic information and information infrastructures of the Canadian government and those designated to be of importance to the government
  • Defensive cyber operations
  • Active cyber operations
  • Technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies, the Canadian Forces, and the Department of National Defence.

The CSE Act requires that CSE activities do not target Canadians anywhere in the world, or any person in Canada, "unless there are reasons to believe that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. The Act also requires the CSE protect the privacy of Canadians and persons in Canada. As such, CSE is forbidden, by law, to intercept domestic communications. When intercepting communications between a domestic and foreign source, the domestic communications are destroyed or otherwise ignored. (After the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, however, CSE's powers expanded to allow the interception of foreign communications that begin or end in Canada, as long as the other party is outside the border and ministerial authorization is issued specifically for this case and purpose.)[34]

Governance and oversight

The Minister of National Defence guides and authorizes the activities of CSE using ministerial directives, ministerial authorizations, and ministerial orders, all of which are based on the "government’s intelligence priorities as set out by Cabinet through discussion and consultations with the security and intelligence community." The Defence Minister cannot authorize any activities that are not included in the CSE mandate or grant CSE any powers that do not exist in Canadian law.[18]

Ministerial directives are how the Minister of National Defence instructs the Chief of CSE.[18]

CSE operates under a system of independent oversight:[35]

  • National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) – NSIRA is fully independent of government and of CSE. Its committee members are appointed by the sitting Prime Minister in consultation with Parliamentary leaders, and handle complaints against all Canadian national security agencies.
  • Intelligence Commissioner – the Intelligence Commissioner is independent of CSE and has oversight of all national security and intelligence gathering activities of the Government of Canada, including CSE.[36] The Commissioner issues an annual report to the Prime Minister, who must table it in Parliament after removing confidential and classified information. The Commissioner is entitled to receive all reports that are compiled by NSIRA.[37]
  • National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) – NSICOP is a committee of Parliamentarians that have the security clearances to review and report on any aspect of CSE's activities.[35]

CSE activities are also subject to several external oversight and review bodies.[35]

As with any other federal department or agency of Canada, the activities of CSE are also subject to review by various federal bodies, including:[35]

Heads of the CSE

Heads of the CSE[9]
Name Appointed Notes
Examination Unit
Herbert Yardley 1941 June 10
Oliver Strachey 1942 January
F.A. (Tony) Kendrick 1942 July
Gilbert de B. Robinson (acting) 1945 April until July 1945
Edward Drake 1945 August 1
Communications Branch of the National Research Council
Edward Drake 1946 September 1 died in office
Kevin O’Neill 1971 February
Communications Security Establishment
Peter Hunt 1980 July
Stewart Woolner 1989 July
Ian Glen 1999 July
Keith Coulter 2001 August
John Adams 2005 July
John Forster 2012 January 30
Greta Bossenmaier 2015 February 9
Shelly Bruce 2018 June 27
Caroline Xavier 2022 August 31

Communications Security Establishment Commissioner

Oversight over CSE was formerly provided by the Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner (OCSEC; French: Bureau du commissaire du Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications, BCCST), which was created on 19 June 1996 to review CSE's activities for compliance with the applicable legislation, accept and investigate complaints regarding the lawfulness of the agency's activities, and to perform special duties under the 'Public Interest Defence' clause of the Security of Information Act.[38] The Commissioner provided an annual public report on his activities and findings to Parliament, through the Minister of National Defence.[39]

Between 1996 and 2019, there were six Commissioners:[9]

As part of an omnibus national security bill (the National Security Act, 2017) passed by Parliament in 2019, the OCSEC was abolished and its responsibilities divided between two newly created entities: employees of the OCSEC were transferred to the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner; and the review functions of the former OCSEC were assumed by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).[19][36]

The previous Commissioner of CSE, Jean-Pierre Plouffe, was appointed to the role of Intelligence Commissioner on 18 July 2019.[19][36]

ECHELON

Under the 1948 UKUSA agreement, CSE's intelligence is shared with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), and New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).[7][41]

Along with these services from the United States, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, CSE is believed to form the ECHELON system. Its capabilities are suspected to include the ability to monitor a large proportion of the world's transmitted civilian telephone, fax and data traffic. The intercepted data, or "dictionaries" are "reported linked together through a high-powered array of computers known as 'Platform'."[41]

Controversies

CBNRC and the information it gathered and shared was kept secret for 34 years until 9 January 1974, when the CBC Television documentary show, The Fifth Estate, aired an episode focused on the organization, with research by James Dubro.[14] This was the first time that the organization had ever been mentioned in public.[8] This resulted in an outcry in the House of Commons and an admission by the Canadian government that the organization existed.[15]

A former employee of the organization, Mike Frost, claimed in a 1994 book, Spyworld, that the agency eavesdropped on Margaret Trudeau to find out if she smoked marijuana and that CSE had monitored two of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's dissenting cabinet ministers in London on behalf of the UK's secret service.[42]

In 1996, it was suggested that CSE had monitored all communications between National Defence Headquarters and Somalia, and were withholding information from the Somalia Inquiry into the killing of two unarmed Somalis by Canadian soldiers.[43]

In 2006, CTV Montreal's program On Your Side conducted a three-part documentary on CSE naming it "Canada's most secretive spy agency" and that "this ultra-secret agency has now become very powerful," conducting surveillance by monitoring phone calls, e-mails, chat groups, radio, microwave, and satellite.[44]

In 2007, former Ontario lieutenant-governor, James Bartleman, testified at the Air India Inquiry on May 3 that he saw a CSE communications intercept warning of the June 22, 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 before it occurred. Two former CSE employees have since testified that no CSE report was ever produced.[45]

In 2013, a coalition of civil liberties associations launched a campaign directed against the government's perceived lack of transparency on issues related to the agency, demanding more information on its purported domestic surveillance activities.[46]

Further criticism has arisen surrounding the construction costs of the agency's new headquarters in Ottawa. The project is slated to cost over CA$1.1 billion, making it the most expensive government building in Canadian history.[47]

In 2014, a leaked, top-secret presentation entitled “IP Profiling Analytics & Mission Impacts” summarized experiments tracking the cellphones of travellers passing through Toronto Pearson International Airport.[48] Critics argued that the experiment was invasive and indiscriminate, while CSE countered that it was consistent with all relevant laws and mandates.

In 2016, the CSE Commissioner found that one of the agency's metadata activities did not comply with the law. Specifically, CSE had failed to properly minimize certain Canadian identity information before sending it to foreign governments, contravening parts of the National Defence Act and the Privacy Act.[49]

Media portrayal

In The Good Wife episode "Landing," both the NSA and the CSE are shown monitoring personal phone calls and hacking private cell phones' recording devices in order to listen in on personal conversations. One plaintiff describes the CSE as "the Canadian version of the NSA."

See also

References

  1. ^ "Population of the federal public service by department".
  2. ^ "Section 18: National Defence".
  3. ^ "Communications Security Establishment". Communications Security Establishment. 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  4. ^ Establishment, Communications Security (2020-10-27). "Communications Security Establishment". www.cse-cst.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  5. ^ "Organizational structure". Communications Security Establishment. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  6. ^ Office of the Prime Minister (June 27, 2018). "The Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service". Retrieved July 5, 2018. Shelly Bruce, currently Associate Chief of the Communications Security Establishment, becomes Chief of the Communications Security Establishment, effective immediately.
  7. ^ a b c d e "History". Communications Security Establishment. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Our Story | History". Communications Security Establishment. 2021-02-18. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Timeline | History". Communications Security Establishment. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  10. ^ a b Pepall, Diana (January 2017). Canada's Bletchley Park: The Examination Unit in Ottawa's Sandy Hill 1941-1945. Ottawa, ON, Canada: Historical Society of Ottawa. ISBN 978-0-920960-43-1.
  11. ^ a b Rosen Philip (September 1993). "THE COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT - CANADA'S MOST SECRET INTELLIGENCE AGENCY". Depository Service Program. Government of Canada Publications. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  12. ^ "CSE: What do we know about Canada's eavesdropping agency? | CBC News".
  13. ^ a b Robinson, Bill (March 1989). "Canada and Signals Intelligence: The Electronic Polar Watch". Ploughshares Monitor: 21–23.
  14. ^ a b "The Espionage Establishment of 1974," produced by William MacAdam, researched by James R. Dubro. The Fifth Estate. 1974 January 9. via CBC Archives.
  15. ^ a b . Communications Security Establishment Canada. 2012-12-06. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013. In 1974 the television program "The Fifth Estate" broadcast an exposé of Canadian involvement in signals intelligence. The program revealed the existence of the hitherto low-profile CBNRC, and explored the nature of its signals intelligence program and its US partners. The Fifth Estate's revelations were raised in the House of Commons over the next week. As a result of the unwelcome publicity, the government soon transferred Canada's SIGINT and Communications Security organization to the Department of National Defence portfolio, and renamed it the Communications Security Establishment (CSE).
  16. ^ a b Mark S. Merkow; Jim Breithaupt (2014). Information Security: Principles and Practices. Pearson. p. 93–. ISBN 978-0-7897-5325-0.
  17. ^ Government of Canada, Treasury Board of Canada; Gouvernement du Canada, Conseil du Trésor du Canada (March 17, 2022). "Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat". www.tbs-sct.gc.ca.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Governance". Communications Security Establishment. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  19. ^ a b c Canada, Public Safety (2017-11-22). "Enhancing Accountability and Transparency". aem. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
  20. ^ According to information provided to attendees of the 12th Annual Information Technology Security Symposium, June 2000.
  21. ^ "Lux Ex Umbra: June 2008".
  22. ^ a b "Government of Canada Announces New National Cyber Security Strategy and the Creation of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security". Public Safety Canada. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  23. ^ a b . Communications Security Establishment. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Canadian Centre for Cyber Security: backgrounder-fiche-information". Communications Security Establishment. 2018-06-12. from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-04. As a key initiative of the 2018 National Cyber Security Strategy the cyber security functions from three departments will be united to establish the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre) as one unique, innovative, and forward-looking organization, as part of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE).
  25. ^ Establishment, Communications Security (2021-02-18). "Communications Security Establishment". www.cse-cst.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  26. ^ "Scott Jones, Head-designate, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and Deputy Chief, IT Security, CSE". Communications Security Establishment (Press release). 2018-06-12. from the original on 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2018-10-04. The Cyber Centre will be a single unified source of expert advice, guidance, services and support on cyber security for government, critical infrastructure owners and operations, the private sector and the Canadian public.
  27. ^ a b "Lux Ex Umbra: Tutte tut". luxexumbra.blogspot.ca.
  28. ^ a b c "Communications Security Establishment". 27 October 2020.
  29. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  30. ^ Establishment, Communications Security (2020-09-28). "Communications Security Establishment". www.cse-cst.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  31. ^ "Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace | CBC News".
  32. ^ Defence Industry Daily, DID » Logistics & Support » Bases & Infrastructure » Canada's CSE SIGINT Agency Building New Facilities, 10 jun 2009
  33. ^ Issue 15 - Evidence Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence April 30, 2007
  34. ^ . www.cse-cst.gc.ca. Archived from the original on November 29, 2007.
  35. ^ a b c d "Oversight". Communications Security Establishment. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  36. ^ a b c Commissioner, Office of the Intelligence (2019-07-17). "Office of the Intelligence Commissioner". aem. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
  37. ^ Tunney, Catharine (July 18, 2019). "Canada gets its first-ever intelligence commissioner". CBC News. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  38. ^ . www.ocsec-bccst.gc.ca. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010.
  39. ^ Government of Canada, OCSEC. "Overview". www.ocsec-bccst.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  40. ^ "News Release - New Commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment Canada Appointed". 2013-10-09. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  41. ^ a b Rudner, Martin. (2007). "Canada's Communications Security Establishment, Signals Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism". Intelligence and National Security: 22(4) pp. 473–490
  42. ^ Morris, Nomi (1996). "Inside Canada's most secret agency." Maclean's: 109(36) pp. 32–35
  43. ^ Desbarats, Peter. "Somalia cover-up: A commissioner's journal", 1997
  44. ^ . August 16, 2007. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007.
  45. ^ "I warned RCMP days before Air India disaster: Bartleman". CBC News. May 3, 2007.
  46. ^ . secretspying.ca. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013.
  47. ^ "Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace". CBC News. October 8, 2013.
  48. ^ "CSEC used airport Wi-Fi to track Canadian travellers: Edward Snowden documents". CBC News. January 30, 2014.
  49. ^ "Commissioner Plouffe's report is tabled in Parliament - 2014-2015". 28 January 2016.

External links

  •   Media related to Communications Security Establishment at Wikimedia Commons
  • Official website

Coordinates: 45°26′02″N 75°36′58″W / 45.434°N 75.616°W / 45.434; -75.616

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The Communications Security Establishment CSE French Centre de la securite des telecommunications CST formerly from 2008 2014 called the Communications Security Establishment Canada CSEC is the Government of Canada s national cryptologic agency It is responsible for foreign signals intelligence SIGINT and communications security COMSEC protecting federal government electronic information and communication networks 3 and is the technical authority for cyber security and information assurance 4 Communications Security EstablishmentBadge of the Communications Security Establishment The Latin motto reads providing and protecting information Agency WordmarkAgency overviewFormed1946Preceding agencyExamination Unit a civilian organization established in 1941 by the National Research CouncilTypegovernment agency responsible for cyber security and information assurance foreign intelligence defensive and active cyber operations technical and operational assistanceHeadquartersOttawa Ontario CanadaEmployees3 018 2022 1 Annual budget 863 6 million 2022 2 Minister responsibleHon Anita Anand Minister of National DefenceAgency executiveCaroline Xavier Chief of Communications Security EstablishmentChild agenciesCanadian Centre for Cyber SecurityTutte Institute for Mathematics and ComputingKey documentCommunications Security Establishment ActWebsitewww wbr cse cst wbr gc wbr ca wbr enAdministered under the Department of National Defence DND the CSE is accountable to the Minister of National Defence through its deputy head the Chief of CSE The National Defence Minister is in turn accountable to the Cabinet and Parliament The current Chief of the CSE is Caroline Xavier who assumed the office on 31 August 2022 5 6 In 2015 the agency built a new headquarters and campus encompassing 340 000 m2 84 acres The facility totals a little over 110 000 m2 1 200 000 sq ft and is adjacent to CSIS Contents 1 History 1 1 Examination Unit 1 2 Communications Branch of the National Research Council 1 3 Communications Security Establishment 2 Insignia 3 Operations 3 1 Signal intelligence 3 1 1 Code breaking equipment 3 2 Canadian Centre for Cyber Security 3 2 1 History 3 3 Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing 4 Facilities 5 Governance and mandate 5 1 Legislation 5 1 1 Communications Security Establishment Act 5 2 Governance and oversight 5 2 1 Heads of the CSE 5 2 2 Communications Security Establishment Commissioner 6 ECHELON 7 Controversies 7 1 Media portrayal 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksHistory EditCSE originates from Canada s joint military and civilian code breaking and intelligence efforts during the Second World War 7 Examination Unit Edit The Examination Unit XU was established during the Second World War in June 1941 as a branch of the National Research Council It was the first civilian office in Canada solely dedicated to decryption of communications signals until then SIGINT was entirely within the purview of the Canadian military and mostly limited to intercepts 8 In March 1942 XU moved next door to Laurier House in Sandy Hill Ottawa 9 this location was chosen because they felt it would draw no suspicion to the enemies 10 In September the Department of External Affairs established its Special Intelligence Section at XU with the purpose of reviewing decoded SIGINT with other collateral information to produce intelligence summaries 9 The original mandate of the Examination Unit was to intercept the communications of Vichy France and Germany Its mandate later expanded to include interception and decryption of Japanese communications after Japan entered the war The unit was estimated to have had 50 staff members at any one time In total 77 people worked there 10 By 1945 the disparate SIGINT collection units of the Canadian Navy Army and Air Force were consolidated into the Joint Discrimination Unit JDU which was headquartered in Ottawa in the same building as the XU By the end of the War the military JDU and the civilian XU were able to coordinate SIGINT collection analysis and dissemination so efficiently that it led officials to consider the establishment of peacetime SIGINT operations 8 In September 1945 U S President Harry Truman declared it would be vital to carry out such operations and Canadian authorities came to the same conclusion in December later that year 8 11 On 13 April 1946 a secret Order in Council allowed for postwar continuation of wartime cryptologic efforts and thus the Communications Branch of the National Research Council of Canada CBNRC was founded This agency would be the predecessor to today s Communications Security Establishment CSE 8 9 11 Communications Branch of the National Research Council Edit Beginning operations on 3 September 1946 the Communications Branch of the National Research Council CBNRC was the first peace time cryptologic agency and was kept secret for much of its beginning 7 The CBNRC was established through a secret Order in Council signed on 13 April 1946 combining the civilian Examination Unit XU and the military Joint Discrimination Unit JDU and was located at LaSalle Academy 8 With Edward Drake as its first director the agency worked with intercepted foreign electronic communications collected largely from the Royal Canadian Signal Corps RCCS station at Rockcliffe Airport in Ottawa CSE also worked with Canadian Forces Station Leitrim CFS Leitrim formerly 1 Special Wireless Station till 1949 and Ottawa Wireless Station till 1966 Canada s oldest operational signal intelligence SIGINT collection station established by the RCCS in 1941 and located just south of Ottawa In 1946 the station s complement was 75 personnel compared to its around 2 000 employees in 2013 2014 12 This unit successfully decrypted translated and analyzed these foreign signals and turned that raw information into useful intelligence reports during the course of the war CBNRC finally began domestic COMSEC efforts on 1 January 1947 9 During the Cold War the CBNRC was primarily responsible for providing SIGINT data to the Department of National Defence regarding the military operations of the Soviet Union 13 In February 1950 R S McLaren was appointed the first CBNRC Senior Liaison Officer CBSLO to Washington D C In March 1962 CBNRC installed its first IBM supercomputer costing CA 372k In December 1964 CBNRC began collaboration on Canadian ALVIS CID 610 the first and only Canadian cipher machine to be mass produced based on the British ALVIS BID 610 9 CBNRC and the information it gathered and shared was kept secret for 34 years until 9 January 1974 when the CBC Television documentary show The Fifth Estate aired an episode focused on the organization with research by James Dubro 14 This was the first time that the organization had ever been mentioned in public 8 This resulted in an outcry in the House of Common and an admission by the Canadian government that the organization existed 15 Communications Security Establishment Edit In 1975 the CBNRC was transferred to the Department of National Defence DND by an Order in Council and became the Communications Security Establishment 7 CSE was now publicly known and had diversified since the Cold War becoming the primary SIGINT resource in Canada In 1988 CSE created the Canadian System Security Centre to establish a Canadian computer security standard among other goals 16 This led to the publication of the Canadian Trusted Computer Product Evaluation Criteria 16 Following the September 11 attacks in 2001 Canada s Anti terrorism Act ATA was ratified receiving royal assent on 18 December 2001 It amended the National Defence Act to formally acknowledge and mandate the activities of CSE It also made amendments to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act the Criminal Code and the Official Secrets Act later the Security of Information Act 8 In early 2008 in line with the Federal Identity Program FIP of the Government of Canada which requires all federal agencies to have the word Canada in their name 17 CSE adopted the applied title Communications Security Establishment Canada CSEC French Centre de la securite des telecommunications Canada CSTC Since mid 2014 the organization has used its legal name Communications Security Establishment and initials CSE on its website and in public statements In November 2011 CSE was made an independent agency though still operating under the National Defence portfolio and constrained by the National Defence Act 8 In June 2019 the Communications Security Establishment Act was passed as part of an omnibus national security bill called the National Security Act 2017 Coming into force two months later in August the act set out the mandate and powers of CSE 18 As part of the omnibus bill oversight of CSE activities was assumed by the newly created National Security and Intelligence Review Agency NSIRA 19 Insignia EditMain article Badge of the Communications Security Establishment CSE uses generic identifiers imposed by the Federal Identity Program However CSE is one of several federal departments and agencies primarily those having law enforcement security or regulatory functions that have been granted a badge by the Canadian Heraldic Authority The badge was granted in 1994 while CSE s pennant was first raised in 1996 to mark the organization s 50th anniversary Former logo of the IT Security program The triangle represented threats while the arc symbolized protection From the 1990s to the mid 2000s CSE s Information Technology Security program used a logo to identify its products and publications the triangle represented threats while the arc symbolized protection 20 Operations EditUnique within Canada s security and intelligence community the Communications Security Establishment employs code makers and code breakers cryptanalysis to provide the Government of Canada with information technology security IT Security and foreign signals intelligence services CSE also provides technical and operational assistance to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and federal law enforcement and security agencies including the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Signal intelligence Edit CSE s SIGINT program produces intelligence that responds to Canadian government requirements At CFS Leitrim the main military SIGINT facility in the south end of Ottawa the establishment collects foreign intelligence that can be used by the government for strategic warning policy formulation decision making in the fields of national security and national defence and day to day assessment of foreign capabilities and intentions The station at Leitrim specializes in intercepting electronic communications to and from embassies in Ottawa Other Canadian military SIGINT facilities are located at CFB Gander Newfoundland with a detachment from CFS Leitrim CFS Masset BC under remote control from CFS Leitrim and CFS Alert Nunavut CSE relies on its closest foreign intelligence allies the US UK Australia and New Zealand to share the collection burden and the resulting intelligence yield Canada is a substantial beneficiary and participant of the collaborative effort within the partnership to collect and report on foreign communications 13 During the Cold War CSE s primary client for signals intelligence was National Defence and its focus was the military operations of the then Soviet Union Since the end of the Cold War Government of Canada requirements have evolved to include a wide variety of political defence and security issues of interest to a much broader range of client departments While these continue to be key intelligence priorities for Government of Canada decision makers increasing focus on protecting the safety of Canadians is prompting greater interest in intelligence on transnational issues including terrorism Code breaking equipment Edit The NSA s relationship with Canada s CSECCSE code breaking capabilities degraded substantially in the 1960s and 1970s but were upgraded with the acquisition of a Cray X MP 11 modified supercomputer delivered to the Sir Leonard Tilley building in March 1985 and the hiring of code breaking analysts It was at the time the most powerful computer in Canada In the early 1990s the Establishment purchased a Floating Point Systems FPS 522 EA supercomputer at a cost of 1 620 371 This machine was upgraded to a Cray S MP superserver after Cray acquired Floating Point Systems in December 1991 and used the Folklore Operating System supplied by the NSA in the US 21 These machines are now retired Little information is available on the types of computers used by the CSE since then However Cray in the US has produced a number of improved supercomputers since then These include the Cray SX 6 early 2000s the Cray X1 2003 development funded in part by the NSA Cray XD1 2004 Cray XT3 Cray XT4 2006 Cray XMt 2006 and Cray CX1 2008 It is possible that some of these models have been used by the CSE and are in use today Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Edit Canadian Centre for Cyber SecurityCentre Canadien pour la Cyber SecuriteAgency overviewAgency executiveSami Khoury HeadParent departmentCommunications Security EstablishmentWebsitecyber gc caThe Canadian Centre for Cyber Security CCCS or Cyber Centre French Centre Canadien pour la Cyber Securite is the Government of Canada authority responsible for monitoring threats protecting national critical infrastructure against cyber incidents and coordinating the national response to any incidents related to cyber security As a unit under the Communications Security Establishment CSE the agency is Canada s computer emergency response team CSIRT and the Canadian government s computer Incident response team CIRT 8 Officially created on 1 October 2018 CCCS consolidated the existing operational cyber security units of several federal government organizations including Public Safety Canada s Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre Shared Services Canada s Security Operations Centre and the CSE s Information Technology Security branch 22 23 History Edit Formerly known as communications security COMSEC the CSE s Information Technology Security branch grew out of a need to protect sensitive information transmitted by various agencies of the government especially the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade DFAIT Canada Border Services Agency CBSA DND and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police RCMP 24 The Cyber Centre was developed in response to CSE s consultations with Canadians in 2016 which identified various issues pertaining to cyber security in relation to the federal government including accountability departmental coordination and leadership In February 2018 the federal budget allocated funds for CSE in collaboration with Public Safety Canada and Shared Services Canada to launch the Cyber Centre 25 Officially created on 1 October 2018 CCCS consolidated the existing operational cyber security units of several federal government organizations including the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre of Public Safety Canada the Security Operations Centre of Shared Services Canada and the Information Technology Security branch of CSE 22 23 Prior to opening in June 2018 Minister Ralph Goodale appointed Scott Jones the head of the new Centre 26 24 Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing Edit Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing Institute overviewFormed2011 27 Typeresearch instituteJurisdictionCanadaHeadquartersEdward Drake Building Ottawa ONInstitute executiveDr Hugh Williams February 2009 February 2015 DirectorParent departmentCommunications Security EstablishmentWebsitewww wbr cse cst wbr gc wbr ca wbr en wbr tutte instituteThe Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing TIMC is a research institute programme of the Government of Canada responsible for conducting classified research in the areas of cryptology and knowledge discovery to support the Canadian Cryptologic Program and its Five Eyes international partners 28 Though officially founded in 2009 TIMC officially opened and formally named in September 2011 28 27 Named after cryptanalyst and mathematician William T Tutte TIMC is based within CSE s Edward Drake Building in Ottawa 28 Sponsored and funded by the Communications Security Establishment the institute is partnered with Institutes for Defence Analyses CCR Princeton CCR La Jolla CCS Bowie the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research Carleton University and the University of Calgary and is working to create partnerships with other research institutes government agencies and universities 29 Researchers Leland McInnes and John Healy at the Tutte Institute developed a technique called Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection UMAP originally designed to analyze malware The algorithm and software of UMAP has since been released by TIMC to the open source community and is now being used to answer questions about COVID 19 30 Facilities Edit The Sir Leonard Tilley Building former headquarters of the CSECSE occupies several buildings in Ottawa including the Edward Drake Building and the neighbouring Sir Leonard Tilley Building CSE moved to the Tilley Building in June 1961 9 On 26 February 2015 CSE officially inaugurated the Edward Drake Building named for Lt Colonel Edward Drake a pioneer of the Canadian signals intelligence 7 9 With the rapid expansion in the number of CSE personnel since the 9 11 attack in the US the CSE has built new facilities A new CA 1 2 billion 31 facility encompassing 72 000 square metres 18 acres has been built in the eastern part of Ottawa immediately west of the headquarters building for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Construction began in early 2011 and was completed in 2015 32 Governance and mandate EditLegislation Edit In addition to those mentioned below CSE is bound by all other Canadian laws including the Criminal Code the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms the Privacy Act Security of Information Act and the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act 18 In December 2001 the Canadian government passed omnibus bill C 36 into law as the Anti Terrorism Act The Act amended portions of the National Defence Act and officially recognized CSE s three part mandate To acquire and use information from the global information infrastructure for the purpose of providing foreign intelligence in accordance with Government of Canada intelligence priorities To provide advice guidance and services to help ensure the protection of electronic information and of information infrastructures of importance to the Government of Canada To provide technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies in the performance of their lawful duties The Anti Terrorism Act also strengthened CSE s capacity to engage in the war on terrorism by providing needed authorities to fulfill its mandate In the 2007 Proceedings of the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence then CSE Chief John Adams indicated that the CSE is collecting communications data when he suggested that the legislation was not perfect in regard to interception of information relating to the envelope 33 Communications Security Establishment Act Parliament of CanadaLong title An Act to establish the Communications Security EstablishmentCitationS C 2019 c 13 s 76Enacted bysection 76 of chapter 13 of the Statutes of Canada 2019Assented to21 June 2019Effective1 August 2019Status Current legislationCommunications Security Establishment Act Edit In June 2019 the Communications Security Establishment Act CSE Act was passed as part of the National Security Act 2017 The Act which came into force two months after passing notes that there are five aspects of CSE s mandate 18 The acquisition of foreign intelligence SIGINT Cybersecurity and information assurance to help protect electronic information and information infrastructures of the Canadian government and those designated to be of importance to the government Defensive cyber operations Active cyber operations Technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence The CSE Act requires that CSE activities do not target Canadians anywhere in the world or any person in Canada unless there are reasons to believe that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm The Act also requires the CSE protect the privacy of Canadians and persons in Canada As such CSE is forbidden by law to intercept domestic communications When intercepting communications between a domestic and foreign source the domestic communications are destroyed or otherwise ignored After the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 however CSE s powers expanded to allow the interception of foreign communications that begin or end in Canada as long as the other party is outside the border and ministerial authorization is issued specifically for this case and purpose 34 Governance and oversight Edit The Minister of National Defence guides and authorizes the activities of CSE using ministerial directives ministerial authorizations and ministerial orders all of which are based on the government s intelligence priorities as set out by Cabinet through discussion and consultations with the security and intelligence community The Defence Minister cannot authorize any activities that are not included in the CSE mandate or grant CSE any powers that do not exist in Canadian law 18 Ministerial directives are how the Minister of National Defence instructs the Chief of CSE 18 CSE operates under a system of independent oversight 35 National Security and Intelligence Review Agency NSIRA NSIRA is fully independent of government and of CSE Its committee members are appointed by the sitting Prime Minister in consultation with Parliamentary leaders and handle complaints against all Canadian national security agencies Intelligence Commissioner the Intelligence Commissioner is independent of CSE and has oversight of all national security and intelligence gathering activities of the Government of Canada including CSE 36 The Commissioner issues an annual report to the Prime Minister who must table it in Parliament after removing confidential and classified information The Commissioner is entitled to receive all reports that are compiled by NSIRA 37 National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians NSICOP NSICOP is a committee of Parliamentarians that have the security clearances to review and report on any aspect of CSE s activities 35 CSE activities are also subject to several external oversight and review bodies 35 As with any other federal department or agency of Canada the activities of CSE are also subject to review by various federal bodies including 35 the Privacy Commissioner the Information Commissioner the Auditor General the Canadian Human Rights Commission the Commissioner of Official LanguagesHeads of the CSE Edit Heads of the CSE 9 Name Appointed NotesExamination UnitHerbert Yardley 1941 June 10Oliver Strachey 1942 JanuaryF A Tony Kendrick 1942 JulyGilbert de B Robinson acting 1945 April until July 1945Edward Drake 1945 August 1Communications Branch of the National Research CouncilEdward Drake 1946 September 1 died in officeKevin O Neill 1971 FebruaryCommunications Security EstablishmentPeter Hunt 1980 JulyStewart Woolner 1989 JulyIan Glen 1999 JulyKeith Coulter 2001 AugustJohn Adams 2005 JulyJohn Forster 2012 January 30Greta Bossenmaier 2015 February 9Shelly Bruce 2018 June 27Caroline Xavier 2022 August 31Communications Security Establishment Commissioner Edit Oversight over CSE was formerly provided by the Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner OCSEC French Bureau du commissaire du Centre de la securite des telecommunications BCCST which was created on 19 June 1996 to review CSE s activities for compliance with the applicable legislation accept and investigate complaints regarding the lawfulness of the agency s activities and to perform special duties under the Public Interest Defence clause of the Security of Information Act 38 The Commissioner provided an annual public report on his activities and findings to Parliament through the Minister of National Defence 39 Between 1996 and 2019 there were six Commissioners 9 Claude Bisson 1996 June 19 2003 Antonio Lamer 2003 June 19 2006 Charles Gonthier 2006 August 1 2009 Peter Cory 2009 December 14 2010 Robert Decary 2010 June 18 2013 Jean Pierre Plouffe 2013 2019 40 As part of an omnibus national security bill the National Security Act 2017 passed by Parliament in 2019 the OCSEC was abolished and its responsibilities divided between two newly created entities employees of the OCSEC were transferred to the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner and the review functions of the former OCSEC were assumed by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency NSIRA 19 36 The previous Commissioner of CSE Jean Pierre Plouffe was appointed to the role of Intelligence Commissioner on 18 July 2019 19 36 ECHELON EditMain article ECHELON Under the 1948 UKUSA agreement CSE s intelligence is shared with the U S National Security Agency NSA the British Government Communications Headquarters GCHQ the Australian Signals Directorate ASD and New Zealand s Government Communications Security Bureau GCSB 7 41 Along with these services from the United States the UK New Zealand and Australia CSE is believed to form the ECHELON system Its capabilities are suspected to include the ability to monitor a large proportion of the world s transmitted civilian telephone fax and data traffic The intercepted data or dictionaries are reported linked together through a high powered array of computers known as Platform 41 Controversies EditCBNRC and the information it gathered and shared was kept secret for 34 years until 9 January 1974 when the CBC Television documentary show The Fifth Estate aired an episode focused on the organization with research by James Dubro 14 This was the first time that the organization had ever been mentioned in public 8 This resulted in an outcry in the House of Commons and an admission by the Canadian government that the organization existed 15 A former employee of the organization Mike Frost claimed in a 1994 book Spyworld that the agency eavesdropped on Margaret Trudeau to find out if she smoked marijuana and that CSE had monitored two of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher s dissenting cabinet ministers in London on behalf of the UK s secret service 42 In 1996 it was suggested that CSE had monitored all communications between National Defence Headquarters and Somalia and were withholding information from the Somalia Inquiry into the killing of two unarmed Somalis by Canadian soldiers 43 In 2006 CTV Montreal s program On Your Side conducted a three part documentary on CSE naming it Canada s most secretive spy agency and that this ultra secret agency has now become very powerful conducting surveillance by monitoring phone calls e mails chat groups radio microwave and satellite 44 In 2007 former Ontario lieutenant governor James Bartleman testified at the Air India Inquiry on May 3 that he saw a CSE communications intercept warning of the June 22 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 before it occurred Two former CSE employees have since testified that no CSE report was ever produced 45 In 2013 a coalition of civil liberties associations launched a campaign directed against the government s perceived lack of transparency on issues related to the agency demanding more information on its purported domestic surveillance activities 46 Further criticism has arisen surrounding the construction costs of the agency s new headquarters in Ottawa The project is slated to cost over CA 1 1 billion making it the most expensive government building in Canadian history 47 In 2014 a leaked top secret presentation entitled IP Profiling Analytics amp Mission Impacts summarized experiments tracking the cellphones of travellers passing through Toronto Pearson International Airport 48 Critics argued that the experiment was invasive and indiscriminate while CSE countered that it was consistent with all relevant laws and mandates In 2016 the CSE Commissioner found that one of the agency s metadata activities did not comply with the law Specifically CSE had failed to properly minimize certain Canadian identity information before sending it to foreign governments contravening parts of the National Defence Act and the Privacy Act 49 Media portrayal Edit In The Good Wife episode Landing both the NSA and the CSE are shown monitoring personal phone calls and hacking private cell phones recording devices in order to listen in on personal conversations One plaintiff describes the CSE as the Canadian version of the NSA See also EditBadge of the Communications Security Establishment Canadian Forces Information Management Group Canadian Security Intelligence Service CSIS CFS Leitrim Cray ECHELON Royal Canadian Mounted Police RCMP RCMP Security Service Security clearances Security of Information Act Treasury Board List of intelligence agencies FAPSI Russia GCHQ UK National Security Agency US References Edit Population of the federal public service by department Section 18 National Defence Communications Security Establishment Communications Security Establishment 2020 05 06 Retrieved 2021 05 22 Establishment Communications Security 2020 10 27 Communications Security Establishment www cse cst gc ca Retrieved 2021 05 22 Organizational structure Communications Security Establishment 2020 10 27 Retrieved 2021 05 22 Office of the Prime Minister June 27 2018 The Prime Minister announces changes in the senior ranks of the Public Service Retrieved July 5 2018 Shelly Bruce currently Associate Chief of the Communications Security Establishment becomes Chief of the Communications Security Establishment effective immediately a b c d e History Communications Security Establishment 2020 10 27 Retrieved 2021 05 22 a b c d e f g h i j Our Story History Communications Security Establishment 2021 02 18 Retrieved 2021 05 22 a b c d e f g h i Timeline History Communications Security Establishment 2020 10 27 Retrieved 2021 05 22 a b Pepall Diana January 2017 Canada s Bletchley Park The Examination Unit in Ottawa s Sandy Hill 1941 1945 Ottawa ON Canada Historical Society of Ottawa ISBN 978 0 920960 43 1 a b Rosen Philip September 1993 THE COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT CANADA S MOST SECRET INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Depository Service Program Government of Canada Publications Retrieved March 5 2011 CSE What do we know about Canada s eavesdropping agency CBC News a b Robinson Bill March 1989 Canada and Signals Intelligence The Electronic Polar Watch Ploughshares Monitor 21 23 a b The Espionage Establishment of 1974 produced by William MacAdam researched by James R Dubro The Fifth Estate 1974 January 9 via CBC Archives a b Information Kit Communications Security Establishment Canada 2012 12 06 Archived from the original on 27 May 2013 Retrieved 4 April 2013 In 1974 the television program The Fifth Estate broadcast an expose of Canadian involvement in signals intelligence The program revealed the existence of the hitherto low profile CBNRC and explored the nature of its signals intelligence program and its US partners The Fifth Estate s revelations were raised in the House of Commons over the next week As a result of the unwelcome publicity the government soon transferred Canada s SIGINT and Communications Security organization to the Department of National Defence portfolio and renamed it the Communications Security Establishment CSE a b Mark S Merkow Jim Breithaupt 2014 Information Security Principles and Practices Pearson p 93 ISBN 978 0 7897 5325 0 Government of Canada Treasury Board of Canada Gouvernement du Canada Conseil du Tresor du Canada March 17 2022 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat www tbs sct gc ca a b c d e Governance Communications Security Establishment 2020 10 27 Retrieved 2021 05 22 a b c Canada Public Safety 2017 11 22 Enhancing Accountability and Transparency aem Retrieved 2019 07 27 According to information provided to attendees of the 12th Annual Information Technology Security Symposium June 2000 Lux Ex Umbra June 2008 a b Government of Canada Announces New National Cyber Security Strategy and the Creation of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Public Safety Canada Retrieved 13 October 2019 a b Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Communications Security Establishment Archived from the original on 4 October 2018 Retrieved 13 October 2019 a b Canadian Centre for Cyber Security backgrounder fiche information Communications Security Establishment 2018 06 12 Archived from the original on 2018 10 04 Retrieved 2018 10 04 As a key initiative of the 2018 National Cyber Security Strategy the cyber security functions from three departments will be united to establish the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security the Cyber Centre as one unique innovative and forward looking organization as part of the Communications Security Establishment CSE Establishment Communications Security 2021 02 18 Communications Security Establishment www cse cst gc ca Retrieved 2021 05 22 Scott Jones Head designate Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and Deputy Chief IT Security CSE Communications Security Establishment Press release 2018 06 12 Archived from the original on 2018 06 28 Retrieved 2018 10 04 The Cyber Centre will be a single unified source of expert advice guidance services and support on cyber security for government critical infrastructure owners and operations the private sector and the Canadian public a b Lux Ex Umbra Tutte tut luxexumbra blogspot ca a b c Communications Security Establishment 27 October 2020 Partners Archived from the original on 2012 04 20 Retrieved 2021 05 22 Establishment Communications Security 2020 09 28 Communications Security Establishment www cse cst gc ca Retrieved 2021 05 22 Inside Canada s top secret billion dollar spy palace CBC News Defence Industry Daily DID Logistics amp Support Bases amp Infrastructure Canada s CSE SIGINT Agency Building New Facilities 10 jun 2009 Issue 15 Evidence Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence April 30 2007 CSEC Parliamentary Accountability www cse cst gc ca Archived from the original on November 29 2007 a b c d Oversight Communications Security Establishment 2020 10 26 Retrieved 2021 05 22 a b c Commissioner Office of the Intelligence 2019 07 17 Office of the Intelligence Commissioner aem Retrieved 2019 07 27 Tunney Catharine July 18 2019 Canada gets its first ever intelligence commissioner CBC News Retrieved July 26 2019 OCSEC Mandate www ocsec bccst gc ca Archived from the original on March 24 2010 Government of Canada OCSEC Overview www ocsec bccst gc ca Retrieved 2021 05 22 News Release New Commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment Canada Appointed 2013 10 09 Retrieved 2013 10 25 a b Rudner Martin 2007 Canada s Communications Security Establishment Signals Intelligence and Counter Terrorism Intelligence and National Security 22 4 pp 473 490 Morris Nomi 1996 Inside Canada s most secret agency Maclean s 109 36 pp 32 35 Desbarats Peter Somalia cover up A commissioner s journal 1997 CTV Montreal News On Your Side August 16 2007 Archived from the original on 16 August 2007 I warned RCMP days before Air India disaster Bartleman CBC News May 3 2007 secretspying ca secretspying ca Archived from the original on June 16 2013 Inside Canada s top secret billion dollar spy palace CBC News October 8 2013 CSEC used airport Wi Fi to track Canadian travellers Edward Snowden documents CBC News January 30 2014 Commissioner Plouffe s report is tabled in Parliament 2014 2015 28 January 2016 External links Edit Media related to Communications Security Establishment at Wikimedia Commons Official website Coordinates 45 26 02 N 75 36 58 W 45 434 N 75 616 W 45 434 75 616 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Communications Security Establishment amp oldid 1140706185 Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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