Canada intelligence agency warns officials of espionage, honey traps
July 15, 2013 4 Comments
By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Canada’s foremost intelligence agency has authored a publication warning government officials they are as much targets of espionage today as they were during the Cold War. The warning is contained in a 2012 publication titled Far From Home: A Travel Security Guide for Government Officials, penned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). It is aimed at Canadian diplomats and other federal employees who may, according to CSIS, become the targets of international espionage activities while traveling abroad. A copy of the guide was accessed by the Canadian Press agency under Canada’s Access to Information Act. In a brief forward to the guide, the then Director of CSIS, Richard Fadden, warns readers that international espionage is believed to be “at a level equal to that seen during the Cold War” (intelNews readers will remember Fadden has made similar claims in public before). He adds that Canada remains a “valued target” on the international intelligence scene, due to its sophisticated technology, energy and financial services sectors. Fadden, who left CSIS in May to become Canada’s Deputy Minister of National Defense, goes on to state that Canada is spied on by foreign intelligence agencies because of its “prized political connections” with the United States and its membership in “important international bodies”. In the guidebook, Canadian federal employees are advised to consider the information they carry with them while abroad as “a prized target” and to take conscious steps to protect it. Advice includes being cautious of information shared with taxi drivers, waiters or bar tenders, keeping personal electronic devices under watch at all times, and avoiding the use of hotel safes to store confidential material, as “intrusions are frequently accomplished with the co-operation of […] hotel staff”. The instructional book, stamped “For Official Use Only”, makes specific mention of “honey traps” —espionage lingo for intelligence collection through sexual seduction. It notes that honey traps often involve clandestine recordings of intimate encounters, which are later used to blackmail or publicly embarrass the target of the espionage operation. Read more of this post
By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
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News you may have missed #846
July 17, 2013 3 Comments
►►Cuba confirms it hid weapons on seized N. Korean ship. Cuba has admitted being behind a stash of weapons found on board a North Korean ship seized in the Panama Canal. The ship was seized by Panama last week after “undeclared military cargo” was found hidden in a shipment of sugar. United Nations sanctions prohibit the supply of arms to North Korea in the continuing dispute over its nuclear program. But the Cuban foreign ministry said the ship was carrying “obsolete arms” from Cuba “for repair” in North Korea.
►►British undercover officers stole identities of dead children. Britain’s Metropolitan Police Service, which is responsible for policing most of the city of London, has admitted that its undercover police officers expropriated the identities of at least 43 dead children. But police officials refused to inform the children’s families at the time, saying the practice was considered “essential to protect covert officers who were working inside dangerous extremist groups”.
►►Snowden has ‘thousands’ of damaging NSA documents. The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, who first reported on the disclosures of former CIA employee Edward Snowden, has said that the self-styled whistleblower has “literally thousands of documents” in his possession, which are essentially an “instruction manual for how the NSA is built”. The information could allow someone to evade or mimic NSA surveillance tactics, the journalist said.
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