CSIS (Canada) | intelNews.org

News you may have missed #466

January 7, 2011 by intelNews Leave a comment

France blasts economic warfare by industrial spies. The French government says it is the victim of an economic war, after Renault, France’s partially state-owned carmaker, suspended three top executives over leaks of secret electric-car technology. The French intelligence services are probing a possible Chinese connection. It should be noted that, according to US estimates, France leads industrial spying in Europe.
Canada a target for foreign interference, says spy chief. A keenly anticipated report by Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Richard Fadden paints a picture of a broad threat of foreign interference from countries out to influence Canada’s policy and politicians, target dissidents and pilfer technology. It is the most detailed articulation of the spy service’s concerns about overtures from foreign agents, including two suspected cases involving provincial cabinet ministers.
Jordanian Hamas spy awarded PhD in jail. Jordanian Azzam Jaber, jailed in Jordan for spying for the Palestinian group Hamas on potential targets including the Israeli embassy, has obtained his doctorate from the University of Yarmuk.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 0 Canada a target for foreign interference says spy chief, 0 France blasts economic warfare by industrial spies, 0 Jordanian Hamas spy awarded PhD in jail, Azzam Jaber, Canada, China, counterintelligence, CSIS (Canada), economic espionage, France, Hamas, industrial espionage, Israel, Israeli embassy in Jordan, Jordan, News, news you may have missed, Palestine, Renault, Richard Fadden, University of Yarmuk

More underreported WikiLeaks revelations

December 1, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Julian Assange

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
As the world’s media shift their attention to the consequences of the WikiLeaks revelations for its founder Julian Assange, as well as the reactions of American officials, the leaked diplomatic cables keep coming in, almost on an hourly basis. Some of the least noticed revelations include a 2009 dispatch from a US diplomat in Tel Aviv, which appears to confirm the close secret relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, despite the fact that these two countries have no official diplomatic connections. Another diplomatic cable reveals that Iranian intelligence officials approached their Canadian counterparts in 2008 and offered to share with them “information on potential attacks in Afghanistan”. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Canadians reacted guardedly, with Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director Jim Judd stating that his agency had “not figured out what they [the Iranians] are up to”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Canada, CSIS (Canada), Cuba, defectors, diplomacy, Ecuador, Hugo Chávez, Interpol, Iran, Israel, Jim Judd, Julian Assange, News, North Korea, political asylum, secret meetings, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, whistleblowing, Wikileaks

News you may have missed #397

July 21, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Canadian spies heading overseas to learn Arabic, director says. Canadian spies are heading overseas to take Arabic lessons, according to Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Richard Fadden, who says the spy agency will send officers to “a country which will remain nameless” to learn the language.
NSA denies monitoring US civilian networks. In a rare public statement, the ultra-secret US National Security Agency has denied a Wall Street Journal report of a secret program, code-named “Perfect Citizen”, which will allegedly be monitoring civilian networks in the US.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 0 Canadian spies heading overseas to learn Arabic director says, 0 NSA denies monitoring US civilian networks, Canada, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, CSIS (Canada), cybersecurity, languages, linguistics, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Perfect Citizen, Richard Fadden, United States

Canadian politicians work for foreign powers, says Canada spy chief

June 30, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Richard Fadden

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Canadian state’s senior intelligence executive caused an uproar last weekend after he claimed that several Canadian politicians were under the control of foreign governments. In an interview for an investigative program on state-owned CBC television, Richard Fadden, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS), said that his intelligence officers are aware of “some political figures who have developed quite an attachment to foreign countries”. He also claimed that CSIS investigators were aware of at least two cabinet ministers in two Canadian provinces, who were “agents of influence”, as well as other public officials that were secretly representing “foreign interests”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, Canadian House of Commons, Canadian House of Commons Commitee on Public Safety, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, China, counterintelligence, CSIS (Canada), espionage, Hu Jintao, News, Richard Fadden

News you may have missed #338

April 27, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

US intel on Iran suffering from information overload? The US National Intelligence Estimate was due last fall but has been delayed at least twice amid efforts to “incorporate information from [Iranian] sources who are still being vetted”. Some say that significant new material has come from Iranian informants, who are motivated by antipathy toward the Iranian government and its suppression of the opposition.
Canada’s ex-intel boss slams new anti-terrorism measures. Reid Morden, the former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has urged the country’s Conservative government to re-think its plans to re-introduce controversial anti-terrorism measures initially adopted in the wake of 9/11.
Wiretapping scandals continue in Colombia. Caracol TV reports that Colombian security agency DAS has asked opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba to hand over evidence of her claims that President Alvaro Uribe ordered DAS to spy on her.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 0 Canada's ex-intel boss slams new anti-terrorism measures, 0 US intel on Iran suffering from information overload, 0 Wiretapping scandals continue in Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, Canada, civil liberties, Colombia, CSIS (Canada), DAS (Colombia), intelligence estimates, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, News, news you may have missed, NIE, nuclear proliferation, Piedad Cordoba, Reid Morden, United States, wiretapping

News you may have missed #314

March 23, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Canadian spy agency to display cold war spy tools. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is lifting the lid on some of Canada’s secret Cold War history with a first-ever public exhibit of the era’s exotic gadgetry and shadowy tradecraft, from a James Bond attaché case to Igor Gouzenko’s revolver.
Why planespotting in Egypt is a bad idea. British tourist Corbie Weastell, who was planespotting from his hotel window in Egypt, was arrested for spying, thrown in a filthy cell without food or water and left handcuffed and chained to other inmates for two days

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 0 Canadian spy agency to display cold war spy tools, 0 Why planespotting in Egypt is a bad idea, Canada, Cold War, CSIS (Canada), Egypt, history, human rights, News, news you may have missed, planespotting, spycraft

News you may have missed #0148

October 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Secret special service held to commemorate 100 years of MI5 and MI6. The Queen has attended an unpublicized special service at London’s Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of MI5 and MI6. It appears that the heads of the security and intelligence services were present for the unique ceremony in the cloisters of the Abbey. The service was also attended by prime minister Gordon Brown, foreign secretary David Miliband, and home secretary Alan Johnson, among others.
Canadian court ends spy services’ free rein in deporting foreigners. The Federal Court has dealt the government another setback in its attempts to deport alleged terrorists, based on the controversial security-certificate provision, which allows the government to use secret evidence in order to detain and deport foreigners. Thus, the deportation from Canada of Moroccan-born Adil Charkaoui has been halted. Last July another deportation case, that of Hassan Almrei, a Syrian immigrant who was arrested in 2001 on suspicion of belonging to an Islamist-tied forgery group, was also halted on similar grounds.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Adil Charkaoui, Alan Johnson, Canada, CSIS (Canada), David Miliband, deportations, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Federal Court of Canada, forgery, Gordon Brown, Hassan Almrei, lawsuits, MI5, MI6, News, news you may have missed, security certificates (Canada), UK, Westminster Abbey (London)

News you may have missed #0135

October 9, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

More revelations in “unprecedented” book on MI5 history. More revelations in Christopher Andrew’s In Defense of the Realm include the disclosure that Margaret Thatcher tried to get MI5 to spy on British trade union activists when she was Prime Minister (MI5 refused). Meanwhile, Professor Andrew has begun serializing selected chapters of the book in The London Times, here and here.
Court lets Canadian spies snoop on targets overseas. A court ruling has permitted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Communications Security Establishment to eavesdrop on Canadian nationals traveling overseas. Until now, the two agencies could spy on Canadians so long as they were within the country’s borders.
CIA endorses cloud computing. The CIA is emerging as one of the US government’s strongest advocates of cloud computing, even though “cloud computing as a term really didn’t hit our vocabulary until a year ago”, according to Jill Tummler Singer, the CIA’s deputy Chief Intelligence Officer. This article, however, fails to mention that the NSA is also moving to cloud computing in a big way.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with book news and reviews, Canada, Christopher Andrew, CIA, cloud computing, Cold War, Communications Security Establishment (Canada), CSE (Canada), CSIS (Canada), domestic intelligence, history, Jill Tummler Singer, Margaret Thatcher, MI5, News, news you may have missed, NSA, trade unions, United States

Soviet star hockey player was spy, claims new book

September 14, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Vladislav Tretiak

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A new book claims that one of the greatest Russian ice hockey players in modern times was a spy for Soviet and Russian intelligence. Vladislav Tretiak, goaltender for the Soviet Union’s national ice hockey team in the 1970s and 1980s, is considered one of the supreme goaltenders in the history of the sport. But Nest of Spies, a new book published this week in Canada, alleges that Tretiak acted as an “international talent-spotter” for the KGB and its post-communist successor, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The books’ authors, Canadian Security Intelligence Service veteran Michel Juneau-Katsuya, and investigative journalist Fabrice de Pierrebourg, claim that Tretiak performed intelligence work during his sports-related visits to Canada and elsewhere, by detecting potential spy recruits for the Russians. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with book news and reviews, Canada, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Cold War, CSIS (Canada), espionage, Fabrice de Pierrebourg, informants, KGB, Michel Juneau-Katsuya, News, Russian Ice Hockey Federation, sports, SVR (Russia), USSR, Vladislav Tretiak

News you may have missed #0050

July 31, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Cuban Five to be given new sentences in October. Washington accuses the Five of spying on the US for Cuba. But an appeals court has ruled that the sentences they received (ranging from life to 19 years) were too long. New sentences will be imposed on October 13. The Cuban government has said that it would be willing to swap jailed political dissidents for the Five.
CIA invests in web-based software company –again. The CIA’s venture-capital investment arm, In-Q-Tel, appears to be really fond of Lingotek, a tiny software company in Draper, Utah. Last month, In-Q-Tel funded another software start-up, Lucid Imagination.
Canada to investigate spy service’s role in Abdelrazik’s torture. Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee has agreed to probe the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik, who was renditioned to Sudan by Canada’s Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). He says he was severely tortured by Sudanese guards and interrogators.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abousfian Abdelrazik, Canada, CIA, CSIS (Canada), Cuba, Cuban Five, espionage, extraordinary rendition, In-Q-Tel, Lingotek, News, news you may have missed, Security Intelligence Review Committee (Canada), Sudan, torture, United States

News you may have missed #0031

July 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ex-Boeing engineer convicted of spying for China. A US court has convicted Dongfan “Greg” Chung, a Chinese-born Boeing engineer, of multiple counts of espionage and of passing critical trade secrets on the US space program to China.
Second US Marine charged with leaking documents to police. Another US Marine at Camp Pendleton has been charged in a bizarre intelligence leaking case, in which secret military and CIA documents were leaked to an anti-terrorism task force formed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Spy watchdog urges major changes at CSIS. Canadian intelligence is in urgent need of “major changes” to meet legal and public demands in the post-9/11 world, according to a new report by the Security Intelligence Review Committee of the Canadian government.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Camp Pendleton, Canada, China, CIA, corporate espionage, CSIS (Canada), Dongfan Chung, espionage, Greg Chung, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, News, news you may have missed, United States, US Marine Core, US space program

Canadian intelligence agency admits withholding evidence in terrorism case

July 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Hassan Almrei

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Less than a month after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was found to have omitted polygraph evidence in an alleged terrorism case, the scandal-prone agency has admitted even worse shortcomings in a second investigation. Specifically, it has acknowledged that it “failed to disclose evidence” in the case of Hassan Almrei, a Syrian immigrant who was arrested in Canada in 2001 on suspicion of belonging to an Islamist-tied forgery group. Almrei was the first terrorism suspect to be arrested under Canada’s security certificate provision, which allows the government to use secret evidence in order to detain and deport foreigners living in Canada and deemed dangerous for national security. Security certificates prevent even the suspects themselves from being exposed to the secret evidence against them. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, CSIS (Canada), forgery, Hassan Almrei, News, polygraph examinations, Richard Mosley, security certificates (Canada), Syria

Canada aggressively infiltrated by spies, claims new report

April 15, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Jim Judd

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned that operations by foreign intelligence agents inside Canada are intensifying. In its annual public report to Canada’s House of Commons, the spy agency says foreign spies operating in Canada are hoping to gain access to military technologies employed by NATO, of which Canada is a member. Foreign operatives are also interested in information on several business sectors ranging from biotechnology and agriculture to oil exploration, aerospace engineering and mining, says the report. The 36-page document, which includes a lengthy introduction by CSIS director Jim Judd, does not mention specific nations as responsible for these operations. But a Reuters report from Canada reminds that China has traditionally been high on CSIS’s list of suspects. Informed observers may recall that in 2005 a Chinese government defector claimed there were at least 1,000 accredited and covert Chinese spies operating in Canada.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Canada, China, CSIS (Canada), espionage, Jim Judd, NATO, News

Canadian intelligence caught spying on lawyer-client communications

December 19, 2008 by intelNews 1 Comment

CSIS logo

A Canadian Federal Court Judge has ordered the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to stop intercepting private calls between arrested terrorism suspects and their Canadian lawyers. Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson issued the order after a “senior [CSIS] agent” recently revealed during a closed door hearing in Ottawa that the spy agency was conducting the intercepts “on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency”. Read more of this post