Listening in on the enemy
Exclusive: Canada's master eavesdroppers
Stewart Bell, National Post
Published: Saturday, April 15, 2006
Inside a bland brick building that could pass for a high school, past two security checkpoints, down a hall decorated with the office bowling trophy, a red sign hangs on a beige door.
"Restricted Area," it warns.
Beyond the door, noisy fans whirr, cooling row after row of computers the size of refrigerators that are carrying out the most secretive and sensitive tasks of the Canadian government: hunting down the phone calls of suspected terrorists, reading their e-mails, breaking their codes and more -- all in the name of national security.
This climate-controlled room in a government building in south Ottawa is the brawn of the Communications Security Establishment, the federal agency charged with defending Canada in ways that are as formidable as they are unknown.
From its headquarters near the Rideau River, the CSE operates a vast electronic eavesdropping system that works with allies in the United States, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand to analyze intelligence on foreign adversaries.
A civilian branch of the Department of National Defence, the CSE specializes in "signals intelligence," or SIGINT, which means searching out, intercepting and analyzing electronic communications around the world that relate to threats to Canada's security.
Canadians can be excused for being unfamiliar with the CSE. The agency was once so secret the government would not acknowledge its existence. At one time, it was not even listed in government phone books.
But it has been slowly coming out of the shadows, and the National Post was recently allowed to tour its Ottawa facilities -- believed to be the first time a media outlet has ever been allowed inside.
"There's been a willingness really since the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed just to let Canadians know who we are and what we're doing," said Adrian Simpson, the agency's spokesman. "The chief feels very strongly that the Canadian taxpayer has a right to know what we're doing here and why it's so very important."
Up to a point.
During a tour of a CSE building that cannot be identified, there were long pauses as an official who cannot be named was asked for examples of what the agency does. He could not get into details, he resolved.
From time to time there are hints of what the CSE is up to. Signals teams deployed in Baghdad played a role in the March 23 rescue of one British and two Canadian hostages in Iraq, for example. The agency has also saved the lives of Canadian troops in Afghanistan by intercepting details on enemy attack plans. But the agency's work goes mostly unnoticed -- which is how the CSE prefers it.
"SIGINT agencies in every country are among the most secretive of security organizations, especially since any disclosure of capabilities and methods can yield hints about targets and interceptions and thus compromise intelligence collection efforts," said Professor Martin Rudner, who has written extensively on the subject.
The hallway leading into one of the CSE's main bunkers is filled with stacks of boxes holding new computers and parts awaiting installation. Between fake potted plants, an antique computer shaped like a huge washing machine sits on display beneath a glass case, a reminder of how much technology has advanced during the agency's 60-year history.
