The head of Canada’s intelligence service described his fight against the national security challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran and India on Thursday in his first public speech on the threats facing the country.
The normally guarded director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Dan Rogers, named the four countries as he catalogued the espionage and transnational repression efforts of Canada’s adversaries.
Russia has been spying on the government and private sector in the Arctic, trying to send intelligence officers to Canada and procuring goods in the country for its war in Ukraine, he said in his first annual speech.
“Illicit Russian procurement networks seek to illegally acquire Canadian goods and technologies, which they move to Russia through a complex series of front companies based around the world,” Rogers said, adding those goods are used to support Russian militar efforts in “Ukraine and elsewhere.”
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Driving extremism are “eroding social cohesion, increasing polarization, and significant global events,” he said, adding that radicalization is often happening online, without direction.
There have been 20 violent extremist attacks in Canada since 2014, resulting in 29 deaths, he said. At the same time, CSIS has disrupted two dozen “violent extremist actions” since 2022.
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I honestly feel the biggest underestimated threat to Canada right now is the US and the Cloud Act.
It would be catastrophic if the US decided to brick our government and military’s entire digital systems instantly because they still control our government clouds, even if they physically reside here. And that would only require Microsoft taking action.
Add in Apple and Google phones, and we are basically 100% reliant on US tech.
I’d like to piggyback off these remarks to add that Canada did have a secure digital communication system in Blackberry. I point out that system was criticized for being closed and “slow” to adapt to the changes brought by Apple.
But I’d simply take the view that Canada gave up on Blackberry. Blackberry’s entire reputation was based on secure communications catered towards corporate and enterprise environments - whether we liked it or not. Canada just gave way to less secure, more convenient American competitors. In so doing, we gave up a real option to American digital communications. Oh and by the way, the Americans still don’t have an answer to having all their telecommunication back doors getting hacked open.
lol. BlackBerry fucked itself with some very questionable management decisions at the same time as its market was completely disrupted. But sure, corporate welfare would have helped.
Caving to less secure methods seems to be what we love to do. Look at how much shit went from on-prem servers to being housed on server farms owned by companies based in foreign countries. I don’t care what a contract says, it’s only as trustworthy as the company behind it.
Add in Apple and Google phones, and we are basically 100% reliant on US tech.
As is the rest of the planet (with the exception of a statistically insignificant number of Linux phone users who are fightingthe good fight)
That does not mean the status quo isn’t insane and terrible.
I didn’t suggest it was.
With recurring threats of annexation and 51st state remarks, along with economic manipulation and the import of propaganda tactics, some via Harper’s organization, they should be our number one nation-state threat, and realistically stateless billionaires with tech feudal kingdom aspirations should be our number one non state threat.