Russia expert to lead Canada's electronic eavesdropping agency

A Russia expert was appointed Wednesday to lead Canada's electronic eavesdropping agency, amid ongoing concerns of Russian hacking and meddling in Western elections.

Shelly Bruce moves up from number two at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to replace her former boss, outgoing CSE head Greta Bossenmaier.

Bruce studied Russia and Slavic languages at university before joining the CSE in 2004 as director of intelligence, and quickly moved up the ranks.

Her appointment as the head of the CSE comes only two months after Ottawa moved to safeguard Canada's elections from cyber threats and "foreign interference," following accusations of Russia meddling in the last US election, which Russia has denied.

Canada's next federal election is scheduled for 2019.

Also in April, G7 foreign ministers called on Russia to come clean about a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain, calling it in a joint statement "a threat to us all."

Western nations had a month prior expelled 150 Russian diplomats in a coordinated action against Moscow in support of Britain, and Russia retaliated with similar moves.

They included four diplomats serving at either Russia's embassy in Ottawa or its consulate in Montreal who were "identified as intelligence officers or individuals who have used their diplomatic status to undermine Canada's security or interfere in our democracy," Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said then.

Canada is a member the US-led Five Eyes intelligence gathering alliance.

The CSE last year urged Ottawa to step up its hacking countermeasures, after identifying between 2013 and 2015 approximately 2,500 state-sponsored hacking attempts.

Related Links
Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Chinese island eyes oasis from web censorship for foreigners
Beijing (AFP) June 22, 2018
China's Hainan island has proposed allowing foreign visitors access to censored websites such as YouTube and Facebook, a double standard that has raised cries of indignation from the country's internet users. The province, known as China's Hawaii thanks to its resorts and tropical beaches, is set to become the country's largest free trade zone and hopes to attract increased investment in hi-tech industries, as well as more tourist dollars. Part of that effort includes making the island more hosp ... read more