Only three per cent of people surveyed could name Canada’s cyberspy agency
OTTAWA — There was a time when the Communications Security Establishment didn’t want people to know it even existed.
The 70-year-old cyberspy agency is now trying to emerge from the shadows, but a newly released survey suggests it is still little known to Canadians.
On an unaided basis, just three per cent of respondents correctly named “CSE” or the “Communications Security Establishment” as the government agency responsible for intercepting and analyzing foreign communications and helping protect the government’s computer networks, the survey report says.
About one in five people thought the Canadian Security Intelligence Service performed those duties. In reality, CSIS’s main role is investigating threats — such as terrorism and espionage — to Canadian security.