If your building boasts beautiful large glass walls and windows, you may want to follow Canada’s CSEC’s plan and find ways to darken the glass to prevent spying eyes.
From the Ottawa Citizen:
The government’s new billion-dollar spy palace in Ottawa has a problem that doesn’t sit well with the employees of one of the most secretive buildings in the world – it’s built like a fish bowl that might allow prying eyes to see inside.
The new Communications Security Establishment Canada complex, located in Ottawa.
The former head of the Communications Security Establishment once called the Ogilvie Road complex – with its massive glass walls – an “architectural wonder.”
But now CSE officials are realizing that all that glass could potentially allow foreign intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on Canada’s electronic eavesdroppers.
Specialized darkened screens are now going to be added to the windows to prevent such an eventuality, sources tell the Citizen.
The Citizen also asked about the installation of the darkened screening on the windows to prevent eavesdropping, the cost of that screening, the period it will be installed and the reason why this type of security measure wasn’t thought of in the first place.
“CSE does not comment on the security features of its facility,” a CSE spokesman responded.
It’s unclear to what extent foreign intelligence agencies might be able to gather information through the glass windows.
But CSE’s U.S. counterpart, the National Security Agency, has prepared for that possibility. Its headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland, is covered with one-way dark glass and lined with copper shielding to prevent both electronic and visual eavesdropping, noted American security expert James Bamford in his book Body of Secrets.
The CSE complex, which has been described as a glass skyscraper lying on its side, has drawn controversy before.
CSE management objected when officials with the Union of National Defence Employees told the Citizen the 72,000-square-metre facility was like the “Taj Mahal” because of its numerous amenities.
Former CSEC chief John Adams acknowledged the facility’s opulence and massive glass walls but defended it in a 2013 interview with the CBC. “But, you know, glass in this (CBC) building is the same price as glass in that (CSE) building,” he said at the time.
The spy campus is home to more than 1,800 employees.
CSE intercepts, decodes, translates and analyzes the communications of Canada’s adversaries. It also safeguards government computer systems.
CSE views its state-of-the-art headquarters as a way to make it a leader among its allies and attract the best and brightest of spies, according to Department of National documents obtained by the Citizen.
The new facility solves CSE’s need for modern accommodation and increased electrical power, the documents — obtained through the Access to Information law — pointed out. “It will also distinguish Canada as a leader among its intelligence allies for this type of show-case facility,” the records noted.