Canada Fighting "Billions" of Attacks a Day, Cyber Agency Says | The Walrus

"CSE origins stretch back to 1941, when Canada created the Examination Unit (XU), the country's first civilian bureau devoted to breaking and protecting coded communications. During the war, the XU decrypted enemy messages and forged intelligence relationships that would later anchor today's Five Eyes alliance. The bureau's success convinced Ottawa that understanding foreign networks was strategically indispensable, and, in 1946, the Communications Branch of the National Research Council was established-what we now know as CSE."

"From its earliest days, CSE has operated behind the scenes. As technology evolved, so did CSE. We embraced computing early, becoming Canada's largest supercomputer user by the mid-1990s. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War challenged us to redefine our mission. We responded by expanding our workforce, recruiting linguists, engineers, and computer scientists, and fostering a more diverse and multidisciplinary organization."

"In recent years, the intelligence and cybersecurity agency has intercepted foreign espionage efforts, extremist networks, cybercriminal crews, and sprawling disinformation campaigns. The newest edition recounts how, in 2024, its units shut down a ransomware threat aimed at a Canadian industrial sector in only forty-eight hours. The CSE patrols a vast digital turf, its most critical work largely invisible to the public. But as it prepares to turn eighty, the organization's role has never been more central, with Canada's most basic systems-from energy infrastructure to elections-now prime targets for adversaries."

Canada's Communications Security Establishment defends national digital systems against espionage, cybercrime, extremist networks, and disinformation. In 2024, CSE units shut down a ransomware attack on a Canadian industrial sector within forty-eight hours. CSE's operations are largely invisible but central as energy grids, elections, and other core services face growing threats. Origins date to 1941 with the Examination Unit and the 1946 formation of the Communications Branch of the National Research Council. CSE adopted computing early, becoming Canada's largest supercomputer user by the mid-1990s. Post–Cold War shifts and evolving threats drove expansion of a multidisciplinary workforce.

Read at The Walrus