Canada said probing possible spying by U.S., Israel

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000825/11/canada-spying

Updated 11:54 AM ET August 25, 2000

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police are investigating whether U.S. and
Israeli spies used rigged computer software to hack into Canada's top
secret intelligence files, the Toronto Star newspaper said Friday.

The paper said the probe revolved around Promis, a software program
first developed to assist prosecutors in the United States Department
of Justice which was the centre of a U.S. scandal a decade ago.

The Star said police were probing whether the software -- used by the
Mounties and Canada's spy service to co-ordinate secret investigations
-- had been rigged with a so-called "trap door" allowing unauthorized
access to sensitive data.

"That could include economic intelligence on trading partners,
detailed information on the whereabouts of terrorism suspects in
Canada or strategic information on the positions Canada intends to
take in international relations," it said.

The Mounties did not return calls seeking comment on the allegations
and no one was immediately available at the Israeli or U.S. embassies.

Promis was developed by U.S. company Inslaw Inc., which alleged in the
late 1980s that the U.S. government had stolen their software and --
working with Israel -- pedaled pirated versions to intelligence
agencies around the world. The case was eventually thrown out of
court.

The Toronto Star said the Mounties had interviewed a number of people
linked to the Promis affair to see whether there might have been a
breach in Canadian national security.

Canada's national counterintelligence agency said in a June report
that friendly nations were making concerted efforts to steal sensitive
technology and information.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said outsiders were
particularly interested in aerospace, biotechnology, chemicals,
communications, information technology, mining and metallurgy, nuclear
energy, oil and gas, and the environment.


*==============================================================*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
================================================================
C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org
*==============================================================*

ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com
---
To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of
"SIGNOFF ISN".