GATINEAU, Quebec—The lights cut out and metal gates rolled down over the help desk. It was around 10:30 a.m. at the entrance to the Canadian Industrial Security Conference and one of four classified sessions with the Department of National Defence was going to be delayed.
Attendees joked that there was a robbery at the casino next door, but the drama fits well with what was going on steps away.
Some 350 people came to Gatineau, Quebec, just a hop and a skip from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, to take in an anti-espionage conference.
In this day and age when threats seem to lurk everywhere, it’s not a surprise this has gone as well as it has, said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former head of the Asia desk for CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service).
“We wanted people to realize that this phenomenal issue is currently occurring, like a cancer in our economy—corporate espionage is rampant,” he said.
The walkways of the conference centre are lined with booths hawking the wares needed to hold the spies at bay: window tinting that can deflect laser microphones, shredding services that can turn hard drives into bite-sized chunks of twisted metal, security companies promising everything from cyber protection to human investigation.
“Defend against espionage,” goes the tagline for the conference. In over 40 sessions, experts talked about everything from managing security clearances to Cuba’s clandestine intelligence efforts, presented by none other than a former Cuban intelligence agent.
Some of the briefings were classified; only pre-qualified participants could attend. One session didn’t even name who the presenter was, listing only “Name withheld” and that the person was the Chief of Defence Intelligence with National Defence.
Sexpionage
The second day began with a morning session as titillating as it was serious. Co-presented by Brian McAdam, a former diplomat, and Ian MacLeod, a national security reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, it was the kind of topic journalists love but should keep CEOs up at night—sexpionage.
