Canada mulls ‘top secret’ data cloud as allies push ahead with intelligence-sharing plans

Australia is joining the United States and the United Kingdom in developing super-secret cloud networks to exchange highly classified defense, national security and intelligence data — an idea Canada is only just starting to think about.

Experts say that, unless the gap is closed quickly, Canada’s lack of that digital infrastructure will have a major impact on the new military equipment the federal government is committed to buying, such as F-35 stealth fighters, MQ-9 Reaper drones and long-range P-8 surveillance planes.

The gap also puts Canada at a disadvantage in negotiations to become part of the high-tech component of AUKUS, a trilateral defense and technology partnership involving the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

AUKUS nations are also part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – New Zealand and Canada are the remaining partners. So three of the five countries in Canada’s most important intelligence alliance now exchange highly classified information in secure cloud-based systems that Canada has no access to.

While Defense Minister Bill Blair acknowledged that the government “has a role to play” in the crisis, he stressed that it is being taken seriously and said it is important that Canada continues to hold and protect its most sensitive information.

“I want independence. I want control over our data,” Blair told CBC News in a recent interview.

“I don’t want Canada’s most sensitive data stored in another country. I want Canada to be able to control its own data and know with confidence that it’s secure.”

Currently, Blair said, Canada’s confidential data is stored on physical servers in this country. To get a secure cloud network, Canada would have to hire a large foreign technology company like Amazon to build one.

But if Canada still has that separate cloud network by the time data-generating weapons systems like the F-35s go live, it may have to buy access to one of those cloud communications technology companies — undermining Blair’s independence. he says he wants to protect.

More than four years ago, Australia began moving quickly to build its own secure cloud infrastructure.

Andrew Shearer, director-general of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence (ONI), revealed the existence of the project during a fire interview with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies last December.

The private cloud will facilitate the exchange of large amounts of classified information between the Australian, American and British intelligence services, he said.

Australia has gone on to sign a contract worth approximately $1.9 billion Cdn with Amazon Web Services (AWS) – a subsidiary of the Amazon tech giant – to host defense, security and intelligence data in Australia.

The United Kingdom launched its own private cloud in 2021, also with AWS. The Pentagon and the US intelligence community use both AWS and Microsoft for their highly secure cloud systems.

Canada got into the game just last spring, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Ottawa would launch an independent government computer strategy to develop domestic artificial intelligence.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne followed last June by announcing a public consultation on how to spend the $2 billion included in the strategy.

According to the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) website, the purpose of the consultation is to engage “researchers, innovators and businesses in identifying the best investment strategies for Canada’s AI future.”

“We know that in the future our data needs will be far greater [the] capacity [of the government’s servers],” Blair said. “And … I don’t want to go to a foreign company, a private company in a foreign country” to access data collected by the Canadian military and security establishment.

But that’s exactly what the federal government will have to do as new military assets, such as the F-35s and new frigates, enter active duty.

All of these new weapons systems require a private cloud network to operate at their full potential. Without a dedicated, private cloud network, the Department of National Defense (DND) would be forced to store data generated by these systems through a contract – likely with a US technology company under American law.

“Cloud technology is a key element in allowing all parts of the military to be able to get information in and out,” said Dave Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Canada’s latest defense policy update refers to digitizing the military, but its reference to private cloud networks is buried among many other initiatives in the document.

AUKUS caught Ottawa off guard

Several defense experts, including Perry, say the de-emphasis on cloud infrastructure will mean the Five-Eyes alliance becomes a “three-eyes” partnership – which could set back Canada’s bid to join the AUKUS technology pillar. planning.

There is always a hint of wounded pride among senior Canadian defense officials whenever AUKUS is mentioned. The exclusion from the meeting of Canada’s elders, closest allies and intelligence partners has disturbed the country’s sometimes sensitive sense of its place in the world.

The establishment of AUKUS in 2021 was blindsided by the Trudeau government, which initially dismissed it as an agreement to protect Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines. But it has been repeatedly pointed to by critics as evidence that Canada is no longer taken seriously, or considered a reliable security partner, by its allies.

Perry said Australia seemed more open and determined than Canada.

“Australia has been looking at the threat, investing in the kind of skills they think are needed. They’re creating a way to go and get them,” Perry said.

“In the Canadian context, the timeline is very fast.”

Daniel Araya, an expert on artificial intelligence and a senior fellow of the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), said he believes that Ottawa’s humility has caught up – and that negotiations to enter AUKUS will not be a slam-dunk.

‘It’s humiliating’

“I don’t think we take it too seriously,” Araya said. “The truth is… [security] the umbrella provided by the US covers us. So in practical terms, it’s not important for Canada to be directly involved” with its private cloud.

“Having said that, it’s humiliating,” he added. “I think it undermines our credibility and I think it erodes our confidence.”

The federal government will have to overcome some obstacles if it wants to participate, Araya said, citing the military’s deep reluctance to entrust the private sector with classified information.

“It’s a very heavy bureaucracy,” he said. “There are heated discussions in all the major militaries, but because a lot of this will depend on the private sector, I think there is some value [internal] resistance.”

On the other hand, he said, there are good reasons to be alarmed at how big tech companies can engage governments in high-security, high-profile projects like this.

“The military is notorious for spending a lot of money on products, whether it’s hardware, software. That’s probably going to happen here,” said Araya.

The solution, he said, is for Ottawa to grow small domestic AI and cloud-based providers to create alternatives — something the organization’s strategy launched earlier this year should do. But the federal government cannot sit on its hands, he added.

“We have to stand up,” he said. “I think better leadership is needed at the government level.”