Navy spy probe kept military in dark: documents

The Canadian military felt snubbed by the RCMP and CSIS after the civilian security agencies began investigating navy spy Jeffrey Paul Delisle without telling them, according to secret documents obtained by CBC News.

The documents paint a picture of a shattered military security system, scrambling to catch up with an outside investigation into one of its own, formerSub.-Lt. Delisle, one of Canada's most prolific spies.

The soul-searching military analysis states that the Canadian Forces has had a "prevalence of poor security practises over the years." The documents are marked "secret" and were acquired by CBCNews through theAccess to Information Act.

"Little or no discussion concerning the advantages of employing the military police to lead the investigation appears to have occurred," the document says, in a section entitled"Lessons Learned."

In fact, the highest level of the Canadian military was kept out of the loop on the Delisle investigation until it was well underway. The FBI in the United States tipped off the RCMP about the navy-intelligence-officer-turned-Russian-spy in a letter on Dec.2, 2011. One week later, a senior military officer was tipped off that a "very close hold" national security investigation was underway involving a member of the military, the documents confirm.

But it wasn't until Dec.13, 2011 11 days into the investigation that the commanding officer of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service was officially briefed by the RCMP.

"Whenever a member of the CF is suspected of involvement in such activities, the default practice should be to inform DND immediately," said thepost-Delisle documents from the Department of National Defence.

Delisle was arrested on Jan.16, 2012, and sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to espionage charges and breach of trust.

Delisle held a top secret classification and worked as a threat assessment officer atHMCS Trinity, an ultra-secret military intelligence unit in Halifax where sensitive Canadian, U.S. and NATO information flows in and out.

When the RCMP and CSIS finally let the military in on the Delisle investigation, the first concern was sabotage. The military immediately launched an intensive cyber "Tiger Team"to see if Delisle had left bugs or Trojan horses inside computer systems that would allow the Russians to further probe or damage Canadian military intelligence.

The investigation to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of HMCS Trinity and other military security operations turned up no evidence" of malware planted inside DND computers.

The military's fears were well-founded, given Delisle had access to terabytes of some of the Western world's most closely guarded secrets. Heoperated a computer system called Stone Ghost, whichlinks the intelligence services of the Five Eyes: the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

As a threat assessment officer for the Canadian navy, Delisle was responsible for drafting daily reports on anything a Canadian warship operating on foreign waters might encounter. That gave him access to everything from weather reports to the movement of terrorist cells and organized crime gangs.

Delisleused a floppy disk to transfer gigabytes of secret information from the Stone Ghost computer to a non-classified computer. He would then transfer the information to a thumb drive. Once a month, he emailed the sensitive Five Eyes information to his Russian handlers.

In further reaction to the Delisle affair, the military hastily formed a unit called the Security Issue Management Action Team (SIMAT). This new group is charged with co-ordinating and cleaningup the military's security system. The military wants other government departments to be made aware of the new organization.

"The advantages of of using intrinsic assets to investigate and possibly exploit individuals should be the norm, with RCMP and CSIS assistance utilized on an 'as required'basis," state the documents.

Delisle's romp through the Canadian military's top secret world started in 1996 when he joined the army reserve as a non-commissioned member.

In 2007,Delisle walked into the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, flashed his Canadian military identification and asked to speak with a Russian intelligence agent. The father of four who was going through a divorce at the time met with a Russian military intelligence officer for less than half an hour. A month later,Delisle began sending the Russians information for roughly $3,000 a month.

The document file obtained by CBC News is 77pages long and is a heavily redacted document.