Fed: DSD, the ultra top secret spy service

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Fed: DSD, the ultra top secret spy service

By Max Blenkin, Defence Correspondent

CANBERRA, Feb 12 AAP - At the heart of the Australian Defence Force office complexin Canberra is a building which is probably the most closely guarded, top-secret pieceof real estate in the nation.

This is the headquarters of the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), Australia's electroniceavesdropping specialists.

Surrounded by an intimidating wire fence and with darkened windows to guard againstsnooping, DSD makes the headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation,a short distance away, seem almost welcoming.

So secret is DSD that it does not rate a mention in the defence annual report and itsbudget remains concealed with the global defence appropriations.

DSD's main job is to collect foreign signals intelligence, known in the business asSIGINT, then produce and distribute reports to the government, other intelligence agenciesand other selected government agencies.

How good is it at this? No-one, least of all governments which maintain a strict nocomment policy, are about to say.

But the high level of security and the little information which does filter into thepubic domain, suggest they are very good indeed.

It's been suggested the DSD can monitor just about any communications in Indonesiaor any other regional nation, whether phone, fax or tactical military radio.

DSD's skills probably include codebreaking or at least access to US capabilities. Itemploys linguists including Indonesian language specialists.

At the height of the East Timor crisis during August-September 1999, DSD was listeninghard to detect any hint that Indonesia was planning to oppose the INTERFET operation.

It also played a role in security for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

To do that, DSD has listening facilities at Shoal Bay, outside Darwin, and Kojarena,near Geraldton,WA.

Listening in to the signals from the INMARSAT satellite phone on the MV Tampa duringthe boat people crisis, as is now being alleged, would have presented no technical problemswhatsoever.

DSD has another facet which is far more open to public scrutiny.

The organisation is the government's authority on communications and information technologysecurity and its experts speak at IT conferences.

DSD dates back to World War II with the formation of the Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne,known as FRUMEL, and the Central Bureau, to monitor and decode Japanese radio communications.

This formed the basis of the close relationship with the United States National SecurityAgency and Britain's General Communications Headquarters which continues today.

The World War II efforts proved remarkably fruitful and US and Australian radio monitoringand decoding reached the stage where Japanese communications were virtually an open book.

Clearly this was an ability too good to discard at war's end and Australia formed itsown specialist agency, originally based in Melbourne.

This officially became the DSD in July 1978 following the Hope Royal Commission intothe intelligence services and it relocated from Melbourne to Canberra in May 1992.

With the formation of the position of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Securityin 1987, DSD gained an official watchdog.

Specifically DSD has no power to monitor Australian domestic communications.

However, it may monitor overseas communications under special circumstances, such aswhere there is a threat to national security or serious criminal activity.

DSD clearly does not leave the IGIS overworked.

"As in previous years, we saw no evidence that DSD was abusing its powers under therules. To the contrary we noted that DSD management and staff adopt a very cautious approachwith regard to its collection and reporting activities," IGIS Inspector-General Bill Blicksaid in the 2000-2001 annual report.

DSD came in further in from the cold late last year with legislation clearly spellingout its functions.

AAP mb/daw/cjh/sb

KEYWORD: SPY DSD (BACKGROUNDER)