SIDtoday 2010-08-12: SIGINT Partnership Agrees to Greater Sharing

DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (S//SI//REL) SIGINT Partnership Agrees to Greater Sharing on Afghanistan, CT, Piracy, and CND FROM: SSEUR Executive Officer, FAD's Office of Multinational, Military, NATO and Coalition Affairs (DP14) Run Date: 08/12/2010 (S//SI//REL) The annual SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR) Principals Conference was held in Berlin from June 22-24. Representatives agreed in principle to increase information sharing in several areas... (S//SI//REL) Once every year, leaders from 14 of the world's most advanced SIGINT-producing nations come together to expand collaboration on issues of common concern. Herr Ernst Uhrlau, President of the German Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), hosted this year's SSEUR Principals Conference, which DIRNSA, his counterparts from all Second Party nations, and the heads of NSA's closest Third Party partners in Europe also attended. (S//SI//REL) The conference focused on building closer cooperation in the areas of support to military operations (SMO) in Afghanistan, counterterrorism, piracy and computer-network defense (CND), with specific agreement on the following points: Social network analysis that sheds light on the networks that facilitate improvised explosive devices (IEDs) should be more readily shared, and identification of key personnel within those IED networks should be reported to commanders in Afghanistan for possible targeting. The new Afghanistan counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy moves beyond military strikes to put greater emphasis on "key leader engagement" (KLE) and governance operations. SIGINT can provide tremendous input into the intelligence picture for COIN and, therefore, reporting that supports KLE is essential. Tear-line reports, whenever possible, should be releasable to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Provincial Reconstruction Team leaders, and the Afghan Government. For countering terrorism, the Principals would like SSEUR to share Terrorist Identities Intelligence (TI2), which would enhance the effectiveness of "watchlisting" and may provide insight to identify future terrorist actions. Piracy, especially in the Horn of Africa, continues to be an issue of common concern. Collaboration on piracy should be expanded and SSEUR should explore ways to exchange information and intelligence with the European Union's Operation ATALANA and with NATO's Operation OCEAN SHIELD. SSEUR will form a group to identify future steps for collaboration on CND. (U//FOUO) Note: Although DIRNSA chaired this meeting, translating the actions into SID policy is not automatic. Policies for sharing with foreign partners are already in place and they are generally sufficient to cover the exchanges mentioned during this conference. However, should changes become necessary, they will be promulgated by Information Sharing Services (S12). (U//FOUO) DIRNSA (center) accompanied by the other SSEUR Principals and their national delegations. (S//REL) Background on SSEUR (S//SI//REL) SSEUR first met in 1982 with nine members sharing information on the Soviet Union's military. However, since 9-11-2001, SSEUR's membership has grown to 14 nations and, though the Russian military is still an important target, collaboration now focuses on the above-mentioned targets. SSEUR is chaired by DIRNSA, but the SSEUR Executive Board (SSEB) governs the day-to-day operations and oversees the following subordinate groups: SSEUR Counterterrorist (SISECT) Analyst Working Group: SSEUR's main body for collaboration on terrorist targets; consists of many subgroups focusing on specific terrorist groups or technologies used by terrorists. Operations Control Board (OCB): Focuses on the technical health of the SSEUR computer network (SIGDASYS). SIGINT Development (SIGDEV) Board: Promotes sharing of SIGDEV tools, techniques and analysis within the SIGINT Seniors community. Counter-IED Subgroup: An analytic subgroup for multilateral cooperation, collaboration and coordination to defeat those who use IEDs in Afghanistan and those who, in any way, facilitate the use of IEDs in Afghanistan.

(S//REL) SSEUR membership includes Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States. There is a similar "seniors" coalition for Asia called SIGINT Seniors Pacific (SSPAC); DIRNSA chairs both groups. Collaboration on counterterrorist targets between SSEUR and SSPAC is under discussion. (U//FOUO) For more information on SSEUR, please contact Affairs Directorate's Office of Multinational, Military, NATO and Coalition Affairs. in the Foreign "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." Information Owner: , (email) Page Publisher: (email)