On technological swords and shields, with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s Nicole Giles
Stop the World
Jun 12
On technological swords and shields, with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s Nicole Giles
On technological swords and shields, with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s Nicole Giles

Stop the World
Jun 12
Unprocessed episode, you can be the first!
Shownote
Shownote
Nicole Giles is Deputy Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service—and she visited ASPI in Canberra to talk through
what she calls the three Vs: the velocity, variety, and volume of threats facing
Canada and its allies right now. AI-accelerated disinformation that once took
weeks to develop can now be deployed in seconds. Violent extremism
investigations that once unfolded over months now move from online
radicalisation to potential threat action in days. And the sheer number of
actors and threat types is growing.
Nicole covers foreign interference and election meddling, economic security and
IP theft, the rise of youth involvement in extremism, and a disturbing new
category CSIS has had to formally define, nihilistic violent extremism—groups
like the Maniac Murder Cult and 764, whose goal is simply violent chaos. She
also talks about the “swords and shields” of AI for intelligence agencies, and
why Five Eyes cooperation—including a specific Australia-Canada collaboration on
over-the-horizon radar—is more important than ever. CSIS's annual report is, as
STW notes, a good read, and Nicole is a compelling example of why public
engagement has become a national security strategy in itself.
Read the CSIS annual Public Report 2025 here
[https://www.canada.ca/en/security-intelligence-service/corporate/publications/csis-public-report-2025.html].
Highlights
Highlights
Chapters
Chapters
Transcript
Transcript