Friday, December 19, 2014

Round up the usual five

The term "Five Eyes" is now well established as a short-hand name for the intelligence and security partnership among the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

One interesting byproduct of the term has been a proliferation of intergovernmental "Five" committees on topics of common security or intelligence interest.

We now have the Border Five, comprising the customs and border protection agencies of the Five Eyes countries, and the Critical Five, addressing critical infrastructure issues.

There is also the Usual Five (see page 28), a working group on cyber security issues, and the Ottawa Five (see page 79), which presumably first met in Ottawa but now meets at venues all around the world. The latter is "a group of Five Eyes allies that focuses on coordinating international cyber and Internet policy" and discusses "approaches to cyber security issues domestically and internationally" (description from Public Safety Canada documents released through the Access to Information Act; H/T to MZ).

It is heart-warming—or is that heart-bleeding?—to know that our collective efforts to undermine internet security will forever be associated with our own capital city.

The same five countries also cooperate on law enforcement issues, but inexplicably that forum is called the Strategic Alliance Group, which sounds more like a bunch of financial consultants, or maybe tire salesmen. I guess the "Magnificent Five" was taken.

The Strategic Alliance Group is "a formal partnership... dedicated to tackling larger global crime issues, particularly organized crime".

The SAG has a subgroup of its own on cyber issues, the Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group.

Are there any other "Five" groups out there?


Update 12 May 2015:

Looks like a recent homefield meeting of the Ottawa Five, or maybe another group (the Bullying Five?), here: Mike Blanchfield, "Canada hosted Five Eyes meeting to target global cyberbullies: MacKay," Canadian Press, 11 May 2015.

Update 23 June 2016:

More from the law enforcers: the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group.

Update 16 December 2016:

Military Five Eyes fora.

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