Revealing Secrets

An unofficial history of Australian Signals intelligence & the advent of cyber
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-1-74223-794-7
Verlag: UNSW Press

Buch, Englisch, 464 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 734 g

This unofficial account of Australian Signals intelligence reveals the organisation's efforts to reveal the secrets of others.

What is Australian signals intelligence? Why do we have a national signals intelligence agency and why are our three armed services involved? What do they all do and why is it controversial? And how significant are our ties with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand, the formidable Five Eyes partnership?

For a long time, much of the Australian Signals intelligence (or Sigint) story has been kept secret. Revealing Secrets unearths the fascinating story of the organisation that collects intelligence about foreign adversaries, and keeps our own national secrets safe, not forgetting the vital signals intelligence contribution of our three armed services. This book provides historical context, including how techniques used today for breaking codes draw on methods devised centuries earlier. It explains clearly what Sigint is, how it works and its connection with cyber. Security experts John Blaxland and Clare Birgin shine a light on the Australians whose efforts were for so long unknown and why they were so important to the country. They discuss the essential, and largely unheralded, contribution of women from before the Second World War to today. By lifting the veil on this hidden, frequently misunderstood, but absolutely integral part of Australian statecraft, Revealing Secrets deepens our understanding of the past, the present and what may lie ahead.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Birgin, Clare

Blaxland, John

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Nachrichtendienste, Geheimdienste

Über Autor(innen)

John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University (ANU). He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He is also formerly a military intelligence officer, Head of SDSC and Director of the ANU Southeast Asia Institute. He is the author and editor of several publications on military history, intelligence and international security affairs.

Clare Birgin's career in DFAT spanned thirty years, with a focus on national security and intelligence. She had postings in Warsaw, Moscow, Geneva, and Washington DC as the Liaison Officer of the Office of National Assessments, followed by postings as Ambassador in Hungary, Serbia, Kosovo, Romania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Subsequently she was a Visiting Fellow at the ANU before joining John Blaxland's history writing team. She has been awarded the Polish Government's Knight's Cross Medal and the Benito Merito Medal by the former Polish Foreign Minister.