Former CSIS Director Joins US Security Firm Strider Technologies

David Vigneault, then-director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, prepares to appear before the Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on April 29, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Canada’s former spy agency director David Vigneault is making a jump into the private sector, joining U.S. security firm Strider Technologies.

Vigneault’s move to the strategic intelligence company comes amid global concerns about intensifying espionage threats from countries such as China and Russia, the company said in an Aug. 7 press release.

“Our adversaries do not discriminate between companies, governments, or universities in their efforts to steal advanced technologies in pursuit of their strategic objectives,” Vigneault said in the release.

“Strider is meeting that threat head-on with a transformative strategic intelligence platform that enables industry, government, and academia to proactively identify and mitigate nation-state risk. I am excited to join this innovative team that is advancing the state-of-the-art in global intelligence.”

Vigneault will serve as managing director of the global intelligence unit at Strider Technologies, which helps organizations protect their innovations from state-sponsored intellectual property theft and supply chain vulnerabilities.

Greg Levesque, CEO and co-founder of Strider Technologies, said Vigneault’s experience will be “invaluable” to the company.

“His experience leading at the highest levels of the global intelligence community will be invaluable to both Strider and our customers around the world as we pursue our mission,” Levesque said in the press release.

Vigneault recently stepped down as the ninth director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) after holding the position for seven years. He is being replaced in the interim by Vanessa Lloyd, a career intelligence officer, before cabinet appoints a new director.

The spy agency, which focuses on collecting intelligence from human sources, was recently granted additional powers with Parliament’s passing of counter-foreign interference Bill C-70. The legislation gives CSIS new authorities to handle datasets and to provide information to stakeholders outside the federal government.

Some of the agency’s discreet work against foreign interference received publicity in recent months, first through intelligence leaks and then via the release of intelligence summaries and redacted documents at the public inquiry into foreign interference. Those channels have identified Beijing as Canada’s foremost interference threat.

Along with testifying on the matter at the commission this past spring, Vigneault also spoke publicly about Chinese espionage in the last year.

Vigneault was part of a rare public sortie with Five Eyes intelligence counterparts last October. At a public forum held at Stanford University, the intelligence leaders issued a stark warning about China’s economic espionage that includes stealing intellectual property from private companies.

Vigneault also raised concerns about partnerships between Canadian and Western universities and Chinese institutions linked to the regime’s military and security sectors, highlighting issues related to Beijing’s strategy known as “military-civil fusion.” The strategy aims to develop advanced military technology by merging civilian and military research, according to the U.S. State Department.

“Everything that they’re doing in our universities and in new technology, it’s going back into a system very organized to create dual-use applications for the military,” Vigneault said at the time.

Strider Technologies reported in January 2023 that 50 Canadian universities have been partnering with a Chinese military scientific institution to conduct academic research in sensitive fields such as quantum cryptography, photonics, and space science.

In response to the threats of intellectual property theft and espionage at Canadian universities and research institutes, Ottawa introduced the “Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern“ in January to improve research security.

The policy also includes a list of 103 research institutes from China, Russia, and Iran that are considered the biggest threats to Canada’s national security. Ottawa will stop funding research projects involving these institutes, which are linked to military, defence, and security organizations. Of these 103 institutes, 85 are from China.

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.