According to the top-secret documents obtained by the CBC News, Canada’s electronic spy agency, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) has built a powerful arsenal of cyberwarfare tools to hack into computers and telephones in many parts of the world, including Mexico and Middle East.

The CSE, formerly known as the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is administered under the Department of National Defence (DND). CSE is not only responsible for foreign signals intelligence (SIGINT) but also expected to protect Canadian government electronic information and communication networks.

The director of the Citizen Lab, Ronald Deibert has a different opinion about the recent revelations. Ronald feared it could go against the spirit of the current parliamentary debate over whether to give intelligence officials the power to disrupt national security threats.

CBC analysed the details of the top-secret documents alongside The Intercept, an online publication co-founded by Glenn Greenwald. Greenwald is also the author of a 2014 non-fiction, "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State ." The experts examining the documents found out that the CSE toolbox is capable of directing internet users into a fake website, siphon confidential information out of computer networks or simply create a havoc among users.

According to a briefing note for the U.S. National Security Agency in April 2013, CSE and the NSA "cooperate closely" in "computer network access and exploitation" of certain targets. The documents revealed their targets are spread across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Mexico, along with other unnamed countries shared by two agencies' counterterrorism goals.

Although in a written statement, CSE responding to the CBC’s queries earlier this month stated, “CSE has the authority under the National Defence Act to acquire and use information from the global information infrastructure to collect foreign signals intelligence. This protects Canadians, Canada and our allies.” It's about time to know Canada's take on cyber warfare.

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