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Joint Sigint Cyber Unit
- this page is a stub
The Joint Sigint Cyber Unit (JSCU) is a Dutch government organisation,
founded in 2013 jointly by the
General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD)
and the Military Intelligence and Security Agency (MIVD).
Its main tasks are interception of radio and satellite traffic (SIGINT),
cryptanalysis of intercepted encrypted data (codebreaking) and obtaining
civil and military intelligence through cyber-operations.
The JSCU works closely together with allied foreign
intelligence services and works from its headquarters in
Zoetermeer and from a location in Den Haag (The Hague) [1].
The activities of the JSCU were previously carried out by a number of
individual organisations, each known by various names, all of which were
merged into the JSCU 1 when it became operational on 15 June 2014.
Predecessors include: NSO, OVIC, SVIC, TIVC, WKC, MARID IV and GS IV.
In particular the National Sigint Organisation (NSO) and the
Strategic Signals Intelligence Centre (SVIC), were responsible for
radio and satellite interception and codebreaking respectively.
➤ History of the SVIC
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Part of project Symbolon [11].
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Years
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Name
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Description
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1914 - 1940
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GS IV
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General Staff, Section IV
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1949 - 1975
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MARID VI
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Naval Intelligence Service, Department 6
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1975 - 1982
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WKC
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Mathematics Centre
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1982 - 1996
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TIVC
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Technical Information Processing Centre
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1996 - 2014
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SVIC
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Strategic Signals Intelligence Centre
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2003 - 2014
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NSO
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National SIGINT Organisation 1
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Established in 2003 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (2001)
in the US, the NSO became fully operational in 2007.
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JSCU has several partnerships with foreign sister organisations,
most of which are bilateral and should be considered secret.
According to Gerhard Piper in [8], predecessor WKC/TIVC had a
bilaterial partnership with Germany
since 1967. In April 2020,
Dutch Professor of computer security Dr. Bart Jacobs revealed that
since 1978, TIVC had a secret partnership
with Denmark, Sweden, Germany and France, under the name
MAXIMATOR
[5].
This is now widely regarded as the European equivalent of
the UKUSA Fives Eyes alliance,
and is active to this day (2022).
So far, the following partnerships are publicly known:
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For the interception of satellite traffic (SHF), 1 the most important
source of information is the groundstation in Burum (Friesland, Netherlands),
operated by telecom operator Stratos (formerly Xantic).
This station is also known as the big ear, because of the large
parabolic antennas. For the interception of high frequency (HF) 2
radio traffic, the organisation relies on its monitoring station in
Eibergen (Gelderland, Netherlands) near the German border,
were it operates a LOCATE system.
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The intercept station in Eibergen — in the eastern part of the
province of Gelderland, close to the German border — is used for
collection of intelligence on the Short Wave (HF) radio bands.
It is built around a so-called
LOCATE system,
that was supplied by British manufacturer
Roke Manor Research.
The system consists of 53 so-called Sarsen antennas, arranged in 4
concentric circles, plus a number of underground receivers [12].
By using digital correlation techniques and adaptive digital beamforming
(ADBF), it can be used for
Super-Resolution Direction Finding (SRDF),
as well as for (omni)directional reception of HF signals
in the horizontal and vertical plane (3D).
LOCATE was part of project ROOD, which is short for
Radio Ontvangst Omni Directioneel (Omni-Directional Radio Reception).
The project was lauched in 1997 and would be the first of its kind
in the world [13]. At the time, radio interception was the responsibility
of the Dutch National Sigint Organisation (NSO), which has since been merged
into the Joint Sigint Cyber Unit (JSCU).
➤ More about LOCATE
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SHF = Super High Frequency (3-30 GHz)
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HF = High Frequency (3-30 MHz)
➤ Wikipedia
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The second HF monitoring station dates back to the days when radio interception
was the task of the Dutch Navy (Department MARID VI). It is located in
the centre of the country, just outside Eemnes, and consists of a building
and several large antenna masts. In 2005 it was announced that this station
was scheduled to be closed [14], but a Google Streetview image of 2020
reveals that it was still operational in 2020 [16].
Click the image for a closer look, or visit Google.
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- Wikipedia, Joint Sigint Cyber Unit
Visited 23 February 2022.
- Wikipedia, Militaire Inlichtingendienst (Nederland)
Retrieved April 2020.
- Nationaal Veiligheidsarchief / inlichtingentingendiensten.nl
Buro Jansen & Janssen. Retrieved April 2020.
- Paul Huz, Afluisterpraktijken
Homow-Universaliz, 13 June 2007.
- Prof. Dr. Bart Jacobs, Maximator
European signal intelligence cooperation, from a Dutch perspective
Intelligence and National Security, Taylor & Francis Online, 7 April 2020.
- Huub Jaspers, De afluistervrienden van Nederland
VPRO Radio, Argos, 8 April 2020.
- Jaime Karremann, Waarom de Russen het Marineterrein in Amsterdam in de gaten hielden
Website: marineschepen.nl.
11 January 2018.
- Gerhard Piper, Abhörstaat Deutschland (Telepolis)...
ISBN 978-3-95788-028-4 (epub). February 2015. Page 152.
- Bob de Graaff en Cees Wiebes, Villa Maarheze
ISBN 978-901208-219-8. January 1999.
- Paul Reuvers and Marc Simons, Operation RUBICON
Crypto Museum, 19 March 2020.
- Matthijs Koot, Project Symbolon completed: the Dutch Joint SIGNT Cyber Unit is born
25 September 2003.
- Ingelicht, Nieuwe antenna in Eibergen komt in zicht
Dutch MoD, October 2008 - Nr. 5, p. 11 (Dutch).
- Ingelicht, Informatieavond Eibergse NSO-buren
Dutch MoD, October 2007 - Nr. 5, p. 10 (Dutch).
- Ingelicht, Historie verbindingsinlichtingen: de AVI vandaag
Dutch MoD, March 2005 - Nr. 2, pp. 20-21.
- Google Streetview, Sarsen antenna arrays in Eibergen (Netherlands)
Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- Google Streetview, Image of Volkerweg 1, Eemnes
September 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Wednesday 23 February 2022. Last changed: Monday, 04 April 2022 - 13:19 CET.
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![Antenna array in Eibergen in July 2009 (Copyright Google) [15]](../svic/img/Eibergen_large.jpg)
![Antenna array in Eemnes in September 2020 (Copyright Google) [16]](img/Eemnes_large.jpg)