New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau
| Te Tira Tiaki | |
 |
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | New Zealand |
| Headquarters | Pipitea House, 1-15 Pipitea Street, Wellington |
| Minister responsible |
|
| Agency executive |
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| Website | gcsb |
The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) (Māori: Te Tira Tiaki, formerlyTe Tari Whakamau Irirangi) is the public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an nature.
According to the Bureau's official website, it has a mission of contributing to the national security of New Zealand by providing:
The Government Communications Security Bureau was created in 1977 on the instructions of Rob Muldoon, the Prime Minister.
Prior to this, the functions now handled by the GCSB were split between three organisations:
Upon its establishment, the GCSB assumed responsibility for these three roles. Officially, the new organisation was part of the Ministry of Defence, and its functions and activities were highly secret – even Cabinet was not informed. In the 1980s, however, information was gradually released, first about the GCSB's security role, and then about its signals intelligence operations.
Also in the 1980s, the GCSB was split away from the Ministry of Defence, becoming a separate organisation. It was not until 2000, however, that it was decided to make the GCSB a government department in its own right. This decision was implemented through the Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003.
In 2001, the Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection was formed within the GCSB with a mandate to assist in the protection of national critical infrastructure from information-borne threats. The National Cyber Security Centre was established within the GCSB in September 2011, and it absorbed the functions of the Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection.
The GCSB is considered to be a government department in its own right with its head office in Pipitea St, Wellington. Through its director, the GCSB reports to the minister holding the Intelligence portfolio, who, by convention, is always the Prime Minister. Its main functions are: the collection and processing of intelligence, the distribution of intelligence, IT security, technology and administration. It has about 300 staff with a range of disciplines including foreign language experts, communications and cryptography specialists, engineers, technicians and support staff.
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