Latest news with #GCSB
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Inaugural Keith Locke Memorial Debate
Keith Locke - Latest News [Page 1] 'We are encouraging people who wish to remember Keith to attend, as well as those who have an interest in the topic regardless of their views or place on the political spectrum,' said his sister Maire Leadbeater. More >> 100th anniversary for those jailed for WW1 'sedition' Tuesday, 13 December 2016, 3:28 pm | Keith Locke On Thursday 15 December there will be commemorations in Auckland and Christchurch, marking 100 years since arrests began for 'sedition'. More >> Keith Locke starts "Not in our Name" spying petition Thursday, 12 March 2015, 4:04 pm | Keith Locke Former Green MP Keith Locke has launched an internet petition, in the form of an apology to several Asian and Pacific Island nations for the GCSB spying on their government communications. More >> Keith Locke presentation on Countering Foreign Fighters Bill Thursday, 27 November 2014, 4:33 pm | Keith Locke It's a pleasure to be able to talk to members of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee again, and remember my 12 years on your committee. However, I don't wish my submission today to be taken as endorsement of the completely unnecessary ... More >>
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Formerly Secret Spy Data Centre To Open Soon In West Auckland
Article – RNZ A tailor-made data centre for the country's most secret and sensitive public sector information is expected to open soon in West Auckland.A tailor-made data centre for the country's most secret and sensitive public sector information is expected to open soon in West Auckland. The $300m facility at the air force base in Whenuapai is a partnership between the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) spy agency and the Defence Force. It was especially designed to meet New Zealand's 'unique environment', the GCSB has said previously. Begun in 2022, but announced only in 2023 'after security milestones had been achieved', the centre will provide extra secure storage for core information across government agencies. It was on track to begin operating by the middle of the year, the spy agency said. A main driver has been to get 'additional protection against malign actors', official papers showed. A lot of public agency data is held in data centres in Australia run by big US tech companies. 'The data centre is neither modelled on nor linked to an Australian centre,' the GCSB said in 2023, in response to a request made under the Official Information Act. 'We did however seek to draw learnings from selected international partners about their data centres, given this is the first instance where we have built such a facility, noting we have a unique environment and different requirements than international partners.' A 'non-sovereign' option offshore, or in a centre with offshore ownership, was ruled out early on. Planning dated back almost a decade, when a Cabinet committee in 2016 agreed on setting money aside following a security resourcing review. 'The facility needed to be within New Zealand, preferably on existing Crown land,' the GCSB said. 'Value for money was a strong factor, as was geographical diversity and resiliency.' The centre would 'shore up the resilience of our secure data storage for at least another 25 years', the spy agency said in a statement. The GCSB's appropriation in Budget 2025 of $262m was about a fifth lower than what it spent last year. There was 'volatility from year to year as capital projects start and finish', it said. Successive governments' policy of pushing to the 'cloud' had propelled a lot of agencies to switch from storing and processing data on-site, to using services and servers run by Microsoft, Amazon and Google, in Australia. The former two have been building large data centres in this country.
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Formerly Secret Spy Data Centre To Open Soon In West Auckland
Article – RNZ A tailor-made data centre for the country's most secret and sensitive public sector information is expected to open soon in West Auckland. The $300m facility at the air force base in Whenuapai is a partnership between the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) spy agency and the Defence Force. It was especially designed to meet New Zealand's 'unique environment', the GCSB has said previously. Begun in 2022, but announced only in 2023 'after security milestones had been achieved', the centre will provide extra secure storage for core information across government agencies. It was on track to begin operating by the middle of the year, the spy agency said. A main driver has been to get 'additional protection against malign actors', official papers showed. A lot of public agency data is held in data centres in Australia run by big US tech companies. 'The data centre is neither modelled on nor linked to an Australian centre,' the GCSB said in 2023, in response to a request made under the Official Information Act. 'We did however seek to draw learnings from selected international partners about their data centres, given this is the first instance where we have built such a facility, noting we have a unique environment and different requirements than international partners.' A 'non-sovereign' option offshore, or in a centre with offshore ownership, was ruled out early on. Planning dated back almost a decade, when a Cabinet committee in 2016 agreed on setting money aside following a security resourcing review. 'The facility needed to be within New Zealand, preferably on existing Crown land,' the GCSB said. 'Value for money was a strong factor, as was geographical diversity and resiliency.' The centre would 'shore up the resilience of our secure data storage for at least another 25 years', the spy agency said in a statement. The GCSB's appropriation in Budget 2025 of $262m was about a fifth lower than what it spent last year. There was 'volatility from year to year as capital projects start and finish', it said. Successive governments' policy of pushing to the 'cloud' had propelled a lot of agencies to switch from storing and processing data on-site, to using services and servers run by Microsoft, Amazon and Google, in Australia. The former two have been building large data centres in this country.
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Formerly Secret Spy Data Centre To Open Soon In West Auckland
A tailor-made data centre for the country's most secret and sensitive public sector information is expected to open soon in West Auckland. The $300m facility at the air force base in Whenuapai is a partnership between the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) spy agency and the Defence Force. It was especially designed to meet New Zealand's "unique environment", the GCSB has said previously. Begun in 2022, but announced only in 2023 "after security milestones had been achieved", the centre will provide extra secure storage for core information across government agencies. It was on track to begin operating by the middle of the year, the spy agency said. A main driver has been to get "additional protection against malign actors", official papers showed. A lot of public agency data is held in data centres in Australia run by big US tech companies. "The data centre is neither modelled on nor linked to an Australian centre," the GCSB said in 2023, in response to a request made under the Official Information Act. "We did however seek to draw learnings from selected international partners about their data centres, given this is the first instance where we have built such a facility, noting we have a unique environment and different requirements than international partners." A "non-sovereign" option offshore, or in a centre with offshore ownership, was ruled out early on. Planning dated back almost a decade, when a Cabinet committee in 2016 agreed on setting money aside following a security resourcing review. "The facility needed to be within New Zealand, preferably on existing Crown land," the GCSB said. "Value for money was a strong factor, as was geographical diversity and resiliency." The centre would "shore up the resilience of our secure data storage for at least another 25 years", the spy agency said in a statement. The GCSB's appropriation in Budget 2025 of $262m was about a fifth lower than what it spent last year. There was "volatility from year to year as capital projects start and finish", it said. Successive governments' policy of pushing to the 'cloud' had propelled a lot of agencies to switch from storing and processing data on-site, to using services and servers run by Microsoft, Amazon and Google, in Australia. The former two have been building large data centres in this country.
RNZ News
25-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Formerly secret spy data centre to open soon in West Auckland
Mock-up of a new data centre in West Auckland. Photo: Supplied A tailor-made data centre for the country's most secret and sensitive public sector information is expected to open soon in West Auckland. The $300m facility at the air force base in Whenuapai is a partnership between the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) spy agency and the Defence Force. It was especially designed to meet New Zealand's "unique environment", the GCSB has said previously. Begun in 2022, but announced only in 2023 "after security milestones had been achieved", the centre will provide extra secure storage for core information across government agencies. It was on track to begin operating by the middle of the year, the spy agency said. A main driver has been to get "additional protection against malign actors", official papers showed . A lot of public agency data is held in data centres in Australia run by big US tech companies. "The data centre is neither modelled on nor linked to an Australian centre," the GCSB said in 2023, in response to a request made under the Official Information Act. "We did however seek to draw learnings from selected international partners about their data centres, given this is the first instance where we have built such a facility, noting we have a unique environment and different requirements than international partners." A "non-sovereign" option offshore, or in a centre with offshore ownership, was ruled out early on. The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)'s spy base at Waihopai, near Blenheim. Photo: Supplied Planning dated back almost a decade, when a Cabinet committee in 2016 agreed on setting money aside following a security resourcing review. "The facility needed to be within New Zealand, preferably on existing Crown land," the GCSB said. "Value for money was a strong factor, as was geographical diversity and resiliency." The centre would "shore up the resilience of our secure data storage for at least another 25 years", the spy agency said in a statement. The GCSB's appropriation in Budget 2025 of $262m was about a fifth lower than what it spent last year . There was "volatility from year to year as capital projects start and finish", it said. Successive governments' policy of pushing to the 'cloud' had propelled a lot of agencies to switch from storing and processing data on-site, to using services and servers run by Microsoft, Amazon and Google, in Australia. The former two have been building large data centres in this country. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
