Kalistani Major History

[Doc]

David Marquez-Villanueva Named head of IBSI
New Top Spy former head of crypto development at KalMD
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
March 17, 5512


David Marquez delivers lecture last fall on Cyber threats and Kalistani Response in Kaliburg

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Nicolette II Ananto has named former KalMD executive David Marquez-Villanueva to be the head of the re-authorized Imperial Bureau of Security Information. Marquez will also receive a peerage in the AOGS, becoming a Knight-Commander this Summer. Marquez, hailing from Sulari, formerly led up the R&D program in the Crypto Department at KalMD, and is responsible for several important surveillance upgrades that are currently being installed on Kalistani regular naval vessels. Marquez becomes the first Director of Security Information in the modern era, and will head up Her Imperial Majesty's efforts to establish an Information Network throughout Terra.

"My first and most important task," said Marquez as he accepted the nomination, "is to ensure that Her Imperial Majesty is the most informed Head of State in the world. There should not be a fly buzzing anywhere that Her Imperial Majesty cannot find out about it. Only through advance knowledge of the movements of Kalistan's enemies, and friends, for often they look exactly alike, can Kalistan possibly mount an adequate defense of its shores, and resist the movements of revolutionaries and radicals that threaten other nations as we speak. It is my privilege and honor to serve Her Imperial Majesty in this regard, and I would rather sacrifice myself, personally and professionally, than let her down by failing in my duty."

The knowledge and understanding that Marquez brings of high level cryptology signals the direction that the Bureau will take in the coming years. "There are weaknesses in all systems," said Marquez last fall, when discussing the various cyber threats in the world at Kaliburg Polytechnic. "They are obvious flaws to everyone who knows where to look for them, except, ironically, the ones who create them. My company can turn this to our advantage, but listening to the right stations and frequencies at the right times, and knowing, on a theoretical basis, how the systems work, so that any additional security measure someone adds to their transmissions while looking to do the Empire, will allow us to easily scrape off those kind of counter-measures like so many layers of old paint on a wall. With the right tools and experience, removing those layers becomes very easy, and almost enjoyable." Marquez went on to suggest that there is no such thing as a perfectly secure form of communication. "We can even see how people act which betray the ideas in their head. If you can read their body language, it is amazing what information that they would prefer to stay secret, that they instead basically blab right out to you. The trick is seeing the signal in the noise."

While Marquez said this week during his acceptance speech that he intends the IBSI to be purely benign, he added a caveat: "... especially toward friendly nations. We want to put our friends on notice that Kalistanis see allies as part of our National Defense doctrine. Keeping allies forestalls invasion. I have no doubt that the work I hope to do in the Bureau will be of as much value to our friends as it is to our Empress. So long as they remain friends." IBSI has been provided a budget of ₭6.5 Billion for the coming year to set up its Headquarters, begin recruiting, and begin operating. The majority of the accountability lies outside the public scope, though the Bureau is accountable to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, and ultimately the Empress, who has reportedly given Marquez carte blanche provided he stay within the law. "I am required to make an annual report to the National Assembly, and will meet regularly with both the Chancellor and Her Imperial Majesty," said Marquez. "With them, I will be absolutely transparent and candid. But if I am in the papers a lot, that's probably not a good sign. So don't expect to see me at a lot of public hearings."