Former Canadian spy agency chief Vigneault joins US intelligence firm Strider

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Former Canadian spy agency chief David Vigneault, who stepped down after seven years in that post in July, is joining U.S. security firm Strider Technologies as the managing director of its global intelligence unit, the company said on Wednesday.

Vigneault had come under pressure about the spy agency's handling of foreign interference in Canada and said he was leaving public service when he retired as the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

"Though my time in government is over, the threats persist, and there is more work to be done. So I look forward to continuing the fight in another way," Vigneault said in a statement.

At Salt Lake City, Utah-based Strider, which sells software and services to protect firms from state-sponsored threats, Vigneault will work on engaging private and public sector organizations and advance research and development, the company said.

During his tenure as CSIS chief, Vigneault headed efforts to track and thwart what Ottawa alleges were attempts by China and other states to interfere in Canadian affairs. Beijing strongly denies all such accusations.

An official probe said in May there was evidence of foreign interference in Canada's last two federal elections but the results were not impacted.

Vigneault was also a representative for Canada in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance with the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

"His experience leading at the highest levels of the global intelligence community will be invaluable to both Strider and our customers around the world as we pursue our mission," Strider CEO Greg Levesque said in a statement.

Strider has previously named former defense and military officials from U.S., Britain and Canada as advisers, including former U.S. President Donald Trump's national security aide H.R. McMaster.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Stephen Coates)