Espionage

For other uses, seeEspionage (disambiguation).

"Spy" and "Secret agent" redirect here. For other uses, seeSpy (disambiguation)andSecret agent (disambiguation).

Espionage,spying,orintelligence gatheringis the act of obtaining secret orconfidential information(intelligence). A person who commits espionage is called anespionage agentorspy.Any individual or spy ring (a cooperating group of spies), in the service of agovernment,company,criminal organization,or independent operation, can commit espionage. The practice isclandestine,as it is by definition unwelcome. In some circumstances, it may be a legal tool oflaw enforcementand in others, it may beillegaland punishable by law.

Espionage is often part of an institutional effort by a government or commercial concern. However, the term tends to be associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies formilitarypurposes. Spying involvingcorporationsis known asindustrial espionage.

One way to gather data and information about a targeted organization is by infiltrating its ranks. Spies can then return information such as the size and strength ofenemy forces.They can also finddissidentswithin the organization and influence them to provide further information or to defect.In times of crisis, spies steal technology andsabotagethe enemy in various ways.Counterintelligenceis the practice of thwarting enemy espionage and intelligence-gathering. Almost allsovereign stateshave strict laws concerning espionage, including those who practice espionage in other countries, and the penalties for being caught are often severe.

History

Main article:History of espionage

Espionage has been recognized as of importance in military affairs since ancient times.

The oldest known classified document was a report made by a spy disguised as adiplomatic envoyin the court ofKing Hammurabi,who died in around 1750 BC. Theancient Egyptianshad a developed secret service, and espionage is mentioned in theIliad,theBible,and theAmarna letters.Espionage was also prevalent in theGreco-Roman world,when spies employed illiterate subjects incivil services.

The thesis that espionage and intelligence has a central role inwaras well aspeacewas first advanced inThe Art of Warand in theArthashastra.In theMiddle AgesEuropean states excelled at what has later been termed counter-subversionwhen Catholicinquisitionswere staged to annihilateheresy.Inquisitions were marked by centrally organised massinterrogationsand detailed record keeping. Western espionage changed fundamentally during the Renaissance when Italiancity-statesinstalled residentambassadorsincapital citiesto collect intelligence. RenaissanceVenicebecame so obsessed with espionage that theCouncil of Ten,which was nominally responsible forsecurity,did not even allow thedogeto consult governmentarchivesfreely. In 1481 the Council of Ten barred all Venetian government officials from making contact with ambassadors or foreigners. Those revealingofficial secretscould face thedeath penalty.Venice became obsessed with espionage because successfulinternational tradedemanded that the city-state could protect itstrade secrets.Under QueenElizabeth Iof England (r. 1558–1603),Francis Walsingham(c. 1532–1590) was appointed foreign secretary and intelligence chief.The novelist and journalistDaniel Defoe(died 1731) not only spied for the British government, but also developed a theory of espionage foreshadowing modernpolice-statemethods.

During theAmerican Revolution,Nathan HaleandBenedict Arnoldachieved their fame as spies, and there was considerable use ofspies on both sides during the American Civil War.Though not a spy himself,George Washingtonwas America's first spymaster, utilizing espionage tactics against the British.

MadameMinna Craucher(right), a Finnishsocialiteand spy, with her chauffeur Boris Wolkowski (left) in 1930s

In the 20th century, at the height ofWorld War I,allgreat powersexcept theUnited Stateshad elaborate civilian espionage systems and all national military establishments had intelligence units. In order to protect the country against foreign agents, theU.S. Congresspassed theEspionage Act of 1917.Mata Hari,who obtained information for Germany by seducing French officials, was the most noted espionage agent of World War I. Prior toWorld War II,GermanyandImperial Japanestablished elaborate espionage nets. In 1942 theOffice of Strategic Serviceswas founded by Gen.William J. Donovan.However, the British system was the keystone of Allied intelligence. Numerous resistance groups such as the AustrianMaier-Messner Group, theFrench Resistance,theWitte Brigade,Milorgand the PolishHome Armyworked against Nazi Germany and provided the Allied secret services with information that was very important for the war effort.

Since the end ofWorld War II,the activity of espionage has enlarged, much of it growing out of theCold Warbetween the United States and theformer USSR.TheRussian Empireand its successor, theSoviet Unionhave had a long tradition of espionage ranging from theOkhranato theKGB(Committee for State Security), which also acted as a secret police force. In the United States, the 1947 National Security Act created theCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) to coordinate intelligence and the National Security Agency for research into codes and electronic communication. In addition to these, the United States has 13 other intelligence gathering agencies; most of the U.S. expenditures for intelligence gathering are budgeted to various Defense Dept. agencies and their programs. Under the intelligence reorganization of 2004, the director of national intelligence is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the activities and budgets of the U.S. intelligence agencies.

In theCold War,espionage cases includedAlger Hiss,Whittaker Chambersand the Rosenberg Case. In 1952 the Communist Chinese captured two CIA agents and in 1960Francis Gary Powers,flying a U-2 reconnaissance missionover the Soviet Union for the CIA, was shot down and captured. During the Cold War, many Soviet intelligence officials defected to the West, including Gen.Walter Krivitsky,Victor Kravchenko,Vladimir Petrov,Peter Deriabin, Pawel Monat andOleg Penkovskyof theGRU.Among Western officials who defected to the Soviet Union areGuy BurgessandDonald D. Macleanof Great Britain in 1951,Otto Johnof West Germany in 1954,William H. MartinandBernon F. Mitchell,U.S. cryptographers, in 1960, and Harold (Kim) Philby of Great Britain in 1962. U.S. acknowledgment of its U-2 flights and the exchange of Francis Gary Powers forRudolf Abelin 1962 implied the legitimacy of some espionage as an arm of foreign policy.

Chinahas a very cost-effective intelligence program that is especially effective in monitoring neighboring countries such asMongolia,RussiaandIndia.Smaller countries can also mount effective and focused espionage efforts. For instance, theVietnamese communistshad consistently superior intelligence during theVietnam War.Some Islamic countries, includingLibya,IranandSyria,have highly developed operations as well.SAVAK,the secret police of thePahlavi dynasty,was particularly feared by Iranian dissidents before the 1979Iranian Revolution.

Modern day

Today, spy agencies target theillegal drug tradeandterroristsas well as state actors.

Intelligence services value certain intelligence collection techniques over others. The former Soviet Union, for example, preferredhuman sourcesoverresearch in open sources,while the United States has tended to emphasize technological methods such asSIGINTandIMINT.In the Soviet Union, both political (KGB) andmilitary intelligence(GRU)officers were judged by the number of agents they recruited.

Targets of espionage

Espionage agents are usually trained experts in a targeted field so they can differentiate mundane information from targets of value to their own organizational development. Correct identification of the target at its execution is the sole purpose of the espionage operation.

Broad areas of espionage targeting expertise include:

• Natural resources:strategic production identification and assessment (food, energy, materials). Agents are usually found among bureaucrats who administer these resources in their own countries
• Popular sentimenttowards domestic and foreign policies (popular, middle class, elites). Agents often recruited from field journalistic crews, exchange postgraduate students and sociology researchers
• Strategic economic strengths (production, research, manufacture, infrastructure). Agents recruited from science and technology academia, commercial enterprises, and more rarely from among military technologists
• Military capabilityintelligence (offensive, defensive, manoeuvre, naval, air, space). Agents are trained by military espionage education facilities and posted to an area of operation with covert identities to minimize prosecution
• Counterintelligenceoperations targeting opponent's intelligence services themselves, such as breaching the confidentiality of communications and recruiting defectors ormoles

Methods and terminology

Although the news media may speak of "spy satellites" and the like, espionage is not a synonym for all intelligence-gathering disciplines. It is a specific form of human source intelligence (HUMINT). Codebreaking (cryptanalysisorCOMINT), aircraft or satellite photography (IMINT), and analysis of publicly available data sources (OSINT) are all intelligence gathering disciplines, but none of them is considered espionage. Many HUMINT activities, such as prisonerinterrogation,reports from militaryreconnaissancepatrols and from diplomats, etc., are not considered espionage. Espionage is the disclosure of sensitive information (classified) to people who are not cleared for that information or access to that sensitive information.

Unlike other forms ofintelligence collection disciplines,espionage usually involves accessing the place where the desired information is stored or accessing the people who know the information and will divulge it through some kind ofsubterfuge.There are exceptions to physical meetings, such as theOslo Report,or the insistence ofRobert Hanssenin never meeting the people who bought his information.

The US defines espionage towards itself as "the act of obtaining, delivering, transmitting, communicating, or receiving information about the national defence with an intent, or reason to believe, that the information may be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation".Black's Law Dictionary(1990) defines espionage as: "... gathering, transmitting, or losing... information related to thenational defense".Espionage is a violation of United States law,18 U.S.C.§§ 792–798and Article 106a of theUniform Code of Military Justice.The United States, like most nations, conducts espionage against other nations, under the control of theNational Clandestine Service.

Britain's espionage activities are controlled by theSecret Intelligence Service.

Technology and techniques

See also:TradecraftandList of intelligence gathering disciplines

• Agent handling
• Biographic leverage
• Concealment device
• Covert agent
• Covert listening device
• Cut-out
• Cyber spying
• Dead drop
• False flagoperations
• Front organisation
• Honeypot
• Impersonation
• Impostor
• Interrogation
• Non-official cover
• Numbers messaging
• Official cover
• One-way voice link
• Sabotage
• Safe house
• Side channel attack
• Spy ship
• Steganography
• Surveillance
• Surveillance aircraft
• Surveillance balloon

Source:

Organization

An intelligence officer's clothing, accessories, and behavior must be as unremarkable as possible—their lives (and others') may depend on it.

A spy is a person employed to seek out top secret information from a source.Within theUnited States Intelligence Community,"asset"is more common usage. Acase officerorSpecial Agent,who may havediplomatic status(i.e.,official coverornon-official cover), supports and directs the human collector. Cut-outs arecourierswho do not know the agent or case officer but transfer messages. Asafe houseis a refuge for spies. Spies often seek to obtain secret information from another source.

In larger networks, the organization can be complex with many methods to avoid detection, includingclandestine cell systems.Often the players have never met. Case officers are stationed in foreign countries to recruit and supervise intelligence agents,who in turn spy on targets in the countries where they are assigned. A spy need not be a citizen of the target country and hence does not automatically committreasonwhen operating within it. While the more common practice is to recruit a person already trusted with access to sensitive information, sometimes a person with a well-prepared synthetic identity (cover background), called alegendintradecraft,may attempt to infiltrate a target organization.

These agents can be moles (who are recruited before they get access to secrets),defectors(who are recruited after they get access to secrets and leave their country) ordefectors in place(who get access but do not leave).

Alegendis also employed for an individual whois notan illegal agent, but is an ordinary citizen who is "relocated", for example, a "protected witness". Nevertheless, such a non-agent very likely will also have a case officer who will act as a controller. As in most, if not all synthetic identity schemes, for whatever purpose (illegal or legal), the assistance of a controller is required.

Spies may also be used to spread disinformation in the organization in which they are planted, such as giving false reports about their country's military movements, or about a competing company's ability to bring a product to market. Spies may be given other roles that also require infiltration, such assabotage.

Many governments spy on their allies as well as their enemies, although they typically maintain a policy of not commenting on this. Governments also employ private companies to collect information on their behalf such asSCG International Risk,International Intelligence Limitedand others.

Many organizations, both national and non-national, conduct espionage operations. It should not be assumed that espionage is always directed at the most secret operations of a target country. National and terrorist organizations and other groups are also targeted.This is because governments want to retrieve information that they can use to be proactive in protecting their nation from potential terrorist attacks.

Communications both are necessary to espionage andclandestine operations,and also a great vulnerability when the adversary has sophisticated SIGINT detection and interception capability. Spies rely on COVCOM or covert communication through technically advanced spy devices.Agents must also transfer money securely.

Industrial espionage

Main article:Industrial espionage

ReportedlyCanadais losing $12 billionandGermancompanies are estimated to be losing about €50 billion ($87 billion) and 30,000 jobsto industrial espionage every year.

Agents in espionage

In espionage jargon, an "agent" is the person who does the spying. They may be a citizen of a country recruited by that country to spy on another; a citizen of a country recruited by that country to carry outfalse flagassignments disrupting his own country; a citizen of one country who is recruited by a second country to spy on or work against his own country or a third country, and more.

In popular usage, this term is sometimes confused with anintelligence officer,intelligence operative,orcase officerwho recruits and handles agents.

Among the most common forms of agent are:

• Agent provocateur:instigates trouble or provides information to gather as many people as possible into one location for an arrest.
• Intelligence agent: provides access tosensitive informationthrough the use of special privileges. If used incorporate intelligencegathering, this may include gathering information of a corporate business venture orstock portfolio.Ineconomic intelligence,"Economic Analysts may use their specialized skills to analyze and interpret economic trends and developments, assess and track foreign financial activities, and develop new econometric and modelling methodologies."This may also include information of trade or tariff.
• Agent-of-influence:provides political influence in an area of interest, possibly includingpublicationsneeded to further an intelligence service agenda.The use of the media to print a story tomisleada foreign service into action, exposing their operations while under surveillance.
• Double agent:engages in clandestine activity for two intelligence or security services (or more in joint operations), who provides information about one or about each to the other, and who wittingly withholds significant information from one on the instructions of the other or is unwittingly manipulated by one so that significant facts are withheld from the adversary.Peddlers,fabricators,and others who work for themselves rather than a service are not double agents because they are not agents. The fact that double agents have an agent relationship with both sides distinguishes them from penetrations, who normally are placed with the target service in a staff or officer capacity. "
  • Redoubled agent:forced to mislead the foreign intelligence service after being caught as a double agent.
  • Unwitting double agent: offers or is forced to recruit as a double or redoubled agent and in the process is recruited by either a third-party intelligence service or his own government without the knowledge of the intended target intelligence service or the agent. This can be useful in capturing important information from an agent that is attempting to seek allegiance with another country. Thedouble agentusually has knowledge of both intelligence services and can identify operational techniques of both, thus making third-party recruitment difficult or impossible. The knowledge of operational techniques can also affect the relationship between the operations officer (or case officer) and the agent if the case is transferred by an operational targeting officer] to a new operations officer, leaving the new officer vulnerable to attack. This type of transfermayoccur when an officer has completed his term of service or when hiscoveris blown.
• Sleeper agent:recruited towake upand perform a specific set of tasks or functions while living undercover in an area of interest. This type of agent is not the same as adeep cover operative,who continually contacts a case officer to file intelligence reports. A sleeper agent is not in contact with anyone untilactivated.
• Triple agent:works for three intelligence services.

Less common or lesser known forms of agent include:

• Access agent: provides access to other potential agents by providingoffender profilinginformation that can help lead to recruitment into an intelligence service.
• Confusion agent:provides misleading information to an enemy intelligence service or attempts to discredit the operations of thetargetin an operation.
• Facilities agent: provides access to buildings, such asgaragesor offices used forstagingoperations, resupply, etc.
• Illegal agent:lives in another country underfalse credentialsand does not report to a local station. A nonofficial cover operative can be dubbed an "illegal"when working in another country without diplomatic protection.
• Principal agent: functions as ahandlerfor an established network of agents, usually considered "blue chip".

Law

Espionage against a nation is a crime under thelegal codeof many nations. In the United States, it is covered by theEspionage Act of 1917.The risks of espionage vary. A spy violating the host country's laws may be deported, imprisoned, or even executed. A spy violating its own country's laws can be imprisoned for espionage or/andtreason(which in the United States and some other jurisdictions can only occur if they take up arms or aids the enemy against their own country during wartime), or even executed, as theRosenbergswere. For example, whenAldrich Ameshanded a stack of dossiers of U.S.Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) agents in theEastern Blocto his KGB-officer "handler", the KGB "rolled up" several networks, and at least ten people were secretly shot. When Ames was arrested by the U.S.Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), he faced life in prison; his contact, who haddiplomatic immunity,was declaredpersona non grataand taken to the airport. Ames' wife was threatened with life imprisonment if her husband did not cooperate; he did, and she was given a five-year sentence.Hugh Francis Redmond,a CIA officer in China, spent nineteen years in a Chinese prison for espionage—and died there—as he was operating without diplomatic cover and immunity.

In United States law, treason,espionage,and spyingare separate crimes. Treason and espionage have graduated punishment levels.

The United States inWorld War Ipassed the Espionage Act of 1917. Over the years, many spies, such as theSoble spy ring,Robert Lee Johnson,the Rosenberg ring,Aldrich Hazen Ames,Robert Philip Hanssen,Jonathan Pollard,John Anthony Walker,James Hall III,and others have been prosecuted under this law.

History of espionage laws

From ancient times, the penalty for espionage in many countries was execution. This was true right up until the era ofWorld War II;for example,Josef Jakobswas a Nazi spy who parachuted into Great Britain in 1941 and was executed for espionage.

In modern times, many people convicted of espionage have been given penal sentences rather than execution. For example,Aldrich Hazen Amesis an American CIA analyst, turned KGB mole, who was convicted of espionage in 1994; he is serving alife sentencewithout the possibility of parole in the high-securityAllenwood U.S. Penitentiary.Ames was formerly a 31-yearCIAcounterintelligenceofficer and analyst who committed espionage against his country byspyingfor theSoviet UnionandRussia.So far as it is known, Ames compromised the second-largest number of CIA agents, second only toRobert Hanssen,who also served a prison sentence until his death in 2023.

Use against non-spies

Espionage laws are also used to prosecute non-spies. In the United States, the Espionage Act of 1917 was used against socialist politicianEugene V. Debs(at that time the Act had much stricter guidelines and amongst other things banned speech against military recruiting). The law was later used to suppress publication of periodicals, for example ofFather CoughlininWorld War II.In the early 21st century, the act was used to prosecutewhistleblowerssuch asThomas Andrews Drake,John Kiriakou,andEdward Snowden,as well as officials who communicated with journalists for innocuous reasons, such asStephen Jin-Woo Kim.

As of 2012,India and Pakistan were holding several hundred prisoners of each other's country for minor violations like trespass or visa overstay, often with accusations of espionage attached. Some of these include cases where Pakistan and India both deny citizenship to these people, leaving themstateless.The BBC reported in 2012 on one such case, that of Mohammed Idrees, who was held under Indian police control for approximately 13 years for overstaying his 15-day visa by 2–3 days after seeing his ill parents in 1999. Much of the 13 years were spent in prison waiting for a hearing, and more time was spent homeless or living with generous families. The IndianPeople's Union for Civil LibertiesandHuman Rights Law Networkboth decried his treatment. The BBC attributed some of the problems to tensions caused by theKashmir conflict.

Espionage laws in the UK

Espionage is illegal in the UK under the Official Secrets Acts of 1911 and 1920. The UK law under this legislation considers espionage as "concerning those who intend to help an enemy and deliberately harm the security of the nation". According toMI5,a person commits the offence of 'spying' if they, "for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State": approaches, enters or inspects a prohibited area; makes documents such as plans that are intended, calculated, or could directly or indirectly be of use to an enemy; or "obtains, collects, records, or publishes, or communicates to any other person any secret official code word, or password, or any sketch, plan, model, article, or note, or other document which is calculated to be or might be or is intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy". The illegality of espionage also includes any action which may be considered 'preparatory to' spying, or encouraging or aiding another to spy.

Under the penal codes of the UK, those found guilty of espionage are liable to imprisonment for a term of up to 14 years, although multiple sentences can be issued.

Government intelligence laws and its distinction from espionage

Government intelligence is very much distinct from espionage, and is not illegal in the UK, providing that the organisations of individuals are registered, often with the ICO, and are acting within the restrictions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). 'Intelligence' is considered legally as "information of all sorts gathered by a government or organisation to guide its decisions. It includes information that may be both public and private, obtained from much different public or secret sources. It could consist entirely of information from either publicly available or secret sources, or be a combination of the two."

However, espionage and intelligence can be linked. According to the MI5 website, "foreign intelligence officers acting in the UK under diplomatic cover may enjoy immunity from prosecution. Such persons can only be tried for spying (or, indeed, any criminal offence) if diplomatic immunity is waived beforehand. Those officers operating without diplomatic cover have no such immunity from prosecution".

There are also laws surrounding government and organisational intelligence and surveillance. Generally, the body involved should be issued with some form of warrant or permission from the government and should be enacting their procedures in the interest of protecting national security or the safety of public citizens. Those carrying out intelligence missions should act within not only RIPA but also the Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act. However, there are spy equipment laws and legal requirements around intelligence methods that vary for each form of intelligence enacted.

War

Painting of French spy captured during theFranco-Prussian War

In war, espionage is considered permissible as many nations recognize the inevitability of opposing sides seeking intelligence each about the dispositions of the other. To make the mission easier and successful,combatantsweardisguisesto conceal their true identity from the enemy while penetrating enemy lines for intelligence gathering. However, if they are caught behind enemy lines in disguises, they are not entitled toprisoner-of-warstatus and subject toprosecutionand punishment—includingexecution.

TheHague Convention of 1907addresses the status of wartime spies, specifically within "Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV); October 18, 1907: CHAPTER II Spies ".Article 29 states that a person is considered a spy who, acts clandestinely or on false pretences, infiltrates enemy lines with the intention of acquiring intelligence about the enemy and communicate it to thebelligerentduring times of war. Soldiers who penetrate enemy lines in proper uniforms for the purpose of acquiring intelligence are not considered spies but arelawful combatantsentitled to be treated as prisoners of war upon capture by the enemy. Article 30 states that a spy captured behind enemy lines may only be punished following a trial. However, Article 31 provides that if a spy successfully rejoined his own military and is then captured by the enemy as a lawful combatant, he cannot be punished for his previous acts of espionage and must be treated as a prisoner of war. This provision does not apply to citizens who committedtreasonagainst their own country or co-belligerents of that country and may be captured and prosecuted at any place or any time regardless whether he rejoined the military to which he belongs or not or during or after the war.

The ones that are excluded from being treated as spies while behind enemy lines are escaping prisoners of war and downedairmenasinternational lawdistinguishes between a disguised spy and a disguised escaper.It is permissible for these groups to wear enemy uniforms or civilian clothes in order to facilitate their escape back to friendly lines so long as they do not attack enemy forces, collect military intelligence, or engage in similar military operations while so disguised.Soldiers who are wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothes simply for the sake of warmth along with other purposes rather than engaging in espionage or similar military operations while so attired are also excluded from being treated as unlawful combatants.

Saboteursare treated as spies as they too wear disguises behind enemy lines for the purpose of waging destruction on an enemy's vital targets in addition to intelligence gathering.For example, duringWorld War II,eight German agents entered the U.S. in June 1942 as part ofOperation Pastorius,a sabotage mission against U.S. economic targets. Two weeks later, all were arrested in civilian clothes by theFBIthanks to two German agents betraying the mission to the U.S. Under the Hague Convention of 1907, these Germans were classified as spies and tried by amilitary tribunalinWashington D.C.On August 3, 1942, all eight were found guilty and sentenced to death. Five days later, six were executed byelectric chairat the District of Columbia jail. Two who had given evidence against the others had their sentences reduced by PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltto prison terms. In 1948, they were released by PresidentHarry S. Trumanand deported to theAmerican Zone of occupied Germany.

The U.S. codification of enemy spies is Article 106 of theUniform Code of Military Justice.This provides a mandatory death sentence if a person captured in the act is proven to be "lurking as a spy or acting as a spy in or about any place, vessel, or aircraft, within the control or jurisdiction of any of the armed forces, or in or about any shipyard, any manufacturing or industrial plant, or any other place or institution engaged in work in aid of the prosecution of the war by the United States, or elsewhere".

Spy fiction

Main article:Spy fiction

Spies have long been favorite topics for novelists and filmmakers.An early example of espionage literature isKimby the English novelistRudyard Kipling,with a description of the training of an intelligence agent in theGreat Gamebetween theUKandRussiain 19th centuryCentral Asia.An even earlier work wasJames Fenimore Cooper's classic novel,The Spy,written in 1821, about an American spy in New York during theRevolutionary War.

During the many 20th-century spy scandals, much information became publicly known about national spy agencies and dozens of real-life secret agents. These sensational stories piqued public interest in a profession largely off-limits tohuman interest news reporting,a natural consequence of the secrecy inherent in their work. To fill in the blanks, the popular conception of the secret agent has been formed largely by 20th and 21st-century fiction and film. Attractive and sociable real-life agents such asValerie Plamefind little employment in serious fiction, however. The fictional secret agent is more often a loner, sometimes amoral—anexistentialhero operating outside the everyday constraints of society. Loner spy personalities may have been a stereotype of convenience for authors who already knew how to write lonerprivate investigatorcharacters that sold well from the 1920s to the present.

Johnny Fedoraachieved popularity as a fictional agent of earlyCold War espionage,butJames Bondis the most commercially successful of the many spy characters created by intelligence insiders during that struggle. Other fictional agents include Le Carré'sGeorge Smiley,andHarry Palmeras played byMichael Caine.

Jumping on the spy bandwagon, other writers also started writing about spy fiction featuring female spies as protagonists, such asThe Baroness,which has more graphic action and sex, as compared to other novels featuring male protagonists.

Spy fiction has permeated thevideo gameworld as well, in games such asPerfect Dark,GoldenEye 007,No One Lives Forever,and theMetal Gearseries.

Espionage has also made its way into comedy depictions. The 1960s TV seriesGet Smart,the 1983 Finnish filmAgent 000 and the Deadly Curves,andJohnny Englishfilm trilogy portrays an inept spy, while the 1985 movieSpies Like Usdepicts a pair of none-too-bright men sent to the Soviet Union to investigate a missile.

The historical novelThe Emperor and the Spyhighlights the adventurous life of U.S. Colonel Sidney Forrester Mashbir, who during the 1920s and 1930s attempted to prevent war with Japan, and when war did erupt, he became General MacArthur's top advisor in the Pacific Theater of World War Two.

Black Widow is also a fictional agent who was introduced as aRussianspy, an antagonist of the superheroIron Man.She later became an agent of the fictional spy agencyS.H.I.E.L.D.and a member of the superhero team theAvengers.

See also

• MI5
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Central Intelligence Agency
• Covert operation
• Cover (intelligence gathering)
• Detective
• Special agent
• Secret service
• Secret identity
• Sleeper agent
• Undercover operation
• American espionage in China
• Chinese espionage in the United States
• Clandestine operation
• Foreign agent
• Intelligence assessment
• History of Soviet espionage
• Human intelligence (intelligence gathering)
• List of intelligence agencies
• List of intelligence gathering disciplines
• Military intelligence
• Spying on United Nations leaders by United States diplomats

References

Works cited

• Johnson, John (1997).The Evolution of British Sigint, 1653–1939.London:HMSO.OCLC52130886.
• Winkler, Jonathan Reed (July 2009). "Information Warfare in World War I".The Journal of Military History.73(3): 845–867.doi:10.1353/jmh.0.0324.ISSN1543-7795.S2CID201749182.

Further reading

• Aldrich, Richard J., and Christopher Andrew, eds.Secret Intelligence: A Reader(2nd ed. 2018); focus on the 21st century; reprints 30 essays by scholars.excerpt
• Andrew, Christopher,The Secret World: A History of Intelligence,2018.
• Burnham, Frederick Russell,Taking Chances,1944.
• Felix, Christopher [pseudonym for James McCarger]Intelligence Literature: Suggested Reading List.US CIA.RetrievedSeptember 2,2012.A Short Course in the Secret War, 4th Edition.Madison Books, November 19, 2001.
• Friedman, George.America's Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between the United States and Its Enemies2005
• Gopnik, Adam,"Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy: How valuable is espionage?",The New Yorker,2 September 2019, pp. 53–59. "There seems to be a paranoid paradox of espionage: the better your intelligence, the dumber your conduct; the more you know, the less you anticipate.... Hard-won information is ignored or wildly misinterpreted.... [It] happens again and again [that] a seeming national advance in intelligence is squandered through cross-bred confusion, political rivalry, mutual bureaucratic suspicions, intergovernmental competition, and fear of the press (as well as leaks to the press), all seasoned with dashes of sexual jealousy and adulterous intrigue." (p. 54.)
• Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodri.In Spies, We Trust: The Story of Western Intelligence(2013), covers U.S. and Britain
• Jenkins, Peter.Surveillance Tradecraft: The Professional's Guide to Surveillance TrainingISBN978-0-9535378-2-2
• Kahn, David,The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet,1996 revised edition. First published 1967.
• Keegan, John,Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda,2003.
• Knightley, Phillip,The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century,Norton, 1986.
• Krugman, Paul,"The American Way of Economic war: Is Washington Overusing Its Most Powerful Weapons?" (review ofHenry FarrellandAbraham Newman,Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy,Henry Holt, 2023, 288 pp.),Foreign Affairs,vol. 103, no. 1 (January/February 2024), pp. 150–156. "The [U.S.] dollar is one of the few currencies that almost all major banks will accept, and... the most widely used... As a result, the dollar is the currency that many companies must use... to do international business." (p. 150.) "[L]ocal banks facilitating that trade... normally... buy U.S. dollars and then use dollars to buy [another local currency]. To do so, however, the banks must have access to the U.S. financial system and... follow rules laid out by Washington." (pp. 151–152.) "But there is another, lesser-known reason why the [U.S.] commands overwhelming economic power. Most of the world'sfiber-optic cables,which carry data and messages around the planet, travel through the United States. "(p. 152.)" [T]he U.S. government has installed 'splitters':prismsthat divide the beams of light carrying information into two streams. One... goes on to the intended recipients,... the other goes to theNational Security Agency,which then uses high-poweredcomputationto analyze the data. As a result, the [U.S.] can monitor almost all international communication. "(p. 154) This has allowed the U.S." to effectively cutIranout of the world financial system... Iran's economy stagnated... Eventually, Tehran agreed to cut back itsnuclearprograms in exchange for relief. "(pp. 153–154.)" [A] few years ago, American officials... were in a panic about [the Chinese company]Huawei... which... seemed poised to supply5Gequipment to much of the planet [thereby possibly] giv[ing] China the power to eavesdrop on the rest of the world – just as the [U.S.] has done.... The [U.S.] learned that Huawei had been dealing surreptitiously with Iran – and therefore violating U.S. sanctions. Then, it... used its special access to information on international bank data to [show] that [Huawei]'schief financial officer,Meng Wanzhou(... the founder's daughter), had committedbank fraudby falsely telling the Britishfinancial services companyHSBCthat her company was not doing business with Iran. Canadian authorities, acting on a U.S. request, arrested her... in December 2018. After... almost three years under house arrest... Meng... was allowed to return to China... But by [then] the prospects for Chinese dominance of 5G had vanished... "(pp. 154–155.) Farrell and Newman, writes Krugman," are worried about the possibility of [U.S.Underground Empire] overreach. [I]f the [U.S.] weaponizes the dollar against too many countries, they might... band together and adopt alternative methods of international payment. If countries become deeply worried about U.S. spying, they could lay fiber-optic cables that bypass the [U.S.]. And if Washington puts too many restrictions on American exports, foreign firms might turn away from U.S. technology. "(p. 155.)
• Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner, eds.Terrorism: essential primary sourcesThomas Gale 2006ISBN978-1-4144-0621-3
• Lerner, K. Lee and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, eds.Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security(2003), worldwide recent coverage 1100 pages.
• May, Ernest R. (ed.).Knowing One's Enemies: Intelligence Assessment Before the Two World Wars(1984).
• O'Toole, George.Honorable Treachery: A History of U.S. Intelligence, Espionage, Covert Action from the American Revolution to the CIA1991
• Murray, Williamson, and Allan Reed Millett, eds.Calculations: net assessment and the coming of World War II(1992).
• Owen, David.Hidden Secrets: A Complete History of Espionage and the Technology Used to Support It
• Richelson, Jeffery T.A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century(1977)
• Richelson, Jeffery T.The U.S. Intelligence Community(1999, fourth edition)
• Shaw, Tamsin, "Ethical Espionage" (review of Calder Walton,Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West,Simon and Schuster, 2023, 672 pp.; andCécile Fabre,Spying Through a Glass Darkly: The Ethics of Espionage and Counter-Intelligence,Oxford University Press, 251 pp., 2024),The New York Review of Books,vol. LXXI, no. 2 (8 February 2024), pp. 32, 34–35. "[I]n Walton's view, there was scarcely a UScovert actionthat was a long-term strategic success, with the possible exception of intervention in theSoviet-Afghan War(a disastrous military fiasco for theSoviets) and perhaps support for the anti-SovietSolidarity movementinPoland."(p. 34.)
• Smith, W. Thomas Jr.Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency(2003)
• Tuchman, Barbara W.,The Zimmermann Telegram,New York, Macmillan, 1962.
• Warner, Michael.The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History(2014)
• Zegart, Amy B.Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence(2022), university textbook.online reviews

External links

• History of an espionage in Russia