The Art of Espionage and Spying
The importance of espionage cannot be overstated. It is the most effective way to collect sensitive data and information about a targeted country, person, or organization by infiltrating its ranks. CIA operatives are trained well to do this job. Yes, they know how to convince people to commit treason against their own country, and to hand over secrets that their government does not want the U.S. to have.
A common secret the U.S. government wants to know about is the strength and size of enemy forces, not to mention their latest weapons, such as hypersonic missile R&D which Russia and China are pursuing at breakneck speed.
Espionage has been around for along while. During the American Revolution, 1775–1783, American General George Washington developed ran a spy ring that applied espionage techniques to successfully uncover British locations and plans. In 1778, he ordered Major Benjamin Tallmadge to form the Culper Ring to collect information about the British in New York.
Espionage involves the entire process of obtaining military, political, commercial, or other secret information by means of spies, secret agents, and illegal monitoring devices. Espionage is different from the broader category of “intelligence gathering” because of its more aggressive nature and its illegality. Interestingly, the latest person to be charged under the Espionage Act with espionage is Edward Snowden.
It’s no wonder Edward Snowden will do anything to avoid extradition back to the U.S., for if he’s convicted of espionage, he could be sentenced to life in prison or even face a death sentence, although I think the latter happening is remote. BTW, economic espionage can lead to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $5 million.
Cyber espionage is a new form of espionage in the digital world where cyber-attacks can steal classified, sensitive data or intellectual property to gain an advantage over a competitive company or government. I kiddingly say that China has stolen enough of America’s military, industrial, and intelligence community secrets to fill up the Library of Congress. Ditto with Russia. Unfortunately, I may not be wrong, for a backdoor was discovered in a widely used IT management product from SolarWinds. FireEye, one of SolarWinds’ 300,000 customers, disclosed that the nation-state attack it suffered was the result of a massive supply chain attack on SolarWinds. We all remember the damage done to the American psyche.
Espionage and the defection of a former KGB agents unfold in my MISSION OF VENGEANCE spy thriller. Here are a few snippets:
Bocharov calmly sipped his coffee then replied. “I am three decades older than you, Mr. Pearson. I’m a retired KGB agent who’s been in the business of espionage far longer than you. I’m aware of the difficulties a walk-in like me pose, but I assure you, I have much incriminating things to reveal.”
General Morrison lit his Montecristo cigar. “Mr. Bocharov, you and I are roughly the same age. We both worked espionage and counterintelligence during the collapse of the Soviet Union. You were a KGB operative during that tumultuous era. Why did you leave the KGB and come to the Dominican Republic? We also want to know your motivation for wanting to defect.”
“That’s exactly why I’m defecting. In twenty-eight years, Putin has taken the KGB full circle. I began feeling alienated when the KGB led the coup against Gorbachev. Boris Yeltsin took over in 1991 and tried to form a new KGB that wouldn’t meddle in politics or citizen’s rights. He made the mistake of hiring Putin as his overseer and it slowly reconstituted itself. Putin’s foreign policy strategy today stems from the cold war espionage techniques he learned as a young recruit in Leningrad’s KGB spy school, which Markov and I attended with him.”
Robert Harlow nodded in approval. “That explains Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and the covert invasion of eastern Ukraine.”
“Yes, and what you don’t know is that Putin’s KGB proxies also shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 back in 2004.”
Morrison ordered the HST airlines in immediately. Bocharov had kept a deep, dark secret hidden from them all and Corey had to find out what it was, and fast. In the game of global espionage, murdering an opponent’s operative is intolerable. Whoever killed Bocharov also killed Cartwright. The Learjet had a 3,000 miles range and traveled over 540 mph. He’d reach Sosua in an hour.
End of Snippets
Lastly, enjoy this video Espionage and Intelligence. It’s an informative lecture by Richard George, who joined the National Security Agency in 1970 as a mathematician. He remained at the NSA until his retirement in 2011, and reveals the art of espionage and intelligence gathering over the last 50 years. The tools and rules of espionage have changed greatly!
Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), enjoys writing about the U.S. Intelligence Community, and relishes traveling to the Florida Keys and Key West, the Bahamas and Caribbean. He combines both passions in his CoreyPearson- CIA Spymaster series. Check out his latest spy thriller: MISSION OF VENGEANCE.