Espionage: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Clandestine acquisition of confidential information}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Redirect-multi|2|Spy|Secret agent}}

{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=February 2019}}

{{Use American English|date=March 2018}}

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 for [[Military intelligence|military]] purposes. Spying involving [[corporation]]s is known as [[industrial espionage]].

 

 

== History ==

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

 

 

{{cite book

|last1 = Ulfkotte

|isbn = 9783733802141

|access-date = 6 January 2023

}}

</ref>

 

 

[[File:Wolkowski-Craucher.jpg|thumb|Madame [[Minna Craucher]] (''right''), a Finnish [[socialite]] and spy, with her chauffeur Boris Wolkowski (''left'') in 1930s]]

Since the end of [[World War II]], the activity of espionage has enlarged, much of it growing out of the [[Cold War]] between the United States and the [[Former Soviet Union|former USSR]]. The [[Russian Empire]] and its successor, the [[Soviet Union]] have had a long tradition of espionage ranging from the [[Okhrana]] to the [[KGB]] (Committee for State Security), which also acted as a secret police force. In the United States, the 1947 National Security Act created the [[Central 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.

 

 

 

 

Intelligence services value certain intelligence collection techniques over others. The former Soviet Union, for example, preferred [[Human intelligence (intelligence gathering)|human sources]] over [[Open-source intelligence|research in open sources]], while the United States has tended to emphasize technological methods such as [[Signals intelligence|SIGINT]] and [[Imagery intelligence|IMINT]]. In the Soviet Union, both political ([[KGB]]) and [[military intelligence]] ([[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]])<ref>{{cite book| first = Victor| last = Suvorov| author-link = Victor Suvorov| title = Inside the Aquarium| publisher = Berkley| year = 1987| isbn = 978-0-425-09474-7}}</ref> officers were judged by the number of agents they recruited.<!-- This is financial intelligence (FININT), not espionage. If it can be sourced, this should move to FININT. Since January of 2000, a long list of agencies have been data mining the world's stock exchanges; for the US, this program was formalized on October 26, 2001, in the form of the [[Patriot Act]]. This helps track the financing of people who might be laundering money. This is done without warrants. The PATRIOT Act is by no means the only legislation involved here. See, for example, the [[Bank Secrecy Act]], the Right to Financial Privacy Act, and, to some extent, the [[Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act]] and the [[Sarbanes-Oxley Act]]-->

* Strategic economic strengths (production, research, manufacture, infrastructure). Agents recruited from science and technology academia, commercial enterprises, and more rarely from among military technologists

* [[Military capability]] intelligence (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

 

== Methods and terminology ==

* [[Dead drop]]

* [[False flag]] operations

* [[Impersonator|Impersonation]]

* [[Impostor]]

* [[Safe house]]

* [[Side channel attack]]

* [[Steganography]]

* [[Surveillance]]

* [[Surveillance aircraft]]

{{div col end}}

 

[[File:BodywornSurveillanceEquipment.jpg|thumb|upright|An intelligence officer's clothing, accessories, and behavior must be as unremarkable as possible—their lives (and others') may depend on it.]]

 

 

In larger networks, the organization can be complex with many methods to avoid detection, including [[clandestine cell system]]s. Often the players have never met. Case officers are stationed in foreign countries to recruit and supervise intelligence agents,<ref name="bar" /> 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 commit [[treason]] when 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 a ''legend''<ref name="bar" /> in [[tradecraft]], may attempt to infiltrate a target organization.

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 as [[SCG International Risk]], [[International Intelligence Limited]] and others.

 

 

Communications both are necessary to espionage and [[clandestine operation]]s, 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.<ref name="foo" /> Agents must also transfer money securely.

* [[Agent provocateur]]: instigates trouble or provides information to gather as many people as possible into one location for an arrest.

* Intelligence agent: provides access to [[Information sensitivity|sensitive information]] through the use of special privileges. If used in ''corporate intelligence'' gathering, this may include gathering information of a corporate business venture or [[Portfolio (finance)|stock portfolio]]. In ''economic 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."<ref name="Economic_intelligence">Cia.gov</ref> This may also include information of trade or tariff.

* [[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. [[Peddler]]s, [[Fabricator (intelligence)|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."<ref name="double_agent">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol6no1/html/v06i1a05p_0001.htm |title=Double Agent |publisher=cia.gov |access-date=2010-05-14 |archive-date=2019-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701161536/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol6no1/html/v06i1a05p_0001.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

** [[Re-doubled agent|Redoubled agent]]: forced to mislead the foreign intelligence service after being caught as a double agent.

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

 

 

=== 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 politician [[Eugene 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 of [[Father Coughlin]] in [[World War II]]. In the early 21st century, the act was used to prosecute [[whistleblower]]s such as [[Thomas Andrews Drake]], [[John Kiriakou]], and [[Edward Snowden]], as well as officials who communicated with journalists for innocuous reasons, such as [[Stephen Jin-Woo Kim]].<ref name=josh_gerstein1 /><ref>See the article on [[John Kiriakou]]</ref>

 

 

=== Espionage laws in the UK ===

 

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 ====

 

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".

The [[Hague Convention of 1907]] addresses the status of wartime spies, specifically within "Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV); October 18, 1907: CHAPTER II Spies".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/ihl/385ec082b509e76c41256739003e636d/1d1726425f6955aec125641e0038bfd6?OpenDocument |title=Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 18 October 1907. |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]}}</ref> 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 the [[belligerent]] during times of war. Soldiers who penetrate enemy lines in proper uniforms for the purpose of acquiring intelligence are not considered spies but are [[Combatant#Privileged combatants|lawful combatants]] entitled 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 committed [[treason]] against 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Crime Wars: The Global Intersection of Crime, Political Violence, and International Law |author1=Paul Battersby |author2=Joseph M. Siracusa |author3=Sasho Ripiloski |year=2011 |page=125 |publisher=[[Praeger Publishers|Greenwood Publishing Group]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=2 SAS Regiment, War Crimes Investigations, and British Intelligence: Intelligence Officials and the ''Natzweiler Trial'' |first=Lorie |last=Charlesworth |journal=The Journal of Intelligence History |volume=6 |issue=2 |date=2006 |page=41 |doi=10.1080/16161262.2006.10555131 |s2cid=156655154 }}</ref>

 

 

[[Sabotage|Saboteurs]] are 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Contemporary Law Of Armed Conflict 2nd Edition |author=Leslie C. Green |date=2000 |page=142 |publisher=Juris Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-1-929446-03-2 }}<!--|access-date=25 July 2013--></ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Romantics at War: Glory and Guilt in the Age of Terrorism |url=https://archive.org/details/romanticsatwar00geor |url-access=registration |author=George P. Fletcher |page=[https://archive.org/details/romanticsatwar00geor/page/106 106] |date=September 16, 2002 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=9780691006512 }}</ref> For example, during [[World War II]], eight German agents entered the U.S. in June 1942 as part of [[Operation Pastorius]], a sabotage mission against U.S. economic targets. Two weeks later, all were arrested in civilian clothes by the [[FBI]] thanks 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 a [[Military justice|military tribunal]] in [[Washington D.C.]]<ref>{{cite book |title=International Law in Historical Perspective: The laws of war. Part IX-A |author= J. H. W. Verziji |year=1978 |page=143 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-286-0148-2}}</ref> On August 3, 1942, all eight were found guilty and sentenced to death. Five days later, six were executed by [[electric chair]] at the District of Columbia jail. Two who had given evidence against the others had their sentences reduced by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to prison terms. In 1948, they were released by President [[Harry S. Truman]] and deported to the [[American Zone of Occupation#American Zone of Occupation|American Zone of occupied Germany]].

{{Main|Spy fiction}}

 

 

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 to [[Human interest story|human 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 as [[Valerie Plame]] find little employment in serious fiction, however. The fictional secret agent is more often a loner, sometimes amoral—an [[existentialism|existential]] hero 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 loner [[private investigator]] characters that sold well from the 1920s to the present.<ref>Miller, Toby, ''Spyscreen: Espionage on Film and TV from the 1930s to the 1960s'' (Oxford University Press, 2003).</ref>

* [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]

* [[Central Intelligence Agency]]

* [[Detective]]

* [[Special agent]]

* [[Undercover operation]]

* [[American espionage in China]]

|title = Aldrich Ames Criminal Complaint

|access-date = 2011-03-19

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110513222808/http://www.jya.com/ames.htm

* [[John Keegan|Keegan, John]], ''Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda'', 2003.

* [[Phillip Knightley|Knightley, Phillip]], ''The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century'', Norton, 1986.

* Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner, eds. ''Terrorism: essential primary sources'' Thomas Gale 2006 {{ISBN|978-1-4144-0621-3}}

* Lerner, K. Lee and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, eds. ''Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security'' (2003), worldwide recent coverage 1100 pages.

* Richelson, Jeffery T. ''A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century'' (1977)

* Richelson, Jeffery T. ''The U.S. Intelligence Community'' (1999, fourth edition)

* Smith, W. Thomas Jr. ''[[Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency]]'' (2003)

* [[Barbara Tuchman|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. [https://issforum.org/to/ir14-5 online reviews]