Spycraft Rebooted: How Technology is Changing Espionage

Edward Lucas, “Spycraft Rebooted: How Technology is Changing Espionage,” (Kindle Single), 2018, 59 pp.

This is a short book (59 pgs); a book called a “Single.”  A term I’m at a loss to define except that it involves short books (about 2 hours to read one) and they usually cost about $0.99 on Kindles.  They are published by Amazon.  I have read a few and they all have been worthwhile—as is this one, if you are interested in espionage. 

It appears that in this computer age, digitized pictures, software that identifies faces, and the ability to monitor people’s phones or view them on cameras on street corners, the days for James Bond tactics are over.  At least in closed societies like Russia, China, or Iran.

My Notes:

Free Kindle instant preview: https://a.co/adiYhnC

Location 29:  Sir Paul Dukes, (1889-1967) the greatest intelligence officer in the history of Britain’s MI6, ran a stunningly successful network of agents, wholly undetected in the years after the 1917 revolution. Dukes not only slipped into Russia unnoticed but for many months passed the Communist regime’s most closely guarded secrets to spymasters in London while hiding boldly in plain sight, as the pianist in the Cheka’s canteen: an excellent place for observation, and one which conveniently rendered him above suspicion or scrutiny.

Location 158:  Making people risk their lives, careers and reputation by handing over secrets entrusted to their charge is difficult, but the elements are straightforward. The acronym MICE (Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego) is a handy way of remembering the main approaches.

Location 216:  Another even graver danger comes from adversaries’ access to government databases. In June 2015 news broke of a breach of the Office of Personnel Management, a bureaucratic backwater responsible for storing the records of past and present American government officials, as well as of outsiders who had undergone background checks. From March 2014, hackers—believed to be working for Chinese intelligence agencies—penetrated the database and downloaded the Central Personnel Data File, containing 21.5 million records.

Location 270:  the explosion of social media and online databases makes it much easier for closed societies to spy on open ones, not vice versa.

Location 302:  the days in which intelligence officers could cross international borders on forged or flimsy identities are all but over—particularly in countries where the counter-intelligence authorities are suspicious and well organized.

Location 434:  If you have a picture posted on Facebook, and some friend has helpfully “tagged” you, adding your real name, your ability to live under an alias is gone for good.

Location 508:  Sir Paul Dukes’ later counterpart in British espionage history was Oleg Gordievsky—a senior KGB officer who became disillusioned with the Soviet Union’s brutality, corruption and stagnation. He was the most damaging British penetration agent in the history of the Soviet system, and, after his career for the British from 1974-85, now lives in retirement in southern England.