A new style of turncoat
These days, spying for America's enemies is less about money and more about ideology.
By James Bamford
LA Times
April 27, 2008
During much of the Cold War, the typical American spy -- spy for the enemy, that is -- was a single, native-born, high-school-educated white male in his 20s, employed by a branch of the military and with top-secret security clearance.
Most of the time, he volunteered at a Soviet embassy or consulate and (at least since the early 1960s) was primarily motivated to spy by a desire for money rather than by ideological conviction. He would usually get away with it for at least a year or so before being caught, and then he would receive an average prison sentence of 20 years to life.
Among the spies of that period was John Walker. His capture in 1985 touched off what later became known as the "year of the spy" because of the 11 espionage arrests that year. A Navy radioman, Walker began spying in the late 1960sand passed on to the KGB top-secret key cards that enabled the Soviets to decrypt much of the Navy's most highly classified communications. In return, he received, by some estimates, more than $1 million over his 17 years as an active spy. He was eventually sentenced to life in prison.
Today's spies, it turns out, are different. The spies of the 1990s and the 21st century are more politically motivated and they have turned the Internet, the newest tool in espionage tradecraft, to their advantage. And they have "grayed."
(Continued here.)
By James Bamford
LA Times
April 27, 2008
During much of the Cold War, the typical American spy -- spy for the enemy, that is -- was a single, native-born, high-school-educated white male in his 20s, employed by a branch of the military and with top-secret security clearance.
Most of the time, he volunteered at a Soviet embassy or consulate and (at least since the early 1960s) was primarily motivated to spy by a desire for money rather than by ideological conviction. He would usually get away with it for at least a year or so before being caught, and then he would receive an average prison sentence of 20 years to life.
Among the spies of that period was John Walker. His capture in 1985 touched off what later became known as the "year of the spy" because of the 11 espionage arrests that year. A Navy radioman, Walker began spying in the late 1960sand passed on to the KGB top-secret key cards that enabled the Soviets to decrypt much of the Navy's most highly classified communications. In return, he received, by some estimates, more than $1 million over his 17 years as an active spy. He was eventually sentenced to life in prison.
Today's spies, it turns out, are different. The spies of the 1990s and the 21st century are more politically motivated and they have turned the Internet, the newest tool in espionage tradecraft, to their advantage. And they have "grayed."
(Continued here.)
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