How old is espionage

One of the most damaging double agents in modern American history, Robert Hanssen gave the Soviets, and later the Russians, thousands of pages of classified material that revealed such sensitive national security secrets as the identities of Soviets spying for the U. A military historian and former U. Before , the U. State Department, FBI and the different branches of the military all had their own security and counterintelligence operations, which did not easily share information with each other.

With another war raging in Europe, however, President Franklin D. During one non-combat mission in September , the novice flier was forced to crash-land his Gloster Gladiator biplane in an Egyptian Mata Hari spent much of her career claiming that she was raised as an Indian temple dancer.

In reality, however, she was born Margaretha Zelle on August 7, , and grew up the daughter of a haberdasher in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. Desperate for adventure, at age 18 she Reasonably complete information is available on the significant demographic variables for most of the espionage offenders. Some of the older or more obscure cases are not well reported in open sources.

Demographic characteristics of the publicly known espionage offenders are as follows. The number of cases for which information is available on each variable is shown at the end of each entry. Information is available for all cases. There is a significant difference in ages between civilian and military spies.

Information is available for cases. Information is available for 67 cases. Recruitment: Sixty-four percent of the spies took the initiative in volunteering their services to a foreign intelligence service. These percentages differ for different groups. Seven of the 12 women spies were recruited by a spouse or boyfriend.

Ideology includes beliefs and sympathies resulting from cultural affinity common ethnic or national background. Thrills or excitement and need for recognition were, in most cases, supporting rather than primary motivations. They were arrested before they succeeded in passing classified information to a foreign country.

All were native-born American citizens motivated mainly by the simple idea that selling secrets would be an easy way to get some money.

Twenty-six percent held no clearance at all. Those with no clearance include accomplices, witting spouses, those who provided classified information obtained during a previous job when they did have a clearance, and those who provided sensitive but unclassified information. Where Espionage Began: Sixty-six percent of espionage cases began in the United States, with a large majority of those on the East Coast. The surprising thing is how many other neutral or allied countries have also been involved in espionage against the United States.

Information is based on the cases in which offenders succeeded in passing information. Espionage Target: Information from the following organizations was compromised, or, in the case of unsuccessful espionage attempts, was intended to be compromised.

The number after each organization is the number of offenders who targeted that organization. Six offenders compromised materials from more than one agency and are, therefore counted twice.

Payment Received: Although money tops the list of motivations for espionage, it is interesting to see how few spies received significant payments. Since then, spying has started to lose its stigma as a dishonest and disreputable way of making a living and started to become seen as a legitimate way of collecting military intelligence.

Nevertheless, thanks in the most part to the works of talented 20 th century novelists, espionage retains a mystique among the public. Whether fact or fiction, espionage continues to fascinate and begs the question whether some dark and deplorable deeds may be justified. It is a world of clandestine operations, agent provocateurs, snipers, secret codes, and ciphers.

Spies, assassins, traitors, double agents… here you will find real-life examples of these operatives embroiled in daring and thrilling escapades across the globe. Historically, those holding power have increased and held on to that power at least partly by the employment of agents loyal to them; a loyalty often inspired by substantial rewards and fear.

Spying is mentioned in the Old Testament, there were the cloak-and-dagger machinations of the Ancient Greeks and Romans and in the Middle Ages diplomacy and intelligence were so closely bound together that it was difficult to differentiate ambassadors from secret agents.

Such networks were key to survival. Read more about espionage The secret language of espionage Nigel West reveals some of the terms used in the classified world of espionage. The Cold War was conducted to a greater extent than ever before as a war of espionage; the intelligence services were used both to gauge the strength of enemy forces and shore up various political systems. Many governments have moved towards the mass surveillance of Big Data, which they justify with the terrorist threat.

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