Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it is known that the information is in unauthorized hands.Espionage is usually part of an institutional effort by agovernment or corporation, and the term is most readily associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies, primarily for military purposes. Spying involving corporationsis known as industrial espionage. Government surveillance ofcivil society groups, social movements, and individuals involved in political activism, such as COINTELPROconducted by the FBI, is not covered by the present article.
One of the most effective ways to compile information about an enemy (or potential enemy) is by infiltrating the enemy's ranks. This is the job of the spy. Spies can bring back all sorts of information concerning the size and strength of an enemy army. They can also find dissidents within the enemy's forces and influence them to defect. In times of crisis, spies can also be used to steal technology and to sabotage the enemy in various ways. Counterintelligence operatives can feed false information to enemy spies, protecting important domestic secrets and preventing attempts at subversion. Nearly every society has very strict laws concerning espionage, and the penalty for being caught is often death. However, the benefits that can be gained through espionage are generally felt to outweigh the risks. See clandestine HUMINT for the basic concepts of such information collection, and subordinate articles such as clandestine HUMINT operational techniques and clandestine HUMINT asset recruiting for discussions of the tradecraft used to collect this information.
The Security Service (MI5) is responsible for protecting the United Kingdom against threats to national security. This website provides information about the Security Service, the threats it counters, links to sources of security advice and details of careers with the Service.
Owing to the sensitivity of our work, we do not publicly disclose the identities of our staff. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member. Incidents of espionage are well documented throughout history. The ancient writings ofChinese and IndianSun-Tzu and Chanakya contain information on deception and subversion. Chanakya's student Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya Empirein India, made use of assassinations, spies and secret agents, which are described in Chanakya's Arthasastra. The ancient Egyptians had a thoroughly developed system for the acquisition of intelligence, and the Hebrews used spies as well, as in the story of Rahab. Spies were also prevalent in theGreek and Roman empires. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols relied heavily on espionage in their conquests in Asia and Europe. Feudal Japan often used ninjato gather intelligence. More recently, spies played a significant part in Elizabethan England (see Francis Walsingham). Many modern espionage methods were well established even then.
The Malaysia Special Forces is known as Grup Gerak Khas and conducts special forces missions that are coordinated through the Malaysian army that include direct action and unconventional warfare. The GGK consists of 2 brigades.
SPECIAL SERVICE GROUP HEADQUARTERS
The role of the Special Service Group is to provide facilities and equipment to carry out special missions including parachute operations and maritime operations. These operations can be carried out either covertly, or jointly with other regular forces in enemy held territory.
SPECIAL SERVICE REGIMENT
To provide a squadron to locate, report, harass and disrupt the enemy through long range infiltration as well as operating in close collaboration with guerilla or partisan forces .
COMMANDO REGIMENT
To launch offensive operations independently via sea, land and air in enemy controlled territory and also information gathering missions.
SPECIAL FORCES OPERATION CELL
To plan, manage and coordinate all aspects of human resources and equipment for the Special Forces Group pertaining to its operational, training and course requirements:
- To provide advice on the deployment of Special Forces Units operationally as well as in training including bilateral training.
- To provide advice on Airborne and Amphibious Operations involving any personnel of Special Forces Units.
- To manage, control and coordinate the requirements of specialized equipment for Special Forces Units.
- To coordinate the career planning for personnel of Special Forces Units.
- To plan for courses either locally or abroad as required by Special Forces Units personnel.
- To formulate policies and fundamentals pertaining to the affairs of Special Forces Units.
SPECIAL WARFARE TRAINING CENTRE (SWTC)
The role of SWTC is to provide specialized courses and training for all army personnel in accordance with current situation:
- To conduct basic commando training for the Malaysian Army.
- To train personnel of Special Forces as well as other soldiers in specialized training and special operations as required by higher authority.
- To conduct advanced training for Special Forces and army personnel as directed by higher authority.
- To conduct training evaluation test on Special Forces Units.
- To provide observers and qualified instructors for specialized assignments in Special Forces Units.
- To revise and analyse all doctrines pertaining to specialized training and operations.
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They are best at unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action and counter terrorism.Those who have served in the military for at least 8 years are eligible for selection into this elite force. They are chosen by their military record and are then eligible for training. GGF training consists of a basic commando course then camp training for five weeks, jungle training for two weeks, swamp and March training for 7 days in which the trainees must go without food, sea training for two weeks, and then escape and evasion training. Once they pass the training, they are then members of the GGF. There is no record of how many trainees pass the requirements.
Different intelligence services value certain intelligence collection techniques over others. The former Soviet Union, for example, preferred human sources over research in open sources, while the United States has tended to emphasize technological methods such as SIGINT and IMINT. Both Soviet political (KGB) and military intelligence (GRU) officers were judged by the number of agents they recruited. Espionage agents are usually trained experts in a specific targeted field. This allows them to differentiate mundane information from a target which has intrinsic value to own organisational development. Correct identification of the target at its execution is the sole purpose of the espionage operation.
The broad areas of espionage targeting expertise are:
- Natural resource strategic production identification and assessment (food, energy, materials)
- Agents are usually found among bureaucrats that administer these resources in own countries
- Popular sentiment towards domestic and foreign policies (popular, middle class, elites)
- Agents often recruited from field journalistic crews, exchange postgraduate students and sociology researchers
- Strategic economic strengths (production, research, manufacture, infrastructure)
- Agents recruited from science and technology academia, commercial enterprises, and more rarely from military technologists
- Agents are trained by special military espionage education facilities, and posted to area of operation with covert identities to prevent prosecution
Chinese International Radio has reported that a number of commandos from the People’s Liberation Army have recently travelled to Turkey to participate in a week-long training session with NATO-member Turkey’s armed forces. This is the very first time land forces of Turkey and China are participating in such a joint training exercise.
TRDEFENCE has learned that the training sessions involve a crash course in one of Turkey’s top mountain warfare academies and a joint Chinese-Turkish mountain warfare exerise to be held over central Anatolia’s rough terrain. Aim of the training is to share methods and tactics between the armed forces of these two friendly countries, create a common pool of military knowledge, increase joint operations capability, deepen ties between TSK and PLA, as well as promote further cooperation between Turkey and China. Chinese soldiers are expected to stay in Turkey for over two weeks.
Organization
In larger networks the organization can be complex with many methods to avoid detection, including clandestine cell systems. Often the players have never met. Case officers are stationed in foreign countries to recruit and to supervise intelligence agents, who in turn spy on targets in their countries where they are assigned. A spy need not be a citizen of the target country. 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, called a legend in tradecraft, may attempt to infiltrate a target organization.
These agents can be moles (who are recruited before they get access to secrets), defectors (who are recruited after they get access to secrets and leave their country) or defectors in place (who get access but do not leave).
Spies may also be used to spread disinformation in the organization in which they are planted, such as giving false reports about their country's military movements, or about a competing company's ability to bring a product to market. Spies may be given other roles that also require infiltration, such as sabotage. Many governments routinely 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 and others.
The risks of espionage vary. A spy breaking the host country's laws may be deported, imprisoned, or even executed. A spy breaking his/her own country's laws can be imprisoned for espionage or/and treason, or even executed, as the Rosenbergs were. For example, when Aldrich Ameshanded a stack of dossiers of CIAEastern Bloc to his KGB-officer "handler", the KGB "rolled up" several networks, and at least ten people were secretly shot. When Ames was arrested by the FBI, he faced life in prison; his contact, who had diplomatic immunity, was declared persona non grataand taken to the airport. Ames's wife was threatened with life imprisonment if her husband did not cooperate; he did, and she was given a five-year sentence. Hugh Francis Redmond, a CIA officer in China, spent nineteen years in a Chinese prison for espionage—and died there—as he was operating without diplomatic cover and immunity.agents in the Many organizations, both national and non-national, conduct espionage operations. It should not be assumed that espionage is always directed at the most secret operations of a target country. National and terrorist organizations and other groups are also targets. Communications both are necessary to espionage and clandestine operations, and also a great vulnerability when the adversary has sophisticated SIGINT detection and interception capability. Agents must also transfer money securely. See espionage organizations for national and non-national groups that conduct clandestine human operations, for reasons that may include: assessment of national capabilities at the strategic level, warning of the movements of security and military organizations; financial systems; protective measures around targets.
There are several types of agent in use today.
- Double agent, These agents always require special handling as they can become re-doubled if caught. Special handling may include debriefing with an Operations Officer whose cover has already beenblown and verifying intelligence reports immediately in order to establish trust.
- Intelligence agent: Provides access to sensitive information through the use of special privileges. If used in corporate intelligence gathering, this may include gathering information of a corporate business venture, stock portfolio, or the creation of a new menu item at a restaurant. 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 modeling methodologies." This may also include information of trade or tariff.
- Access agent: Provides access to other potential agents by providing profiling information that can help lead to recruitment into an intelligence service.
- Agent of influence: Someone who may provide political influence in an area of interest or may even provide publications needed to further an intelligence service agenda. I.e. The use of the media to print a story to mislead a foreign service into action, exposing their operations while under surveillance.
- Agent provocateur: This type of agent will instigate trouble or may provide information to gather as many people as possible into one location for an arrest.
- Facilities agent: A facilities agent may provide access to buildings such as garages or offices used for staging operations, resupply, etc.
- Principle agent: This agent functions as a handler for an established network of agents usually Blue Chip.
- Confusion agent: May provide misleading information to an enemy intelligence service or attempt to discredit the operations of the target in an operation.
- Sleeper agent: A sleeper agent is a person who is recruited to an intelligence service to wake up and perform a specific set of tasks or functions while living under cover in an area of interest. This type of agent is not the same as a deep cover operativewho is continually in contact with their case officer in order to file intelligence reports. A sleeper agent will not be in contact with anyone until activated.
- Illegal agent: This is a person who is living in another country under false credentials that does not report to a local station. A non official cover operative is a type of cover used by an intelligence operative and can be dubbed an "Illegal" when working in another country without diplomatic protection.
