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Have you ever wondered if your neighbor is leading a double life? A friend’s father told us that he had been chased by the CIA. He said he declined the offer, but that didn’t stop us from assuming he was an international mystery man, working undercover as a suburban dad. If you fancy yourself a spy enthusiast, join us for this not-so-clandestine insight into modern espionage. You’ve all heard of the Mossad, but here are a few other terrorist agencies you should know about, along with a roundup of women coming out of the shadows and a look at the new frontiers of 21st century ghosts. With the new James Bond movie now out, if you’re like me, your curiosity has been piqued by the life of a spy. Today’s daily dose answers all your questions about the world of espionage.
–Based on reporting by Isabelle Lee
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Behind the World’s Deadliest Spy Agencies
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1 – Secrets abound in Cuba
Also known as the G2, Cuba’s Intelligence Directorate far exceeds its weight, its spies who earn respect and fear American counterparts. He succeeded in recruiting and planting spies, including Ana Montes, who had been deeply entrenched in American spy agencies for years, and may have been involved in the mysterious sound diseases who beat American and Canadian diplomats in Havana in 2016. In 2019, agents allegedly infiltrated Miami airport, accessing security codes and other information.
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2 – Pakistan’s Secret Tendrils
Pakistan’s military intelligence branch, described as a “state in a statehas long worked covertly in Afghanistan, funding and harboring extremist groups such as the Taliban. ISI, which stands for Inter-Services Intelligence, was also bound to the horrific 2008 bombings in Mumbai, which killed 166 people, and has been accused by New Delhi of fueling the separatist movement in Kashmir. The agency is Pakistan’s central weapon in a sophisticated game of asymmetric warfare against its larger and more powerful neighbor India. As America withdraws from Afghanistan, the ISI may also hold the key to peace – or new conflict – in this war-torn nation.
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3 – Don’t mess with Rwanda
Rwandan opposition politician Abdallah Bamporiki was driving his car in Cape Town, where he was living in exile, when he was snatched at the end of February this year and shot with a single bullet. South African authorities blamed an attempted robbery, but the killing looked suspiciously like a series of assassinations of Rwandan dissidents abroad. From Belgium and Australia at South Africa and in Uganda, governments are waking up to an unlikely new spy threat: the Rwandan intelligence agency, which has set up one of Africa’s most sophisticated global spy networks to track down foreigner Critics of President Paul Kagame.
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5 – Tight-lipped Turkmenistan
The organization, which emerged from the ashes of the notorious Soviet-era KGB, organizes Turkmen students at home and abroad spy on each other, with the promise of a government post. The idea? To track any real or perceived contact with movements seen as threats to the regime in Central Asia’s most repressive and closed nation. And once spies in the energy-rich country identify you as a target, you’re trapped in a constant game of hide and seek, moving from country to country in search of safety.
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women in industry
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1 – April Haines
America’s latest spy likes to get her hands dirty. President Joe Biden’s Director of National Intelligence is the first woman to hold the position in the country’s history. In Haines, which previously served as assistant director of the CIA under President Barack Obama, America’s enemies have an adversary full of surprises. A Judoka trained in Japan who studied theoretical physics in college, Haines once flew and crashed a revamped Cessna — she survived and even married her flight instructor. Together they opened a bookstore and cafe in Baltimore. Now 51, the most intriguing part of Haines’ Hollywood history has only just begun.
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2 – Gina Haspel
Haines followed the path blazed by Haspel. The Trump appointee was the first woman to head the Central Intelligence Agency, where she worked for 36 years and was involved in controversial torture programs during the George W. Bush administration. Haspel has defended CIA waterboarding as a means of extracting information, but also expressed regret over the use of this technique.
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3 – Rachel Noble
Australia’s first female spy got her start as a code breaker in the 1980s with the Australian Directorate of Signals, which she now directs. She has been a strong advocate for collecting information on Australian criminals using cyber technology. The agency is authorized by law to use cybertechnology to track Australians in other countries, but not domestically, which is something she hopes to change. But his biggest challenge will come from China, amid deteriorating relations between Beijing and Canberra. Australia has already blamed China major cyberattacks These last months. Will it be able to prevent Beijing’s next strike?
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4 – Lynder Nkuranga
Appointed last year by President Paul Kagame to lead external intelligence at Rwanda’s spy agency, the former deputy police commissioner alleged specialty uses girls to collect information on foreign dignitaries and high profile Rwandan citizens. His main role is likely to be to ensure that Rwanda maintains an intelligence advantage in its strained relations with its neighbors. Uganda and Burundi.
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5 – Feng Yan
Very little is known about Feng, the highest-ranking female officer in Gonganbu, China’s Ministry of Public Security. And that’s by design. She was appointed political director from China’s main spy agency last year at a time when the Gonganbu is playing an increasingly proactive role in overwhelming democracy in Hong Kong. You might never see his face in public. But you will almost certainly see his handiwork.
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WATCH Christine Chui
Watch Christine Chui sit down with Carlos Watson
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Monitoring for the 21st Century
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1 – Diversifying the CIA
We spy confusion. The CIA changed its logo earlier this year, apparently in an effort to attract a more diverse pool of applicants beyond the White man who have dominated the agency throughout its history. It’s a big goal. But on the Internet, critics compared the new black and gray emblem to the techno music festival branding. Meanwhile, the agency has just released a “Humans of CIA” recruiting video on YouTube, featuring a “daughter of immigrants.” But attempts to humanize a clandestine institution will wash away the criticisms of Rebellion, the torture and murder that taint it? Should a spy agency even care?
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2 – MI5 goes online
The British spy agency’s answer to its recruitment problem was to join Instagram. It’s an initiative to educate people about what the agency actually does. (Hint: much less MI6 style sip of martinis than you think.) The goal is for the agency to become more connected but no less secretive. Early messages reminded the world of British innovation in the form of World War II spy pigeons.
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3 – Canada’s clumsy scheme
The swashbuckling agency run by our northern neighbors started tweeting earlier this year. A post, intended to encourage people to apply for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, included a quote from John le Carré’s novel A perfect spy. “You could be the perfect spy. All you need is a cause. The only problem? This book is about a Double agent.
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4 – Demystifying the Mossad
Israel’s top-secret spy force began recruiting online in 2014 via a website featuring a recruitment video designed to attract a wider group of applicants. In 2018, a documentary was even made about the agency, with former spies discussing their experiences. In the film, former Mossad deputy director Ram Ben-Barak acknowledged that the agency “plays by a different set of rules.” Slowly but surely, the agency is shedding its invisibility cloak.
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Where are you spying? !
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1 – spies in space
Countries have long used reconnaissance satellites to spy on Earth. Now they use spacecraft to spy on other satellites. Last year, two Russian satellites tracked an American spy satellite. This was the first known case of espionage among orbital vehicles. It will certainly not be the last.
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2 – Espionage on the high seas
Drones aren’t just for looks anymore. The market for unmanned ocean surveillance drones is exploding. Liquid Robotics led the way with the Wave Glider, a surfboard-like contraption that runs on solar power. Could they be used to monitor the activity of ocean-going ships or submarines?
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3 – Hiding in the cold
The New Zealand Spy Agency already follows the activities of other nations present in Antarctica. Now, as the last continent opens up and the human footprint grows there, expect other great nations to send watchful eyes. In April, Russia flew a spy drone named Zala on the landmass, testing its ability to operate in freezing conditions. Could the same tools that help researchers follow the penguins then serve as a weapon of espionage against humans?
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4 – The Deep Web
When Russian intelligence agents hacked into Democratic Party email servers in 2016, they used Bitcoin to cover their tracks. The anonymity offered by cryptocurrencies when transferring money means that transactions are harder to track. Now, US agencies are trying to adapt. the Pentagon looking for a way to get ahead of bitcoin criminals and find out how to detect crypto rogue networks.
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quote of the day
“Adults are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets.”
— Roald Dahl
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Community corner
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ABOUT OZY
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