Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage is called an espionage agent or spy. Any individual or spy ring, in the service of a government, company, criminal organization, or independent operation, can commit espionage. The practice is clandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome. In some circumstances, it may be a legal tool of law enforcement and in others, it may be illegal and punishable by law.
Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security.
The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service and later absorbed by the National Security Agency (NSA), that ran from February 1, 1943, until October 1, 1980. It was intended to decrypt messages transmitted by the intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union. Initiated when the Soviet Union was an ally of the US, the program continued during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was considered an enemy.
A Red Scare is a form of right-wing propaganda in which there is a widespread promotion of fear and panic towards the potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies within a society or state. Historically, "red scares" have led to mass political persecution, scapegoating, and the ousting of those in government positions who have had connections with left-wing to far-left ideology.
The United Front Work Department is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with "united front work." It gathers intelligence on, manages relations with, and attempts to gain influence over elite individuals and organizations inside and outside China, including in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The UFWD focuses its work on people or entities that are outside the CCP, especially in the overseas Chinese diaspora, who hold political, commercial, or academic influence, or who represent interest groups. Through its efforts, the UFWD seeks to ensure that these individuals and groups are supportive of or useful to CCP interests and that potential critics remain divided.
Lauchlin Bernard Currie was an economist who worked as White House economic adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II (1939–45). From 1949 to 1953, he directed a major World Bank mission to Colombia and related studies.
The University of International Relations is a national public university in Beijing, China. It is known colloquially as "Guoguan" (国关; Guó Gūan).
The Ministry of State Security is the principal civilian intelligence, security and secret police agency of the People's Republic of China, responsible for foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and political security. One of the largest and most secretive intelligence organizations in the world, it is headquartered in the Haidian District of Beijing, with powerful semi-autonomous branches at the provincial, city, municipality and township levels throughout China.
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service, formerly the Finnish Security Police, is the security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The agency had a distinct role during the Cold War in monitoring communists as well as in the balance between Finnish independence and Soviet appeasement. After the 1990s, Supo has focused more on countering terrorism and in the 2010s, on preventing hybrid operations.
The Government of China is engaged in espionage overseas, directed through diverse methods via the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the United Front Work Department (UFWD), People's Liberation Army (PLA) via its Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department, and numerous front organizations and state-owned enterprises. It employs a variety of tactics including cyber espionage to gain access to sensitive information remotely, signals intelligence, human intelligence as well as influence operations through united front activity, especially the co-optation of ethnic Chinese diaspora communities and associations. The Chinese government is also engaged in industrial espionage aimed at gathering information and technology to bolster its economy, as well as transnational repression of dissidents abroad such as supporters of the Tibetan independence movement and Uyghurs as well as the Taiwan independence movement, the Hong Kong independence movement, Falun Gong, pro-democracy activists, and other critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The United States alleges that the degree of intelligence activity is unprecedented in its assertiveness and engagement in multiple host countries, particularly the United States, to which various US officials contend economic damages, prosperity and stolen innovations have resulted in $US320-445 billion annually since its inception and activities.
The Public Security Intelligence Agency is the domestic intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based on the Subversive Activities Prevention Act and the Act Regarding the Control of Organizations Which Committed Indiscriminate Mass Murder. Any investigation conducted by the agency needs to go through the Public Security Examination Commission (PSEC) in order to determine if there is a justification to investigate and clamp down on an organization's activities.
María Aline Griffith (y) Dexter, Countess of Romanones was an American-born Spanish aristocrat, socialite, and writer who worked in the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II and later for the CIA as a spy. The spouse of Luis Figueroa y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, a Spanish grandee, she was a close friend to world leaders and celebrities including Nancy Reagan, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn.
The United States has often accused the government of China of attempting unlawfully to acquire U.S. military technology and classified information as well as trade secrets of U.S. companies in order to support China's long-term military and commercial development. Chinese government agencies and affiliated personnel have been accused of using a number of methods to obtain U.S. technology, including espionage, exploitation of commercial entities, and a network of scientific, academic and business contacts. Prominent espionage cases include Larry Wu-tai Chin, Katrina Leung, Gwo-Bao Min, Chi Mak and Peter Lee. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) maintains a bureau dedicated to espionage against the United States, the United States Bureau.
Jiangnan Social University is school of intelligence tradecraft operated by the Ministry of State Security (MSS) of the People's Republic of China. Sometimes called Institute of Cadre Management Suzhou by Western observers, the school was intended to be an annex of the University of International Relations, but instead has become an MSS training facility. It is located adjacent to Yinshan Lake in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, an hour's drive from Shanghai.
Intercept: The Secret History of Computers and Spies is a 2015 non-fiction book by the historian and BBC journalist Gordon Corera about the history of digital covert operations. It examines the history of digital surveillance and code-breaking, and how it has transformed into modern cyberwarfare.
The Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission is one of the People's Republic of China's primary intelligence organizations and the principal military intelligence organ of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The China International Culture Exchange Center is a front organization of the 12th Bureau of the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the principal civilian intelligence agency of the People's Republic of China. CICEC was founded in 1984 and is active in operations to influence foreign think tanks, academics, and other high-profile foreigners. In addition to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, CICEC is considered one of the main front organizations utilized for foreign influence operations by the MSS.
Alex W. Joske is a Chinese-Australian author, sinologist, open-source intelligence researcher, and risk consultant who investigates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), particularly its influence operations. Previously a researcher with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC News His first major work influenced legislation in the United States Congress to ban Chinese military (PLA) officials from sensitive U.S. government laboratories. He was publicly banned from entering China by the Chinese government in 2020 due to his work. In 2022, he released his first book, Spies and Lies, about the clandestine operations of the Ministry of State Security and United Front Work Department.
Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World is a 2022 book written by Alex Joske which alleges that the west has been negligent of expansive Chinese government influence and foreign espionage efforts. It focuses especially on activities by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) in the United States. The book was published by Hardie Grant Books and released October 4, 2022. The book has been influential, and its cover includes the endorsement of Representative Mike Gallagher, who months later became the first leader of the Select Committee on the CCP in the United States Congress. Australian Chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Charles Edel described the book's method as an "almost forensic" approach to the topic.
The Jiangsu State Security Department is a provincial bureau of the Chinese Ministry of State Security in Jiangsu which serves as the coastal province's intelligence service and secret police. They are involved extensively in espionage against the United States, and aviation-related industrial espionage, operating the hacking group TURBINE PANDA, also known as APT26. They are most well known for their alleged responsibility for the high-profile 2015 hack of the United States Office of Personnel Management, stealing the personal details of over 20 million U.S. federal employees.
