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Spies and Spying

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March 29, 2023

Russian Spy Unmasked

Johns Hopkins graduate Victor Ferreira unmasked as GRU operative

By GregMiller — The Washington Post

THE HAGUE — Like anyone who gets into his dream college, Victor Muller Ferreira was ecstatic when he was admitted to Johns Hopkins University’s graduate school in Washington in 2018.

The achievement was even sweeter for Ferreira because he was not the striving student from Brazil he had portrayed on his Johns Hopkins application, but a Russian intelligence operative originally from Kaliningrad.

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March 26, 2023

US Indicts Russian Spy

who tried to infiltrate ICC in The Hague

By Shaun Walker — The Guardian

US authorities have released new details about an alleged Russian spy who attempted to penetrate the international criminal court in The Hague, using a false identity developed over a decade.

An indictment made public on Saturday accuses Sergey Cherkasov, who US intelligence believes is an elite “illegal” operative of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. Cherkasov posed as Brazilian citizen Victor Muller Ferreira over many years.

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March 25, 2023

Accused Russian Spy Boasted

now he’s in prison after getting caught

By Bethany Dawson — Business Insider

An accused Russian spy boasted that infiltrating the US was easy. He’s now in prison after getting caught with files that blew his cover.

Court documents containing secret messages purporting to be between a Russian spy and his handler give a wild look into a decades-long cover story that later dramatically fell apart.

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March 24, 2023

Suspected Russian Spies Await Trial in Slovenia

the ordinary family at No. 35

By Bethany Dawson — Business Insider

Couple arrested with huge amount of cash and history of extensive European travel now allegedly pawns in diplomatic game

Maria Mayer and Ludwig Gisch settled in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, in 2017, with their two young children. People who met the couple tended to like them; the new arrivals from Latin America were friendly but never overbearing, inquisitive but never pushy.

It therefore came as a shock when, early in December, Mayer and Gisch were the targets of one of the most secretive and well-coordinated police and intelligence operations in Slovenia’s recent history.

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US Spymasters Testify

on global threats before Senate Intelligence Committee

By Amanda Macias — CNBC

The nation’s top spymasters testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on their annual report of global threats faced by the United States.

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Using Life Experiences

to craft an authentic spy novel

By Brittany Butler — Writer’s Digest

Author Brittany Butler discusses her first-hand knowledge in using life experience to craft an authentic spy novel.

I’ve been writing The Syndicate Spy in my head for years. You see, I’m a former CIA targeting officer with first-hand knowledge in the recruitment and handling of spies and the dismantling of terrorist networks abroad. I adore thrillers and spy novels. But none of the books I have read and loved have come close to telling what it was really like for a woman working at the CIA.

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Espionage Book Recommendations

from a former spy

By Brittany Butler — CrimeReads

Brittany Butler on spy reads and how they hold up to actual intelligence work.

When you work at the CIA, you’re taught that everything you do is a secret. You need to be invisible. But when I sit down to read a spy novel, it’s difficult to divorce my experiences from what I’m reading. But what I find fascinating is when authors manage to capture the true essence of espionage after having never worked in intelligence.

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The Syndicate Spy

A Juliet Arroway Novel

The Syndicate Spy: A Juliet Arroway Novel by [Brittany Butler]

By Brittany Butler

“Sacrifices must be made; battles will be lost. It is always this way in a quest for change.”

In the near future, Earth’s oil reserves are depleted. Nations grapple to find an alternative energy source. Terrorists race for control over world resources. And the Syndicate—a conglomerate of allied intelligence agencies—struggles to maintain peace.

Syndicate operative Juliet Arroway and her best friend, Mariam, a progressive Saudi princess, are tasked with hunting down terrorists and putting an end to the global energy war, the same mission that cost Juliet’s father his life. But when multiple terrorist attacks result in devastating losses, including the death of Juliet’s longtime boyfriend, and the Syndicate begins to suspect that Mariam’s family is somehow involved, Juliet must rise above her heartbreak to discover the truth.

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The Dirty Tricks Department

Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare

The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare by [John Lisle]

By John Lisle

The untold story of the OSS Research and Development Branch—The Dirty Tricks Department—and its role in World War II.

In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the OSS, walked in the door. “You know your Sherlock Holmes, of course,” Donovan said as an introduction. “Professor Moriarty is the man I want for my staff…I think you’re it.”

Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Their inventions included bat bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, and camouflaged explosives. Moreover, they forged documents for undercover agents, plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, and performed truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects.

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Australia Expels Russian Spy Ring

its members posed as diplomats

By Rod McGuirk — Associated Press

The spy ring comprised purported embassy and consular staff as well as other operatives using deep-cover identities, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the operation.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization’s secretary-general of security Mike Burgess described the network as a “hive” of spies because it was bigger and more dangerous than a “nest” of spies previously disrupted. Precise numbers have not been reported.

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British Intel Caught FBI Spy Chief

secretly meeting a Russian in London

By Mattathias Schwartz — Business Insider

In 2018, Charles McGonigal, the FBI’s former New York spy chief, traveled to London where he met with a Russian contact who was under surveillance by British authorities, two US intelligence sources told Insider.

The British were alarmed enough by the meeting to alert the FBI’s legal attaché, who was stationed at the US Embassy. The FBI then used the surreptitious meeting as part of their basis to open an investigation into McGonigal, one of the two sources said.

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Beyond Spy Balloons

7 Kinds of Intelligence Spies

By Dennis B. Desmond — The Conversation

While people may chuckle at the idea of using a balloon to passively float above a country to spy on it, the reality is anything goes when it comes to getting the upper hand on your adversaries. So what are some other ways nations collect intelligence today?

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The High Cost of Treason

By James L. Bruno — Dispatches from Exile

Those caught betraying their country lose much more than personal freedom, financial security and esteem.

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The Mysterious Charlie McGonigal

Secret Agent Man

By Jeff Stein — SpyTalk

Did a towering ego factor in the wayward path of the former top FBI counterintelligence official? Some former colleagues think so.

A onetime colleague of accused FBI turncoat Charles McGonigal says the former top counterintelligence official was an “egotistical narcissist” who frequently “screamed at subordinates,” resented the successes of underlings and may well have been part of an anti-Hillary Clinton clique in the New York office who helped pressure FBI Director James Comey to reopen the bureau’s investigation of her wayward emails only days before the 2016 election.

The security world uses an acronym, MICE, to sum up the principal motivations behind officials who turn coat. It stands for “Money, Ideology, Compromise, and Ego.”

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Legacy of Ashes

the history of the cia

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by [Tim Weiner]

By Tim Weiner

With shocking revelations that made headlines in papers across the country, Pulitzer-Prize-winner Tim Weiner gets at the truth behind the CIA and uncovers here why nearly every CIA Director has left the agency in worse shape than when he found it; and how these profound failures jeopardize our national security.

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Betrayal

the story of aldrich ames, an american spy

Betrayal: The Story of Aldrich Ames, an American Spy by [Tim Weiner, David Johnston, Neil A. Lewis]

By Tim Weiner, David Johnston and Neil A. Lewis

The remarkable story of the last American spy of the Cold War: Aldrich “Rick” Ames, the most destructive traitor in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The barons of the CIA could not believe that its headquarters harbored a traitor. For years, the Agency was baffled by a wily Russian spymaster who played a high-stakes chess game against the Americans, deceiving the CIA into thinking that there were other moles—or no moles at all.

It took nearly eight years for the CIA to share the full facts of the scenario with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Once they knew those facts, the men and women of the FBI tracked Aldrich Ames day and night for nine months before they arrested him. They tell their story here in astonishing detail for the first time.

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Sell Out

Aldrich ames the spy who broke the cia

Sell Out: Aldrich Ames: The Spy Who Broke the CIA by [James Adams]

By James Adams

The most important recruit to the KGB since Kim Philby.

On 21 February 1994, Aldrich Ames and his wife Rosario were finally arrested outside their home by the FBI. It was the end of the biggest spy hunt in American history — and the beginning of the biggest scandal ever to hit the CIA. But why was Ames not caught sooner? And who, in the end, was to blame?

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Spy

the inside story of how the fbi’s robert hanssen betrayed america

Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by [David Wise]

By David Wise

Spy tells, for the first time, the full, authoritative story of how FBI agent Robert Hanssen, code name grayday, spied for Russia for twenty-two years in what has been called the “worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history”–and how he was finally caught in an incredible gambit by U.S. intelligence.

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Breaking Cover

My Secret Life in the CIA

Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What It Taught Me about What's Worth Fighting For by [Michele Rigby Assad]

By Michele Rigby Assad 

A real-life, can’t-put-down spy memoir.

The CIA is looking for walking contradictions. Recruiters seek out potential agents who can keep a secret yet pull classified information out of others; who love their country but are willing to leave it behind for dangerous places; who live double lives, but can be trusted with some of the nation’s most highly sensitive tasks.

Michele Rigby Assad was one of those people.

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Adaptation Of The Bannerman Spy Novels

By Shania Russell — Slash Film

AMC has acquired the rights to the spy series and Shane Black has signed on as executive producer to turn the critically-acclaimed novels into a TV series.

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A Spy Among Friends Review

An elegant Cold War thriller

By Manuel Betancourt — AV Club

The title for A Spy Among Friends, last year’s British thriller that makes its MGM+ premiere on March 12, intentionally flirts with the glaring tension its narrative rests on. The spy genre, after all, depends on a timeless mantra—“trust no one”—that seems to stand in clear contradistinction to what one expects from one’s friendships.

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A Spy Among Friends

Thriller Adaptation Starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pierce

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by [Ben Macintyre, John le Carré]

By Matt Webb Mitovich — TVLine

A March release date has been set for MGM+’s adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s A Spy Among Friends, starring Emmy winners Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce). The six-episode limited series will premiere Sunday, March 12.

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The Ghost

The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton 

The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton by [Jefferson Morley]

By Jefferson Morley

A revelatory new biography of the sinister, powerful, and paranoid man at the heart of the CIA for more than three tumultuous decades.

CIA spymaster James Jesus Angleton was one of the most powerful unelected officials in the United States government in the mid-20th century, a ghost of American power.

From World War II to the Cold War, Angleton operated beyond the view of the public, Congress, and even the president.

  • He unwittingly shared intelligence secrets with Soviet spy Kim Philby, a member of the notorious Cambridge spy ring.
  • He launched mass surveillance by opening the mail of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
  • He abetted a scheme to aid Israel’s own nuclear efforts, disregarding U.S. security.
  • He committed perjury and obstructed the JFK assassination investigation.
  • He oversaw a massive spying operation on the antiwar and black nationalist movements
  • He initiated an obsessive search for communist moles that nearly destroyed the Agency.
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Wilderness of Mirrors

the legacy of CIA spy chief James Jesus Angleton

By Jefferson Morley — The Intercept

Documents Reveal the Complex Legacy of James Angleton, CIA Counterintelligence Chief and Godfather of Mass Surveillance 

In December 1974, CIA Director William Colby fired Angleton after The New York Times revealed the then-unknown counterintelligence chief had overseen a massive program to spy on Americans involved in anti-war and black nationalist movements, a violation of the CIA’s charter.

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“I’m afraid to sleep for fear of what I might find when I wake up.”
— Hunter S. Thompson, November 22, 1963

 

Morley v. CIA

My Unfinished JFK Investigation

Morley v. CIA: My Unfinished JFK Investigation by [Jefferson Morley]

By Jefferson Morley

In 2003 journalist Jefferson Morley sued the Central Intelligence Agency. He sought public release of the files of a deceased undercover officer who was involved in the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In Morley v. CIA: My Unfinished JFK Investigation, Morley tells the story of the epic 16-year long legal saga that followed.

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Scorpions’ Dance

The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate

Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate by [Jefferson Morley]

By Jefferson Morley

The untold story of President Richard Nixon, CIA Director Richard Helms, and their volatile shared secrets that ended a presidency.

Intelligence expert and investigative journalist Jefferson Morley reveals the Watergate scandal in a completely new light: as the culmination of a concealed, deadly power struggle between President Richard Nixon and CIA Director Richard Helms.

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Age of Secrets

The Conspiracy that Toppled Richard Nixon and the Hidden Death of Howard Hughes

Age of Secrets: The Conspiracy that Toppled Richard Nixon and the Hidden Death of Howard Hughes by [Gerald Bellett]

By Gerald Bellett

This acclaimed non-fiction international political thriller exposes the real reason for Watergate, the hidden death of Howard Hughes, and the illicit activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with the CIA’s worldwide pursuit of John Meier trying to expose it all, including revealing information on the Robert F. Kennedy Assassination

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The Greatest True Spy Stories

By Via Bantam — CrimeReads

A look at some of the wildest, most revelatory nonfiction books about espionage and the life of spies.

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The Art of Intelligence

Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service

The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service by [Henry A. Crumpton]

By Henry A. Crumpton 

A legendary CIA spy and counterterrorism expert tells the spellbinding story of his high-risk, action-packed career.

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Life Undercover

coming of age in the cia

Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by [Amaryllis Fox]

By Amaryllis Fox 

Amaryllis Fox’s riveting memoir tells the story of her ten years in the most elite clandestine ops unit of the CIA, hunting the world’s most dangerous terrorists in sixteen countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughter

Amaryllis Fox was in her last year as an undergraduate at Oxford studying theology and international law when her writing mentor Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded. Galvanized by this brutality, Fox applied to a master’s program in conflict and terrorism at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, where she created an algorithm that predicted, with uncanny certainty, the likelihood of a terrorist cell arising in any village around the world. At twenty-one, she was recruited by the CIA.

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The Unexpected Spy

From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists

The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists by [Tracy Walder, Jessica Anya Blau]

By Tracy Walder

A highly entertaining account of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA, where she hunted terrorists and WMDs. When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.

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The Recruiter

Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence

The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence by [Douglas London]

By Douglas London

This revealing memoir from a 34-year veteran of the CIA who worked as a case officer and recruiter of foreign agents before and after 9/11 provides an invaluable perspective on the state of modern spy craft, how the CIA has developed, and how it must continue to evolve.

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Code Name Blue Wren

The True Story of America’s Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed

Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed by [Jim Popkin]

By Jim Popkin

This is the incredible true story of Ana Montes, the most damaging female spy in US history!

Just days after the 9-11 attacks, a senior Pentagon analyst eased her red Toyota Echo into traffic and headed to work. She never saw the undercover cars tracking her every turn. As she settled into her cubicle on the 6th floor of the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, FBI Agents and twitchy DIA officers were hiding in nearby offices. For this was the day that Ana Montes–the US Intelligence Community superstar who had just won a prestigious fellowship at the CIA–was to be arrested and publicly exposed as a secret agent for Cuba.

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Ana Montes, American Convicted of Spying for Cuba

released from US federal prison after 20 years

By Josh Campbell — CNN

Cuba recruited Montes for spying in the 1980s and she was employed by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency as an analyst from 1985-2001. She was eventually promoted to be the DIA’s top Cuba analyst.

The FBI and DIA began investigating her in the fall of 2000 but, in response to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, she had access to plans for US attacks against Afghanistan and the Taliban.

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Ex-Russian Spy Flees

By Michael Weiss — Yahoo! News

TALLINN, Estonia — “The Russians have no idea,” Alexander Toots, the head of Estonian counterintelligence.

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Socialite Who Charmed NATO Was A Russian Spy

GRU officer spent decade posing as Peruvian jewellery designer

By Shaun Walker — The Guardian

A team of investigators claim to have unmasked a deep-cover spy from Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, who spent a decade posing as a Latin American jewellery designer and partied with Nato staff based in Naples.

The investigators say the woman went by the name of Maria Adela Kuhfeldt Rivera, and told people she met that she was the child of a German father and Peruvian mother, born in the city of Callao, Peru.

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Ronan Farrow:

the Threat of Modern Spyware

By David Remnick — The New Yorker

Ronan Farrow has published an investigation into a software called Pegasus and its maker, NSO Group. Pegasus is one of the most invasive spywares known; it allows users—including law-enforcement officials or government authorities—to hack into a target’s smartphone, gaining access to photos, messages, and the feeds from a camera or microphone.

NSO markets Pegasus as a tool to catch terrorists and other violent criminals, but once a surveillance tool is on the market it can be very difficult to control. Farrow finds that Pegasus is being used to suppress political opposition in democratic nations, including Spain. The largest known cluster of Pegasus attacks has targeted people in Catalonia who support the independence movement, which the Spanish government views as a threat.

“This is not just an information-gathering tool,” Farrow tells David Remnick. “It’s an intimidation tactic, and it works.”

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How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens

The inside story of the world’s most notorious commercial spyware and the big tech companies waging war against it.

By Ronan Farrow — The New Yorker

NSO Group’s software has been linked to repressive regimes, but now “all types of governments” use it, an observer said.

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Ronan Farrow:

Investigating the World’s Most Notorious Spyware Company: NSO Group

By Daniel Estrin — All Things Considered, NPR

NPR’s Daniel Estrin speaks with Ronan Farrow about his New Yorker investigation into Israeli spyware company NSO Group, and his interview with an employee who quit.

A princess from Dubai, The British prime minister’s office, a Saudi women’s rights activist, prominent politicians, lawyers and activists in Catalonia – they were all victims of hacking by the world’s most notorious spyware company.

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Ronan Farrow:

How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens

By Amanpour and Company

The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow recently investigated the commercial spyware industry and its implications for democracies around the world. He tells Hari Sreenivasan what he found.

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The Early Spy Manual

That Turned Bad Middle Management Into An Espionage Tactic

By Cara Giaimo — Atlas Obscura

Declassified documents reveal that World War II was won in part by more everyday saboteurs–purposefully clumsy factory workers, annoying train conductors, and bad middle managers, all trained by the U.S.’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual.

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The Spy Who Came Home

Why an expert in counterterrorism became a beat cop.

By Ben Taub — The New Yorker

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Brussels, the Den of Spies

The home of the EU and NATO remains an open playground for Chinese and Russian operatives.

By Matt Brazil — SpyTalk

Brussels seems overlooked by spy novelists and film directors, but its unusual concentration of diplomatic missions to the European Union, NATO, and to Belgium itself brings a high ratio per square kilometer of diplomats and lobbyists—as well as spies.

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America’s Throwaway Spies

a reuters special report

By Joel Schectman and Boxorgmehr Sarafedin

How the CIA failed Iranian informants in its secret war with Tehran

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The Main Enemy

The Inside Story of the CIA’s Final Showdown with the KGB

The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB by [Milton Bearden, James Risen]

By Milton Bearden and James Risen

Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose through the ranks to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War. The clandestine operations they masterminded took them from the sewers of Moscow to the back streets of Baghdad, from Cairo and Havana to Prague and Berlin, but the action centers on Washington, starting in the infamous “Year of the Spy”—when, one by one, the CIA’s agents in Moscow began to be killed, up through to the very last man.

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Zero Fail

The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service

Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service by [Carol Leonnig]
By Carol Leonnig

The first definitive account of the rise and fall of the Secret Service, from the Kennedy assassination to the alarming mismanagement of the Obama and Trump years, right up to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6.

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House of Trump House of Putin

The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia

House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia by [Craig Unger]

By Craig Unger

The first comprehensive investigation into the decades-long relationship among Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Mafia that ultimately helped win Trump the White House.

It is a chilling story that begins in the 1970s, when Trump made his first splash in the booming, money-drenched world of New York real estate, and ends with Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States. That moment was the culmination of Vladimir Putin’s long mission to undermine Western democracy, a mission that he and his hand-selected group of oligarchs and Mafia kingpins had ensnared Trump in, starting more than twenty years ago with the massive bailout of a string of sensational Trump hotel and casino failures in Atlantic City.

This book confirms the most incredible American paranoias about Russian malevolence.

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Trump’s Ties to the Russian Mafia

go back 3 decades

By Sean Illing — VOX

Journalist Craig Unger talks Russia, Trump, and “one of the greatest intelligence operations in history.”

On November 9, 2016, just a few minutes after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, a man named Vyacheslav Nikonov approached a microphone in the Russian State Duma (their equivalent of the US House of Representatives) and made a very unusual statement.

“Dear friends, respected colleagues!” Nikonov said. “Three minutes ago, Hillary Clinton admitted her defeat in US presidential elections, and a second ago Trump started his speech as an elected president of the United States of America, and I congratulate you on this.”

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Facts and Fears

Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence

Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence by [James R. Clapper, Trey Brown]

By James R. Clapper — Former Director of National Intelligence

When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth United States director of national intelligence, James Clapper had been President Obama’s senior intelligence adviser for six and a half years, longer than his three predecessors combined.

He led the U.S. intelligence community through a period that included the raid on Osama bin Laden, the Benghazi attack, the leaks of Edward Snowden, and Russia’s influence operation during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. In Facts and Fears, Clapper traces his career through the growing threat of cyberattacks, his relationships with presidents and Congress, and the truth about Russia’s role in the presidential election.

He describes, in the wake of Snowden and WikiLeaks, his efforts to make intelligence more transparent and to push back against the suspicion that Americans’ private lives are subject to surveillance.

Finally, it was living through Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and seeing how the foundations of American democracy were–and continue to be–undermined by a foreign power that led him to break with his instincts honed through more than five decades in the intelligence profession to share his inside experience.

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Need to Know

World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence

Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence by [Nicholas Reynolds]

By Nicholas Reynolds 

Historian and former CIA officer Nicholas Reynolds uncovers the definitive history of American intelligence during World War II, illuminating its key role in securing victory and its astonishing growth from practically nothing at the start of the war. 

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China’s Audacious Spies

a bold new look

By Matt Brazil — SpyTalk

“Spies and Lies” unmasks Beijing’s aggressive and confident espionage service.

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Clean Out the FBI and Secret Service

By Jeff Stein — SpyTalk

It was bad enough that leaders of the FBI and Secret Service basically ignored the burning river of warnings that thousands of pro-Trump insurgents were planning a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Now it turns out a “sizeable” percentage of the FBI workforce was sympathetic to the rioters, according to a document that surfaced to relatively little notice.

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The International Spy Museum

washington dc
Check it out! Get tickets now!
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Handbook of Practical Spying

from the international spy museum

By Jack Barth

This is the first step in learning how to think like a spy!

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The CIA Museum

Get a Peek Inside

By Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing — Atlas Obscura

FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, the CIA Museum has been one of the most mysterious collections of artifacts in the world. Housed in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia—one of the most secure buildings in the United States—the museum tells the story of the government’s clandestine undertakings from the Cold War through the CIA’s mission in May 2011 to kill Osama bin Laden to today. It has had an exclusive audience: only CIA officers and approved officials have been allowed to view the collection—until now.

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Inside the World’s Most Top Secret Museum

By Gordon Corera — BBC

It is the perhaps the most unusual – and exclusive – museum in the world, filled with artefacts that have shaped history. But its doors are firmly shut to the public.

It is the only place a visitor can see the gun found with Osama bin Laden when he was killed, next to Saddam Hussein’s leather jacket.

Welcome to the CIA’s secret in-house museum.

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Spyscape

new york’s #1 Rated museum & experience
Uncover your spy superpowers!

Dive into the real world of secrets. Dodge lasers, make and break codes, run surveillance, lie and spot liars — while our algorithm, developed by a former Head of Training at MI6, creates a personalized profile of your skills and attributes.

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The Moscow Rules

The Secret CIA Tactics That Helped America Win the Cold War

The Moscow Rules: The Secret CIA Tactics That Helped America Win the Cold War by [Antonio J. Mendez, Jonna Mendez]

By Antonio J. Mendez and Jonna Mendez

“From the spymaster and inspiration for the movie Argo, discover the real-life spy thriller of the brilliant but under-supported CIA operatives who developed breakthrough spy tactics that helped turn the tide of the Cold War.” — Malcolm Nance

Antonio Mendez and his future wife Jonna were CIA operatives working to spy on Moscow in the late 1970s, at one of the most dangerous moments in the Cold War. Soviets kept files on all foreigners, studied their patterns, and tapped their phones. Intelligence work was effectively impossible. The Soviet threat loomed larger than ever.

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ARGO

How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History

Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by [Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio]

By Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio

The true, declassified account of CIA operative Tony Mendez’s daring rescue of American hostages from Iran that inspired the critically-acclaimed film directed by and starring Ben Affleck, and co-starring John Goodman, Alan Arkin, and Bryan Cranston.

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there is a little-known drama connected to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a top-level CIA officer named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them before they were detected.

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Republicans Delayed US Hostage Release

to sabotage Jimmy Carter reelection

By Adam Gabbatt — TheGuardian

Former Texas governor John Connally urged Middle Eastern leaders to convince Iran not to release hostages before 1980 election. “Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr Reagan will win and give you a better deal.”

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The Looming Tower

al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11

The Looming Tower by [Lawrence Wright]

By Lawrence Wright 

A “heart-stopping account of the events leading up to 9/11” (The New York Times Book Review), this definitive history explains in gripping detail the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the intelligence failures that culminated in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

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GADGETS AND GEAR

Cold War Spy Gadgets

By Jonna Mendez — Former CIA Chief of Disguise 

During the Cold War, surveillance in Moscow was the most difficult kind of surveillance that the US had encountered around the globe. Moscow had its own set of rules since it was such a difficult place to work. Former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez talks about some of the tactics, gadgets and disguises CIA operatives used in the field during the Cold War.

Watch the YouTube Video!

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SpyGuy Gadgets

By Allen

Check it out. There’s something for everyone!

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Best Spy Gear in 2022

November Reviews

By Christen da Costa — GadgetReview

If you’re looking for the best spy gadgets you can actually buy and use, check out our spy gadgets list, featuring products like our top pick, the Arcshell UHF two way radio set. This walkie talkie set comes with a 1500 mAh battery in each handset and includes a charger. With 16 frequency channels and a range of up to 5 miles, it lets you keep in touch with an adventure partner when out of cell coverage.

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High-Tech Spy Gadgets

By Brickhouse Security

Security tools can provide serious protection, but they can also make fun toys for hobbyists and enthusiasts. For users who enjoy spy gadgets, we offer a wide variety of devices and tools, from tiny body worn cameras that can covertly capture footage to ordinary objects that secretly double as diversion safes for storing small valuables. We also carry high-tech equipment designed for the professional, ensuring that no matter what your area of interest, your needs are covered by BrickHouse Security.

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Amazon Spy Gadgets

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Spy Gadgets

the original spy store since 1998
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Las Vegas Spy Store

coolcat spy gadgets
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The Spywear Lookup Tool

By Zack Whittaker — TechCrunch

The tool allows anyone to check if their Android device was compromised by a network of consumer-grade stalkerware apps, including TheTruthSpy. The aim is to help victims check if their device was compromised and reclaim control of their device.

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SPY NOVELS

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

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