Traditional espionage is much more difficult in the world of smartphones, according to CIA director William Burns, a view that is supported by many current and former intelligence officials.
In particular, it is much more difficult for a spy to create a convincing false identity in another country...
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The WSJ reports:
An educated CIA officer could once cross borders with a wallet full of aliases or travel confidently to foreign cities without being tracked. Now, he or she faces digital obstacles that are characteristic of modern life: ubiquitous surveillance cameras and biometric checks at borders, not to mention smartphones, watches, and cars that constantly ping their location. Then, there is the «digital dust», the personal record that almost everyone leaves on the internet.
«The fundamental elements of espionage have collapsed», said Duyane Norman, former CIA station chief who led an early agency effort to adapt espionage for the digital age, called «Station of the Future.»
For example, he asks how a CIA officer could pretend to work for another government agency or private company if his mobile phone is not regularly present at the location of that entity, there is no record that he made ATM withdrawals, and no sign of him on the surveillance cameras there?
Not having an electronic “signature”—like not having a cell phone and not having an online presence—is in itself information for rival spy agencies, Mr. Norman and others said.
In the new environment, it is «much more complicated to conduct traditional commercial arts», recognized the CIA director William Burns during the February confirmation hearing.
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If CIA spies want to impersonate someone else, they will essentially have to live that person’s life, a former spy said.
“It’s harder for intelligence officers to impersonate someone else,” said a retired intelligence officer who said he had nine false identities during his career. More spying will be done under “real name,” meaning the spy will not pose as someone else but will “live the cover” as a businessman, academic or other professional with no apparent connection to the U.S. government.
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But both Burns and other experts say that the CIA will adapt.
«We always play offense and do not adopt a defensive stance» said the senior CIA official.
For example, it is possible to «be forged» the location of a mobile phone, misleading foreign spies into believing that their target is in one place, when it is safely elsewhere, said current and former CIA officials.
Information source: 9to5mac.com
