Weekend Read: “Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression”

November 1, 2023

by  Jack Devine  (Author)

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars      73 ratings

I am pleased to announce that the paperback edition of my second book “Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression” comes out today.

When the book was first published in the middle of the pandemic in 2021, there was only an emergent acknowledgement of the real threat posed by Russian "active measures" and espionage to Western interests. Though I devoted an entire section to Ukraine called "New Berlin", I could not have foretold how much the world would change only a year later, on 24 February 2022...

I hope that the release of the paperback of "Spymaster's Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression" will give you an opportunity to discover or revisit a thorough accounting of the Russian intelligence services relentless and unending campaign against the West and what we must continue to do to arrest it. Good Hunting! 

From the What Goes Around Files: Russia's FSB Hacked

Russia's Secret Intelligence Agency Hacked: 'Largest Data Breach In Its History'
 
Red faces in Moscow this weekend, with the news that hackers have successfully targeted FSB—Russia's Federal Security Service. The hackers managed to steal 7.5 terabytes of data from a major contractor, exposing secret FSB projects to de-anonymize Tor browsing, scrape social media, and help the state split its internet off from the rest of the world.

The data was passed to mainstream media outlets for publishing. FSB is Russia's primary security agency with parallels with the FBI and MI5, but its remit stretches beyond domestic intelligence to include electronic surveillance overseas and significant intelligence-gathering oversight. It is the primary successor agency to the infamous KGB, reporting directly to Russia's president. more

Spy v Spy in Nicaragua — Some Things Never Change

U.S. officials are tracking the activity of a Russian spy base on the edge of a volcano in Nicaragua that is believed to be monitoring American agents.

The CIA has reportedly sent numerous Russian-speaking Cold War experts to perform counter surveillance of Moscow’s activity in Central America.

One source told The Washington Post, “Clearly, there’s been a lot of activity, and it’s on the uptick now.”

Located in Laguna de Nejapa, the base is officially known as a tracking site for Moscow’s GPS satellite system, but CIA officials suspect that resources there are being utilized to spy on the American Embassy located only ten miles away. more

Bugged Samovar Leads to Arrest of Russian Officials

Russia's security service arrested three senior officials after recording conversations using a bug hidden in a samovar they had given as a gift of thanks for anti-corruption efforts, it's emerged.

According to the influential Kommersant newspaper, the Federal Security Service (FSB) planted the bug as part of an investigation into senior officials of the Russian Investigations Committee (SKR) who were said to be taking bribes. The samovar - engraved with the letters "FSB" and the organisation's logo - been presented to the head of the Investigations Committee's Internal Security Directorate, Mikhail Maksimenko, and was left sitting in his office, Moscow daily Izvestiya reports.

The three were arrested in July, but details of the bugging operation have only just been revealed as their case comes to court. more

But wait! 
There's more!
This isn't the first time a Russian samovar has been accused of being a bug. 
Check this out.  ~Kevin

Spies Gone Wild, or "Dude, where's MY car?"

This is the moment newly qualified Russian spies parade a cortege of black Mercedes Gelandewagens through the streets of Moscow while blasting their horns.


The cavalcade by recently-qualified 007s from Vladimir Putin's espionage ranks has stunned Cold War specialists schooled in staying in the shadows.

Veteran spies in Russia have reacted in horror after the show of strength by newly graduated agents from the foreign intelligence section of the FSB spy academy.

The FSB was once headed by Putin, who was also a KGB agent in Germany during the Cold War. more