In the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the FBI stepped up its recruiting efforts in the US, hoping to attract Russians who are dissatisfied or disillusioned with the war. People standing in close proximity to the Russian embassy in Washington, DC, can see the ads, which appear in Russian, on Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
One ad appeared in a Washington Post reporter’s Facebook feed when he was standing on the sidewalk next to the embassy’s walls on Wisconsin Avenue NW, but none appeared in his feed when he crossed the street.
“It’s a brilliant recruiting strategy because I think there’s probably a lot of folks within the Russian government that are incredibly dissatisfied with Putin’s war, and therefore it’s a great opportunity to see if any of those dissatisfied people could help us understand Putin’s intentions better,” Peter Lapp, a former FBI counterintelligence agent, told the Post. more
For the last few years at least, an image has been circulating on the internet containing a bright yellow pair of shoes with lifted heels where the toes should go. The image was often shared alongside commentary that the shoes were warn by spies, who used them to throw would-be spy hunters off their trail.
We were unable to locate the original photograph, but there is no evidence that the pictured shoes were worn by real spies, during World War II or any other time.
Mr. Earnest acknowledged that his personality sometimes made it difficult to spend years working undercover. “It’s hard when you’re an open person by nature,” he told Washingtonian magazine in 2013. “In some cases, people say, ‘You don’t seem like a spy.’
“The best spies don’t seem like spies.”
In a video interview for the Spy Museum,
Mr. Earnest described what he called “my Bond moment” at the CIA, in
which he slipped out of a black-tie reception at the home of an asset
and bugged the person’s office. Lying on his back, with a handkerchief
positioned on his chest to catch the shavings, he drilled small holes in
the bottom of the target’s desk and installed a recording device. more
Andrey Shumeyko, who goes by handles JVHResearch and YRH04E, advertised leaked Apple apps, internal company documents, and stolen devices to a community that traded in such commodities. However, unbeknownst to others in the community, he also shared a wealth of details about its inner workings to Apple.
According to Motherboard, Shumeyko reportedly provided Apple with the personal information of people who sold stolen prototype devices and Apple employees who leaked information online...
Shumeyko said he is sharing his story because he felt like Apple took
advantage of him and didn't compensate him for the information that he
provided to the company's Global Security team. more
The department oversees the country's foreign and domestic intelligence services and reports directly to the Italian government.
Ms Belloni, 63, has a long career of firsts. more
The flamed-haired former femme fatale told viewers on REN TV that “the health of your loved ones depends on your decision.”
Chapman, who had been working in real estate in New York, made headlines in 2010 when she was revealed to be part of a Russian sleeper cell.
She was deported to Russia shortly after along with nine other spies as
part of a massive prisoner swap and is now a TV presenter. more
A general in the Romanian intelligence service, he later revealed the corruption and cruelty behind his country’s Communist regime. He died of Covid-19.
Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, a senior Romanian intelligence official and an adviser to his country’s president, Nicolae Ceaucescu, arrived in Bonn, West Germany, one day in June 1978 on a diplomatic mission. Mr. Ceaucescu had given him a message for the German chancellor — and orders to devise a plan to assassinate an American journalist who covered Romania.
An engineer who specialized in industrial espionage, Mr. Pacepa had no interest in murder. And so, he entered the U.S. Embassy and announced his intention to defect. When he landed at Andrews Air Force Base a few days later, he became one of the highest-ranking officials to flee the Soviet bloc during the Cold War.
Mr. Ceaucescu offered a $2 million reward for his death, and reportedly hired Ilich RamÃrez Sánchez, a Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, to find him. more
Antonio ProhÃas arrived in New York in May of 1960 with just $5 in his pocket, pressured to leave Cuba after Fidel Castro accused him of being a CIA agent.
It took a Cuban illustrator to really capture the essence of Cold War intelligence and counter-intelligence for the MAD-reading public. After penning one too many cartoons that were critical of Fidel Castro, ProhÃas — who was a prominent cartoonist and illustrator in his home country — headed for New York, writes Eric Grundhauser for Atlas Obscura. At the time, he didn’t speak a word of English.
“In New York, ProhÃas took work in a factory during the day, while working up his illustration portfolio at night,” Grundhauser writes. He changed the appearance of one of his characters from the strip he published in Cuba, El Hombre Siniestro, and gave him a counterpart: Spy vs. Spy was born.
“The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel’s accusation of me as a spy
into a moneymaking venture,” ProhÃas said in a 1983 interview with the
Miami Herald. “One of these days I am going to have to make a sign
saying, ‘Thank You, Fidel.’ ”
On the 100th anniversary of his birth last Sunday — the Cienfuegos native died in Miami in 1998 — ProhÃas is still spreading laughter with his Cold War spies,
who pummeled each other brutally with whatever sophisticated weapons
they could grab from the black humor bag of their creator. more & more