Espionage

A “non-official cover” agent generally refers to an espionage agent working in a foreign nation as a private citizen — without the protection of diplomatic immunity they would enjoy if they were hiding behind another government job. As described by the Department of Justice, “SVR agents operating under such non-official cover — sometimes referred to […]

Most World War II spies learned little of import—and those who did were invariably disbelieved. Any historian who hopes to tell the true story of secret intelligence operations, even from the distant past, quickly discovers that he is up against two formidable obstacles. First is the Kafkaesque system of government classification. Not only do U.S. […]

Reddit recently asked an interesting question, and I decided to expand on it here, at SOFREP. You’re in the CIA and you suspect a fellow agent to be a spy. They’re 25-35 and speak perfect English. What question do you ask to determine whether they grew up in the U.S.? Isaac Asimov once answered this questions […]

A Taiwan-born American citizen has admitted selling nuclear information to China while he was a senior manager at the U.S. government’s Tennessee Valley Authority, federal officials say. Court records unsealed Friday show that Ching Ning Guey admitted traveling to China and receiving payments in return for handing over restricted information about U.S. nuclear technology. Federal […]

Imagine American Special Forces soldiers traveling around Baghdad in civilian vehicles, speaking the local language, carrying false passports, and operating under a cover as they case targets and dodge foreign intelligence agents. Today, such a thing is an impossibility, a much sought after capability that Special Forces has been unable to attain in recent years. […]

China has been on an espionage campaign in America and the west; targeting military secrets and technology. It appears that their success has ignited the air with suspicion in the PRC. With any luck, the Chinese will cripple themselves with paranoia and witch-hunts. – China recently held its first “National Security Education Day”. Materials were distributed […]

Each time we cover Chinese espionage here at SOFREP we have come to expect the usual deluge of Chinese nationals accusing us of being racist.  You know, racist against the oppressed Han Chinese minority group that numbers in well over a billion people… A propaganda poster recently spread around Beijing as a part of “National Security Education Day” […]

FighterSweep Fans, if these allegations are true, this is not good news for us. Edward Lin, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and Naval Flight Officer (NFO) aboard one of the most advanced SIGINT (SIGnals INTelligence) aircraft in the inventory, has been accused of passing secrets to China. A U.S. naval flight officer (NFO) with an […]

A Navy officer assigned to a patrol and reconnaissance group has been charged in military court with two counts of espionage, punishable by the death penalty under certain conditions. The lieutenant commander is being held at the brig in Chesapeake and appeared at the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing at Norfolk Naval Station on […]

Despite popular conceptions, the Chinese are increasingly crossing U.S. the border, as Mexicans are returning home. the border is not simply an American and Mexican issue anymore. The world watches us, and our enemies the closest. Are you still up in arms over migrant workers? I hope not, because this whole border issue has become […]

Ukrainian intelligence officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), have uncovered evidence of direct Russian training, supply, and support, at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) in Donbass, Ukraine. Russian officials who were assigned to the center as part of a diplomatic agreement have undermined their position to provide support for Russian Separatist. The JCCC […]

With all due respect to early-American hagiographer Parson Weems, George Washington knew how to tell a lie. In fact, he told a lot of them. Moreover, talent for deception was shared by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, all of whom, to borrow from former Vice President Dick Cheney, worked the “dark side.” And though these […]