A new age of Espionage: How Technology has Improved Spying

Spying has been around since time immemorial. Mind you, there is even mention of spies in the Bible!

Throughout the recent Cold war, the U.S government had spies famously known as double agents that worked for both parties, but stayed loyal to one side. The key function of the double agent was to pick secrets of the enemy and avail them to the side to which he or she was loyal. However, with technological advancement, espionage activities has improved a lot in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.

One of the early espionage techniques that have now improved is the use of hot air balloons to spy on enemy troop movements. With current aircraft technology, superpower countries such as the US, have ultra-modern, high altitude reconnaissance planes that are used for checking enemy’s whereabouts. For spies to conduct their duties effectively, they must be able to cross borders, acquire cover, train sources, and detect surveillance. In addition to that, they must participate in a direct action task and stay relevant to their occupation as a spy for decades. For this to be possible, spies have to embrace current technological advancements, and use them to their advantage.

Collection of secret information

Not long ago, Cyber cafes were once a hot cake source of intelligence for spies and security organizations. This is simply because cyber is economical to establish and run, compared to how effective it is in the collection of information. Spies used to set up these cafes near an international conference building likely to be used by targets, or close to staunch extremists joints. These facilities allowed spies to monitor targets’ online activities, and also obtain logins and passwords of various accounts. Ironically, people favored cyber cafes to their personal computers for illegal activities, hence falling into the trap.

Not any longer. Since Edward Snowden’s leakage of the National Security Agency that revealed how Cybers were used to spy at the G20 summit, people have seriously been avoiding these joints. This prompted spies to come up with better technological advancements that would suit their need to gather intelligence. Spies have developed gadgets that can be connected to the network of the targets. For instance, a simple office worker can stick a device on the printer, which in turn can infiltrate the system network, hence transmitting the necessary data. In addition, most spies have acquired hacking skills that allow them to remotely access the network of the target organization or individual, thus getting access to secret files unnoticed.

Communication

In order for a spy to execute his or her mandate effectively, communication is paramount. A spy has to communicate with the source, their contacts, and their commandants. Technological advancement has proved extremely helpful in this sector. Introduction of gadgets with end to end encryption has reduced the risk of spys’ communication being intercepted by a third party. Currently, large files can be sent quickly and conveniently, thus boosting spying activity. Spies are using Nano-robots to do most of the work. Smart sensors have also been created to facilitate most data collection.