Espionage
Espionage is the practice of spying on others (whether states or other entities) to gain information for economic, political or military advantage. Most nations routinely spy on their enemies, and allies, although they generally deny this. Espionage conducted for commercial purposes is industrial espionage. Black's Law Dictionary (1990) defines espionage as: "...gathering, transmitting, or losing...[information related to the national defense]."
The cold war involved intense espionage activity between the United States of America and its allies and the Soviet Union and China and their allies, particulary related to nuclear weapons secrets.
Recently, espionage agencies have targeted the illegal drugs industry and terrorists.
See: Cold War espionage
Notable spies or alleged spies
- Aldrich Ames
- Rosario Ames
- Jacques Cousteau
- Mansfield Cummings
- Cambridge Five
- Klaus Fuchs
- Ian Fleming
- Mata Hari
- Harold Nicholson
- Kim Philby
- Earl Edwin Pitts
- Alfred Redl
- Theodore Hall
- Thomas More
- Sidney Reilly
- Saville Sax
- Richard Sorge
- Markus Wolf
Espionage organizations
- See also Intelligence agencies and Special Operations Executive
Espionage technology
- Cryptography
- Steganography
- Echelon
- SIGINT
- Spy satellite
- Ultra
- The U-2 spy plane
- HUMINT - Intelligence gathered by a person on the ground.
- ELINT - Intelligence gathered from electronic sensors.
Counter-espionage technology
- TEMPEST - Protection devices for communication equipment.
Fictional spies
Premiere Espionage Site
The Whole Spy Page: http://come.to/wholespy
- See also: Secret agent, Spy fiction, numbers station