The Secret World of Espionage & Intelligence

Decoding the secret language of espionage

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The First Priority of espionage: to obtain secret-confidential

information (intelligence) without the permission

of its holder

“We steal secrets” George Tenet, Director of U.S. Central Intelligence

Agency (CIA)

Secret actions taken by an organization or a country to

prevent another organization or country from discovering, military, industrial or political

secrets

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The three golden rules of espionage

1. Those who find out what their adversaries

wanted to hide from them are in a position of

strength

2. No secret service worth the name without an

efficient communication system

3. When it comes to espionage, there is no

efficient communication system without secret

codes

Collecting information

HUMan INTelligence (HUMINT)

Espionage derived from information collected and

provided by human resources

Interrogations and conversations with thosewho have access to valuable information

(diplomats, POW’s, refugees)

Secret information obtained from “assets”

Agents or “Assets”

An individual who spies and collect secret information

on behalf of an organization or a country

Information derived from “assets” can help shape foreign policy decisions

Oleg Penkovsky (codename HERO)

Top secret documents about the emplacement of Soviet

missiles in Cuba

Greta Garbo: unofficial “asset” to the British Special Operations Executive (SOE)

Well introduced at the Court of Swedish king Gustav V

Meetings between Werner Heisenberg &

Neils Bohr

Werner Heisenberg: Germany’s most brilliant

physicist (Quantum mechanics) & head of the German nuclear

weapon project

Neils Bohr (1922 Nobel Prize in Physics)

Garbo confirmed to the British the Nazis eager to secure deuterium oxide

(heavy water)

Heavy water: a key element in the making of

a nuclear bomb

1943: Bohr exfiltrated to Sweden then London

Double agent

An agent who pretends to act as a spy for one country or organization while in

fact serving another

Joan Garcia Pujol – Codename Garbo

“Garbo awarded” the Iron Cross by Hitler while feeding German

Intelligence with false information (D-Day landing)

Deceiving the enemy

The first book to argue that espionage should have a central role in

war & peace

“All warfare is based ondeception”

“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a

bodyguard of lies”

The London Controlling Section (LCS)

To coordinate Allied military deception with the object of

causing the Germans to waste their military resources

Operation Bodyguard

Deception plan aimed atmisleading the German high

command as to the time and placeof the Allied invasion of northwest

Europe

Operation Fortitude

The objectives:1. To divert German attention

away from Normandy prior to D-Day

2. To delay German reinforcementafter D-Day (Normandy as a

diversion)

Operation Fortitude South

Deception plan aimed at making the Germans believe the

Allied invasion would take place in the Pas-de-Calais

Securing & protectingcommunications

Herodotus (ancient Greek historian): the story of

Demaratus

Demaratus: a former king ofSparta in exile

Foreknowledge of Xerxes’ plan of invasion

How to warn Sparta?

Hiding a message in a wax tablet

Demaratus and the practice of concealing a message

(steganography)

Steganography: steganos (covered or concealed) +

graphia (writing)

How about hiding an extra layer: cryptology (or cryptography)?

Kryptos (hidden, secret) + graphia (writing)

The Spartan scytale

Cryptology: the practice and study of techniques aimed at protecting communication from a third party

The Spartan scytale: a way to communicate securely on the

battlefield

The concept of transposition cipher (code)

The order of letters in a message rearranged

A message written on a small strip of leather or parchment wrapped around a cylinder

(specific diameter)

Ciphers & codes

A cipher: an algorithm aimed at performing encryption & decryption

One letter or group of letters=

Another letter or group of letters according to a prearranged pattern

A code: arbitrarysubstitution (all substitutions

listed in a code book)

Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare

(January 1917)

The key objective: to force Britain to make peace within 6 months

Arthur Zimmerman (German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs): an alliance with Mexico to offset the likely entry of

the U.S. in the war

Code breaking

“Nothing is more worthy of a good general than the endeavor to penetrate the designs of the enemy” (Machiavelli)

Abu Yusuf Al-Kindi: the leading figure in the invention of cryptanalysis (the

science of decrypting ciphered messages without prior knowledge of

the cipher)

The “frequency” principle: in every alphabet some letters are more

frequently used than others

The Renaissance: aturning point in the

history of diplomacy & intelligence

“The end justifies the means”

Espionage, deception & spying necessary to

secure a ruler’s power

The system of resident ambassadors expected to collect intelligence

while representing their governments

The birth of codebreaking agencies

Sir Francis Walsingham

Elizabeth I’s principal Secretary of State and

intelligence chief

Cardinal Richelieu (Louis XIII’s chief minister, 1624-1642)

An intricate spy network & a black Chamber (cabinet noir), the first French codebreaking agency: the interception

and decryption of communications

The 19th century: unprecedented technological change

The invention of the telegraph and wireless: increased communications

Intercepting and decrypting communications (and electronic

signals): Signals intelligence (SIGINT)

A central role during the Great War (1914-1918) and beyond

The ULTRA intelligence: the breaking of high-level

German, Italian and Japanese ciphers (WW2)

When foreknowledge is not enough…

1. The Coventry Blitz (14 November 1940)

2. The invasion of Crete (May 1941)

Welcome to the world of espionage!