Tag: espionage

Former U.S. diplomat arrested in FBI spying probe

Former Ambassador and diplomat Manuel Rocha was arrested in Miami after a long-running counterintelligence investigation.

According to the Associated Press, Rocha is being accused of working as an agent of Cuba’s government.

While more details are expected in court on Monday, those who spoke to reporters said that Rocha was working with the Cuban government to promote its interests within the United States.

Over the past several years, the Justice Department has cracked down on individuals who have neglected to register as a foreign agent, as required by law.

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FBI Knew Ukrainian Spy Was at Capitol Riot: QAnon Shaman

Jacob Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman,” claimed the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) knew that an alleged Ukrainian spy participated in the riot at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Chansley, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison over his involvement in the January 6 riot but was released earlier this year, said in an interview with conservative activist Laura Loomer that the FBI questioned him about the presence of Sergai Dybynyn, an alleged Ukrainian spy with reported ties to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which has risen to prominence amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

The FBI has not confirmed Chansley’s statement, which could not be independently verified. Newsweek reached out to the FBI via email for comment.

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British Foreign Intelligence Chief Pleads With Russians to Spy on Their Own Country – MI6’s Richard Moore Calls for ‘Appalled’ Citizens Against Ukraine War to ‘Share Secrets’ With Them

In the west’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, the Intelligence effort is one of the most important aspects. And it appears that – as is the case in the military front – things are not quite going according to plan.

When spy chiefs come out in public to make an appeal for citizens of an enemy country to collaborate with them, it smells like desperation.

Following a playbook started by the CIA, the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence service, Richard Moore, has now asked Russians that disagree with the invasion of Ukraine to ‘join hands’ with the UK to ‘help end the bloodshed’, in a move that is sure to worsen the already strained British relations with the Kremlin.

Al Jazeera reported:

 “’I invite them to do what others have done this past 18 months and join hands with us. Our door is always open … Their secrets will be safe with us and together we will work to bring the bloodshed to an end’, Richard Moore told Politico on Wednesday, at the British embassy in Prague.”

Two months ago, the CIA made a similar plea, and released a video urging Russians to get in contact.

“’Contact us. Perhaps the people around you don’t want to hear the truth. We want to’, the agency [CIA] said in the clip.”

As you would expect, to spy is an activity that involves an enormous amount of risk, even more in times of war. In Russia, it’s a crime that carries a 20-year sentence – but may well end up with the death of the ‘traitor’ spy.

Speaking in the Czech Republic’s capital Prague, Moore appealed to Russians ‘wrestling with their conscience’, asking them to ‘share secrets with MI6’.

CNN reported:

“Moore went on to state that ‘there are many Russians today who are silently appalled by the sight of their armed forces pulverizing Ukrainian cities, expelling innocent families from their homes, and kidnapping thousands of children’.

‘They are watching in horror as their soldiers ravage a kindred country. They know in their hearts that Putin’s case for attacking a fellow Slavic nation is fraudulent’, he added.”

Russian Foreign Minister Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, on her Telegram channel, gave a particular brutal response to Moore’s plea:

“The head of the British MI-6, Richard Moore, has urged Russians to co-operate with the intelligence service and put an end to the ‘bloodshed’. He said Russia had little chance of regaining its position in Ukraine. “I invite them to do as others have done over the last 18 months and join us. Our door is always open. Their secrets will be safe.”

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Thousands of Russian officials to give up iPhones over US spying fears

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Russian authorities have banned thousands of officials and state employees from using iPhones and other Apple products as a crackdown against the American tech company intensifies over espionage concerns.  The trade ministry said that from Monday it will ban all use of iPhones for “work purposes”. The digital development ministry as well as Rostec, the state-owned company that is under sanction by the west for supplying Russia’s war machine in Ukraine, have said they will follow suit or have already introduced bans. The ban on iPhones, iPad tablets and other Apple devices at leading ministries and institutions reflects growing concern in the Kremlin and the Federal Security Service spy agency over a surge in espionage activity by US intelligence agencies against Russian state institutions. “Security officials in ministries — these are FSB employees who hold civilian positions such as deputy ministers — announced that iPhones were no longer considered safe and that alternatives should be sought,” said a person close to a government agency that has banned Apple products. A month after President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, he signed a decree demanding that organisations involved in “critical information infrastructure” — a broad term that includes healthcare, science and the financial sector — switch to domestically developed software by 2025. The move reflected Moscow’s longstanding desire to make state institutions switch away from foreign technology. Some Russian analysts suggested the current edict will do little to assuage suspicions that western intelligence agencies are able to access sensitive information on Russian government activity.

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Ex-CIA official allegedly duped aspiring spy into sex to help her use her body ‘as a weapon’

A former CIA official has reportedly been accused of conning an aspiring operative into having sex with him under the guise of a training program to teach her how to use her body as a weapon.

Shaun Wiggins was named in the explosive new lawsuit, according to a report from the Daily Beast on Wednesday.

“A former CIA officer allegedly duped an aspiring covert operative into believing she was part of a quasi-official recruitment program for budding spies, then coerced her into repeatedly having sex with him so she could learn how to use her body ‘as a weapon,'” the Daily Beast reported. “The woman claims she was told it would replicate the purported ‘off limits’ work every CIA officer was inevitably called on to do, and that the techniques she picked up would become a valuable part of her ‘technical skillset.'”

The news report continues:

“But the ‘fabricated and extended ‘training exercise’’ did nothing to help the young cybersecurity specialist realize her dream of joining the agency, and instead groomed her for ongoing sexual abuse—ultimately landing her in a psychiatric facility, according to a bombshell lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast.”‘

The report states that, while Wiggins is currently the co-founder and CEO of New York data analytics company Soteryx, his “corporate bio says he ‘served as a Clandestine Service Officer for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, identifying and engaging key foreign national stakeholders critical to U.S. interests.'”

The woman who is suing him has chosen to remain anonymous in the litigation.

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Burns Calls Ukraine War Major ‘Opportunity’ for CIA Recruiting Spies

CIA Director William Burns said in a speech on Saturday that the war in Ukraine provides his spy agency a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to recruit Russians.

“Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership, beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression. That disaffection creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us at CIA, at our core a human intelligence service,” Burns told the Ditchley Foundation in the UK, according to The Hill.

Burns mentioned how the CIA has been openly trying to recruit people inside Russia using social media. “We’re not letting it go to waste. We recently used social media — our first video post to Telegram, in fact — to let brave Russians know how to contact us safely on the dark web. We had 2.5 million views in the first week, and we’re very much open for business,” he said.

The CIA published a video on Telegram and YouTube in May asking Russians to contact the spy agency with links using Tor, a web browser that encrypts user activity. The idea is to use Tor to access a CIA site on the dark web that the agency uses to gather information from people around the world. The CIA has been posting similar instructions on social media throughout the war.

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US to build regional CIA hub in Lebanon, report says

The US is working on building a new regional hub for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Lebanon, within a huge embassy complex with an area of 93,000 square meters on a 27-hectares (about 64 acres) site in the capital, Beirut, intelligence sources reported yesterday.

The complex, which is estimated to cost $1 billion, will also include an arts centre, a hospital, a swimming pool, residential towers and a data collection centre, according to the French Intelligence Online website.

The sources added that the US intelligence sees Lebanon as a safe and strategic location for the deployment of intelligence agents.

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Alleged Russian ‘Spy’ Whale Reappears Off Sweden’s Coast

A harness-wearing Beluga whale discovered in Norway’s far northern region of Finnmark in 2019 has reappeared off Sweden’s coast. It’s believed the Russian military trained the whale. 

Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with the OneWhale organization, a group that tracks the beluga whale named “Hvaldimir,” said he was recently spotted in Hunnebostrand, off Sweden’s southwestern coast. 

“We don’t know why he has sped up so fast right now,” especially since he is moving “very quickly away from his natural environment,” Strand told AFP News. 

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CIA Releases Highly-Produced Video To Recruit Russian Spies

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has utilized social media platforms to release a video aimed at providing Russians with a secure means of communication. The video assures individuals that their safety will be safeguarded if they choose to share information about the Ukraine war and other relevant details with American intelligence operatives.

A CIA representative stated, “Our objective is to reach out to courageous Russians who are compelled by their government’s unjust war and encourage them to engage with the CIA, ensuring their security throughout the process.”

The CIA shared the video on Telegram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

The narrator of the Russian-language video emphasizes, “Those around you may be unwilling to hear the truth, but we are here to listen. You possess the power to make a difference. Connect with us securely.”

In response to the video, Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, commented, “I am confident that our intelligence services are closely monitoring this platform.” A spokesperson from the Russian Foreign Ministry added it’s “a conveniently traceable resource for applicants.”

The meticulously crafted two-minute video, accompanied by dramatic music, portrays Russians deep in thought as they gaze out of windows or sit on park benches, seemingly contemplating a significant decision. One individual, carrying a briefcase, enters a government building and discreetly displays an identification card. The fictional characters in the video appear lost in contemplation as they examine family portraits, reflecting on the future of their children. Towards the conclusion of the video, the Russians make contact with the CIA via their phones.

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Spy Games: Why Private Companies Now Dominate Domestic Espionage

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” That rhetorical gem, credited to various scientists and political leaders, shows up on mouse pads and posters and wherever else suitable inspiration is found wanting. It is also a remarkably accurate mission statement for two professions: financial investors and spies. In both occupations, a person is rewarded for either (1) collecting and processing enough available information to predict future events or (2) creating a set of preconditions that will make future events all but certain.

Any financial analyst who foresaw the likelihood of a global pandemic before the outbreak of COVID-19 could have made a fortune investing in the right pharmaceutical companies. Likewise, regardless of Pfizer’s motivations for doing so, its funding of numerous nonprofit organizations that actively pushed for COVID-19 vaccine mandates also benefited its bottom line. You could say that both market mavens and intelligence operatives invest heavily in creating a desired reality that will yield dividends. By successfully creating the future, prophets can turn profits.

It should be no surprise, then, that intelligence gathering and information warfare are just as prevalent in the corporate sphere as in the covert one. Nothing benefits investors more lucratively than the acquisition and use of market knowledge before anyone else, as can reportedly be seen from the investments of the family of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul, as well as others in government (here, here and here).

In the worlds of financing and espionage, the game is the same: stay ahead of competitors. What this means in practice is netting as much information about adversaries and allies as possible. In order to decide whether to double-down on an investment or run for cover, an analyst is interested in the likelihood of a company’s technological success, the risk of other investors swooping in and staking a claim, the potential for competing companies to introduce similar products, and the probability that regulatory authorities might act in ways that affect the company’s future profitability. You have to keep an eye on your company, its competitors, your rivals, and any number of government agencies. The complexity of such an arrangement is why private intelligence services are regularly used to monitor all these variables, collect information, analyze risks, and propose solutions.

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