Britain's Intelligence Chief Invites Russians Opposed to War to Spy for MI6

Britain's intelligence chief has made a proposal to Russians opposed to Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine: share any secrets about Moscow, and you'll be kept safe.

During a rare public speech on Wednesday, Richard Moore, chief of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6), drew parallels between present-day Ukraine and the 1968 "Prague Spring," a period of political liberalization and freedom movements that was ultimately crushed by a Soviet Union invasion — triggering defectors to the West. more

AI Espionage: Why Human Spies Remain Essential

Dodged another bullet.     

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, but according to the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency, it won’t replace the necessity of human spies. 

Richard Moore, director of the UK’s foreign intelligence agency, addressed the evolving threats from Russia and Iran in a speech in Prague. Despite the advancements in machine learning, Moore argues that the “human factor” will continue to play a crucial role in intelligence gathering...

In the realm of espionage, the importance of human spies cannot be overstated. The ability to gather intelligence requires human intuition, critical thinking, and adaptability. 

While AI can process vast amounts of data and identify patterns, it lacks the creativity and adaptability that human spies possess. Human spies can navigate complex social dynamics, exploit vulnerabilities, and make nuanced judgments that machines simply cannot replicate. more

'Leaked' Chinese Spy-Spoof Mocking US Draws Response From MI6

A British intelligence official has thanked China for "free publicity" after state media posted a James Bond spoof in a misguided attempt to mock western intelligence agencies. 

Beijing-backed Xinhua news posted a spoof video on Twitter with a tongue-in-cheek caption claiming to have found a "leaked video" of a "secret meeting" between MI6 - the organization that employs famous fictional spy James Bond - and CIA agents after British Chief of Secret Intelligence Service Richard Moore announced that the UK considered China its "single greatest priority." 

The video drew a rare response from Moore... more

MI6 is Hiring "Q" Anonymously

Can you turn a wristwatch into an explosive, or perhaps you are able to design some X-ray glasses to see who is carrying a concealed weapon?

If so, perhaps you should apply to be the next "Q" at Britain's MI6 foreign spy service.

The head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service said on Thursday (April 29) that the spy agency was hunting for a new tech chief, "Director General Q", known to all James Bond movie fans simply as "Q".

"We're looking for a new 'Q'. If you want to serve your country by helping MI6 to develop the operational technology of the future, please take a look," Mr Richard Moore wrote on Twitter...

The ad warned that the successful candidate would "not be publicly avowed", while there was no mention of any ability to design watches with lasers or bagpipes that turn into flamethrowers. more

"The Name's Richard, not Roger"

Britain on Wednesday named its former ambassador to Turkey as the new director of the MI6 Secret Intelligence Service.

Richard Moore succeeds Alex Younger, who was a career intelligence officer and became Britain's top spy in 2014. moore

Rare World War II Footage Released - British Spy Center

A silent film shows MI6 staff members at a site linked to the code-breaking facility Bletchley Park during World War II.

Like a home movie reel, the silent footage shows young people at candid moments: playing soccer and cricket, sunbathing, smiling and making faces at the camera...

But they were not ordinary office colleagues: They were off-duty secret British communications staffers, linked to code-breakers who decrypted German ciphers and helped the Allies win World War II.

The newly revealed footage features staff members of the MI6 Section VIII — the British spy agency’s communications staff — filmed at a site associated with the famous code-breaking facility Bletchley Park. more

Secret Agent Man & Daughter

Intrigue continues to swirl as the “poisoned spy”, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, remain in intensive care. Counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation. Boris Johnson has said the possibility of a Russian assassination attempt means UK officials might boycott the World Cup.

This morning, Shaun Walker examines how the Skripal case looks like a warning about the fate awaiting those who collaborate with western intelligence agencies.

And more details are emerging about the life of the former double agent, known in his Salisbury neighborhood as a genial man with a penchant for Polish sausage and lottery scratch cards. more video sing-a-long

Double Oh Concession

The UK government is going to speed up the way it vets and hires new recruits at its spy agency Government Communications Headquarters, which is responsible for electronic surveillance, after it fell short of hiring targets at the end of the last fiscal year (pdf).

GCHQ v TECH

The spy agency has said that it’s losing potential top recruits to huge tech companies because of bumper salaries. GCHQ’s lengthy vetting process, which is backlogged, also doesn’t help...

GCHQ, one of Britain’s three intelligence and security agencies alongside MI5 and MI6, aims to increase headcount by 14% over the next four years to 6,639 people.

This is after it had a shortfall in recruitment of 22% in the fiscal year. The report added that in order to get more recruits through the door, it will have to assign more people to the vetting process. more

Today Only - "Q" Gadgets from WWII up for Auction

James Bond's gadgets may seem far-fetched, but they do have a basis in fact as an auction in Kent, UK shows.

C & T Auctioneers is running an online auction through February 14 that includes a collection of authentic "Q" gadgets from the Second World War and beyond that were used by spies behind enemy lines and to help Allied POWs escape and evade capture.

During the Second World War, Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) was tasked by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to "set Europe ablaze" by dropping agents behind Axis lines to carry out espionage and sabotage as well as coordinating resistance movements. But they didn't go unarmed.

Thanks to Charles Fraser-Smith (Ian Fleming's inspiration for the character Q), SOE agents were equipped with gadgets to help them in their clandestine work. At the C&T auction, five of the eight items on sale were made for the SOE. more

"Mr. Bond, you're fired."

Here’s some news that could leave James Bond feeling shaken and stirred: The head of Britain’s top spy agency doesn’t want to hire him.

Alex Younger, the real-life head of M16, the British intelligence agency where the fictional super spy works, tells the British website Black History Month that Bond doesn’t have the qualities he wants for his spies.

“In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts,” Younger told the website. “In fact, a strong ethical core is one of the first qualities we look for in our staff.”

Although Bond has managed to get through scrapes that would kill many real spies, Younger thinks he’d be weeded out early.

“It’s safe to say that James Bond wouldn’t get through our recruitment process and, whilst we share his qualities of patriotism, energy and tenacity, an intelligence officer in the real MI6 has a high degree of emotional intelligence, values teamwork and always has respect for the law… unlike Mr Bond!” more

You Only Live Once, or Die Another Day

The former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko may have survived a previous poisoning attempt before a lethal dose of polonium was slipped into his tea at a London hotel, a long-awaited judicial inquiry into his death was told Tuesday.

The former KGB officer, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was living in Britain and doing consultancy work for the British intelligence service MI-6 when he met two Russians for a drink at the Millennium Hotel in November 2006. Weeks later, he suffered an agonizing death, apparently from the effects of radiation poisoning.

The strange case soured relations between Britain and Russia for years. On his deathbed, Litvinenko claimed that he had been poisoned on Putin’s orders.
(more)

British Spies – Licensed to Speed

British spies are to be given a "license to speed", allowing the likes of James Bond to drive fast with impunity in the name of national security.

Transport minister Robert Goodwill was to announce the motoring law changes on Monday, which will hand spooks the same exemption as the police, fire service and ambulance drivers.

Officers in the MI5 and MI6 domestic and foreign intelligence agencies will be able to break the speed limit on surveillance and covert operations once they have completed a training course in high-speed driving. (more)

10 Most Audacious Eavesdropping Plots

Operation Ivy Bells
At the height of the cold war, the National Security Agency, CIA and the US Navy collaborated to tap into underwater communication lines used by the Soviet Union. 

Operation Stopwatch
This joint operation between the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service was again an attempt to tap into communications by the Soviet Military.

The Cambridge Spies
Rather than relying on modern eavesdropping, this operation used old fashioned infiltration.

Click to enlarge.

The Gunman Project
During 1976, the KGB managed to install miniaturized eavesdropping equipment and transmitters inside 16 IBM Selectric Typewriters used by staff at the US embassy in Moscow and consulate in Leningrad. 

The Bundesnachrichtendienst Trojan Horse Affair
Germany may have been the victim off NSA eavesdropping, but its own Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, has also engaged in such activities.

The MI6 Spy Rock
In a modern version of the dead letter drop, British spies working out of the embassy in Russia used a transmitter concealed in an artificial rock to pass classified data. 

Acoustic Kitty
Acoustic Kitty was a top secret 1960s CIA project attempting to use cats in spy missions, intended to spy on the Kremlin and Soviet embassies. (more)

Moles in Berlin

In 1956, American and British agents tunneled into East German territory in order to tap a telephone line. This allowed them to eavesdrop on important conversations between Red Army leaders and the KGB. A segment of the tunnel can now be visited. (more)

U2
An international diplomatic crisis erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Confronted with the evidence of his nation's espionage, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviets that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. (more)

Animal Spies
A former CIA trainer reveals, the U.S. government deployed nonhuman operatives—ravens, pigeons, even cats—to spy on cold war adversaries. “We never found an animal we could not train.” (more)

Spy Stories Behind "Peggy Sue" and "Winnie the Pooh"

U.S. country star Jerry Naylor revealed he used his international fame as cover to work as a secret agent for the CIA... Naylor, 74, who replaced Buddy Holly in the Crickets, says he was recruited on more than 100 occasions to spy for America under his guise as a touring singer. (more)

The man who created Winnie the Pooh was a First World War spy, top secret files reveal. The papers — rescued from a skip — prove AA Milne worked for a covert arm of military intelligence in a propaganda war against the Germans. They uncover the secret double life of the man behind Tigger, Christopher Robin and Piglet — and should have been burned. (more)

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and other Cold War Spy Toys

via one of our Blue Blazer irregulars... (thanks!)
From Russian photoblog PhotoShtab.ru comes these great pictures of Cold War-era miniature gadgets that KGB spies and others used to monitor, smuggle, and kill (via RussiaEnglish).

Seeing as we have just seen the new adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, these photos are a another great reminder of how paranoid and insane that whole 'Cold War' period was. (many more gadgets)

P.S. If you like seeing Cold War spy tools, your really need The Ultimate Spy Book, by historian H. Keith Melton. It is loaded with large glossy photos of the CIA's Greatest Hits, and the fascinating history of spies and their gadgets.

Book: Britian's Brilliant Bugs Bomb Nazis

Historian Helen Fry, who has written a book called The M Room: Secret Listeners who bugged the Nazis., says the information gleaned by the eavesdropping of the German generals was vitally important to the war effort - so much so that it was given an unlimited budget by the government.

Click to enlarge.

She believes what was learned by the M room operations was as significant as the code-breaking work being done at Bletchley Park.

"British intelligence got the most amazing stuff in bugging the conversations. Churchill said of Trent Park that it afforded a unique insight into the psyche of the enemy. It enabled us to understand the mind-set of the enemy as well as learn military secrets. "If it wasn't for this bugging operation, we may well have not won the war." (more)

Remember the spy who was found dead in a duffle bag?...

UK - Scotland Yard has concluded that MI6 Codebreaker Gareth Williams probably locked himself inside the duffel bag he was found dead in, sources close to the inquiry tell the Telegraph. 

Click to enlarge

Police re-opened the case after the coroner ruled that a third party had likely been involved—possibly even one of Williams' security service colleagues—but after taking DNA samples and re-interviewing MI6 employees, the detectives "have been unable to find any trace of anyone who should not have been in the flat," the source says. (more)