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News you may have missed #0211

December 8, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Peru identifies handler of Victor Ariza Mendoza spy ring. Peruvian authorities have identified Victor Vergara Rojas as the Chilean handler of Peruvian Air Force officer Victor Ariza Mendoza, who was arrested in Lima last month on charges of spying for Chile.
Burmese junta tries officials for leaking military secrets. Authorities in Rangoon have put to trial three men who allegedly leaked information on what has come to be known as Burma’s secret tunnel project. The junta reportedly began building the tunnels in 1996, to accommodate battalions of troops in the event of an invasion.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Burma, Burma secret tunnel project, Burmese military, Chile, News, news you may have missed, Peru, Victor Ariza Mendoza, Victor Ariza Mendoza spy ring, Victor Vergara Rojas

Real-life story behind Indian spy novel revealed

December 8, 2009 by intelNews 8 Comments

Mission to Pakistan by Maloy Krishna Dhar

Book cover

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A few years ago, Maloy Krishna Dhar, a longtime veteran of India’s Central Intelligence Bureau (CIB), wrote Mission to Pakistan, a spy novel about the ongoing intelligence war between nuclear powers India and Pakistan. Since 2002, when the novel was published, Dhar has maintained that the exploits of his protagonist, an undercover Indian spy leading a double life inside the Pakistani armed forces, were based on the true story of an unnamed CIB agent who was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It now appears that the real-life story behind the book is that of Ravindra Kaushik, an accredited CIB agent who moved to Pakistan from Dubai, converted to Islam, married a Pakistani woman, and joined the country’s Army under the cover name “Nabi Ahmed”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with book news and reviews, Central Intelligence Bureau (India), CIB (India), Dubai, espionage, Inayat Masiha, India, intelligence covers, Maloy Krishna Dhar, Multan (Pakistan), Nabi Ahmed, News, Pakistan, Pakistani armed forces, Rajashtan (India), Rajeshwar Kaushik, Ravindra Kaushik, Sri Ganganagar (India)

News you may have missed #0210

December 8, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Turkey arrests secret service officials over coup allegations. The head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization’s (MİT) branch in the city of Erzincan, identified only as Ş.D., and two other regional MİT officials, are under arrest in connection with the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow the Turkish government.
European Union gives CIA access to Europe bank records. Some have condemned the agreement, due to come into force in two months’ time, because it contains no reciprocal arrangement under which European authorities can easily access the bank accounts of US citizens in America.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, coup plots, databases, economic espionage, Ergenekon, Erzincan (Turkey), EU, MİT (Turkey), News, news you may have missed, Turkey, United States

EU foreign minister’s husband shunned KGB approaches in 1980s

December 8, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Peter Kellner

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The husband of the recently appointed European Union minister for foreign affairs has acknowledged that the KGB tried to cultivate a relationship with him in the 1980s. Peter Kellner, who now presides over influential British polling company YouGov, is married to Baroness Ashton of Upholland (born Catherine Margaret Ashton), who assumed the prominent EU post on November 19. Intelligence documents show that British domestic intelligence agency MI5 had tagged Kellner and his wife as “communist sympathizers”, because of their anti-apartheid activism and long-term involvement with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, considered a “subversive” movement within the intelligence services. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 1984 Labour Party National Conference (UK), Alexander Lebedev, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, Blackpool (UK), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Catherine Margaret Ashton, Cold War, defectors, diplomatic expulsions, domestic intelligence, double agents, EU, history, KGB, Labour Party (UK), MI5, MI6, National Reserve Bank (Russia), News, Oleg Gordievsky, Peter Kellner, political activism, Russia, The New Statesman and Society, UK, USSR, YouGov, Yuri Kudinov

News you may have missed #0209

December 7, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Court documents strengthen case of alleged FBI informant. Unsealed court records that Craig Monteilh said would prove he was an informant for the FBI, tasked with spying on California mosques, show that he provided “very, very valuable” information to the FBI.
Britain’s ITV to air documentary on MI5. Until a few years ago, the UK government wouldn’t acknowledge MI5’s existence. Now the quasi-governmental ITV television station is preparing to broadcast a documentary on the agency’s 100-year history.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with American Muslims, Craig Monteilh, domestic intelligence, FBI, government secrecy, informants, lawsuits, MI5, News, news you may have missed, UK

Comment: Did Russian Intelligence Hack Climate-Change Emails?

December 7, 2009 by intelNews 16 Comments

Tomsk, Siberia

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS* | intelNews.org |
For over a fortnight, the world’s news services have focused on the so-called ‘Climategate’, the hundreds of University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit emails that were hacked from the university’s server and leaked onto the Internet. The stolen emails, some of which date back to 1996, have reignited conspiracy theories about the role of human activity in climate change. But there is surprisingly little discussion about who hacked into the university’s server and stole the personal emails.

Writings by CIA defector Edward Lee Howard published

December 7, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

E.L. Howard

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An extensive article on spy tradecraft, written by CIA case officer Edward Lee Howard, after he defected to the Soviet Union in 1985, has been published for the first time. Howard, the only intelligence agent known to have been trained by both the CIA and the Soviet KGB, joined the CIA in 1980, but began collaborating with the KGB in 1983, after the CIA fired him for repeatedly failing to pass a polygraph test. After he was exposed by Vitaly Yurchenko, a KGB officer who allegedly defected to the US in Rome, Italy, Howard employed his CIA training to evade FBI counterintelligence agents and escape to Russia, where he lived until his death in 2002. In the early 1990s, the FBI tried to lure Howard to capture, using, among others, Bureau counterintelligence agent Robert Eringer. Eringer befriended Howard and, as part of the luring operation, commissioned the former CIA agent to write a book entitled Spy’s Guide to Central Europe. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, Cold War, counterintelligence, defectors, Edward Lee Howard, FBI, history, KGB, Moscow (Russia), News, polygraph examinations, Robert Eringer, Rome (Italy), Spy's Guide to Central Europe, spycraft, United States, US embassy in Italy, USSR, Vitaly Yurchenko

News you may have missed #0208

December 7, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Georgia denies entry to Russian ‘spies’. Georgia has denied entry to a delegation of Russian scholars from the Russian State Archive and the Center for Caucasian Research at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. It’s the second time this year that the Georgians have accused Russian researchers of being spies.
US monitors China’s hiring of foreign journalists. A report by the Open Source Center of the US Directorate of National Intelligence notes that China has been hiring a growing number of foreign reporters to serve as overseas correspondents.
Audio interview with NSA’s information assurance director. Dickie George, technical director of information assurance at the US National Security Agency, has given a rare audio interview to GovInfo Security. The first part of the interview is available here. The second part will be posted in a few days.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with academic freedom, Center for Caucasian Research at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, China, Dickie George, espionage, Georgia, information security, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Russia, Russian State Archive, US DNI Open Source Center

Blackwater CEO admits he was CIA agent

December 6, 2009 by intelNews 5 Comments

Erik Prince

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The founder and CEO of private security company Blackwater has revealed he worked as a CIA spy and carried out a number of secret missions before being fired by the Obama administration. Erik Prince, who heads Blackwater Worldwide, recently renamed Xe, gave a rare interview to Vanity Fair magazine, in which he revealed that his relationship with the CIA was not only that of an operations contractor, but also that of an asset, that is, a spy. Prince’s revelation will not surprise seasoned intelligence observers; as I commented last August, it had become increasingly difficult to distinguish any operational demarcations between the CIA and the company formerly known as Blackwater. However, the mercenary company’s leading role in controversial CIA plans to assassinate high-level foreign officials was seen as a step too far by the new CIA leadership of Leon Panetta. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, black operations, Blackwater, Bush Administration, CIA, Erik Prince, intelligence outsourcing, Leon Panetta, News, Obama Administration, Valerie Plame-Wilson, Xe

News you may have missed #0207

December 6, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Congo court upholds death sentences for Norwegian ‘spies’. A Congolese court has upheld death sentences for Tjostolv Moland and Joshua French, two Norwegians arrested last May in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on spying charges.
Judge unseals records of man claiming to be FBI spy. A Superior Court judge on Thursday lifted a seal on court records and transcripts that Craig Monteilh says will prove he was an informant for the FBI, tasked with spying on area mosques.
Is this a classified CIA drone? A new photo of what appears to be a classified US drone aircraft has been published on a blog belonging to the French newspaper Libération. But some say that the photo might be a deliberate disinformation effort aimed to confuse black ops spotters.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with American Muslims, CIA, Craig Monteilh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, espionage, FBI, informants, Joshua French, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, Norway, Predator drones, Tjostolv Moland, United States

US embassy worker caught monitoring Pakistan naval site

December 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ghafoor's ID card

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Pakistani news outlets have reported the arrest last month of an employee at the US embassy in Islamabad who was reportedly caught monitoring Pakistan’s Naval Headquarters at Zafar Chowk, a site targeted by a suicide bomber on December 3. Leading Pakistani daily The Nation published the US embassy identity card of the man, Abdul Ghafoor, who was reportedly apprehended by Pakistani Naval Police and intelligence officers in the morning of November 18. Interestingly, Ghafoor, who was said to have been acting “suspiciously”, was found to be carrying a camera with him, and to be riding a motorcycle “with a number plate that was found to be fake when checked”. Several commentators have suggested that the case points to a routine surveillance operation, which warrants further investigation in light of the December 3 suicide bombing attack at the Naval Headquarters. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abdul Ghafoor, Islamabad (Pakistan), Leon Panetta, News, Pakistan, Pakistani 1923 Official Secrets Act for Spying, Pakistani Naval Police, Pakistani Navy, surveillance, United States, US embassy in Pakistan, Zafar Chowk (Pakistan)

News you may have missed #0206

December 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

UK sets up counter-hacking unit. Britain’s Office of Cyber Security has formed Computer Emergency Response Teams to deal with “more than 300 cyber attacks a year”. It will operate out of the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Australia may be moving in the same direction.
Czech artist denies having spied on US diplomats. Joska Skalnik a famous Czech artist and anti-communist dissident, has denied allegations he spied on US diplomats in Prague on behalf of StB, the country’s communist secret service during the Cold War.
Ex-Shin Bet chief hints Israel won’t strike Iran without US consent. Avi Dichter, former head of Israel’s domestic spy service, the Shin Bet, told an Australian audience that it is “up to the US to take the lead in international efforts to confront Iran on the nuclear issue. This should be a role for superpowers and Israel is not a superpower”, he said.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, Avi Dichter, Cold War, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, GCHQ, Iran, Israel, Joska Skalnik, News, news you may have missed, Office of Cyber Security (UK), Office of Cyber Security Computer Emergency Response Teams (UK), Shin Bet, StB (Czechoslovakia), UK, United States, US embassy in Czechoslovakia

US government urged to release data on social networking spying

December 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Facebook

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An Internet watchdog has filed a court complaint to force the US government to disclose how its law enforcement and spy agencies monitor social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. IntelNews regulars have known since October that the CIA has invested in a private software company specializing in monitoring online social media, such as YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. Additionally, we have previously reported on persistent rumors that the National Security Agency, America’s communications spying outfit, is actively monitoring popular social networking sites in order to make links between individuals and construct maps of who associates with whom. Now the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wants to find out the extent to which US intelligence and law enforcement agencies are secretly monitoring social networking sites on the Internet. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, declassification, DNI, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, Flickr, FOIA, government secrecy, In-Q-Tel, Internet, MySpace, News, NSA, open source intelligence, social networking, Twitter, United States, US Department of the Treasury, YouTube

Obama’s Afghan plan includes expanding CIA ops in Pakistan

December 4, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Predator drone

By I. ALLEN & J. FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The Obama Administration’s plan to increase US military presence in Afghanistan includes expanding the CIA’s work in neighboring Pakistan, a country with which the US is officially not at war. An article published yesterday in The New York Times notes that the President has authorized the CIA to expand its Predator drone assassination program to include strikes in places like Baluchistan, which are outside Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal areas and far from the Afghan-Pakistani border. This development represents a major policy victory for the hawkish wing in the Pentagon’s senior leadership, which has been pressing Obama’s advisors to expand CIA assassination operations deeper into Pakistan since November of 2008. It also further reveals the Obama Administration’s policy preference toward undercover operations with a strong deniability proponent. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, assassinations, Baluchistan (Pakistan), CIA, covert operations, ethics, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Pakistan), intelligence oversight, News, Obama Administration, Pakistan, Predator drones, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0205

December 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Iran plans to charge five British yachtsmen as spies. Iran’s espionage trials against Westerners are becoming as predictable as the stupidity of said Westerners who keep entering Iranian territory without the necessary travel documentation.
CIA recruiting in Guam (of all places). The Agency tells University of Guam students that they should attend its recruitment information session if they are “interested in foreign affairs, […] enjoy foreign travel and have an aptitude to learn foreign languages”.