The world of espionage is an interesting and dangerous one. It has a lot of different facets, from the underrepresentation of women to the surprisingly wide variation in convictions for similar offences in different countries.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was enacted just months after America 사람찾기흥신소 entered World War I. It was quickly used to prosecute peace activists and other anti-war radicals.
Definition
The term espionage describes the act of spying by one government against another. Spies steal information, such as the size of an enemy force, from the enemies of their nation and use it to gain military advantage. Most nations have strict laws against espionage and punish the perpetrators severely.
Cyber espionage involves stealing classified information, typically from government systems. This information might be sensitive to national security, military technology, or personal data about individuals. Hackers can steal this information quickly, silently and with relatively little risk of detection by government agencies. Many nations have well-funded hacking teams that rival those of the United States.
Espionage is morally questionable if it threatens the fundamental rights of a person or organization. However, if a government can show that the secrets it is sharing are important to its own defense, then espionage may be morally justified under just war theory. The jus ad bellum and jus in bello principles that govern the use of force also apply to espionage. This is known as a values-based approach to espionage.
Origins
The art of spying dates back thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians used spies, as did the Chinese and the Roman Empire. European kings and queens had spies who kept track of their enemies both at home and abroad. The Church, too, had extensive networks of informants to help find heretics and political dissidents.
Spies figured prominently in the American Revolution and the Civil War. In the twentieth century, governments created organizations to gather information about their enemies, such as the KGB in the Soviet Union and Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6) and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Technology is one of the major factors that has changed espionage operations over time. Improvements in transportation and communications have allowed spy services to keep tabs on rivals. Samuel Morse’s telegraph made it possible to send messages in code over long distances, but that also allowed rival agencies to tap the lines and read those secret messages. Germany developed the Enigma machine to code its messages before World War II, but that was broken in the course of the war by British teams at Bletchley Park.
Purpose
Espionage is the clandestine gathering of information that a government or company might be able to use to gain a competitive advantage. This information can include proprietary formulas, secret projects and internal plans. It can also involve information such as salaries, marketing and services directed at clients.
The most obvious purposes for espionage are military and economic intelligence. Governments have long relied on spies to help them track and outmaneuver their rivals. From ancient times, generals and politicians have needed to know their enemies’ strengths, weaknesses and plans.
This type of espionage is usually carried out by agents working for an official intelligence agency, such as the CIA or the KGB. Such agents may have access to the information they need through fairly accessible means, such as publications and public meetings. To get more sensitive information, however, spies might need to break into a facility, pick through trash or even hack into an internet network. In the latter case, they might have to acquire codes used to transmit information or devices used to encode and decode messages.
Techniques
There are many techniques used in espionage. Some are low-tech, such as secret writing and invisible ink, and others use technically advanced spy devices to communicate securely. During World War II, spies would broadcast seemingly meaningless number sequences over regular radios in order to send orders like “attack” or “sabotage.”
Cyber attacks are a major threat to businesses, and can be facilitated by the ease with which hackers gain access to internal systems through malware and other exploits. Some hacking is also a matter of social engineering, which involves manipulating employees to divulge sensitive information. Examples of this include pretexting, baiting and quid pro quo attacks that offer an incentive in exchange for information.
Another common technique is to monitor employee activity by monitoring privileged users, including system administrators and upper management. A good risk assessment, strong cybersecurity, control of physical access to devices, a formal incident response plan and regular security training can help prevent industrial espionage by current and former employees. This is especially important since industrial spies are often found in the weeks or months after an employee has been terminated, when their credentials still remain active.
Law
The law governing espionage is often complex. As a result, it can be hard to understand and enforce. Those who engage in espionage can face severe criminal charges including lengthy prison sentences.
In the United States, espionage is generally considered a federal offense and punishable by lengthy prison terms. A conviction can also carry hefty fines.
Even if the government does not prove that someone disclosed closely held information or national security interests, it can still be found guilty of espionage if the offender knew it was a secret and was able to gain access to it without authorization. The offender must have also been engaged in a conspiracy to commit espionage.
While general international law covers intelligence operations, a formal, normative approach to espionage is needed to ensure that it is regulated in accordance with the principle of protecting fundamental rights. In the case of espionage, this means that states may spy only when it is necessary to thwart anticipated human rights violations. Otherwise, it is not morally permissible to spy. This approach is essential as States rely on increasingly sophisticated forms of spying such as mass surveillance, artificial intelligence, and cyber attacks.