As a CIA agent and later a CIA official, Ames was responsible for, among other things, recruiting Soviet officials to do undercover work for the United States. As a double agent, Ames sold secrets to Moscow from 1985 to the end of the Cold War and beyond. The exploits of Aldrich Hazen Ames brought security problems within the CIA to the fore. These reforms only addressed the tip of larger, underlying problems. The DOD also reduced the number of classified documents in order to limit the number of remaining security clearances. department of defense (DOD) had to withdraw security clearances from approximately 2 million military and civilian personnel worldwide. The armed forces frantically scrapped and rebuilt their entire communications system, at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $1 billion. The ring's ample opportunity to exploit the lax security of the Navy left a legacy of damage. Jerry Whitworth received a sentence of 365 years for stealing and selling Navy coding secrets (upheld in United States v. Like John Walker, he was sentenced to a life term in federal prison. His conviction was affirmed in United States v. Arthur Walker was convicted of espionage in Norfolk, Virginia. He was able to reach a plea bargain under which he was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Michael Walker pleaded guilty to aiding in the supply of classified documents to the Soviets. He was sentenced to a life term in federal prison, with eligibility for Parole in ten years. He claimed that he had become an undercover informant for the thrill of it, rather than for the money. John Walker pleaded guilty to three counts of espionage. The Walker ring also sold the Soviets classified material concerning Yuri Andropov, secretary general of the Communist party until 1984 the Soviet shooting of a Korean Airlines jet in 1983 and U.S. Navy that allowed the Soviets to decipher over a million Navy messages.

Whitworth, supplied the Soviets with confidential U.S. history was uncovered in the late 1980s with the exposure of the Walker spy ring, which operated from 1967 to 1985. One of the most damaging instances of criminal espionage in U.S. Sometimes a foreign power is successful in procuring U.S. Other nations do the same, seeking to recruit CIA agents or others who will betray sensitive information. The CIA also attempts to recruit foreign agents to work on behalf of U.S. The CIA protects national security interests by spying on foreign governments. § 402 et seq.) to conduct covert activity. espionage is the CIA, created by the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.A. Many of these activities remain secret in order to protect national interests and reputations. Attachés have worked toward the subversion of governments, the destabilization of economies, and the assassination of declared enemies.

These 'attachés' collect intelligence secrets about the armed forces of their host country. Since the late nineteenth century, nations have allowed each other to station so-called military attachés in their overseas embassies. However, espionage blunders can receive national attention, jeopardizing the security of the nation and the lives of individuals.Įspionage is unlikely to disappear. The general public never hears of espionage activities that are carried out correctly. This gathering of intelligence benefited competing nations that wished to stay one step ahead of each other. Through much of the twentieth century, international agreements implicitly accepted espionage as a natural political activity. government secrets to other nations.ĭespite its illegal status, espionage is commonplace. Criminal espionage involves betraying U.S. Federal law prohibits espionage when it jeopardizes the national defense or benefits a foreign nation (18 U.S.C.A. In the United States, the organization that heads most activities dedicated to espionage is the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).Įspionage, commonly known as spying, is the practice of secretly gathering information about a foreign government or a competing industry, with the purpose of placing one's own government or corporation at some strategic or financial advantage. It can involve the analysis of diplomatic reports, publications, statistics, and broadcasts, as well as spying, a clandestine activity carried out by an individual or individuals working under secret identity to gather classified information on behalf of another entity or nation. The act of securing information of a military or political nature that a competing nation holds secret.

Definition of espionage