Mole (espionage): Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Type of spy}} |
{{short description|Type of spy}} |
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{{original research|date=December 2019}} |
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In [[espionage]] jargon, a '''mole''' (also called a "penetration agent",<ref name="Smith" /> "deep cover agent", or "[[sleeper agent]]") is a long-term [[spy]] (espionage agent) who is recruited before having access to secret intelligence, subsequently managing to get into the target organization.<ref name="Green" /> However, it is popularly used to mean any long-term clandestine spy or [[informant]] within an organization |
In [[espionage]] jargon, a '''mole''' (also called a "penetration agent",<ref name="Smith" /> "deep cover agent", "illegal" or "[[sleeper agent]]") is a long-term [[spy]] (espionage agent) who is recruited before having access to secret intelligence, subsequently managing to get into the target organization.<ref name="Green" /> However, it is popularly used to mean any long-term clandestine spy or [[informant]] within an organization (government or private).<ref name="Green" /> In police work, a mole is an undercover law-enforcement agent who joins an organization in order to collect incriminating evidence about its operations and to eventually charge its members. |
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The term was introduced to the public by [[United Kingdom|British]] spy novelist [[John |
The term was introduced to the public by [[United Kingdom|British]] spy novelist [[John le Carré]] in his 1974 novel ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]''<ref name="Carlisle" /><ref name="Shapiro" /> and has since entered general usage, but its origin is unclear,<ref name="Smith" /> as well as to what extent it was used by [[Intelligence agency|intelligence services]] before it became popularized. Le Carré, a former British [[intelligence officer]], said that the term "mole" was actually used by the [[USSR|Soviet]] intelligence agency, the [[KGB]],<ref name="Green" /> and that a corresponding term used by Western intelligence services was ''sleeper agent''.<ref name="Bruccoli2" /> While the term ''mole'' had been applied to spies in the book ''Historie of the Reign of King Henry VII'' written in 1626 by Sir [[Francis Bacon]],<ref name="Smith" /><ref name="Green" /> Le Carré said he did not get the term from that source. |
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==Overview== |
==Overview== |
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A mole may be recruited early in life, and take decades to get a job in government service and reach a position of access to secret information before becoming active as a spy. Perhaps the most famous examples of moles were the [[Cambridge Five]], five upper-class British men recruited by the [[KGB]] as communist students at [[Cambridge University]] in the 1930s who later rose to high levels in various parts of the [[British government]].<ref name="Carlisle" /> By contrast, most espionage agents, such as CIA |
A mole may be recruited early in life, and take decades to get a job in government service and reach a position of access to secret information before becoming active as a spy. Perhaps the most famous examples of moles were the [[Cambridge Five]], five upper-class British men recruited by the [[KGB]] as communist students at [[Cambridge University]] in the 1930s who later rose to high levels in various parts of the [[British government]].<ref name="Carlisle" /> By contrast, most espionage agents, such as CIA counterintelligence officer [[Aldrich Ames]] and FBI agent [[Robert Hanssen]], who spied on the US government for the KGB, were either recruited or offered their services as spies after they were in place as members of the target organization. |
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Because their recruitment occurred in the remote past, moles are difficult for a nation's security services to detect. The possibility that a top politician, corporate executive, government minister, or officer in an intelligence service could be a mole working for a foreign government is the worst nightmare of [[counterintelligence]] services. For example, [[James Angleton]], director of counterintelligence for the [[CIA]] between 1954 and 1975, was reportedly obsessed with suspicions that the top levels of Western governments were riddled with long-term communist agents<ref name="Smith"/> and accused numerous politicians such as former U.S. Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]], former Canadian Prime Ministers [[Lester Pearson]] and [[Pierre Trudeau]], former British Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] and many members of Congress before he was removed in 1975. |
Because their recruitment occurred in the remote past, moles are difficult for a nation's security services to detect. The possibility that a top politician, corporate executive, government minister, or officer in an intelligence service could be a mole working for a foreign government is the worst nightmare of [[counterintelligence]] services.{{cn|date=December 2019}} For example, [[James Angleton]], director of counterintelligence for the [[CIA]] between 1954 and 1975, was reportedly obsessed with suspicions that the top levels of Western governments were riddled with long-term communist agents<ref name="Smith"/> and accused numerous politicians such as former U.S. Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]], former Canadian Prime Ministers [[Lester Pearson]] and [[Pierre Trudeau]], former British Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] and many members of Congress before he was removed in 1975.{{cn|date=December 2019}} |
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Moles have been featured in numerous espionage films, television shows, and novels. |
Moles have been featured in numerous espionage films, television shows, video games and novels. |
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==Reasons for use== |
==Reasons for use== |
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{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2024}} |
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The most common procedure used by [[intelligence services]] to recruit agents is to find the location within the foreign government or organization of the information they want (the ''target''), find out |
The most common procedure used by [[intelligence services]] to recruit agents is to find the location within the foreign government or organization of the information they want (the ''target''), find out which people have access to it, and attempt to recruit one of them as a spy (''espionage agent'') to obtain the information. However, the people with access to top secret government information, who are government employees with high [[security clearance]]s, are carefully monitored by the government's security apparatus for just that sort of espionage approach. Thus, it is difficult for a representative of the foreign intelligence service to meet with them clandestinely to recruit them. Private organizations, such as large [[corporation]]s or [[terrorist group]]s, have similar security monitors. |
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In addition, the security clearance process weeds out employees who are openly disgruntled, ideologically disaffected, or otherwise having motives for betraying their country, so people in such positions are likely to reject recruitment as spies. Therefore, some intelligence services have tried to reverse the above process by first recruiting potential agents and then having them conceal their allegiance and pursue careers in the target government agency in the hope that they can reach positions of access to desired information. |
In addition, the security clearance process weeds out employees who are openly disgruntled, ideologically disaffected, or otherwise having motives for betraying their country, so people in such positions are likely to reject recruitment as spies. Therefore, some intelligence services have tried to reverse the above process by first recruiting potential agents and then having them conceal their allegiance and pursue careers in the target government agency in the hope that they can reach positions of access to desired information. |
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Because the spy career of a mole is so long-term, sometimes occupying most of a lifetime, those who become moles must be highly motivated. One common motivation is ideology (political convictions). During the [[Cold War]], a major source of moles in Western countries was so-called [[fellow traveller]]s, Westerners who, in their youth during the 1920s to 1940s, became disaffected with their own governments and sympathetic to world [[communism]] without actually joining |
Because the spy career of a mole is so long-term, sometimes occupying most of a lifetime, those who become moles must be highly motivated. One common motivation is ideology (political convictions). During the [[Cold War]], a major source of moles in Western countries was so-called [[fellow traveller]]s, Westerners who, in their youth during the 1920s to 1940s, became disaffected with their own governments and sympathetic to world [[communism]] without actually joining a [[communist party]]. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Industrial espionage|Economic and industrial espionage]] |
* [[Industrial espionage|Economic and industrial espionage]] |
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* [[Insider threat]] |
* [[Insider threat]] |
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* [[Jules C. Silber]] |
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* [[Spy cops scandal]] |
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* [[Traitor]] |
* [[Traitor]] |
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* ''[[ |
* ''[[De Mol (TV series)|The Mole]]'' (TV series) |
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== References == |
== References == |
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| date = March 28, 2006 |
| date = March 28, 2006 |
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| location = New York City, New York, USA |
| location = New York City, New York, USA |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC& |
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&q=mole+%22john+le+carre%22+tinker&pg=PA953 |
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| access-date = August 26, 2012 |
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| edition = 2nd, revised |
| edition = 2nd, revised |
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| isbn = 9780304366361 |
| isbn = 9780304366361 |
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| date = April 1, 2003 |
| date = April 1, 2003 |
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| location = Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
| location = Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wZt283WNub4C& |
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wZt283WNub4C&q=%22the+term+mole%22+%22john+le+carre%22&pg=PA142 |
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| |
| access-date = August 26, 2012 |
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| edition = illustrated |
| edition = illustrated |
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| isbn = 9780028644189 |
| isbn = 9780028644189 |
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| date = Oct 30, 2006 |
| date = Oct 30, 2006 |
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| location = New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
| location = New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
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| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300107982 |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ck6bXqt5shkC&pg=PA448&dq=%22the+term+mole%22+%22john+le+carre%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6gOLT-rZCZDZiAKdqez_Cw&sqi=2&ved=0CGMQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22the%20term%20mole%22%20%22john%20le%20carre%22&f=false |
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| url-access = registration |
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| |
| access-date = August 26, 2012 |
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| edition = illustrated |
| edition = illustrated |
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| isbn = 9780300107982 |
| isbn = 9780300107982 |
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| oclc = 66527213 |
| oclc = 66527213 |
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| page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300107982/page/448 448] |
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| page = 448 |
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| quote = According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' "it is generally thought that the world of espionage adopted [the term mole] from Le Carré, rather than vice versa. |
| quote = According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' "it is generally thought that the world of espionage adopted [the term mole] from Le Carré, rather than vice versa. |
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}} |
}} |
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| year = 2004 |
| year = 2004 |
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| location = Jackson, Mississippi, USA |
| location = Jackson, Mississippi, USA |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jxPWT_Lo5yQC |
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jxPWT_Lo5yQC&q=mole&pg=PA33 |
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| |
| access-date = August 26, 2012 |
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| edition = illustrated |
| edition = illustrated |
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| isbn = 9781578066698 |
| isbn = 9781578066698 |
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}} |
}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* {{cite book |
* {{cite book |
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| author = Staff |
| author = Staff |
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| title = Why Do We Say It?: the stories behind the words, expressions and cliches we use |
| title = Why Do We Say It?: the stories behind the words, expressions and cliches we use |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5qpIPQAACAAJ |
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5qpIPQAACAAJ |
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| |
| access-date = August 26, 2012 |
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| edition = reissue |
| edition = reissue |
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| date = November 29, 2009 |
| date = November 29, 2009 |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mole (Espionage)}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mole (Espionage)}} |
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⚫ | |||
[[Category:Security breaches]] |
[[Category:Security breaches]] |
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⚫ |
Latest revision as of 00:40, 19 August 2024
This article possibly contains original research. (December 2019) |
In espionage jargon, a mole (also called a "penetration agent",[1] "deep cover agent", "illegal" or "sleeper agent") is a long-term spy (espionage agent) who is recruited before having access to secret intelligence, subsequently managing to get into the target organization.[2] However, it is popularly used to mean any long-term clandestine spy or informant within an organization (government or private).[2] In police work, a mole is an undercover law-enforcement agent who joins an organization in order to collect incriminating evidence about its operations and to eventually charge its members.
The term was introduced to the public by British spy novelist John le Carré in his 1974 novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy[3][4] and has since entered general usage, but its origin is unclear,[1] as well as to what extent it was used by intelligence services before it became popularized. Le Carré, a former British intelligence officer, said that the term "mole" was actually used by the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB,[2] and that a corresponding term used by Western intelligence services was sleeper agent.[5] While the term mole had been applied to spies in the book Historie of the Reign of King Henry VII written in 1626 by Sir Francis Bacon,[1][2] Le Carré said he did not get the term from that source.
Overview
[edit]A mole may be recruited early in life, and take decades to get a job in government service and reach a position of access to secret information before becoming active as a spy. Perhaps the most famous examples of moles were the Cambridge Five, five upper-class British men recruited by the KGB as communist students at Cambridge University in the 1930s who later rose to high levels in various parts of the British government.[3] By contrast, most espionage agents, such as CIA counterintelligence officer Aldrich Ames and FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who spied on the US government for the KGB, were either recruited or offered their services as spies after they were in place as members of the target organization.
Because their recruitment occurred in the remote past, moles are difficult for a nation's security services to detect. The possibility that a top politician, corporate executive, government minister, or officer in an intelligence service could be a mole working for a foreign government is the worst nightmare of counterintelligence services.[citation needed] For example, James Angleton, director of counterintelligence for the CIA between 1954 and 1975, was reportedly obsessed with suspicions that the top levels of Western governments were riddled with long-term communist agents[1] and accused numerous politicians such as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Canadian Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and many members of Congress before he was removed in 1975.[citation needed]
Moles have been featured in numerous espionage films, television shows, video games and novels.
Reasons for use
[edit]The most common procedure used by intelligence services to recruit agents is to find the location within the foreign government or organization of the information they want (the target), find out which people have access to it, and attempt to recruit one of them as a spy (espionage agent) to obtain the information. However, the people with access to top secret government information, who are government employees with high security clearances, are carefully monitored by the government's security apparatus for just that sort of espionage approach. Thus, it is difficult for a representative of the foreign intelligence service to meet with them clandestinely to recruit them. Private organizations, such as large corporations or terrorist groups, have similar security monitors.
In addition, the security clearance process weeds out employees who are openly disgruntled, ideologically disaffected, or otherwise having motives for betraying their country, so people in such positions are likely to reject recruitment as spies. Therefore, some intelligence services have tried to reverse the above process by first recruiting potential agents and then having them conceal their allegiance and pursue careers in the target government agency in the hope that they can reach positions of access to desired information.
Because the spy career of a mole is so long-term, sometimes occupying most of a lifetime, those who become moles must be highly motivated. One common motivation is ideology (political convictions). During the Cold War, a major source of moles in Western countries was so-called fellow travellers, Westerners who, in their youth during the 1920s to 1940s, became disaffected with their own governments and sympathetic to world communism without actually joining a communist party.
See also
[edit]- Agent of influence
- Double agent
- Economic and industrial espionage
- Insider threat
- Jules C. Silber
- Spy cops scandal
- Traitor
- The Mole (TV series)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Smith, W. Thomas (2003). Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency. Manhattan, New York City, USA: Infobase Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 9781438130187. OCLC 586163250.
- ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (March 28, 2006). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang: A Major New Edition of the Market-Leading Dictionary of Slang (2nd, revised ed.). New York City, New York, USA: Sterling Publishing. p. 953. ISBN 9780304366361. OCLC 62890128. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ a b Carlisle, Rodney P. (April 1, 2003). Complete Idiot's Guide to Spies and Espionage (illustrated ed.). Indianapolis, Indiana, USA: Alpha Books. p. 142. ISBN 9780028644189. OCLC 52090218. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^
Shapiro, Fred R. (Oct 30, 2006). The Yale Book of Quotations (illustrated ed.). New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Yale University Press. p. 448. ISBN 9780300107982. OCLC 66527213. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary "it is generally thought that the world of espionage adopted [the term mole] from Le Carré, rather than vice versa.
- ^
Le Carré, John; Bruccoli, Matthew J; Baughman, Judith (2004). Conversations with John le Carré (illustrated ed.). Jackson, Mississippi, USA: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 33–34. ISBN 9781578066698. OCLC 55019020. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
interview with Le Carré in Melvyn Bragg The Listener, January 22, 1976 BBC1, (reprint)
Further reading
[edit]- Staff (November 29, 2009). Why Do We Say It?: the stories behind the words, expressions and cliches we use (reissue ed.). Secaucus, New Jersey, USA: Castle Books. ISBN 9781555210106. OCLC 237155763. Retrieved August 26, 2012.