Treasonous Spies Gave Secrets to Russia
Over seventy years ago as part of a Soviet Union spy ring, Americans and Britons leveraged their access to military secrets to help Russia become a nuclear power.
Precious state secrets are highly coveted by enemies who train individuals in espionage techniques to blend into populations to avoid detection as long as possible to achieve their mission. Being deceitful, untruthful and credible must become as second nature so as to evade discovery and confuse an unsuspecting public from discovering these agents.
Spying and espionage are not just found in the fictitious world of a James Bond novel or movie. Cyber-spying and corporate espionage are two common ways for people to be tracked and have information stolen in the modern world. There is always the danger of being stalked, followed, or watched, especially with the technology available to a determined tracker. If you are concerned that someone is watching you or your company, there are several ways of identifying these individuals. Understanding how to spot these spies can be useful in halting their activities and any damage caused.
Regularly check your browser history
If you notice there is an unusual website, that you did not visit, someone could be a clandestine usage of your computer. Likewise, if your search history has been mysteriously cleared, someone else may have done so. In these cases, someone has spied on you by directly accessing your computer.
- Remember to always turn your machine off when you are not using it, or have a strong password with letters, numbers and symbols to lock out unwanted users
Regularly check to see if a third party software is running on your machine
These programs sometimes called virtual network computing (VNC) software, allow someone to access your computer from a remote location as long as it is on. Many people use programs like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC to do work remotely. If you have such a program, someone else who obtained your login details could access your machine from an outside location.
Regularly check the operating speed of your device
If you notice a lag in speed, it could be as a result of someone using the internet to track your activity. A tracking app will take up valuable memory, and cause other processes on your computer to slow down. Look at the apps your device is running, checking for any unfamiliar ones.
Regularly check the operating speed of your device
If you notice a lag in speed, it could be as a result of someone using the internet to track your activity. A tracking app will take up valuable memory, and cause other processes on your computer to slow down. Look at the apps your device is running, checking for any unfamiliar ones.
- Most major commercial antivirus programs are good at tracking apps like this on your computer.
Regularly check your bills
If someone has access to your device, they probably have access to other information about you and may be using it to steal your identity. In addition, spying apps on your phone will use the GPS to send tracking data and will likely drive up your data charges.
If someone has access to your device, they probably have access to other information about you and may be using it to steal your identity. In addition, spying apps on your phone will use the GPS to send tracking data and will likely drive up your data charges.
Regularly check your downloads from insecure websites
If you are downloading something from a website, use your computer's security system to check whether that site is trusted or secure. If you have been downloading files from an insecure website, outsiders may be able to access it.
Soviet Espionage
Despite being an ally during World War II, the Soviet Union launched an all-out espionage effort to uncover the military and defence secrets of the United States and Britain in the 1940s. Within days of Britain's highly classified decision in 1941 to begin research on building an atomic bomb, called the Manhattan Project, took shape in the United States, the Soviet spy ring got wind of it before the FBI knew of the secret program's existence. Barely four years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945, the Soviet Union detonated its own in August 1949, much sooner than expected.
If you are downloading something from a website, use your computer's security system to check whether that site is trusted or secure. If you have been downloading files from an insecure website, outsiders may be able to access it.
Soviet Espionage
Despite being an ally during World War II, the Soviet Union launched an all-out espionage effort to uncover the military and defence secrets of the United States and Britain in the 1940s. Within days of Britain's highly classified decision in 1941 to begin research on building an atomic bomb, called the Manhattan Project, took shape in the United States, the Soviet spy ring got wind of it before the FBI knew of the secret program's existence. Barely four years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945, the Soviet Union detonated its own in August 1949, much sooner than expected.
The Soviets did not lack for available recruits for spying, says John Earl Haynes, espionage historian and author of Early Cold War Spies. What drove these college-educated Americans and Britons to sell their nations’ atomic secrets? Some were ideologically motivated, enamoured of communist beliefs, explains Haynes. Others were motivated by the notion of nuclear parity. One way to prevent a nuclear war, they reasoned, was to make sure that no nation had a monopoly on that awesome power.
For many years, the depth of Soviet spying was unknown. The big breakthrough began in 1946 when the United States, working with Britain, deciphered the code Moscow used to send its telegraph cables. Venona, as the decoding project was named, remained an official secret until it was declassified in 1995. Because government authorities did not want to reveal that they had cracked the Russian code, Venona evidence could not be used in court, but it could trigger investigations and surveillance hoping to nail suspects in the act of spying or extract a confession from them. As Venona decryption improved in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it blew the cover of several spies.
Investigations resulted in the execution or imprisonment of a dozen or more people who had passed atomic secrets to the Soviets, but no one knows how many spies got away.
Investigations resulted in the execution or imprisonment of a dozen or more people who had passed atomic secrets to the Soviets, but no one knows how many spies got away.
Here is one who is known about:
John Cairncross
Considered the first atomic spy, John Cairncross was eventually identified as one of the Cambridge Five, a group of upper-middle-class young men who met at Cambridge University in the 1930s, became passionate communists and eventually Soviet spies during World War II and into the 1950s. In his position as secretary to the chairman of Britain's scientific advisory committee, Cairncross gained access to a high-level report in the fall of 1941 that confirmed the feasibility of a uranium bomb. He promptly leaked the information to Moscow agents. In 1951 when British agents closed in on other members of the Cambridge spy ring, Cairncross was interrogated after documents in his handwriting was discovered in the suspect's apartment.
Ultimately he was not charged, and according to some reports, asked by British officials to resign and keep quiet. He moved to the United States where he taught French literate at Northwestern University. In 1964, questioned again, he admitted to spying for Russia against Germany in WWII but denied giving information harmful to Britain. He went to work for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and later lived in France.
Cairncross returned to England a few months before his death in 1995 and went to his grave insisting that the information he gave to Moscow was "relatively innocuous." In the late 1990s when Russia under its new democracy made public its KGB files from the last 70 years, documents revealed that Cairncross was indeed the agent who provided "highly secret documentation of the British Government to help organise and develop Russian work on atomic energy."
Considered the first atomic spy, John Cairncross was eventually identified as one of the Cambridge Five, a group of upper-middle-class young men who met at Cambridge University in the 1930s, became passionate communists and eventually Soviet spies during World War II and into the 1950s. In his position as secretary to the chairman of Britain's scientific advisory committee, Cairncross gained access to a high-level report in the fall of 1941 that confirmed the feasibility of a uranium bomb. He promptly leaked the information to Moscow agents. In 1951 when British agents closed in on other members of the Cambridge spy ring, Cairncross was interrogated after documents in his handwriting was discovered in the suspect's apartment.
Ultimately he was not charged, and according to some reports, asked by British officials to resign and keep quiet. He moved to the United States where he taught French literate at Northwestern University. In 1964, questioned again, he admitted to spying for Russia against Germany in WWII but denied giving information harmful to Britain. He went to work for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and later lived in France.
Cairncross returned to England a few months before his death in 1995 and went to his grave insisting that the information he gave to Moscow was "relatively innocuous." In the late 1990s when Russia under its new democracy made public its KGB files from the last 70 years, documents revealed that Cairncross was indeed the agent who provided "highly secret documentation of the British Government to help organise and develop Russian work on atomic energy."
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