Are there private spy agencies

Out for lunch with a fellow employee, her eyes suddenly dart to the left, her face screwed up in suspicion at something behind me. Every investigative journalist I deal with who talks about encryption just makes me laugh and feel sorry for them in equal measure. Oh yeah? Ever wondered who your teacher is really working for? All this faux security talk is designed purely to make people feel better about a situation they cannot control. The spy is in your phone, not your app.

As you type, they watch the words form on their cloned version of your screen. When Facetime can be hacked by Joe Public to turn it into a recording device, you know the game is up. The very same recording devices we used to use with impunity are now being deployed against us.

The recent sting by AP journalists and CitizenLab exposing agents spying on a cybersecurity watchdog is one of many such operations over the last twelve months, and in each case, the agent exposed will struggle to ever work again, at least in the field.

A suspicious target turns up to a meeting with an agent like me, and just as I am filming surreptitiously, so are they. And good luck to them. But the public refuses to catch up. Ex-Mossad and MI6 operatives set up their own firms once they swap the public sector for the private. But what did you expect? Did you really think the state would train people to spy, give them with the most advanced espionage skills around, and then prevent them from forging a career once they leave official service?

Again, unless laws are being broken in the process, then offering your services to the highest bidder is perfectly kosher. Corporate intelligence is about far more than spying. Strategically timed and placed articles can have a devastating effect, in both the business and political spheres.

The media will turn a blind eye if the story is juicy enough and the projected hit-count high enough. Then come the bounty hunters: private companies who bid for mandates to trace and recover assets involved in conspiracies and fraud. The Department of Justice hands out contracts to such entities, offering generous double-digit percentages of whatever they recover.

Take Black Cube as an example: The list of their operations revealed include several in lockstep with Israeli foreign policy: helping smear campaign against George Soros to help key ally Viktor Orban in Hungary; assisting Donald Trump by spying on Obama officials to undermine the credibility of the Iran deal; working with Cambridge Analytica to assist the opponent of the Muslim presidential candidate in Nigeria.

That capacity would allow analysts to look back in time over days, weeks, or months. Technology is in the works to enable drones to remain aloft for years at a time.

The Department of Homeland Security has been at these crossroads before. In , during the presidency of George W. Bush, the department established an agency to direct domestic spy satellite stakeouts and gave it a bland name: the National Applications Office. In , it was killed by the Obama administration. Still, unlike domestic electronic surveillance by the NSA, which has been closely scrutinized and subjected to legislation designed to protect civil liberties, domestic overhead spying has escaped the attention of both Congress and the public.

The Trump administration may take advantage of that void. The president has spoken in favor of increasing the scrutiny of mosques; aerial assessment would allow him to track worshippers. Drones could aid in the mass roundup of illegal immigrants intended for deportation, and Trump has said he may send federal forces to Chicago to quell the violence.

Of course, all that would require a significant expansion of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to analyze the domestic imagery. Before that can happen, Trump, like Obama, has to discover there is such an agency. Mission : The DNI has two main missions: to lead intelligence integration, and forge an intelligence community that delivers the most insightful intelligence possible. The U. A groundbreaking investigation from the Washington Post found some rather daunting figures:.

Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service. Jul 26, , IST. The Central Intelligence Agency spies on foreign governments and organizes covert ops.

The Defense Intelligence Agency works to understand what foreign militaries will do before they do it. The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research provides diplomats the necessary tools for effective foreign policy.

Air Force Intelligence provides reconnaissance for US ground troops. Army Intelligence and Security Command offers essential intel to troops on the battlefield. The Department of Energy, Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence gathers information on foreign nuclear weapons.

Coast Guard Intelligence provides information on maritime security and homeland defense. The Treasury's Office of Intelligence and Analysis collects terrorism and financial intelligence. The Drug Enforcement Administration hunts down illegal drugs. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency provides advanced mapping for military forces. The National Reconnaissance Office is responsible for America's spy satellites.

The Office of Naval Intelligence provides information on the world's oceans to sailors everywhere. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is where all the intelligence should come together for delivering to the President. You've seen all the intelligence agencies in the U. Popular on BI.

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