New Spies Use Old Tricks

The idea that espionage always relies on cutting-edge technology is a myth, says The Christian Science Monitor, which divulges the five oldest, and still most effective, spy tricks. “‘Newer is not always better,’ said Mark Stout, the historian for the International Spy Museum and a 13-year intelligence veteran at both the State Department and the CIA. ‘High tech may be better than low tech in some situations, but in others it may be grossly inappropriate.’ In particular, five technologies that date back decades remain common in the world of cloak and dagger. Used by CIA, the suspected Russian infiltrators and every spook in between, these technologies have stood the tests of time and counterintelligence.”