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who would never consider becoming a spy, but past espionage cases indicate some reason for concern. (See box, “Why Spy?”) The response of counterintelligence agents to the discovery of such problems depends on the suspect’s larger patterns of behavior, how long the problem persists, and evidence of potentially hostile activity. In the aftermath of the Ames case—in which marginal performance, alcohol abuse, and a sudden increase in fairly ostentatious personal spending should have been taken as indicators of a problem—U.S. intelligence increased the amount of personal financial information that intelligence personnel must report on a regular basis. These financial-reporting forms assume, however, that ill-gotten gains show up in some way that is detectable with or without the cooperation of the recipient—cash. stocks, or new homes, cars, and so forth bought with cash received. However, as was learned from both the Ames and the Hanssen cases, the country supporting the espionage may be putting some or all of the money in escrow accounts that will not be detected—or even accessed—until years after the espionage is completed. Again, the cases of Ames and Hanssen are instructive. Ames’s lifestyle clearly changed—new house, new car, better clothes, cosmetic dental work—but all this occurred before the financial-reporting forms were required. Outwardly, Hanssen’s life showed no signs of increased wealth.

Another internal means of thwarting espionage attacks is the classification system. In U.S. intelligence parlance, the system is compartmented. In other words, an employee being accorded the privilege of a clearance does not automatically get access to all of the intelligenne information available. Admission to various compartments had been based on a need to know. Thus, someone working on a new imagery system is likely to have different clearances than someone involved in running human intelligence (HUMINT). There are also compartments within compartments. For example, a clearance involving HUMINT may include only specific cases or types of HUMINT—perhaps proliferation or narcotics.

WHY SPY?

U.S. counterintelligence emphasizes personal financial issues in assessing security risks. Many people involved in the worst espionage cases suffered by the United States—Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen, the Walker spy ring, Ronald Pelton—were motivated largely by greed, not ideology. Some exceptions were Julius Rosenberg, Alger Hiss, Larry Wu-tai Chin, and Ana Montes.

By contrast, many involved in the worst espionage cases in Britain—Kim Philby and his associates or George Blake, for example—spied because of ideological devotion to the Soviet Union.

Although espionage cases of either type (greed or ideology) can arise in either country, some observers have been struck by the difference. It can be explained, in part, by the fact that Britain has had (and still has) a class system that makes ideology a more likely reason for betrayal, although the most serious British spies have come from the upper class. In the United States, the main competition has always been based on economic status, not social class

Spies may also be motivated by vengeance toward superiors or agencies, by blackmail against themselves or family members, by thrills, or by involvement with a foreign national. Still, until recently, most of the spies suffered by the United States have been motivated primarily by money. However, a Defense Department study released in April 2008 found that “divided loyalty” between the United States and the nation enlisting the spy had greatly increased as a motive for espionage.

Although “need to know” was the standard for decades, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, many felt that this standard also served to impede the necessary sharing of intelligence. In 2003, the intelligence community began to stress the “need to share,” an important shift in emphasis. Many also believed it was necessary to get away from the notion of various agencies—especially those that collect intelligence—“owning” the intelligence they produced.