Spycraft - Melton [269]
Al-Qaeda— International radical Islamic organization established by Osama bin Laden in 1988 to unite Muslims to fight the West and expel Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Responsible for the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States and other terrorist bombings throughout the world since the early 1990s.
Audio—The capture and recording of private conversations by electronic means. Better known as “bugs,” audio devices can either be “hardwired” or transmit a signal via radio frequency, or optically using a laser or infrared light.
Bang and burn— CIA slang for personnel and operations involved with explosives, sabotage, and post-blast damage assessments.
Beacon— A device typically fastened to an object or individual that transmits a radio signal in order to track its location. The technological discipline is called beaconry.
BIGOT list— A list of names of individuals with authorized knowledge of a particularly sensitive intelligence matter.
Brush pass— A brief contact between an agent and case officer during which an exchange of physical material, such as documents, film, money, or other items, occurs.
Car toss— Similar to the brush pass, the car toss allows an agent and handler to clandestinely exchange physical material by tossing it through, or from, the open window of a car.
Case—The official record of an intelligence operation.
Case officer (also operations officer) — An intelligence officer responsible for an agent operation; responsibilities may include recruitment, instruction, as well as those of paymaster and personal advisor.
Central Intelligence Group (CIG) —The CIG, formed in 1946, was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Chief of station (COS) —The officer in charge at a CIA station, usually in a foreign capital.
Clear signal— A radio frequency (RF) transmission that is not masked (disguised) or encrypted.
Communicator—An intelligence officer responsible for maintaining and operating communication devices linking field stations with Headquarters.
Compartmentation— A procedure restricting knowledge of a case or operation to a small number of individuals on a “need to know” basis.
Concealment device— An object modified or fabricated to contain either a device or intelligence materials for purposes of covert storage, transport, placement within a target, or dead-dropping.
Consumer— An organization or individual who uses intelligence as part of the analysis or decision-making process. Consumers of intelligence include the military, State Department, and President.
Counterespionage— Espionage operations undertaken to detect, penetrate, and counteract foreign intelligence services.
Counterintelligence— Operations and analysis that protect information, personnel, equipment, and installations from espionage, sabotage, and terrorism.
Countersurveillance—Techniques used to detect and/or counteract hostile surveillance.
Cover— An organizational affiliation used by a person, organization, or installation to prevent identification with an intelligence service.
Covert communication (covcom) — Any technique or device used to relay data clandestinely from case officer to agent or agent to case officer.
Cryptonym— A deceptive code name assigned to an operation, individual, or case. CIA cryptonyms often included two-letter prefixes for internal identification.
Dangle— An individual or situation used as a lure to attract and identify intelligence officers of a hostile service.
DCI— Director of Central Intelligence.
DCIA— Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
DDO— Deputy Director for Operations of CIA.
DDP— Deputy Director for Plans of CIA.
Dead drop—A method of communication between an agent and handler in which materials or devices are left unsecured in a preselected location, typically in some form of concealment.