Spycraft - Melton [298]
11 For photographs and technical descriptions see: Melton, CIA Special Weapons and Equipment, 65.
12 For photographs and information on the fine-wire kit see: Melton, CIA Special Weapons and Equipment, 67, and Melton, Ultimate Spy, 102.
13 Richard Tomlinson, The Big Breach: From Top Secret to Maximum Security (Moscow: Narodny Variant Publishers, 2000), 104.
14 Ibid., 104-105.
15 Rustmann, CIA, INC., 54.
16 For a photograph of a disposable “quick plant” writing pen, see: Melton, Ultimate Spy, 103.
17 Rustmann, CIA, INC., 57.
18 Melton, Ultimate Spy, 96, 105.
19 Bob Woodward, Veil, 147.
20 A “wood block” is an audio eavesdropping device usually consisting of a microphone, transmitter, and batteries built inside a hollow section of wooden molding or part of a table support or chair leg. Such devices are intended to be quickly exchanged with their identical counterpart inside the target location.
21 For photographs of “wood blocks” inside modified furniture components see: Melton, Ultimate Spy, 105.
22 See: Melton, Ultimate Spy, 103.
23 Experience taught that the ideal book to be swapped was on the top shelf where it was harder for the target to reach and less likely to be read and examined.
24 Glinsky, Theremin, 273; see also: Melton, Ultimate Spy, 104, for photos of the Great Seal and diagrams of the resonator.
25 See: Associated Press article by Ted Bridis “CIA Gadget Museum Showcase Robot Fish, Pigeon Camera, Tiger Dropping Microphone” on www.mind-fully.org/Technology/2003/CIA-Museum26dec03.htm.
26 A “provocation” would be an act by the officer to elude surveillance such as getting on, and then immediately off a subway car, or speeding through an urban area to “lose” the trailing vehicle.
27 Floyd L. Paseman, A Spy’s Journey: A CIA Memoir (St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press, 2004), 61.
28 Planar eyeglass lenses are noticeably thick, but do not provide any optical magnification. The contents of a portable disguise kit issued to a CIA officer going abroad can be seen in Melton, CIA Special Weapons and Equipment, 105, and Melton, Ultimate Spy, 131.
29 The sculpted facial disguises were remarkably lifelike. OTS received assistance from Oscar-winning mask designer John Chambers (Planet of the Apes) to help create disguises for intelligence officers. See: by Michael E. Ruane, “Seeing is Deceiving,” Washington Post, February 15, 2000.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
1 An agent requires the ability to both receive and send covert communications. A shortwave radio with a one-time pad is an example of an “agent-receive” system. Secret writing carbons and accommodation addresses represent an “agent-send” system.
2 Steganography is defined as “covered writing” or the art of communicating in a way that masks the very existence of the communication. See: Eric Cole, Hiding in Plain Sight: Steganography and the Art of Covert Communication (Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing, 2003) for a detailed description of the uses of steganography for clandestine communication. Cole is a former CIA officer who specialized in the development of secure communication systems.
3 Through the 1970s, personal meetings also became increasingly technology dependent. Electronic signaling and nonattributable telephone calls replaced chalk marks and lipstick smears to trigger clandestine meetings. Case officers wore earpieces to listen for surveillance transmissions to determine if they were being followed. Identity-altering clothing and accessories were among other technical tools applied to assure the security of “low tech” personal meetings.
4 “Unnatural acts” appear out-of-the-ordinary or suspicious when observed and serve as a “flag” to alert counterintelligence. For example, making a large chalk X on a telephone pole or repeatedly looking over one’s shoulder while walking down a street are uncharacteristic