From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Message Hash: 853548661572f59b326ce75f5d2d586a6293b72ab675861ab095251271f0dc41
Message ID: <199806272234.SAA30802@camel7.mindspring.com>
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UTC Datetime: 1998-06-27 22:34:16 UTC
Raw Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 15:34:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 15:34:16 -0700 (PDT)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: CIA Hires Lo/Hi-Tech Spies
Message-ID: <199806272234.SAA30802@camel7.mindspring.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
NYT, June 27, 1998:
Getting Back to Basics, C.I.A. Is Hiring More Spies
Taking steps to reduce dependence on high-tech spying.
By James Risen
Washington, June 26--The Central Intelligence Agency
is beginning the largest recruitment drive for new spies
in its history, in an ambitious effort to rebuild its
espionage service, which has been severely damaged by
spy scandals, budget cutbacks and high turnover since
the end of the cold war, officials said.
With Congress already providing increased financing,
the Directorate of Operations, the C.I.A.'s clandestine
espionage arm, will hire record numbers of case officers
--spies-- beginning this year as part of a new strategic
plan to repair the decaying espionage capabilities of
the United States by 2005, officials said.
In addition to expanded hiring, the agency also plans to
reopen several overseas stations that were closed in the
early 1990's after the demise of the Soviet Union led
Congress and the White House to reduce the C.I.A.'s
budget sharply.
The recruitment plan is a sign that the C.I.A. recognizes
that it has become far too dependent on so-called technical
intelligence, or eavesdropping devices and spy satellites.
Now, the agency wants to get back to espionage basics, by
increasing its ability to place a spy behind enemy lines
or inside the offices of a rival government.
The spread of new technologies like encryption and computer
networks has eroded the value of spy satellites and listening
devices and has led the C.I.A. to see the need for an
expanded cadre of spies. Without having an agent in place,
the C.I.A. has found it much harder to gain access to secrets
from rival governments, terrorists and international
organized crime groups. ...
The C.I.A. is recruiting case officers, and people to support
them with technical skills that spies have rarely been asked
to learn in the past.
"As we tried to figure out our requirements for the future,
we realized we needed to have greater technical support for
agent operations," said one American official.
At the top of the list of requirements is computer expertise.
The proliferation of global computer data networks, for example,
has made it more difficult for the agency to slip into a
country using false identifications. Only computer experts
can defeat those local computer systems, and even developing
countries routinely make sophisticated computer checks on
passports and visas. ...
-----
Full story: http://jya.com/cia-hires.htm
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