SPY NEWS: 2022 — Week 22
Summary of the espionage-related news stories for the Week 22 (29 May-4 June) of 2022.
1. Czech Couple Suspected of Russian Espionage Activity
On Monday, May 30th, it was revealed that Nikolai Shaposhnikov and his wife, Elena, were linked with the 2014 sabotage operations on Czech ammunition warehouses by Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) operatives. Nikolai Shaposhnikov is a former Russian Army official who obtained Czech citizenship. The new details show that before the 2014 GRU covert operations in Czech Republic, he met with the GRU officer that was leading them, GRU General Andrei Averyanov, in Lisbon, Portugal. Afterwards, they exchanged emails including details of sensitive arms deals. Shaposhnikov’s lawyer stated that “he knew nothing about his client’s contacts, and Shaposhnikov himself denied any connection with General Averyanov.”
2. Lithuania Increases Counter-Espionage Legislation
On May 30th, the Lithuanian Parliament approved amendments to its criminal law which doubles the espionage sentence prison terms, with a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 15 years in prison. Additionally, the new amendments can prosecute not only individuals but also legal entities for espionage if they are discovered being involved in “assistance to another state or organisation subordinate to it in activities that harm the interests of Lithuania” with a prison term of 2–7 years.
3. Podcast: Everyday Espionage: Fortune Telling to Build Fortunes
On May 31st, former CIA Case Officer Andrew Bustamante published a new 24-minute long episode talking about learning from history to better assess/predict and prepare for the future, especially related to the role of new technologies in business and government.
4. Mahad Salad Takes Over Somalia’s NISA, Following Covert Operations Scandal
Following the recent scandal (see week 21 story #24) in Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), as well as last year’s revelations for the “the murder of a female intelligence officer allegedly by senior officials within the organisation” the leadership of the Agency changed officially this week. Since last Sunday, NISA is headed by Mahad Mohamed Salad, the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia.
5. Ukraine’s SBU Uncovers FSB Operation to Discredit OSCE
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) raided an office in the area of Kherson which was, reportedly, operated by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers tasked with an Information Operation (IO) to discredit the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Ukraine through “staged stories for the media in order to accuse OSCE employees of allegedly spying for the SBU.” The report says that FSB officers detained and forced (by threats of killing them) OSCE employees to confess they were SBU spies on camera; those videos were then to be used in the IO orchestrated from that raided office.
6. Polisario Front Leader Says He Was Targeted by Moroccan Intelligence Services Using Pegasus
Brahim Ghali, the head of the Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement “Polisario Front” in Western Sahara publicly accused the Moroccan intelligence services of targeting him by covertly compromising his mobile phone and installing the Pegasus cyber espionage software implant (developed and sold by the Israeli NSO Group).
7. Two Former South Korean Spy Chiefs Jailed for Bribery Released on Parole on Monday
The new President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, who assumed office on May 10th, 2022 paroled 650 people on Monday. Among them, there were also Nam Jae-joon and Lee Byung-kee who served as the Directors of S. Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). The two former NIS Directors were found guilty of bribery in July 2021 and were imprisoned. Specifically, “Nam, 77, director of the NIS from March 2013 to May 2014, was convicted of giving 600 million won worth of “special activity” expenses to the Park Blue House, which were meant to be used by NIS agents for information-gathering and intelligence-related purposes. The money was later found to have been used by Park .Lee Byung-kee, 76, Nam’s successor and NIS director from July 2014 to February 2015, was convicted of giving 800 million won worth of special activity funds to Park’s Blue House.”
8. Man Arrested in China After the Discovery of Gift Mirror with Hidden Cameras
Chinese authorities in the Guangdong province arrested a man surnamed Zhang for giving a gift vanity make-up mirror to a female coworker surnamed Li. The mirror was actually custom-built to include hidden cameras and transmitters. Zhang “is a hidden camera expert who runs an online store selling modified candid camera devices.” Li got suspicious and was advised to take the mirror apart and she said that “when I took it apart, I found there were four high-definition pinhole cameras and five 32G memory cards inside, one of the recordings on a memory card was marked ‘2019’, so I realised I was probably not the first victim. It was lucky that a Bluetooth alarm clock Zhang had planned to send to me was still in transit, otherwise he could have further monitored my life.” When arrested, Zhang confessed to have done the same to other people too, and the Chinese authorities are asked to investigate his customers for potentially similar activities.
9. Summary of Recently Completed SBU Counter-Intelligence Operations in Ukraine
On May 31st, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) published a summary of 4 recently completed counter-intelligence operations. Those were: 1) In Kiev, with the help of the security staff of Ukroboronprom, SBU uncovered one of their employees who was cooperating with Russian special services to get citizens of Kiev to cooperate with Russia. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. 2) In Donetsk, SBU neutralised a Russian intelligence network conducting tactical reconnaissance on Ukrainian forces’ positions. This included the detainment of a Russian agent in Slovyansk and another in Kramatorsk. 3) In Kharkiv, SBU exposed two former members of militant groups, and 4) In the area of Luhansk, SBU sentenced two militia commanders of the, not recognised by most countries, Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), to 8 and 10 years in prison for subversive actions and treason.
10. Podcast: SpyCast: My Life Looking at Spies & the Media
The International Spy Museum’s SpyCast podcast series released a new 1-hour long episode featuring Dr Paul Lashmar, investigative journalist and intelligence expert, author of the book “Spies, Spin and the Fourth Estate.” As per the description, the intelligence subjects covered are: 1) The similarities and differences between spooks and journalists, 2) The role Watergate played for his generation of journalists, 3) Intelligence overseers as “Ostriches,” “Cheerleaders,” “Lemon-suckers,” or “Guardians”, and 4) Bellingcat, Spycatcher and the “Zinoviev Letter.”
11. New North Korean Cyber Espionage Operation Impersonating South Korean’s Ministry of Unification
On May 31st a new cyber espionage operation was uncovered, and attributed to North Korean intelligence services. The new operation is delivered through emails with documents impersonating South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, an entity promoting the Korean reunification. Based on that, cyber threat intelligence researchers discovered more lure documents with the same payload. If the target opened the lure files, a custom cyber espionage software implant was covertly installed on their system.
12. Crypto Museum: Added Enigma Bigram Tables/Manual
This week the Netherlands-based Crypto Museum added a new entry for the WWII German Kriegsmarine (Navy) Enigma M4 bigram table. As per the description, “when encrypting a naval message on the Enigma cipher machine, the message was first converted into a much shorter one, using a series of so-called short message books. The operator then had to pick a message key for its encryption, as described in the Naval Procedure of 1940.” Those were also used by the U-Boot department of Kriegsmarine, printed with red ink. As per the article, “the slightest trace of water immediately caused the ink to start bleeding. When left behind in a sinking U-Boot, the codebooks would wipe themselves automatically, which is why it was so hard to capture them during World War II.”
13. Russian SVR Reports “Russophobia” Rising in French Political Circles
On May 30th, the Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, issued a press release titled “Russophobia on the rise in French political circles” saying that based on intelligence gathered by the SVR, the Mayor’s Office in Kiev, Ukraine is considering asking French government to support them in renaming the Moscow Street to something different. The French government provided three options: Charles de Gaulle street, Paris Street, or French Street. Then the press release says that this is an “undisguised manifestation of extreme Russophobia” since in the city of Kiev there are also avenues named after Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, founders of the Nazi Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), officially (as per the Nuremberg trials) leading ethnic cleansing during WWII in support of Nazi Germany. However, those are not considered for renaming. The announcement concludes that “Residents of Moscow will never stoop to renaming streets and squares, universities and schools bearing the names of Charles de Gaulle, Romain Rolland, Maurice Thorez, the heroes of the Normandie-Niemen regiment and the Paris Commune, and many other prominent representatives of the French people. The Russians have deep respect for them, despite the Russophobic sentiments within the French political class.”
14. Kazakhstan’s KNB in the Final Phase of Reforms
As per Intelligence Online, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, “managed to get several of his former intelligence chief Karim Massimov’s allies to turn their coats as the reform of the country’s domestic intelligence service, the KNB, nears completion.”
15. 1977 FBI Covert Surveillance Operation MONOPOLY
Mikka Padilla of the SOFREP magazine published an article for the 1977 FBI covert surveillance Operation MONOPOLY. An FBI covert operation to spy on the, then new, Russian Embassy in Washington DC.
16. Chinese Cyber Espionage Operation Targeting Russia
On June 1st, cyber threat intelligence researcher Jazi publicly disclosed technical indicators of a new cyber espionage operation attributed to an actor dubbed as TONTO TEAM who has been previously associated with the Chinese intelligence services. The operation involved lure documents written in Russian language pretending to be notes of an “employee safety” briefing. If the target opened the lure document(s), a cyber espionage software implant would be covertly installed on their system.
17. Video: CIA’s Behind the Artefact: Abbottabad Model
On May 31st, the US Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) “The Debrief” series released a new 1.5-minute long video talking about the model of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan that was constructed by the National Geospatial-intelligence Agency (NGA) for the CIA to assist in the planning and execution of Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR.
18. Egypt Sentences Muslim Brotherhood Leader for Espionage
This week, Egyptian government sentenced 25 Islamist political opponents to prison with various criminal charges. Among them, it was the 2012 presidential candidate, Abdel Moneim Aboul Foutouh, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for false information and undermining state security, as well as Mahmoud Ezzat, the former supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who was sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage.
19. Rwanda Spy Agency Accused of Targeting Dissidents in the US
According to The Guardian, the intelligence services of Rwanda have been “stalking, harassing and threatening” dissidents living in the United States. The article is based on a report by the Freedom House. The news story says that the “Rwandan government has denied using the spyware but did not respond to a request to comment on the Freedom House report.”
20. Spy Collection: Eumig 8mm Electric Camera Used by East Germany’s MfS (Stasi)
On June 4th, we published a new 9.5-minute long video presenting an Austrian movie camera, the Eumig 8mm Electric, which was used by East Germany’s Ministry of State Security (MfS) for covert document copying photography during the Cold War era. The camera was used to produce the, so called, mikrats.
21. Taiwan Sentences Navy Officer to Prison on Espionage Case
On June 1st it was announced that Taiwanese Navy Commander Chang Pei-ning (張培凝) from the Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Command General Division was sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for “assisting Hong Kong businessman Hsieh Hsi-chang (謝錫璋) in developing an espionage cell in Taiwan.” From 1996 Hsieh and Chinese businessman Zeng Zhaofeng (曾昭峰) were operating as Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) spies, “seeking to befriend serving or retired military officers via banquets and sports events.” As per the article, “With a 15-day all-expenses-paid trip to Thailand, Chang turned colonel Ho Chung-chi (何忠枝), head of the Navy Command Headquarters Planning Division, and his wife, Chuang Hsiu-yun (莊秀雲). However, Chang’s next few targets — which included Lieutenant General Shen Po-chih (伸伯之), then-deputy commander of the navy; a colonel surnamed Yu (于), then-National Defense University president; a colonel surnamed Huang (黃); and a major surnamed Shen (沈), then at Navy Command Headquarters — were not swayed. Hsieh and Zeng left Taiwan in June 2019 and are wanted by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office following an investigation by the Ministry of Justice Bureau of Investigation into Hsieh’s activities, the ruling said.”
22. Turkish MİT Disrupts Russian Spy Network Plotting Assassination of Two Russian Nationals Living in Turkey
According to Nazil Karaman of the Daily Sabah, the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) “discovered a six-person cell working for Russian intelligence. The discovery, in March 2021, was only made public on Tuesday.” The Russian covert operatives were plotting the assassination of two individuals. As per the article, those were “D.S. and A.K. two former bureaucrats of the Russian Defense Ministry who were accused of illegally selling timbers from trees in military zones to China, in a fraud amounting to 4 billion rubles (around $65.3 million). The cell was in contact with a Russian intelligence official known only as A. Three suspects were captured in a hotel in Istanbul’s Fatih district, a popular location for traders and tourists from Russia and neighboring countries. All six suspects are currently in prison on charges of obtaining confidential state information for the purpose of political or military espionage. Among other suspects in the cell were a Turkish civil servant and a Turkish citizen identified as S.Ç. and nicknamed “Lone Wolf.” Two other Turks are accused of providing “local intelligence” for the Russians.”
23. Former South African Spy Chief Accuses South African President of Staged Robbery and Kidnapping to Steal Over $4 Million
The former Head of South Africa’s intelligence service, Arthur Fraser, filed a legal complaint against South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The former spy chief said that “burglars on February 9, 2020, broke into a farm north of Johannesburg belonging to Ramaphosa with the help of a domestic worker, where they found and stole more than $4 million.” According to Fraser, the former President “concealed a multi-million dollar theft from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and South African Revenue Service (SARS)” by colluding with the alleged robbers to take the $4 million from that location.
24. Yemeni Forces Announce the Downing of Saudi Spy Plane
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman announced that they successfully shot down a Chinese-made CASC Rainbow CH-4 UAV conducting illegal aerial surveillance over the Haraz area in the Hajjah governorate of Yemen. As per the announcement this “spy drone violated the airspace” and “violated the ceasefire” by carrying out hostile operations. The operator of the UAV was identified as Saudi Arabia’s Air Force.
25. Webinar: International Spy Museum: Accessory to a Mission Part II
Following week 20's episode (see story #43 of that week), this week the International Spy Museum published an 1-hour long recording of the second part of that webinar, titled “Accessory to a Mission.” The virtual event featured Dexter Ingram, a counterterrorism and counter weapons of mass destruction strategist who led US interagency delegations to Asia and Africa, and served as Senior CT Advisor to INTERPOL in France, together with Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise and International Spy Museum Advisory Board Member.
26. Dutch AIVD Uses Israeli Cyber Espionage Solution Pegasus
According to an investigation by the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) of the Netherlands is also a customer of Pegasus, a controversial cyber espionage solution developed and sold by the Israeli NSO Group. As per the article, “AIVD used the software to hack Taghi’s phone following the murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum, after the agency was brought in by the then justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus. Taghi was arrested three months after the murder in Dubai. Neither the AIVD or NSO Group would comment on the claims.”
27. Australian Navy Project for New Spy Submarine Drones
As per Janes, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is working on a 12 month pilot programme for Project SEAWOLF. That is, the development of a single 12 m prototype fuel cell-powered Extra-Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) hull. This will be done by the Canadian company Cellula Robotics in partnership with the Australian Trusted Autonomous Systems (TAS).
28. Classified Chinese Tank Specifications Leaked on Game Design Forum
On June 2nd, 2022 the UK Defence Journal published an article for a case of leaked classified technical specifications in a forum dedicated to gaming design. On May 31st, a forum user shared images of a classified “Chinese DTC10–125 tungsten penetrator sitting on a technical document describing the specifications of the projectile.” The content was removed by the forum moderators but it is still not clear if the leak of the classified documents was intentional (act of espionage) or accidental.
29. CIA Whistleblower David C. MacMichael Dies at 95
On June 1st, Clay Risen of the New York Times published an article for the life and death of Dr David C. MacMichael, an Intelligence Analyst in the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who in 1983 went public “with evidence that Reagan administration was preparing to launch a coup against the government of Nicaragua, a revelation that would in part lead to what is known as the Iran-Contra Affair.” He was a History Professor who became one of the Agency’s leading experts in Latin America affairs. As per the article, he died at his home in Front Royal, Virginia on May 16th at the age of 95.
30. Mapping of Pro-Russian IOs on Italian Twitter
The Decode39 published an article based on an investigation conducted by cyber propaganda expert Alex Orlowski to identify pro-Russia Information Operations (IOs) on Italian-language Twitter.
31. Podcast: Secrets & Spies: Putin’s Plan B For Ukraine
On May 31st, Secrets & Spies published a new 1.5-hour long podcast episode titled “Putin’s Plan B For Ukraine” featuring Frank Snepp, as per the description, Snepp “won the CIA’s second-highest award, the Medal of Merit, for his intelligence work in Vietnam. He went on to become a CIA whistleblower, a US Supreme Court precedent-maker; a Peabody award-winning investigative journalist, and the author of two CIA memoirs. Frank recently published a very detailed article titled “Putin’s Plan B for Ukraine”, which delves into two murky peace plans connected to Russian intelligence and associates of former President Donald Trump.”
32. Russian SVR Reveals Monument for Gevork A. Vartanyan in Moscow
With an official announcement, Russia’s SVR revealed the monument of Soviet Union intelligence officer Gevork Andreyevich Vartanyan at the School №2070 in Moscow, Russia. Vartanyan was born on February 17, 1924 and from the age of 16, while living in Tehran, Iran he was clandestinely working for the NKVD. As per the announcement, his operational cryptonym was “AMIR” and “he led a special group to identify fascist agents and German intelligence officers in Tehran and other Iranian cities. In just two years, his group identified about 400 people, one way or another connected with German intelligence.” He also “took an active part in preventing the assassination attempt on the leaders of the “Big Three” during the Tehran Conference in November-December 1943.” Following this, he remained a covert operative for the Soviet Union serving undercover in “various countries of the world” for over 30 years. In February 2021, the Moscow School №2070 was named after him.
33. Ukrainian SBU Detains FSB Agent in Cherkasy
On June 3rd, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) detained an agent of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in the region of Cherkasy. The detainee was a local resident, former employee of the Executive Branch who provided his FSB handler with coordinates of military, law enforcement and other government facilities. SBU states that they have intelligence indicating that the agent was planning “a number of terrorist attacks” and the FSB had provided him with: 1) A pistol with a suppressor, 2) Ammunition and magazines, 3) Grenades with detonators, and 4) Anti-personnel MON-50 mines with remotely triggered initiators.
34. Canadian CSIS Response to NS-TAG Report
On May 31st the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) issued a public response to the National Security Transparency Advisory Group (NS-TAG) report. CSIS provides line-by-line responses to all the recommendations listed in the NS-TAG report.
35. Alleged Vietnamese Spy Extradited to Germany
Reuters released a report for the extradition of Vietnamese national Anh T. L. who was imprisoned in Czech Republic. The defendant is now facing espionage and other criminal charges related to the 2017 kidnapping of Vietnamese businessman Xuan Thanh Trinh in Berlin, Germany. As per Reuters, he was allegedly operating on behalf of Vietnamese intelligence services targeting dissidents living abroad.
36. New Hamas Cyber Espionage Operation Targeting Palestine
Cyber threat intelligence researcher Jazi uncovered a previously unknown active cyber espionage operation attributed to an actor dubbed as ARID VIPER who has been previously associated with the cyber branch of Hamas. The operation involved a lure Microsoft Word document titled “حركة فتح ومستقبل القضية الفلسطينية.docm” (Fatah movement and the future of the Palestinian cause.docm) which, if opened, it was covertly installing a custom cyber espionage software implant.
37. French Media Report that Moroccan Intelligence is Spying on France on Behalf of the Israeli Mossad
According to French and Moroccan media, the intelligence agency of Morocco has secret collaboration agreements with the Israeli Mossad. According to an anonymous French General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) intelligence officer, “elements of the Moroccan diaspora in France serve as subcontractors to the Israeli Mossad” under the guidance of the Moroccan intelligence service. The French media also revealed the identity of such a spy, a Moroccan national named Mohamed B., recruited by Moroccan intelligence officers in France to infiltrate and influence the Moroccan religious communities in France and the Netherlands.
38. Ukraine’s SBU Dismantled Covert Russian Financing Network for Subversive Actions in Ukraine
With a formal announcement (including photographs), Ukraine’s SBU announced that they disrupted a Russian covert financing network established in Kiev, Ukraine. In the searches they found over 13 million Ukrainian hryvnia (approx. $441,354) in cash, computer equipment, and draft documents indicating the illegal activities. They were creating front internet payment platforms to exchange currency or buy/sell products with the end goal to receive “funds from the Russian handlers for subversive activities against Ukraine.”
39. German BND Revokes Security Clearance of Political Scientist
On June 2nd it was announced that the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) revoked the security clearance of Political Scientist and Professor, Martin Wagener. Among others, Wagener was teaching Political Studies to German intelligence officers at the Berlin-based Centre for Intelligence Service Training and Further Education (ZNAF), a joint institution of the BND and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). This decision was, allegedly, made based on classified intelligence from the BfV but Wagener publicly stated that he is a “victim of an intrigue” due to the views presented in his latest book, “Culture Battle for the People — The Protection of the Constitution and the National Identity of the Germans.”
40. Podcast: Chinese Intelligence Operations
On June 4th, Tim Venture released a new 40-minute long episode with Chinese intelligence expert Nicholas Eftimiades, a 34 year veteran of the US intelligence community, having served as CIA Technical Operations Officer, Special Agent in the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), and retiring as Senior Intelligence Officer (SIS) from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). Among others, he is also the author of the book “Chinese Intelligence Operations”, and has released several relevant publications such as the 2019 “Chinese Espionage Tradecraft Summary.” Currently, he is a Professor at Penn State Harrisburg.
41. Analysis of New Infrastructure and Tools Used by Indian Cyber Operators for Espionage Targeting Pakistan
On June 1st, the cyber security and intelligence firm Group-IB published an analysis of new cyber espionage infrastructure and tools employed by an actor dubbed as SIDEWINDER, who has been previously associated with the government of India. The analysis is based on recently observed cyber espionage operations targeting Pakistani government entities.
42. Romanian SRI May Get More Powers Under New Law
The Balkan Insight published an article based on recently voiced concerns over the new draft law which could provide the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) with extended authorities. As per the article, the new law “may oblige civilians or companies, as well as public authorities and institutions, to assist SRI inquiries about their operations.” Additionally, the “new draft law strengthens the President’s role in dismissing the head of SRI, compared to the current law under which he may be dismissed only by parliament.”
43. Did the CIA Subvert the 1968 US Presidential Election?
On June 2nd, Robert E. Aldridge of the Covert Action Magazine published an article discussing the potential CIA interference in the 1968 US Presidential Elections. The article is split into 20 sections which are: 1) Backdrop of Vietnam War, 2) Eugene McCarthy Enters the Race, 3) Tom McCoy, 4) The Tet Offensive, 5) The New Hampshire primary, 6) RFK announces his candidacy, 7) MLK’s opposition to the Vietnam War, 8) The assassination of Martin Luther King, 9) The CIA and McCarthy’s campaign finance organisation, 10) The assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, 11) The break-up of RFK’s campaign staff after his assassination, 12) Richard Nixon was the only viable pro-Vietnam War candidate, 13) The CIA and Nelson Rockefeller’s campaign finance organization, 14) The CIA secretly contributes to Nixon’s campaign, 15) The Republican National Convention and the Liberty City riot, 16) The Democratic National Convention, 17) Humphrey’s position on the Vietnam War, 18) The Paris peace talks cause Humphrey to rise in the polls, 19) Anna Chennault and the Paris Peace talks, and 20) Election day results — Nixon wins.
44. Israeli Prime Minister States that Iranian Intelligence Stole IAEA Classified Files to Evade UN Nuclear Probes
Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel publicly showed copies from documents recovered by Mossad operatives in Tehran, Iran in 2018. The documents were classified United Nations (UN) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports. According to the Israeli Prime Minister, “after Iran stole classified documents from the UN’s Atomic Energy, Iran used that information to figure out what the Atomic Agency was hoping to find and then created cover stories and hid evidence to evade their nuclear probes.”
45. United States OIG of the Intelligence Community Semiannual Report
On June 1st, the United States Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Intelligence Community released the Semiannual Report to Congress. The final, unclassified edition, of the report is available here. It’s a 78-pages long report structured in 3 chapters: 1) Products, 2) Partnerships, and 3) Statistical Data.
46. First Woman to Be Convicted of Espionage in Estonia
On June 3rd it was revealed that Estonian woman Gerli Mutso was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for acting as an agent of China’s military intelligence service, making her the first ever woman to be convicted as a spy in Estonia. She received more than €21,000 as compensation for her espionage activities by the Chinese government. No details were revealed on her role or type of intelligence she provided to her Chinese handler.
47. Indian Cyber Espionage Operation Targeting Pakistani PITB Employees
Cyber security researchers discovered a previously unknown cyber espionage operation attributed to an actor dubbed as DONOT TEAM who has been previously associated with a private firm offering cyber espionage solutions to the Indian government. The operation involved emails impersonating the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) of the Pakistani government, asking recipients to review the attached document which was claiming to be a new “Government Employment Scheme.” If opened, it was covertly installing a custom cyber espionage software implant.
48. Second Top IRGC Officer Found Dead, Suspected to Be a Mossad Agent
On June 3rd, The Times of Israel reported on the death of Iranian IRGC Quds Force 840 Unit Colonel Ali Esmailzadeh. This comes only a week (see last week’s story #11) after the assassination of IRGC Quds Force 840 Unit Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei outside his house. This time, the IRGC officer fell from the balcony of his house and died. He lived in the city of Karaj, northwest of Tehran. Official reports deny any accusations of assassination, but unnamed sources state that he was killed after it was discovered that he was an Israeli (Mossad) agent, and that “he leaked information tied to the assassination” of his colleague to his Mossad handler.
49. Podcast: Spycraft 101: Highly Unusual Friendship: The Bond Between a CIA Officer and a KGB Agent
On May 31st, the Spycraft 101 podcast released a new 50-minute long episode covering the story of KGB officer Gennady Vasilenko and CIA case officer Jack Platt who unsuccessfully tried to recruit each other in 1979, and since then, they had several encounters in various countries, and eventually became close friends.
50. Relocations of Real Estate Near the Russian Embassy in Berlin in Fear of Espionage
According to news reports, near the Russian Embassy in Berlin, Germany there are facilities belonging to the Bundestag that are getting relocated to other sites. In the recent weeks, “the physical proximity of the deputies’ offices to the Russian embassy has been a problem for the Bundestag administration.” Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the BfV, was asked to comment on the relocations of those facilities but they do not “comment on certain awareness-raising measures.” It was highlighted though that “the risks of espionage are taken into account in existing security measures, including through security checks and awareness-raising.”
51. Mortar Shells Purchased by Indonesia’s Spy Agency Used in Papua
On June 3rd, Reuters reported that almost 2,500 mortar shells “from Serbia bought for Indonesia’s spy agency last year converted to be air-dropped, and some were used in attacks on eight villages in Papua.” This was identified by the UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR). Indonesia’s spy agency (BIN) and the Ministry of Defence refused to comment.
52. Pakistani ISI’s New Special Vetting Agency
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, announced on Friday that Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is now the country’s Special Vetting Agency (SVA), responsible of verifying and screening “all Public Office Holders (officers’ category) for induction, important postings and appointments and promotions.”
53. Spy Way of Life: Le Point de Chute Bar-Restaurant
For this week’s site in Intelligence Online’s Spy Way of Life, the “Le Point de Chute” bar-restaurant was selected. It’s a bar-restaurant located in Paris, France that Intelligence Online described as “military intelligence’s happy hour hangout.” The article gives examples of how this bar-restaurant has become a common hangout place for French Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM) staff over the years.
54. UK Government Proposal for Further Immunity in Covert Actions
On Saturday, The Guardian reported that the British Home Office expressed concerns over the proposed legislation which will allow covert operatives to conduct more aggressive covert actions. According to the report, it was deemed ““far too slack” and would diminish the UK’s moral authority to condemn atrocities such as the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.” The security bill will have a second review in the House of Commons on Monday. A Home Office spokesperson also noted that the bill places all the responsibility on the individual, stating that “put simply, the government believes it is not fair to expect the liability for this action to sit with an individual UK intelligence officer or member of the armed forces who is acting with wholly legitimate intentions.”
55. In India, Mossad Poster Creates Fear to the Population
People living in the village of Kosadh in Bihar’s Siwan district are in fear after the appearance of a poster saying it’s from the Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, and warning 6 individuals living there that they must “stop their land grabbing activities in the region or face the consequences.” One of those six individuals, Vijay Singh (55), was attacked on Friday night while sleeping in his house by two unidentified men with knives, but he managed to escape with minor injuries. The other 5 people in the posters were: Ravan Util Singh, Ravan Krishna Singh, Sudama Singh, Kamal Singh, and Paras Singh. The Indian authorities are investigating the case.
56. Barcelona Judge Provisionally Files Case for Espionage
Continuing with the case of espionage on Catalonian politicians by the Spanish intelligence service, the judge investigating the espionage case “agreed to file the case provisionally, while awaiting the commissioned investigation proceedings.”
57. Taiwan’s MoJ Raids 10 Chinese Companies on Espionage Charges
Following the recent changes in Taiwan’s espionage law (see week 14 story #51), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Taiwan raided 10 Chinese technology companies this week for aggressive recruitment tactics targeting employees with access to sensitive technologies, part of the new anti-espionage legislation. The 10 raided companies were: 1) GigaDevice Semiconductor (HK) Ltd. and GigaDevice Semiconductor (Beijing) Inc., 2) Lianchuang Innovation Co., Ltd., 2) XEPIC Corporation Limited, 3) XEPIC Corporation Limited, 4) Joulwatt Semiconductor Co., 5) Zhongke Guanteng Henan Technology Co., Ltd., 6) Henan Hozel Electronic Co., Ltd., 7) Sunny Optical Technology (Group) Co., Ltd., 8) Heroman Biotechnology Co., Ltd., 9) Allystar Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., and 10) Jia-Ji RF-Pro Technology Co., Ltd.
58. The Doll Spy Velvalee Dickinson
This week, the Cipher Brain published an article covering the WWII story of American female Velvalee Dickinson who spied for Japan, and became known as the “Doll Woman.” The article focuses on the tradecraft she used to covertly communicate with the Japanese intelligence service.
59. Video: 90s Surveillance Listening Devices
The Ringway Manchester YouTube channel published a 7-minute long video going over some bugs (covert surveillance listening devices) used by federal US law enforcement and intelligence agencies during the 90s, focusing mainly on their operating frequencies and transmissions.
60. German-Chinese 1980s Covert Operation PAMIR
On June 1st, investigative journalist Florian Flade published an article for a secret agreement that the German intelligence service (BND) did with its Chinese counterpart in the 1980s, called Operation PAMIR, to spy on Soviet Union. As per the article, “in the BND, the operation was called “Pamir”, named after the Central Asian mountain range on the border with China. Similar to the CIA before it, the BND is said to have delivered wiretapping technology to China worth several million Deutschmarks. On the one hand, this was intended to monitor the communications of the Soviet military. In addition, jamming and deception systems that had been developed for German combat aircraft at the time were tested.”
61. Former KGB and FSB Agent Dmitry Kovtun, Dies at 57
On Saturday it was announced that Dmitry Kovtun died at the age of 57 from COVID-19 induced illness in a hospital in Moscow, Russia. The former KGB/FSB agent and businessman became known in 2006 when he was accused by the British intelligence services of being the operative behind the London deadly poisoning of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko who defected and became an MI6 agent.
