n.
A person pretending to work as a spy for one government while actually working as a spy for another government.
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American Heritage Dictionary:
double agent |
Related Videos:
double agent |
Oxford Dictionary of the US Military:
double agent |
Agent in contact with two opposing intelligence services, only one of which is aware of the double contact or quasi-intelligence services.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
Gale Encyclopedia of Espionage & Intelligence:
Double Agents |
A double agent is person who conducts espionage for two, usually antagonistic, countries. Double agents allow intelligence services to gather information by infiltrating enemy organizations under cover. An organization usually recruits double agents from the ranks of a rival intelligence service, and then "turns" them, using them as spies for their own purposes.
The use of double agents in intelligence tradecraft and strategy is one of the oldest practices in the art of espionage. Spies and double agents appear in literature and written histories from the ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, India, Greece, and Rome. The rise of great civilizations and militaries prompted the need for intelligence gathering through infiltration of enemy organizations.
In the modern era, double agents gained notoriety in a variety of espionage scandals. While some double agents worked in accordance with their ideals, others were paid handsomely with money or political favor for betraying secrets. During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, exposure of double agents became a key part of counterintelligence operations. Double agents compromised intelligence, military, industrial, and government strongholds in both nations, sometimes with devastating consequences. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, and the dissolution of its KGB intelligence agency, access to formerly secret archives and testimony of former agents has exposed several double agents, and the extent of their decades-long espionage operations. In the United States, double agents working for the Soviet Union (and later for Russia), such as Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen were discovered, brought to trial, and sentenced to life in prison.
During the Cold War, and the decade after its end, double agents were popularly associated with intrigue, and trials of double agents gained extensive media attention. However, within the intelligence community, the use of trained double agents waned. Intelligence services replaced human intelligence operations with an increasing reliance on satellite and electronic surveillance technology. Technological surveillance permits intelligence organizations to conduct operations without assuming the high risks associated with using human intelligence or double agents exclusively.
Further Reading
Electronic
United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. <http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/hanssen/hanssen.htm#anchor26782> (April 2003).
The Center for Counterintelligence and Security Studies. <http://www.cicentre.com/Documents/DOC_Hanssen_1.htm> (April 2003).
US Defense Department Military Dictionary:
double agent |
(DOD) Agent in contact with two opposing intelligence services, only one of which is aware of the double contact or quasi-intelligence services.
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Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Double agent |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010) |
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They are often used in local, national and international businesses. Most commercial organizations may formally delay the movement from one organization to another competitor after a defined time limit upon formally resigning from the official organization.
Double agentry may be practiced by spies of the target organization who infiltrate the controlling organization, or may result from the turning (switching sides) of previously loyal agents of the controlling organization by the target; the threat of execution is the most common method of turning a captured agent (working for an intelligence service) into a double agent (working for a foreign intelligence service) or a double agent into a re-doubled agent. It is unlike a defector, who is not considered an agent as agents are in place to function for an intelligence service and defectors are not, but some consider that defectors in place are agents until they have defected.
Double agents are often used to transmit disinformation or to identify other agents as part of counter-espionage operations. They are often very trusted by the controlling organization since the target organization will give them true, but useless, information to pass along.
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Some people listed here are not true double agents (as defined above), but rather (single) agents working as a mole within an intelligence organization.
A re-doubled agent is an agent who gets caught as a double agent and is forced to mislead the foreign intelligence service.
F. M. Begoum describes the redoubled agent as "one whose duplicity in doubling for another service has been detected by his original sponsor and who has been persuaded to reverse his affections again".[1]
A triple agent is an agent who works for three intelligence services, but is usually truly loyal to only one of them. It is often considered the same as a re-doubled agent.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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![]() | American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
![]() | Oxford Dictionary of the US Military. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more | |
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![]() | Gale Encyclopedia of Espionage & Intelligence. Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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![]() | US Defense Department Military Dictionary. US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Words, 2003. Read more |
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![]() | Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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