How spies should use technology
Digital tools are transforming spycraft, but won’t replace human agents
Philo of Byzantium, an inventor of the third century BC, described how crushed gallnuts, dissolved in water, could make invisible ink. Technology has shaped spycraft for millennia, but today it is having an unprecedented effect. The internet enables covert action on a grand scale. Biometric border controls impede spies operating abroad. Smartphones haemorrhage secrets.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “How spies should use technology”
Leaders July 6th 2024
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From the July 6th 2024 edition
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