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Nest of Spies - The Startling Truth About Foreign Agents At Work Within Canada's Borders
Nest of Spies ia an account of international operators conducting surveillance and carrying out costly and often deadly missions right under the noses of Canadian personnel — from businessmen with ingenious schemes to steal plans and materials from which they can reverse-engineer Canadian products, to cutting edge Internet thieves who infiltrate government databases and burst through Bank firewalls, stealing records and tracking new Canadians from their home country.
Industrial espionage has cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. Ultimately, the responsibility to protect intellectual assets remains with businesses themselves, but are they prepared to face the task of working against a highly organized and professional foe?
Nest of Spies provides the reader with much-needed answers and gives businesses valuable advice on how to protect themselves from the dangerious and expensive consequences of international ill-intent while giving a history course of the moles inside Canadian society, government, military, and high-tech business.
A MUST READ.
Industrial espionage has cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. Ultimately, the responsibility to protect intellectual assets remains with businesses themselves, but are they prepared to face the task of working against a highly organized and professional foe?
Nest of Spies provides the reader with much-needed answers and gives businesses valuable advice on how to protect themselves from the dangerious and expensive consequences of international ill-intent while giving a history course of the moles inside Canadian society, government, military, and high-tech business.
A MUST READ.
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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78 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 8, 2011
Very thought-provoking. Must read for everyone - especially RCMP and CSIS History fans.
What was to become The Cold War started in Canada just after the 2nd World War with a defection from the Montreal Russian Embassy contacting the RCMP as a walk-in, and did not end with the crumbling Berlin Wall. Spies in Canada from former communist countries had already been long established.
For some amazing reason when an actual 'spy' is caught, after the court hearing they are usually not held accountable and deported. If these same Spies had been found working within the US or the UK those two governments would jail-time them for a number of years, then deport.
To some degree the reasoning behind the way Canada conducts itself on these measures is explained within the pages of this well written and researched book. Many chapters of dealing with the Russian (before/after) Red Mafia/Governments, Chinese/Tongs (before/and now), France...
1946-1985
Other Countries with agents in Canada on economic, military and political missions:
China
Cuba
East Germany (pre-wall)
France
India
Israel
Pakistan
Russian (Communist satellites particularly Czechoslovakia and Romania)
Russia
South Africa
Turkey
Britain (UK)
USA
Country added 1985 - present
(Economic Espionage)
Argentina
Brazil
Egypt
Germany
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Japan
North Korea
South Korea
Philippines
Spain
Taiwan
Vietnam
(Clandestine Foreign Interference)
Algeria
Saudi Arabia
Armenia
Malaysia
Morocco
Mexico
Tunisia
Ukraine
As you can see, there are quite a number at any given moment. And that includes Terrorists...
The 'Problem' in Canada is between the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service). CSIS was formed in 1984 recruiting mostly gung-ho members of the RCMP and fringe Military. Both groups provide different mandates with multiple overlaps and this has complications with Spy cases becoming less important after 9/11.
The end resulting fact concering those 'bad' countries (that suddenly became not a military confrontation but truly one of economics and politics) have for decades had their 'agents' so far up the ladder of secret placement within Canada that I'm surprised that the media has not pumped out story after story bringing it fully to the attention of the public. Then again, the Media is owned here too.
Multiple Cells have been established long before people started thinking about them.
As a developer, engineer, clerk, Security Manager or CEO, the book concludes in ways that can improve your views on protecting any product that is worth protecting. Even absorbing the idea of said product being stolen away by opposing competitors (and even, different Governments). Room de-bugging is a good example during a Board meeting... If you have a good idea, it's ripe for the picking.
A manufacturer that had come up with thin metal sheeting containing a ceramic compound making it light weight and incredibly durable. A group of men from an important Chinese company contacted the product's CEO asking for a tour of the plant's manufacturing floor. The CEO and their (SM) Security Manager came up with the usual restrictions: no cameras, recorders, et cetera. The SM still had a feeling and it turned out right in front of his eyes. He noticed that all the people except one had clean polished shoes. The dirty shoed one had magnets in his shoes to pick up metal filings to analyze later. When they viewed their own video camera, magnet man was poking his shoes under counters that would had been left un-vacuumed.
With another different Business Group/Development Company caught the Asian fellow with magnets in his Tie. Videos showed person of interest playing like bob for apples in and out of scrap barrel next to the metal lathe.
All Business people should read this book. Looking at the possible problem from a whole different train of thought. How do you protect your Butt?
A Must Read for EVERYONE.
As they say: Knowledge has Power So Stretch that Grey-Matter. A Big Thumb's Up!
What was to become The Cold War started in Canada just after the 2nd World War with a defection from the Montreal Russian Embassy contacting the RCMP as a walk-in, and did not end with the crumbling Berlin Wall. Spies in Canada from former communist countries had already been long established.
For some amazing reason when an actual 'spy' is caught, after the court hearing they are usually not held accountable and deported. If these same Spies had been found working within the US or the UK those two governments would jail-time them for a number of years, then deport.
To some degree the reasoning behind the way Canada conducts itself on these measures is explained within the pages of this well written and researched book. Many chapters of dealing with the Russian (before/after) Red Mafia/Governments, Chinese/Tongs (before/and now), France...
1946-1985
Other Countries with agents in Canada on economic, military and political missions:
China
Cuba
East Germany (pre-wall)
France
India
Israel
Pakistan
Russian (Communist satellites particularly Czechoslovakia and Romania)
Russia
South Africa
Turkey
Britain (UK)
USA
Country added 1985 - present
(Economic Espionage)
Argentina
Brazil
Egypt
Germany
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Japan
North Korea
South Korea
Philippines
Spain
Taiwan
Vietnam
(Clandestine Foreign Interference)
Algeria
Saudi Arabia
Armenia
Malaysia
Morocco
Mexico
Tunisia
Ukraine
As you can see, there are quite a number at any given moment. And that includes Terrorists...
The 'Problem' in Canada is between the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service). CSIS was formed in 1984 recruiting mostly gung-ho members of the RCMP and fringe Military. Both groups provide different mandates with multiple overlaps and this has complications with Spy cases becoming less important after 9/11.
The end resulting fact concering those 'bad' countries (that suddenly became not a military confrontation but truly one of economics and politics) have for decades had their 'agents' so far up the ladder of secret placement within Canada that I'm surprised that the media has not pumped out story after story bringing it fully to the attention of the public. Then again, the Media is owned here too.
Multiple Cells have been established long before people started thinking about them.
As a developer, engineer, clerk, Security Manager or CEO, the book concludes in ways that can improve your views on protecting any product that is worth protecting. Even absorbing the idea of said product being stolen away by opposing competitors (and even, different Governments). Room de-bugging is a good example during a Board meeting... If you have a good idea, it's ripe for the picking.
A manufacturer that had come up with thin metal sheeting containing a ceramic compound making it light weight and incredibly durable. A group of men from an important Chinese company contacted the product's CEO asking for a tour of the plant's manufacturing floor. The CEO and their (SM) Security Manager came up with the usual restrictions: no cameras, recorders, et cetera. The SM still had a feeling and it turned out right in front of his eyes. He noticed that all the people except one had clean polished shoes. The dirty shoed one had magnets in his shoes to pick up metal filings to analyze later. When they viewed their own video camera, magnet man was poking his shoes under counters that would had been left un-vacuumed.
With another different Business Group/Development Company caught the Asian fellow with magnets in his Tie. Videos showed person of interest playing like bob for apples in and out of scrap barrel next to the metal lathe.
All Business people should read this book. Looking at the possible problem from a whole different train of thought. How do you protect your Butt?
A Must Read for EVERYONE.
As they say: Knowledge has Power So Stretch that Grey-Matter. A Big Thumb's Up!
December 7, 2010
the writers are, unsurprisingly, too hawkish for my liking, but i must admit that i am now informed about something that i knew nothing about before reading this. at least they weren't so hawkish as to recommend that we do start up some offensive espionage of our own
June 2, 2014
It suffers from all the difficulties of uncovering what is concealed. Not everything is clear, and all the Snowdens of the world will find it hard to unmask human intelligence. But, on reflection. We benefit from its suffering.
June 17, 2017
I enjoyed this book. It should be read by anybody who likes spy novels, as this is the real spy world today.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews