The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comGordievsky is referred to in MI6 by the code name OVATION, a referenceto this piece of music.Another common tradecraft technique we learned was the `dead letterbox' or DLB. This technique involves clandestinely hiding a messagewhere it can later be picked up by the other party. Usually the messageis put in a small container such as a film canister and the hiding spotis chosen so that it can be posted or cleared even when undersurveillance. DLB sites are much easier to find than brush contactsites - and we were expected to find one in less than an hour in anunfamiliar environment - behind a loose brick in a wall, in an old treestump, tucked into a crevice of a prominent rock. The disadvantage ofDLBs is that they are occasionally discovered accidentally by thepublic - usually by small children - who may inform the local police.It is thus risky clearing a DLB, as the opposition may be lying inwait.I got my revenge on Spencer a few days later on a DLB exercise. InWinchester Cathedral there is a small statue of St Jude next to thefourth pew from the back on the west wall. Sitting in the pew, on thepretence of praying or meditating, it is possible for one to groperound the back of the legs of the statue without being observed. Ichose it as a DLB site, but instead of a film canister I left a loadedmouse-trap for him. Poor Hare fared even worse. Against Ball's advice,Barking loaded a DLB for him in the toilet cistern of the gents in theMr Pickwick pub in Portsmouth. The cistern was set high on the wall andHare had to climb up on the toilet seat to reach it. Unfortunately, thegentleman in the next door cubicle took exception to Hare's activitiesand, in a rage, called the police. Hare was interviewed and, unable toexplain the truth, he was forced to admit to cottaging and wasfortunate to be let off with only a caution.The requirement for these old-fashioned tradecraft skills is not asgreat for the modern spy as in the days of the Cold War. These days,electronics and computers have simplified agent communications and itis often easier to communicate with encrypted e-mail. Traditionaltradecraft was emphasised on our course partly because Ball was anenthusiast and deeply inured with the techniques, but partly becausethe discipline and nerve required to plan and execute such operationswas greater than simply clicking the `send' button on a computer,instilling better tradecraft discipline. Practising these old-fashionedtechniques was also better for morale and team-bonding than sitting infront of a computer screen, and we thoroughly enjoyed the exercises.One exception, however, was Martin Richards, the eldest student on thecourse. A quiet, academic man, he found the exercises rather silly. Oneafternoon, he failed to return to the Fort and eventually rang the DSto say that he could go on no longer. He was forced to resign from MI6and they resettled him with Shell Oil, his old company.Secret Writing (SW), the grown-ups' term for schoolboys' `invisibleink', still plays a role in spying, but modern techniques are moresophisticated than the lemon-juice-in-a-fountain-pen familiar fromBoys' Own magazine. There is a three-man joint MI5/MI6 section known asTS/SW which is responsible for research and training in the latest SWtechniques. TS/SW has several different SW techniques, but the methodwe were taught on the IONEC and which is used ubiquitously by MI6page- 43 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com