Dormant agent

In the field of the Information, agent sleeping is a inactive agent temporarily and deliberately . This state generally aims at countering unfavourable measurements of detection (Against-espionage). The agent sleeping is known as also “in sleep”.

Presentation

The inactivity is usually established by the stop of the communications between the agent sleeping and its organization, and the stop by the agent of any illegal activity or suspect.

The agent sleeping is problematic for the services of against Espionnage, since it can with difficulty be detected by the Surveillance of its activities, which do not distinguish it from an ordinary individual.

The setting in inactivity is carried out for example:

in order to reinforce the cover of an agent which proceeds to an infiltration.
in order to reinforce the safety of an agent already infiltrated, following the appearance of critical risks.

Classically, the agents door frames are recruited before their infiltration. They are left in sleep, lasting of the months or the years, before being “awaked”. If the infiltration particularly were successful, the agent arrived to particularly useful functions or sites for the power which controls this agent. This mole can be “awaked” constantly, according to the strategic needs for this power, generally only in cases where the risk to reveal the site of the dormant agent is largely compensated by the interest of information to obtain some.

Examples

Group of Cambridge

During the Cold war, the Secret services of the the USSR made a success of the infiltration of spies door frames who appeared particularly effective moles, like the five agents of Cambridge (Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt and Cairncross) from which the KGB had secured the services: Maclean entered on order to the Foreign Office in 1935, Cairncross in 1937; Anthony Blunt was a close relation of the king Georges VI.

Stay-behind

Within the framework of the cold war, the cells Stay-behind were clandestine networks connected to the Organization of the treaty of the North Atlantic . These networks included/understood many agents door frames, faithful to the nation in which they resided: these individuals were not Défecteur S (treacherous). They would have been reactivated, in the event of invasion of their country by the USSR. In France for example, these cells were made up mainly old resistant not-Communists.

Terrorism

In the War against terrorism, the concept of dormant agent was extended to the individuals suspected of preparing acts of Terrorisme. These suspects are treated in a way similar to the foreign agents, by the services of against-espionage and internal security.

See too

dormant Cell

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