Intelligence agencies are reflections of the societies they serve. No
surprise, then, that modern spies and the agencies they work for are
fixated on the internet and electronic communications. These same
officials also struggle with notions of privacy, appropriateness,
national boundaries and the problem of disinformation. They are citizens
of both somewhere and nowhere, serving a national public yet confronting
spies who operate across borders. These adversaries are utilizing new
technologies that offer a transnational anonymity. Meanwhile, ordinary
people are keen to be protected from threats, but equally keen - basing
their understanding of intelligence on news and popular culture - to
avoid over-reach by authorities believed to have near-God-like powers.
This is the new operating environment for spies: a heady mix of rapid
technological development, identity politics, plausible deniability,
uncertainty and distrust of authority. Hacker, Influencer, Faker, Spy
explores both
the challenges spies face from these digital horizons, and the
challenges citizens face in understanding what spies do and how it
impacts on them. Rob Dover makes a radical case for overhauling
intelligence to capitalize on open-source information: shrinking the
secret state, whilst still supporting the functioning of modern
governments in the post-COVID age.
