By Leslie Doyle | 03/18/2025
Espionage may seem like a far-fetched concept straight out of novels, but a real-world spy can cause serious harm to the U.S. government and its citizens. If someone gave classified documents or other secret information to the wrong person, that would result in various unpleasant outcomes:
- Weapons could fall into the wrong hands.
- Military efforts and national security programs could be compromised.
- American businesses could lose money.
- The U.S. government's diplomacy, economic position, and state security would be weakened.
The Different Types of Espionage
Espionage involves covertly reporting secret information, such as military or business intelligence, to another country or adversary. Espionage activities may involve:
- National security espionage – Passing classified information such as national defense information to an enemy of the U.S.
- Economic espionage – Giving confidential information to a foreign entity to aid them financially
- Industrial espionage – Stealing information such as trade secrets or intellectual property from competitors
Motivations for Espionage
When studying notorious spies, the initial questions that arise are:
- Why in the world would someone do such a thing?
- What would cause someone to share classified materials with an enemy of their country or risk federal prison to steal state secrets?
Often, people commit espionage for financial or ideological reasons.
“Individuals who have access to classified information oftentimes rationalize that much of the information and data that they are handling will not cause harm and does not represent a serious security risk,” says Dr. Jim Burch, AMU's Department Chair for Intelligence Studies. “Additionally, these individuals can find themselves in difficult financial circumstances and rationalize ‘selling’ classified information and data to an adversary.
“Second, many individuals betray their country due to ideological differences. These individuals see themselves as responding to a higher ideal because of their disagreement with official U.S. government policy. These individuals justify their actions because they are fundamentally attempting to overturn or change policies and practices that are inconsistent with their beliefs.”
As Dr. Burch explains, another scenario that can lead someone to committing espionage is a romantic relationship. “Foreign intelligence organizations often target and turn individuals to pass classified material who have become romantically involved with a foreign agent or have been framed in a compromising position, which makes them open to blackmail,” he observes.
According to the CIA's "Studies in Intelligence" report, a spy may commit espionage due to psychological characteristics, such as thrill seeking or a need for power.
Often, spies have the advantage of opportunity acting in their favor and have easy access to information that U.S. adversaries want. For instance, they may work at a government agency and have access to classified national defense information. Other people, working for the U.S. government, may be recruited by an enemy of the state and become a double agent.
Notable Cases of Active Spies or Suspected Spies
Spies have existed throughout history. Some of the most notorious spies were active during World War II and the Cold War, but there are more modern spy cases as well.
Elyesa Bazna
Elyesa Bazna was the Albanian valet to the British ambassador in 1943. He went to the German embassy in Ankara, Turkey, with an offer to provide sensitive military information. Bazna had virtually unfettered access to state secrets and was paid more than a million British pounds by Germany, much of which later proved to be counterfeit money.
Banza photographed military information and gave it to members of the Third Reich. Between 1943 and 1944, he revealed key intelligence, including:
- Documents about stalled Anglo-Turkish negotiations about Turkey entering the war
- Details about Britain's military weaknesses
- U.S. weapons being delivered to the Soviet Union
Bazna also gave the Germans a key piece of intelligence by revealing Allied plans for the D-Day invasion. This information included telegrams between Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin about the planned attack.
Bazna escaped capture by moving abroad, but he was later arrested and sent to prison on other charges.
Frederick Rutland
Frederick Rutland was a Royal Navy officer and U.S. resident who fought valiantly in World War I. He was recruited by Japanese naval intelligence officers to share classified information about U.S. naval flying operations during World War II. He gave the Japanese details about aircraft carrier designs and chose to become a double agent.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, Rutland was jailed without a trial until the end of World War II. He committed suicide in 1949.
In 2017, the FBI released many documents that confirmed Rutland's work as a double agent for the Japanese and U.S. Navies.
Coco Chanel
Fashion icon Coco Chanel had an affair with Gestapo spy Baron Hans Günther. She reportedly entered into an arrangement with the Nazis to have them release her beloved nephew Andre from a prison-of-war camp in exchange for political information. It is unclear exactly what came of her visit to Madrid to conduct espionage for the enemy, though Andre was released a short time afterwards.
Chanel's friend, socialite Vera Bate, later confessed to French officials that she herself was a German agent and Chanel was an informer. The French government arrested Chanel in 1944, but released her due to the lack of substantive evidence. Debates about whether she was a Nazi spy continue to this day.
The Rosenbergs
In the mid-1950s, the Intelligence Community mostly focused on people who spied on behalf of the Soviet Union. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were Communist party members and Soviet spies who gave information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
In 1942, Julius Rosenberg worked for the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories and was recruited by the Soviet Union as a spy. However, Ethel Rosenberg's involvement has been debated by historians for many years.
Records and testimony indicate that she was aware of her husband's activities but was not an active participant. Others say she played an active role in the espionage ring.
In 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested as part of an alleged spy ring that included Ethel Rosenberg's brother David Greenglass. Greenglass admitted to stealing nuclear intelligence while working as a machinist at Los Alamos during the development of the nuclear bomb. According to Greenglass, he stole information at the direction of the Rosenbergs.
A federal court in New York found the Rosenbergs guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage and they were later executed. They are the only U.S. citizens to have been executed on espionage charges. David Greenglass was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in providing material related to the atomic bomb to the Russians.
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss was a former State Department employee. He was accused of sharing classified information with a reporter, who then gave it to a Soviet official.
Hiss denied wrongdoing to a federal grand jury, but the reporter led investigators to the State Department documents Hiss had hidden inside a hollowed-out pumpkin at his farm. What later became known as the "pumpkin papers" gave federal prosecutors the evidence to indict Alger Hiss. He was ultimately convicted of two counts of perjury and sentenced to five years in prison.
Oleg Penkovsky
Oleg Penkovsky was a Soviet military intelligence officer and double agent, who shared significant information related to military activities with the British Secret Intelligence Service and the U.S. Intelligence Community. Penkovsky had top secret clearance and returned to Russia several times to gather intelligence, passing it to British businessman Grenville Wynne.
The classified documents Penkovsky smuggled out of the USSR were crucial, revealing sensitive information such as Russia’s nuclear capabilities, missile strength, and war plans against Germany.
Penkovsky also revealed the placement of Russian missiles in Cuba and Nikita Khrushchev's plan to use them. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, this information would prove invaluable when President Kennedy went toe to toe with Khrushchev.
Penkovsky was arrested by the Soviet secret police in 1962 on espionage charges. His activities and subsequent arrest compromised the activities of many other Soviet intelligence officers. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and shot for treason in 1963.
Aldrich Ames
Aldrich Ames, a spy for the Soviet Union, was a long-time CIA case officer specializing in Russian intelligence. Under financial pressure, he succumbed to greed and began secretly worked on behalf of the KGB in 1975.
Ames was reportedly paid $50,000 for his initial work passing classified information about FBI and CIA sources as well as technical operations to the Soviet Union. Some of those sources were apprehended and killed by Soviet authorities.
The KGB later paid Ames nearly $2 million over four years. He used "dead drops" – hiding places where he would leave documents for KGB officers.
When the FBI learned that Ames was working for the Russians, agents opened an investigation. During a lengthy surveillance operation, they observed Ames meeting with his Russian contacts and found documents connecting him to the KGB.
In 1994, Ames and his wife were arrested on espionage charges and pled guilty. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His wife, Rosario Ames, was sentenced to 63 months in prison.
Robert Hanssen
Robert Hanssen was an FBI agent and counterintelligence officer for decades. During his career, Hanssen sold national security information to Russia and received over $1.4 million in cash and gems for his activities.
Hanssen had access to classified information, which he shared with the KGB. The details he shared put lives at risk, including people working as FBI sources.
In 2000, the FBI and CIA became aware of Hanssen’s espionage. The FBI swiftly initiated an investigation and gave him a bogus assignment at FBI headquarters so agents could actively monitor his activities.
After discovering that Hanssen made a dead drop at one of his drop sites in Virginia, the FBI swooped in. Hanssen was arrested, pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage charges, was sentenced to life without parole, and died in prison in 2023.
Linwei Ding
Linwei Ding was a Chinese national and California resident, who was caught attempting to steal trade secrets from Google® about its artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Ding took proprietary information from Google and gave it to two Chinese AI organizations.
In 2024, a federal grand jury indicted Ding on four counts of theft. In the future, Ding will stand trial before a federal jury. He faces up to 10 years in prison for his crimes.
Classified Information Risks
The most significant concerns facing counterintelligence officials are insider threats and the ability of spies to obtain vast amounts of online information. As Dr. Burch notes, “Due to access to modern computer systems, individuals are often exposed to and have the ability to access significant amounts of data. This data can quickly be downloaded and passed to adversaries.”
U.S. adversaries also rely on advanced cyber tools, biometric devices, unmanned vehicles, and enhanced technical surveillance to conduct espionage.
Combating Espionage through Counterintelligence
The U.S. Intelligence Community works to prevent espionage and other intelligence threats. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center brings together government agencies, the private sector, and other partners to counteract actions by individuals looking to do harm to the United States government and its citizens.
These agencies are leveraging threat intelligence and building capabilities to proactively identify and disrupt cyber attacks by foreign adversaries.
“We live in a digital world where we all have digital footprints,” says Dr. Burch. “The ability to identify, track, and assess activities through both digital and physical surveillance has contributed significantly to investigating not only espionage cases, but also other adversary activity.”
Additionally, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has identified patterns of behavior and psychological factors that may lead an individual to spy. Understanding these patterns helps to inform counterintelligence measures and aid intelligence analysts.
Intelligence Studies Degrees at American Military University
For adult learners who are interested in counterintelligence, espionage, and various forms of intelligence, American Military University (AMU) offers two degrees:
Taught by expert faculty members with a deep knowledge of the Intelligence Community, the courses in these programs feature topics such as the U.S. Intelligence Community, intelligence collection, and critical analysis. Other topics include strategic intelligence, intelligence operations, and intelligence analysis.
For more information on these degrees, visit our intelligence degrees program page.
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