Cold War espionage describes the intelligence gathering activities during the Cold War ( 1947–1991) between the Western allies (primarily the US and Western Europe) and the Eastern Bloc (primarily the Soviet Union and allied countries of the Warsaw Pact). Both relied on a wide variety of military and civilian agencies in this pursuit.
While several organizations such as the CIA and KGB became synonymous with Cold War espionage, many others played key roles in the collection and protection of the section concerning detection of spying, and analysis of a wide host of intelligence disciplines.
Soviet espionage in the United States during the Cold War was an outgrowth of World War II nuclear espionage, with both sides utilizing and evolving techniques and practices developed during World War II. Cold War espionage has been fictionally depicted in works such as the James Bond and Matt Helm books and movies.
The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War II led by the United States (and the Western Bloc) and the Soviet Union (and the Eastern Bloc). After World War II, the victory of the Soviet Union over Germany granted them considerable territorial spoils; the Soviet Union banded together these states economically and politically creating a superpower challenging the might of the United States. Prior even to the United States' use of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union had been developing the technology to make similar devices. Although the two powers never engaged in a full-scale war, both countries were constantly preparing for an all-out nuclear war. Cold War espionage was focused on gaining an advantage in information about the enemies' capabilities, especially related to atomic weaponry.
During the Cold War, information was a key commodity. It was vital to know what the adversary was up to, and the possibility of using the hi-tech surveillance that is used today was not around. Instead of trusting technology, states relied on spies: people who infiltrated enemy territory and tried to discover information while staying undetected.
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Atomic spies or atom spies were people in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada who are known to have illicitly given information about nuclear weapons production or design to the Soviet Union during World War II and the early Cold War. Exactly what was given, and whether everyone on the list gave it, are still matters of some scholarly dispute. In some cases, some of the arrested suspects or government witnesses had given strong testimonies or confessions which they recanted later or said were fabricated.
Un agent double est une personne qui est agent de deux services de renseignements, à l'insu de l'un des deux. Les agents doubles sont des outils essentiels du contre-espionnage, permettant de découvrir les méthodes, les officiers traitants, et le genre de renseignements recherchés par un service de renseignements adverse. Ils peuvent aussi être utilisés pour intoxiquer le service de renseignement adverse en lui transmettant de fausses informations, comme c'est notamment fait par le système Double Cross britannique pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Le Security Service (« Service de la sûreté »), communément dénommé MI5 (pour Military Intelligence, section 5), est le service de renseignement responsable de la sécurité intérieure du Royaume-Uni. Il est chargé principalement de produire des renseignements sur les actes de terrorisme, l'espionnage, la prolifération d'armes de destruction massive.