Spies frequently have pathological personality features that pave the way to espionage, such as thrill seeking, a sense of entitlement, or a desire for power and control. In addition, healthy countervailing traits—such as a calm temperament or strong sense of responsibility—may be either weak or entirely absent.
Instead, a spy either volunteers or is recruited to help steal information, motivated by ideology, patriotism, money, or by a host of other reasons, from blackmail to love. From an intelligence perspective, their most important quality is having access to valuable information.
The key attributes of a good spy include strong critical thinking and communication skills, logical thinking skills, and a love of codebreaking puzzles.
Spies often speak several languages and must be able to memorize lots of information important to the completion of a successful mission. Spies also must be creative and able to adapt to situations that change quickly.
Almost exclusively men, 95 per cent, are spies in both Europe and the United States. The median age is 30–39 years and 41 per cent were over 40 years old when they started spying.
Local spies are hired from among the people of a locality. Inside spies are hired from among enemy officials. Reverse spies are hired from among enemy spies. Dead spies transmit false intelligence to enemy spies.
Although money is usually involved, the motives for committing espionage are far more complex than just greed. Many convicted spies have identified other motivational factors that led them to espionage, such as: anger or disgruntlement towards their employer, financial need, ego enhancement, and ideology.
Individuals must complete the 56-day Criminal Investigation Training Program through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Program as a condition of employment. The CIA training program is an extensive, 18-month, headquarters-based program.
"Applicants would ideally be no taller than 5ft llin (180 centimetres) for men and 5ft 8in for women," advises a new application form sent out to would-be officers, The Sunday Telegraph says.
FBI Spy Training
You'll need to successfully complete new agent training, a tough 20-week regimen. This will include 850 class hours on cases, firearms training, academics and operational skills. You'll also need to train for and pass a physical exam that's even tougher than the one in the application process.
As of May 24, 2023, the average hourly pay for a Spy in the United States is $25.40 an hour.
Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies.
There are four principal ways by which spies are detected: Reporting by U.S. sources within the foreign intelligence service. Routine counterintelligence monitoring. Tip from a friend or spouse.
To be a spy, you'll need to improve your mental and physical abilities, learn to go unnoticed in a crowd, master eavesdropping and other techniques of the trade, and establish a basic protocol to make your missions as safe and successful as possible.
Not only are the men and women of the Secret Service serving the country by helping to protect the nation's leaders and financial systems, but in the process, agents are required to travel a lot and are exposed to people and places that most people can only dream of.
In espionage, a field agent is an agent who works in the field as opposed to one who operates at the office or headquarters. A field agent can work alone or in a group but usually has a case officer who is in charge.
Extensive hand-to-hand combat skills are learned, including martial arts like krav maga, jeet kune do and Brazilian jiu jitsu, and you must learn to fight with improvised weapons.
One-way voice link is typically a radio-based communication method used by spy networks to communicate with agents in the field typically (but not exclusively) using shortwave radio frequencies.
The U.S. employs more than 100,000 spies, consultants and foreign nationals to support its national security information needs.
Kautilya classified nine different types of spies—a fraudulent disciple (kapatikachhatra), a recluse (udasthita), a householder (grihapaitika), a merchant (vaidehaka), an ascetic (tapasa), a colleague (satri), a firebrand (tikshna), a poisoner (rasada) and a mendicant woman (bhikshuki).
MATA HARI. Mata Hari embodied all the intrigue of espionage and remains the most famous female spy in history. The dancer turned WWI spy is said to have seduced diplomats and military officers into giving up their secrets.