Old Fashioned Spy Stories
We love a good spy story. Remember NSA’s Ronald “Mr.Long” Pelton with a mind like a steel trap? In the early ‘80s, Pelton exposed OPERATION IVY BELLS and many other secrets to the Russians, all from memory, and then the KGB abandoned him to save their prize mole Aldrich Ames. In 2007, the spy ring members Chi Mak, his wife Rebecca Mak, Tai Mak and his wife Fuk Li, and their son Billy were convicted of spying for China in a conspiracy uncovered and busted by the FBI. Earlier this year, Navy Lieutenant Commander Edward C. Lin was accused of spying for the Chinese, and he’s awaiting court martial.
JOEY CHUN’S STORY
This week, charges against former FBI employee Kun Shan “Joey” Chun were made public. A naturalized citizen, Joey Chun was spying for the Chinese. Chun arrived in the United States in 1980, became a U.S. citizen five years later, and in 1997 joined the FBI. According to Reuters’ Nate Raymond in New York, Chun “acted at the direction of a Chinese official, to whom he passed the sensitive information. That information included the identity and travel plans of an FBI agent; an internal organizational chart; and photos he took of documents in a restricted area related to surveillance technology . . . .” Chun has apparently acknowledge his espionage and also apologized and conceded his actions were wrong. Information Security Magazine’s Phil Muncaster reports that “on a trip to Italy and France in 2011 [Chun] was introduced to a Chinese handler, to whom he disclosed secret info on the FBI – on that visit and in subsequent meetings abroad . . . .” Subsequently, Chun started handing things over, and even attempted to get a colleague to join him, a colleague who was working undercover for the FBI. Chun faces up to a decade in prison.
And to make matters worse, perhaps, the timing is terrible. As Muncaster explains, this new case of Chinese espionage comes at a particularly troubling time: “[T]ensions are running high between the two superpowers, thanks to persistent Chinese cyber espionage efforts, attempts by Beijing to target US companies inside China, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and revelations of US spying on foreign powers by Edward Snowden.”
From Benedict Arnold to Aldrich Ames, stories of the good gone bad are always intriguing, especially to those in the intelligence community on the lookout for the next Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning. And before you come across the next mole, or get approached by one, take some time to know how to handle the situation properly.
That’s what we’re here for.
