RECRUITMENT
Get recruited by the Spymaker organization!
DID YOU KNOW?
At the end of his first day on the job, commander Mansfield Cumming, the original head of the Foreign Section of the Secret Service, which was later to be known as MI6, wrote in his diary, “went to the office and remained all day but saw no one, nor was there anything to do there.” Cumming, an eccentric figure, wrote all of his documents in green ink and signed them “c”. Even today, the term “c” is still used to describe the head of the service.
Espionage is illegal in most countries and in some, the penalty, if you’re caught, can be death.
America’s code-breaking base, the National Security Agency (NSA) employs more mathematicians than any other organization in the world. They recently targeted viewers of the popular TV shows, CSI and Lost, as potential spy recruits, and are advertising during the commercial breaks.
Whether it’s sneaking a look at your sister’s diary, or engaging in high-stakes international espionage, spying is all about finding out other people’s secrets. Governments need to collect information to make informed decisions about national security. Much of that information is freely (and legally) available from accessible sources. Spies help uncover the small amount of information that is deliberately concealed. And intelligence analysts gather lots of little pieces of information together to figure out who is up to what.
Real-life spies, known as Intelligence Officers, spend most of their time recruiting and managing local “agents” who pass on secret information. Spies recruit agents by a range of different methods: flattering and befriending them, appealing to patriotic or ideological beliefs, offering financial incentives, or even blackmail and coercion.
So how do you become a spy? Gone are the days when you went to the “right sort” of University and waited for “a nod-and-a-wink”. Today you can visit the websites of the FBI or MI5, see advertised positions and apply for them online. But be careful, you can’t tell anyone you’ve applied; and, if you’re successful, be prepared to take on a challenging career.
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The Science of Spying, an exhibition from 
scienceof.com