CIA spy tech from Amazon
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CIA spy tech from Amazon is John Kiriakou's account of the agency's mostly commercial, off-the-shelf approach to surveillance equipment. Asked about the coolest spy technology he ever used, Kiriakou said there is "kind of a dirty little secret" about it: roughly 95% of CIA spy tech is purchased from Amazon.com, because it is cheaper and quicker to buy something online than to invent it from scratch. He identifies AWS, Amazon Web Services, as the specific unit of Amazon that does business with the CIA.

The Pakistani-market briefcase

Kiriakou's own favorite piece of tradecraft was a $10 leather briefcase bought in a Pakistani market. Over three days, a colleague rigged it with a listening-device wire and tiny batteries sewn into the lining. Kiriakou carried the briefcase, empty of anything visibly incriminating, into a meeting; his colleagues, positioned half a mile away, were able to listen to the entire conversation.

See also

- CIA disguise program
- Central Intelligence Agency
