# Concealment devices

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Concealment devices," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/concealment-devices/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Hollowed everyday objects — known inside the CIA as CDs — issued to officers to hide documents, equipment and, in the larger sizes, a gun. Per John Kiriakou every CIA officer has access to them, some are simply assigned with no instructions attached, and the way they are found in real life is the way they are found in *The Good Shepherd* — by an anomaly a hand can feel.*

- **Internal term:** CDs
- **Availability:** *"Every CIA officer has access to them"*
- **Issue practice:** Some are simply assigned — *"use them for whatever you want to use them for"*
- **Capacity:** Large enough, in some cases, to hold a gun
- **How they fail:** An anomaly in placement, binding or weight that a hand can detect

**Concealment devices** — *CDs* in [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) usage — are everyday objects modified to hide something inside them. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) confirms they are real, ordinary and widely distributed: *"certainly books like that exist. They're called CDs or concealment devices."* Some are handed out without a purpose attached — *"here are some CDs for you. Use them for whatever you want to use them for"* — and some are big enough to hold a gun. *"Absolutely they exist, and every CIA officer has access to them."*[1][2]

## How one is found

Reviewing the scene in *The Good Shepherd* in which a hollowed copy of *Ulysses* is detected on a shelf, Kiriakou calls the setup slightly *"Hollywood fabulist"* but the method sound. The character is looking for an anomaly in the placement of the book: it sits among classic literature, but its binding is newer and it stands ever so slightly higher than the others — the signature of a book that has been handled.[2]

Taking it down, he is checking the hard cover for a second anomaly — whether something has been glued in, whether there is something inside — and he can feel it. Kiriakou's professional verdict on the device rather than the search: *"Frankly, it wasn't a very good concealment device if you can feel it with your finger."*[3]

## The Directorate of Science and Technology's old work

Kiriakou places concealment devices in the historical portfolio of the [Directorate of Science and Technology](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/directorate-of-science-and-technology), which in his time was *"almost an afterthought"* responsible mostly for disguises and *"briefcases with secret pockets in them."* The directorate has since moved to what he calls big-ticket items and pushed the concealment and disguise work out to individuals and makeup companies.[4][5]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Directorate of Science and Technology](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/directorate-of-science-and-technology)

## Sources

1. Ex-CIA Officer John Kiriakou Breaks Down Spy Movies (2026-05-19), at 28:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRJzaHMj2IY&t=1721s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-19-gq-ex-cia-officer-john-kiriakou-breaks-down-spy/
2. Ex-CIA Officer John Kiriakou Breaks Down Spy Movies (2026-05-19), at 29:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRJzaHMj2IY&t=1753s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-19-gq-ex-cia-officer-john-kiriakou-breaks-down-spy/
3. Ex-CIA Officer John Kiriakou Breaks Down Spy Movies (2026-05-19), at 29:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRJzaHMj2IY&t=1785s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-19-gq-ex-cia-officer-john-kiriakou-breaks-down-spy/
4. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 05:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=343s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/
5. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 06:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=374s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/concealment-devices/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt