Book Review: «The Spy in Moscow Station» by Eric Haseltine

robertmcgrath

Jan 14

The Spy in Moscow Station by Eric Haseltine

This fall I read a short article based on this book, so I went and got the book itself from the local library. (The local, quantum networked, public library! : - ) )

This book is definitely "the NSA version" of this story, and considering the interagency squabbles that exist, the source must be kept in mind. In this version, the NSA are heroes, indeed, superheroes, who overcome not only the wily Russians but also the bean counters and turf warriors within the US government.

The action centers on Russian spying on the US embassy in Moscow during the Cold War. Everyone knows the Russians were spying. But this is a tale of an almost undetectable, incredibly sophisticated eavesdropping. Conventional countermeasures did not detect anything, and conventional wisdom was that the Russians were technically backwards, so we would be able to spot all their bugs.

In other words, many on the American side believed that this was impossible. Couldn't be true.

One NSA guy was sure that he had found clear evidence a super-sophisticated bugging operation, one that could not be detected by ordinary scans. Ordinary scans; scans that the Russians were well aware of,; sound nothing. But the strand antenna and listening post showed that the Russians had some way to avoid detection.

Worse, during this time, American intelligence sources were being rolled up, with fatal consequences to collaborators and US interests. Had the NSA spotted a really sneaky leak that was listening in to everything at the US embassy, exposing the identity Russian double agents?

Accepting this conclusion would be embarrassing to both the State Department and the CIA, and could jeopardize diplomacy and other espionage programs. Worse, if the NSA was right and the CIA was wrong, that would be a big win for the NSA in the ongoing bureaucratic games in DC.

We would probably never have known more, were it not for a flukey bureaucratic end run, a personal appeal to President Reagan. Ronnie was certainly prepared to believe that the Ruskies were super sneaky, and also that the US government was prone to dithering and careerism. So, the White House ordered an unprecedented operation to swap out all the electronic equipment—copiers, faxes, typewriters, the works—to look for the suspected bug.

The operation was secret from everyone, especially the State Department and CIA. Ten tons of equipment was removed and shipped home via "diplomatic bag". The NSA analysts worked in isolation, fearing snoops even within their own organization. They had better find a smoking gun quickly, or it would cost careers and budgets.

What they found was an awesome technical achievement. Deeply hidden within IBM Selectric typewriters was a sophisticated bug. The book walks through what has been declassified, and it is simply amazing.

For the parts that are still secret, Haseltine refers to open sources including published memoirs of US and Russian sources and, most tellingly, Russian language college textbooks. In fact, this clever system follows the principles explained in detail in Russian college course work! Do they know how to do it? Of course they do. They teach technical students how to do it.

The technology was unbelieveably clever. Hidden so well that it could not be found without taking the machine apart and X-raying and measuring it. Brilliant engineering. Breathtaking execution. A marvel.

Браво! (Bravo!)

This book is a bit of history, and in this version, a story of determination and technical brilliance of the NSA in the face of incompetence, careerism, and turf wars; not to mention the determined and technically brilliant Russians. A great real life spy story.

But, it is also a warning about arrogance.

One reason that Haseltine wrote the book is to warn Americans not to underestimate the Russians. The book tells of shocking overconfidence and arrogance of the US government at this time. The US government dismissed the Russians and believed US technology was untouchable. This was not true then, and it is even less true now.

I second this warning (I know Russian emigres), and I would add that China is even more determined and technically capable that Russia (I have studied along side Chinese scholars). Some Americans seem to be even more arrogant, not to mention racist, about China. My own conclusion is that anyone who thinks China is behind the US technologically is simply wrong, dangerously wrong.