Since you mention decades of experience and information releases...
A book I just read about the history of the KGB and GRU listed techniques they used to unmask CIA spies. Choice stuff. If the cultural atttache has three assistants, and two of them has offices next to the cultural attache but the third has an office in the maximum-security area, which one is the spy? If that third assistant was hired at the age of 33 to an employer that never hires anyone over 31? And did not go through the regular training? And is listed in the State Department's employee list as "Reserve", ie. not a regular officer? And so on. A long and embarrassing list, and it worked for decades. The CIA knew about it in 1964 (probably not in detail) but the Soviets still used thee techniques to unmask three CIA spies per week in 1980.
Maybe the real stupidity was to locate the spies' offices where they were. But the office lists were published, for decades. The employee list was published, including the "Reserve" marking, for decades.
Decades of experience do not automatically confer competence.
> The CIA knew about it in 1964 (probably not in detail) but the Soviets still used thee techniques to unmask three CIA spies per week in 1980.
If you're the CIA and you know the Soviets are using this technique, you don't fix the problem, you use it to your advantage by letting the Soviets unmask the identities of lesser spies while not putting your most important spies on the employee list.
Sacrifice three less-important spies per week? From 1964 to 1989? That must have been some amazingly amazing things they guarded if they were worth that sacrifice.
A book I just read about the history of the KGB and GRU listed techniques they used to unmask CIA spies. Choice stuff. If the cultural atttache has three assistants, and two of them has offices next to the cultural attache but the third has an office in the maximum-security area, which one is the spy? If that third assistant was hired at the age of 33 to an employer that never hires anyone over 31? And did not go through the regular training? And is listed in the State Department's employee list as "Reserve", ie. not a regular officer? And so on. A long and embarrassing list, and it worked for decades. The CIA knew about it in 1964 (probably not in detail) but the Soviets still used thee techniques to unmask three CIA spies per week in 1980.
Maybe the real stupidity was to locate the spies' offices where they were. But the office lists were published, for decades. The employee list was published, including the "Reserve" marking, for decades.
Decades of experience do not automatically confer competence.