Ex CIA Official Robert Wallace Speaks at UMPI

The spy business is well and alive not only domestically but also abroad. Modern day James Bonds are disbursed in every corner of the world tracking targets, performing surveillance and using false identities. One man knows all about the modern spy business - Robert Wallace - who spent 30 years as CIA’s director of technical service.

Wallace was a guest speaker at the University of Maine Presque Isle, as part of their Distinguished Lecturer Series. Students and the local community came to hear Wallace, writer of several successful books, present his talk titled: ‘How 20th Century Technology Transformed 21st Century Espionage.’

The ex CIA official pointed out that gathering intelligence in the 21st century is ‘a different enterprise,’ because so much information is now dependent on the digital world.

‘Those digits move at the speed of light all around the world,’ Wallace said. ‘The ability to find out where the information is and to be able to access that information giving the security constraints, I think makes for a great challenge.’

Despite the challenges posed by the digital world, Wallace believes that technology has revolutionized the way modern day spies work, communicate, travel and learn. The single greatest invention of the 20th century according to Wallace is the mini cameras (spy camera).

‘Smaller than 1/3rd of your pinky finger, the miniature cameras are primarily used in taking pictures of documents and drawings even while the spy was watched,’  Wallace said.

For a spy to be successful at the job, a certain level of secrecy must be met. Wallace writes in his latest book ‘Spycraft’: ‘Secrets are the necessary currency of the intelligence profession and protection of confidential sources and special methods is a solemn duty of every CIA officer,’ he continues ‘for people to trust the CIA there should be an accurate presentation of information.’ However the line between the two remains delicate.

Perhaps Wallace is right - ‘secrets have half-lives,’ some secrets have a half-life of two minutes, others of 200 years - and that’s just part of the job.

You can purchase Wallace’s books ‘Spycraft,’ ‘Spy Sites of New York City,’ and ‘The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception’ on Amazon.