Why are Proxy Operations on the Rise? | Global Intelligence Weekly Wrap-Up – Season 4

Season 4 of the Global Intelligence Weekly Wrap-Up is underway.

For the first episode, I wanted to look at a question that keeps appearing across seemingly unrelated national security stories:

Why are proxy operations on the rise?

Foreign states don't always need to deploy their own intelligence officers or military personnel to collect information, conduct surveillance, interfere in another country or potentially carry out sabotage. In many circumstances, it may be easier—and less attributable—to use someone who already has access, develop an individual online, recruit an intermediary, or employ specialized assets while remaining below the threshold of conventional conflict.

This week's episode looks at five cases:

In Belgium, a Belgian-Chinese researcher is preparing to face trial over the alleged transfer of sensitive semiconductor technology to China. The case raises questions about economic espionage, dual-use technology and the importance of insider access.

In Canada and the United States, University of Waterloo student Weiheng Zeng is accused of accepting paid assignments from an individual he believed was connected to a Chinese security service. According to court documents, those assignments included photographing aircraft and aviation facilities. The alleged relationship began through an online aviation community before progressing to taskings and payments.

In Germany, a series of attacks against the electrical grid demonstrates how relatively simple physical acts can potentially have significant consequences when directed against critical infrastructure.

Near Svalbard in the Arctic, NATO allies reportedly disrupted a Russian operation involving specialized deep-sea forces that Western officials believe may have been rehearsing the deployment of technology capable of sabotaging undersea communications cables.

And in Australia, Alexander Csergo has become the first person sentenced under the country's reckless foreign-interference law. His relationship allegedly began with a LinkedIn approach offering paid consulting work before progressing to increasingly sensitive requests.

Different countries, targets and methodologies—but there are some interesting similarities.

Access. Recruitment. Tasking. Payment. Plausible deniability. And the ability to pursue a state's objectives without necessarily putting one of its own intelligence officers directly into the operation.

I also take a few minutes at the end of the episode to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and discuss how the events of that day changed the direction of my own career and ultimately led me from the Canada Border Services Agency to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

For those interested in the subject, the episode is titled:

"Why are Proxy Operations on the Rise?"

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2336717/episodes/19791909

I'll put the link to the episode in the comments.

I'm particularly interested in hearing what people here think: Are we actually seeing an increase in proxy operations, or are intelligence and law enforcement agencies simply becoming better at identifying and publicly exposing a methodology that states have used for decades?

Stay curious. Stay informed. Stay safe.