If you expect to make it out there, you’re going to need to learn the lingo. Put in the work here and you’ll be talking the talk in no time. Check out our glossary of spy terms and code words.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Agent
A person unofficially employed by an intelligence service, often as a source of information.
Agent-in-Place
A government employee who is influenced to cooperate with a foreign government instead of defecting; now working for two employers instead of one.
Agent-of-Influence
A person who works within the government or media of a target country to influence national policy.
Asset
A clandestine source or method, usually an agent.
B
Babysitter
Bodyguard.
Bagman
An agent who pays spies and bribes authorities.
Bang and Burn
Demolition and sabotage operations.
Birdwatcher
Slang used by British Intelligence for a spy.
Black Bag Job
Secret entry into a home or office to steal or copy materials.
Black Operations
Covert operations that are not attributable to the organization performing them.
Black Propaganda
A disinformation that is deniable by (and not traceable to) its source.
Blowback
A deception planted abroad by an intelligence agency to mislead another country that returns to the originating nation with bad consequences.
Blown
Discovery of an agent's true identity or a clandestine activity's real purpose.
Bombe
Polish electro-magnetic device created to help decipher Enigma cipher machine settings; early precursor to the modern computer.
Bona Fides
Proof of a person's claimed identity.
Bridge Agent
An agent who acts as a courier from a case officer to an agent in a denied area.
Brush Pass
A brief encounter where something is passed between case officer and agent.
Burned
When a case officer or agent is compromised.
C
Camp Peary
CIA's secret domestic training base (also known as "The Farm").
Camp X
Canada's secret domestic training base during World War II.
Carnivore
Computer program designed by the FBI to allow the FBI (in compliance with court orders) to collect electronic communications from a specific user targeted in an investigation (at the exclusion of all other users' transmissions).
Case Officer
A staff officer who manages agents and runs operations.
Center
KGB headquarters in Moscow.
Cheka
Russian secret police founded in 1917 to serve the Bolshevik party; one of the many forerunners of the KGB.
Chicken Feed
Genuine, but not seriously damaging, intelligence knowingly provided to an enemy intelligence agency through an agent or a double agent to establish his bona fides.
Chief of Station
The officer in charge at a CIA station, usually in a foreign capital.
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency; U.S.'s foreign intelligence gathering service
Cipher
A system for disguising a message by replacing its letters with other letters or numbers or by shuffling them.
Clandestine Operation
An intelligence operation designed to remain secret.
Clean
Unknown to enemy intelligence
Cobbler
A spy who creates false passports, visas, diplomas and other documents.
Code
A system for disguising a message by replacing its words with groups of letters or numbers.
Codebook
A list of plain language words opposite their codeword or codenumber.
Colossus
Colossus was an electronic device that helped solve German cryptograms; the world’s first electronic computer.
COMINT
All intelligence gathered from intercepted communications.
Compromised
When an operation, asset, or agent is uncovered and cannot remain secret.
Controller
Officer in charge of agents (a handler).
Counterintelligence
The business of thwarting the efforts of foreign intelligence agencies; includes but is not limited to spy-catching.
Cover
The purported occupation or purpose of an agent; it must be consistent with the agent's background and presence in the target area.
Covert Action Operation
An operation designed to affect foreign affairs; may be lethal or non-lethal.
Cryptology
The science of secret writing in all its forms.
Cut-out
A mechanism or person used to create a compartment between the members of an operation to allow them to pass material or messages securely; also an agent who functions as an intermediary between a spymaster and other subagents.
D
Dangle
A person sent by the intelligence agency of his or her own country who approaches an intelligence agency in the hope of being recruited as a spy so as to allow a double agent operation for the purpose of intelligence collection or disinformation.
Dead Drop
A secret location where materials can be left for another party to retrieve.
Dezinformatsiya
The Soviet and Russian term for disinformation operations: operations designed to pass false information to the enemy.
Discard
An agent whom a service will permit to be detected and arrested so as to protect more valuable agents.
Disinformation
Incorrect information spread with deliberate intent to deceive, distract, confuse, and/or spread fear and suspicion. This false information is often meant to manipulate what you think, feel, or believe to be true. Examples include conspiracy theories, spear phishing, clickbait headlines, and altered images and videos (deep fakes).
Double Agent
A spy who pretends to be working against one country but who is in fact working for that country’s opponent; often a conduit for disinformation.
Dry Clean
Actions agents take to determine if they are under surveillance.
E
ELINT
Electronic intelligence; derived from the interception of radiation sources such as radars.
Enigma
A cipher machine used by the Germans to encode messages during WWII.
Escort
The operations officer assigned to lead a defector along an escape route.
Espionage
The practice of spying or using spies to obtain secret or confidential information about the plans and activities of a foreign government or a competing company.
Exfiltration Operation
A clandestine rescue operation designed to bring a defector, refugee, or an operative and his or her family out of harm's way.
Expats
Citizens of one country who live in another.
Eyes Only
Documents that are intended for the eyes of one specified person only.
F
FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S.'s domestic counterintelligence service and federal law enforcement agency.
Flaps and Seals
The tradecraft involved when making surreptitious openings and closings of envelopes, seals, and secure pouches.
Floater
A person used one time, occasionally, or even unknowingly for an intelligence operation.
Friends
General slang for members of an intelligence service; specifically British slang for members of the Secret Intelligence Service.
G
Ghoul
Agent who searches obituaries and graveyards for names of the deceased for use by agents.
H
Handler
A case officer who is responsible for handling agents in operations.
Honey Trap
Slang for use of men or women in sexual situations to intimidate or snare others.
Hospital
Russian slang for prison.
HUMINT
Intelligence collected from human sources.
I
Illegal
KGB/SVR operatives infiltrated into a target country without the protection of diplomatic immunity, having assumed new identities and even new ethnicities.
Illness
Russian slang for someone under arrest.
IMINT
Imagery intelligence.
Infiltration
The secret movement of an operative into a target area with the intent that his or her presence will go undetected.
Innocent Postcard
A postcard with an innocuous message sent to an address in a neutral country to verify the continued security of an undercover operative.
Intelligence Officer
Intelligence officers are professionals trained by their governments. Called case officers, operational officers, or handlers, they run operations and recruit and manage the actual spies.
J
Jedburghs
OSS and SOE term for teams dropped into Europe before D-Day to help resistance groups.
K
KGB
The Soviet Union's all-powerful intelligence and security service during the Cold War.
L
L-Pill
A poison pill used by operatives to commit suicide.
Legend
A spy's claimed background or biography, usually supported by documents and memorized details.
M
MASINT
Measurement and signature intelligence; a form of technical collection that uses signatures that do not fit into the traditional scope of IMINT and SIGINT.
MI5
The British domestic counterintelligence service; officially known as the Security Service.
MI6
The British foreign intelligence service; officially known as the Secret Intelligence Service.
Misinformation
Incorrect information. This may be spread accidentally, without intent to mislead or deceive. Examples include misquotes, miscaptions, rumors, or simply information which is inaccurate, mistaken, incomplete, or unintentionally biased.
Mole
An agent of one organization sent to penetrate a specific intelligence agency by gaining employment; a term popularized by John Le Carre.
Music Box
Slang for a clandestine radio.
Musician
Slang for a clandestine radio operator.
N
Naked
A spy operating without cover or backup.
NSA
National Security Agency; branch of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for ensuring the security of American communications and for breaking into the communications of other countries; "No Such Agency".
Nugget
British term for the bait (money, political asylum, sex, or career opportunity) offered to a potential defector.
Nursemaid
Russian term for the security service officer who accompanies delegations to other countries to prevent anyone from defecting.
O
Okhrana
Secret police under Russian tsars 1881-1917.
One-time Pad
Strings of random numbers for singular use as a key in enciphering messages; the proper use of a one-time pad renders a message mathematically unbreakable.
OSINT
Open source intelligence; intelligence information derived from publicly available sources.
OSS
Office of Strategic Services; U.S.'s WWII intelligence, sabotage, and subversion organization; "Oh So Secret," "Oh Such Snobs," “Oh So Social”.
P
Paroles
Passwords to identify intelligence personnel to each other.
Pattern
The behavior and daily routine of an operative that makes his or her identity unique.
PHOTINT
Photographic intelligence, usually involving high-altitude reconnaissance using spy satellites or aircraft.
Pig
Russian intelligence term for traitor.
Plaintext
The original message before encryption.
Playback
To provide false information to the enemy while gaining accurate information from him or her.
Pocket Litter
Items in a spy's pocket (receipts, coins, theater tickets, etc.) that add authenticity to his or her identity.
Provocateur
An operative sent to incite a target group to action for purposes of entrapping or embarrassing them.
Purple
American name for the Japanese diplomatic cipher machine used from 1939-1945.
R
RADINT
Intelligence gathered from radar.
Raven
A male agent employed to seduce people for intelligence purposes.
Red
American name for an early Japanese diplomatic cipher machine.
Rezident [Resident]
KGB or GRU (Soviet and Russian military intelligence) chief of station in any foreign location.
Rolled-up
When an operation goes bad and an agent is arrested.
RQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
A medium-sized, long-endurance asset for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition in moderate risk areas.
S
Sanitize
To delete specific material or revise a report or other document to prevent the identification of intelligence sources and collection methods.
Shoe
A false passport or visa.
SIGINT
Signals intelligence; consists of COMINT (communications intelligence) and ELINT (electronic intelligence).
SIS
Secret Intelligence Service; the official name of Britain's MI6.
Sleeper Agent
Agent living as an ordinary citizen in a foreign country; acts only when a hostile situation develops.
SMERSH
Short for "Smert Shpionam" (Death to Spies); a Soviet counterintelligence agency that existed from 1943 to 1946; made famous in the James Bond novels.
SOE
Special Operations Executive; Britain's WWII sabotage and subversion organization.
Spy
In the intelligence world, a spy is strictly defined as someone used to steal secrets for an intelligence organization. Also called an agent or asset, a spy is not a professional intelligence officer, and doesn’t usually receive formal training (though may be taught basic tradecraft).
Spymaster
The leader of espionage activities, and an agent handler extraordinaire.
Stasi
The East German Ministry for State Security; East Germany's Cold War domestic and foreign intelligence service.
Station
Post from where espionage is conducted.
Steganography
Techniques for concealing the very existence of a message (secret inks or microdots).
SVR [Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki]
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki), formed on December 18, 1991.
Swallow
A female agent employed to seduce people for intelligence purposes.
T
TECHINT
Technical intelligence; analysis of fielded equipment for training, research, and the development of new weapons and equipment for eventual intelligence use.
The Company
An unofficial term for the CIA popularized by fiction.
The Take
Information gathered by intelligence collection operations.
Throwaway
An agent considered expendable.
Timed Drop
A dead drop that will be retrieved by a recipient after a set time period.
Tradecraft
The methods developed by intelligence operatives to conduct their operations.
Traffic Analysis
Methods for gaining intelligence from the patterns and volumes of messages of communications intercepts.
U
U-2
The world's most famous spy plane, developed by the U.S. specifically for intelligence collection in the thin atmosphere 55,000 feet above the Soviet Union; it is still in use today.
Ultra
Codename for intelligence derived from decryption of messages encrypted by the German Enigma cipher machine during WWII.
Uncle
Headquarters of any espionage service.
W
Walk-in
A defector who declares his or her intentions by walking into an official installation and asking for political asylum or volunteering to work in-place.
Wet job
An operation in which blood is shed; a KGB term for an assassination.
Window Dressing
Ancillary materials that are included in a cover story or deception operation to help convince the opposition, or other casual observers, that what they are observing is genuine.