Summary

Alan Kohler joins Andrew to discuss the FBI’s counterintelligence division. He is a recipient of the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Counterintelligence Investigation.

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What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

Counterintelligence vs. Counterespionage
How the FBI recruit’s foreign agents
Ideological motivations behind spying
Effect of technology on counterintelligence

Reflections

Staying grounded under pressure
The value of creativity

Notes

Alan Kohler (LinkedIn, Website) has been the FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence since 2020. Alan and Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) talk all things counterintelligence.

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SpyCasts

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Beginner Resources

What We Investigate, FBI (n.d.) [webpage]
FAQ’S, FBI (n.d.) [webpage]
US Opens Counterintelligence Investigation into China Every 12 Hours (Dir. Wray), MSNBC (2022) [video]
What We Know About China’s Spy Agency, Bloomberg Originals (2019) [video]
Hollow Nickel/Rudolf Abel, FBI (n.d.) [Article]
NCSC Mission, Vision, and Goals, ODNI (n.d.) [Website]

Glossary:

Counterintelligence: Information gathered, and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt, or protect against espionage or other intelligence activities
FBI Attaché: a special agent assigned to a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas to liaise with local law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They pursue terrorist, intelligence, and criminal threats with international dimensions.
Occam’s Razor: a rule of thumb theory that states when you are faced with competing explanations for the same phenomenon, the simplest one is probably the correct one. Attributed to William of Ockham, a 14th century English theologian.

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“The Counterintelligence Chief” – with FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler 01:11:58 Share

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“The Counterintelligence Chief” – with FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler