Book Review: "Thwarting Enemies at Home and Abroad"

"Thwarting Enemies at Home and Abroad: How to Be a Counterintelligence Officer" by William R. Johnson is a seminal work in the field of counter-intelligence; a book both infosec and intelligence professionals should be aware of. The book lays the ground work for what intelligence operations are, and thusly what counter-intelligence operations are, and a lot of the tradecraft included therein. The book talks extensively of the various players in the counter-intelligence world, from case officers, to field agents, to penetrations, moles, and even double agents. And despite the age of the book, being published just before the fall of the Berlin wall in 1987 for context, yet the advice is timeless in it's field. I listened to the book on Audible for 6.5 hrs (originally 265 pages) at $16. Ultimately, I give the book 6 / 10 stars, for having timeless guidance on how to recognize, understand and disrupt an oppositions intelligence but other parts have felt the test of time, such as the parts do feel dated or don't necessarily apply to information security as much as it they do meat space. The book is on the CIA's recommended reading list and I highly recommend it to anyone that is getting into intelligence and counter intelligence operations, as well as those involved in information security, or anyone into the world of spies.  I'de also recommend it to any one who is looking into intelligence theory, its origins, and evolution. The following is the chapters of the book, in my typical review style, but I'de also encourage readers to check out this more detailed chapter breakdown:

Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: What Is Counterintelligence?
Chapter 2: Who Goes Into Counterintelligence, And Why?
Chapter 3: Conflicting Goals: Law Enforcement Versus Manipulation
Chapter 4: The Support Apparatus 
Chapter 5: Interrogation: How It Really Works
Chapter 6: How To Manage The Polygraph 
Chapter 7: How To Manage Physical Surveillance
Chapter 8: How To Manage Technical Surveillance
Chapter 9: Double Agents: What They Are Good For
Chapter 10: Double Agents: How to Get And Maintain A Stable
Chapter 11: Double Agents: Feeding and Care
Chapter 12: Double Agents: Passing Information To The Enemy
Chapter 13: Moles In The Enemy's Garden: Your Best Weapon
Chapter 14: Defectors: Your Second-Best Weapon
Chapter 15: Using "Friendly" Services, Foreign and Domestic 
Chapter 16: How To Manage Files
Chapter 17: The Collation Of Counterintelligence
Chapter 18: The Big Game: Deception
About the Author
Index

Part of the reason the book spends so much time describing normal intelligence operations and tradecraft is because it's training readers to recognize the tools, tactics, and procedures of the trade, in order to better understand and thus outwit the opposition, aka counter-intelligence. Some of my favorite parts are where the book breaks down what a polygraph test is, in terms of what the machine is physiologically reading from individuals, as well as how an operator would use this to conduct a test. I also found the book highly enjoyable just hearing about the world of spies. The book uses examples from several well known and now public spy cases and calls attention to some great real world intelligence operations. Finally, I wanted to include a modern documentary series in this post, the idea here is to give viewers a more modern take on tradecraft and the actions of intelligence operatives. It's a fascinating documentary, especially when combined with the information in the book, and I encourage you to watch all 5 parts, yet take the various interpretations with a grain of salt as the videos themselves warn.