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Acover inforeign,military orpolicehuman intelligence orcounterintelligence is the ostensible identity and/or role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by acovert agent during acovert operation.
Inespionage, anofficial cover operative is one who assumes a position in an organization with diplomatic ties to the government for which the operative works such as an embassy or consulate. This provides the agent with officialdiplomatic immunity, thus protecting them from the steep punishments normally meted out to captured spies. Upon discovery of an official cover agent's secret hostile role, the host nation often declares the agentpersona non grata and orders them to leave the country.
Official cover operatives are granted a set of governmental protections, and if caught in the act of espionage, they can requestdiplomatic protection from their government. In other words, official cover operatives are agents officially recognized by their country.[citation needed]
Inespionage, operatives undernon-official cover (NOC) are operatives without official ties to the government for which they work who assumecovert roles in organizations.
This is in contrast to an operative with official cover, where they assume a position in their government, such as thediplomatic service, which provides them withdiplomatic immunity if their espionage activities are discovered. Operatives under non-official cover do not have this "safety net", and if captured andcharged as spies are subject to severe criminal punishments, up to and includingexecution. Operatives under non-official cover are also usually trained to deny any connection with their government, thus preservingplausible deniability, but also denying them any hope of diplomatic legal assistance – or official acknowledgment of their service. Such an operative or agent may be referred to as aNOC (pronounced/nɒk/NOK)[1] or as anillegal (seeClandestine HUMINT operational techniques). Sometimes,front companies orstrawman entities are established in order to provide false identities for agents.
An agent sent to spy on a foreign country might, for instance, work as a businessperson, a worker for a non-profit organization (such as a humanitarian group), or an academic. For example, theCIA'sIshmael Jones spent nearly two decades as a NOC.[2]
Many of the agents memorialized without names or dates of service on theCIA Memorial Wall are assumed to have been killed or executed in a foreign country while serving as NOC agents. In nations with established and well-developed spy agencies, the majority of captured non-native NOC agents have, however, historically been repatriated throughprisoner exchanges for other captured NOCs as a form ofgentlemen's agreement.
Some countries have regulations regarding the use of non-official cover: the CIA, for example, has at times been prohibited from disguising agents as members of certain aid organizations, or as members of theclergy.[citation needed]
The degree of sophistication put into non-official cover stories varies considerably. Sometimes, an agent will simply be appointed to a position in a well-established company which can provide the appropriate opportunities.[citation needed] Other times, entirefront companies can be established in order to provide false identities for agents.[citation needed]
Examples includeAir America, used by the CIA during the Vietnam War, andBrewster Jennings & Associates, used by the CIA inWMD investigations and made public as a result of thePlame affair.[citation needed]
FormerMI6 officer "Nicholas Anderson" wrote an account of his service in a fictionalized autobiography (as per British law) entitledNOC: Non-Official Cover: British Secret Operations, and two sequels:NOC Twice: More UK Non-Official Cover Operations andNOC Three Times: Knock-On Effect (Last of the Trilogy).[3]
Michael Ross, a formerMossad officer, operated as a Mossad NOC or "combatant" as described in his memoir,The Volunteer: The Incredible True Story of an Israeli Spy on the Trail of International Terrorists (Skyhorse Publishing, September 2007,ISBN 978-1-60239-132-1).
Fictional notable examples includeChuck Barris, who made a satirical claim to have been a NOC with 33 kills in his book and movieConfessions of a Dangerous Mind. Other examples are featured in the booksDebt of Honor andThe Eleventh Commandment; the filmsMission: Impossible,Spy Game,The Bourne Identity,Safe House, andThe Recruit; and the television showsThe Americans,Burn Notice,Spooks,The Night Manager,Covert Affairs,The Spy, andPatriot.
