View source for Cover (intelligence gathering)

{{Short description|Ostensible identity in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent}}
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{{Intelligence}}A '''cover''' in [[espionage|foreign]], [[Military intelligence|military]] or [[police intelligence|police]] [[Human intelligence (intelligence gathering)|human intelligence]] or [[counterintelligence]] is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a [[covert agent]] during a [[covert operation]].

==Official cover==
[[File:Wdip-Cell-0.png|thumb|Representative clandestine operations run from diplomatic cover]]
In [[espionage]], an '''official 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 official [[diplomatic 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 agent ''[[persona 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 request [[diplomatic protection]] from their government. In other words, official cover operatives are agents officially recognized by their country.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}}

==Non-official cover==
In [[espionage]], operatives under '''non-official cover''' ('''NOC''') are operatives without official ties to the government for which they work who assume [[Covert operation|covert]] roles in organizations. Another term often used is '''deep cover''', <ref>https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-world-deep-cover-russia-spies-infiltrating-west-putin-agents-2023-12</ref> which [[Oxford English Dictionary]] defines as "designating an intelligence agent whose real identity and allegiance are thoroughly protected."<ref>https://www.oed.com/dictionary/deep-cover_adj?tab=meaning_and_use {{Closed access}}</ref>

This is in contrast to an operative with official cover, where they assume a position in their government, such as the [[diplomat|diplomatic service]], which provides them with [[diplomatic immunity]] if their espionage activities are discovered. Operatives under non-official cover do not have this "safety net", and if captured and [[Espionage#Law|charged as spies]] are subject to severe criminal punishments, up to and including [[execution]]. Operatives under non-official cover are also usually trained to deny any connection with their government, thus preserving [[plausible 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 a ''NOC'' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|n|ɒ|k}} {{respell|NOK}})<ref>{{cite magazine
  | last = Shannon
  | first = Elaine
  | title = Spies for the New Disorder
  | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
  | date = February 20, 1995
  | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982540-1,00.html
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090114094532/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982540-1,00.html
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = January 14, 2009
  |url-access=subscription 
  | access-date = 2008-02-19}}</ref> or as an ''illegal'' (see [[clandestine HUMINT operational techniques#Stations under non-official cover|Clandestine HUMINT operational techniques]]). Sometimes, [[front companies]] or [[Strawperson|strawman]] entities are established in order to provide false identities for agents.

==History==
[[File:French identification certificate for Marcelle Montagne, an alias of OSS agent Virginia Hall.jpg|thumb|Fake [[birth certificate]] used by [[Virginia Hall]] during the Second World War; it gave her the alias of a Frenchwoman named Marcelle Montagne.]]
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, the [[CIA]]'s [[Ishmael Jones]] spent nearly two decades as a NOC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/baring-bureaucratic-hurdles-at-cia/ |title= Tripping Over CIA's Bureaucratic Hurdles |author=John Weisman |work=Washington Times |date=September 7, 2010 |access-date=2010-03-19}}</ref>

Many of the agents memorialized without names or dates of service on the [[CIA 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, most captured non-native NOC agents have, however, historically been repatriated through [[prisoner exchange]]s for other captured NOCs as a form of [[gentlemen'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 the [[clergy]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

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|date=November 2018}} Other times, entire [[front organisation|front companies]] can be established in order to provide false identities for agents.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

Examples include [[Air America (airline)|Air America]], used by the CIA during the Vietnam War, and [[Brewster Jennings & Associates]], used by the CIA in [[Weapons of mass destruction|WMD]] investigations and made public as a result of the [[Plame affair]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Examples==
Former [[MI6]] officer "Nicholas Anderson" wrote an account of his service in a fictionalized autobiography (as per [[English law]]) entitled ''NOC: Non-Official Cover: British Secret Operations'', and two sequels: ''NOC Twice: More UK Non-Official Cover Operations'' and ''NOC Three Times: Knock-On Effect (Last of the Trilogy)''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our Kind of Traitor: an interview with former MI6 intelligence officer Nicholas Anderson|url=http://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/our-kind-of-traitor-an-interview-with-former-mi6-intelligence-officer-nicholas-anderson/|website=historyextra.com|publisher=Immediate Media Company|access-date=February 21, 2018|date=May 11, 2016}}</ref>

[[Michael Ross (Mossad officer)|Michael Ross]], a former [[Mossad]] 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 include [[Chuck Barris]], who made a satirical claim to have been a NOC with 33 kills in his book and movie ''[[Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (film)|Confessions of a Dangerous Mind]]''. Other examples are featured in the books ''[[Debt of Honor]]'' and ''[[The Eleventh Commandment (novel)|The Eleventh Commandment]]''; the films ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]'', ''[[Spy Game]]'', ''[[The Bourne Identity (2002 film)|The Bourne Identity]]'', ''[[Safe House (2012 film)|Safe House]]'', and ''[[The Recruit (film)|The Recruit]]''; and the television shows ''[[The Americans]]'', ''[[Burn Notice]]'', ''[[Spooks (TV series)|Spooks]]'', ''[[The Night Manager (TV series)|The Night Manager]]'', ''[[Covert Affairs]]'', ''[[The_Spy_(TV_series)|The Spy]]'', ''[[Patriot_(TV_series)|Patriot]], and [[Slow Horses]]''.

==See also==
* [[Illegals Program]]
* [[Secret identity]]
* [[Sleeper agent]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{espionage}}
{{intelligence cycle management}}

[[Category:Covert organizations]]
[[Category:Spies by role]]