Short-range agent communications

Short range agent communications (SRAC) are one-way or two-way short-range wireless communications used for intelligence purposes. This communications technology became possible with the arrival of the transistor and small scale integrated circuits. In the late 2000s computer WiFi technology and USB Flash Drives had evolved into technologies that ordinary people can buy – yet can be used in a similar way to SRAC systems.[1]

SRAC devices were adopted by Western intelligence agencies during the Cold War in the 1960s, but Eastern Bloc nations possessed and used similar technologies.^[1] The devices are miniature to ease concealment, and are capable of transmitting encrypted data.

Historical context

Examples of a US-made set, the

Former British intelligence officer Richard Tomlinson mentioned SRAC devices of a cigarette pack size in his book The Big Breach: From Top Secret To Maximum Security. The text of a message was first typed on a computer and then uploaded into the SRAC device. When an agent came within the range of the interrogating signals from the receiving station, usually mounted within British diplomatic posts, the device instantly transmitted its message.^[4]

Since 2000

In 2006 Russian authorities accused Britain of conducting spy operations in Moscow and exposed an artificial rock, which housed an electronic dead drop allegedly used by British assets in Russia.^[5] The device likely exchanged short bursts of data with PDA computers in the possession of the assets.^[6]

References