Russian spy covers leave America helpless

US President Donald Trump on March 26 ordered the expulsion of 60 diplomats believed to be Russian intelligence officers, in response to the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK. The White House also ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle due to concerns about espionage activities, as it is located near a US naval base.

However, many US officials believe that the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats is unlikely to cause damage to the country's spy network in the US. It is likely that Russian spies have penetrated deep into US companies, schools and even government agencies to operate under perfect cover that is very difficult to detect, according toReuters.

Russian intelligence agencies are said to still make full use of embassy and consulate staff cover, a method also used by US intelligence in many other countries.

However, in addition to this traditional tactic, Russian intelligence also uses many other methods of operation such as recruiting Russian immigrants, establishing front companies, deploying spies under the guise of short-term tourists to the US, recruiting Americans to work for Russia and hacking into computer networks to steal data.

US officials say Russian intelligence has targeted programmers working at Microsoft Corp. in Seattle because the company’s products are used in so many applications. Microsoft declined to comment on the information.

In 2010, a US court ordered the deportation of Alexey Karetnikov, a 23-year-old Russian spy who worked in the programming code testing department at Microsoft's facility in Richmond.

"Before, Moscow had only one way of doing things. Now they have thousands of different options," a former senior US administration official, who was a lieutenant colonel in Soviet intelligence, described the way Russian intelligence operates under President Vladimir Putin.

The FBI routinely monitors the activities and communications of suspected foreign spies. However, the growing Russian presence in the United States and the proliferation of encrypted online communications have complicated the FBI’s counterintelligence efforts.

Washington believes Moscow had more than 100 spies posing as diplomats operating in the US before the expulsions. However, an unnamed official said the actual number was much higher, as the US did not want to reveal the number of Russian intelligence officers under surveillance. "The actual number varies, but the average is 150," the official said.

"We have a very, very good counterintelligence system. There are people in the FBI who are responsible for tracking foreign spies and they do their job very well," said Robert Litt, former adviser to the US Director of National Intelligence.

However, the US needs at least 10 FBI agents and police officers to monitor a Russian spy for 24 hours. They must monitor a series of doors and elevators in the area, constantly pay attention to changes in clothing and transportation, even the target's hairstyle.

In previous deportations, Russian spies ordered to leave the United States often assigned tasks to those who stayed behind or “survivors,” a term for long-term undercover spies who had not revealed their ties to the Russian government.

One Russian tactic is to deploy large numbers of diplomatic personnel at once, including only one or two intelligence officers, making it difficult for the FBI to identify and track the real target.

A US intelligence official said that after expelling a number of Russian diplomats suspected of espionage, the US is facing the risk of not being able to identify the new spies sent by Russia. "Sometimes it's better to know who they are so you can monitor them," the official said.