5
minute read
It seems natural for spy agencies to post on social media today - CIA, FBI, NSA, and Defense Intelligence Agency all post, as do Britain’s MI5 and GCHQ.
They routinely drop their undercover personas and turn espionage into entertaining missions for aspiring secret agents. Sure, it’s a recruiting tactic, but it’s also fun to match wits with the pros and see their retro photo collection. We’re taking a nostalgic look at some of the first posts to see just how far we’ve come.
FBI - March 2019
“We’re Live!” the FBI announced on March 4, 2019, and 687,000 followers jumped on it. The Instagram account now has almost 2m followers and serious influencer status among the intelligence agencies. The FBI may be short on quizzes but it makes up for it in dog posts, an original Top 10 Most Wanted ledger and other artifacts, retro photos, and… did we mention dogs?
CIA - April 2019
The CIA is no stranger to social media having Twitter/X and Facebook accounts since 2014. The Agency’s first tweet? "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.” It took a few more years before the CIA first posted on Instagram in April 2019, striking a somber tone: "We are the nation's first line of defense." The account soon turned more playful though. The first post included a picture of a desk at Langley HQ scattered with objects ranging from a gray wig to foreign banknotes. The photo is cryptically captioned: "I spy with my little eye…" How many objects in the photo can you spot? Hint many belong to Agency employees. (Answer below)
Britain’s MI5 - April 2021
Britain’s MI5 spies started with a bang in 2021 - an insider’s view of the secret HQ with the explanation, “This is the view our staff see as they enter MI5 HQ in Thames House, London. Behind these pods lie some of the UK’s best-kept secrets.” They also offered a tip for budding operatives: “The secret to successful spying? Consider all angles. It’ll give you a better view…”
NSA - National Security Agency - September 2019
"We think it is time to show you around a bit," the NSA promised when its Instagram account debuted in 2019. We’re still waiting. While the NSA may not be ready to throw its doors open, its Instagram site is filled with cool artifacts like the M-94 Cylinder Cipher (above) invented by Parker Hitt and Joseph Mauborgn in 1915. And it is definitely a go-to place if you are the type of person who likes to break codes. It’s also quite possibly the only intelligence agency in the US that celebrates National Chess Day.
GCHQ - October 2018
‘Nothing to see here... Move along.’ If anyone thought the cyber spies at GCHQ were about to expose their secrets on Instagram this first post in October 2018 should have set them straight. The social media account does offer interesting tidbits about the history of ciphers, cool artifacts, and a lot of talk about cake consumed in the office of GCHQ (the circular-shaped office in England is not known as The Doughnut for nothing, it seems). But secrets? Not so much.
Answer to CIA Challenge:
Here is a by-no-means-exhaustive list:
1) A plant, included as a wry reference to the CIA's foreign intelligence ‘plants’.
2) A clock whose hands are set to 8:46, the time a plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
3) A map of China, one of America's main rivals in Asia.
4) A golden owl said to represent Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. It was offered by the CIA's Chief Operating Officer, Andy Makridis.
5) What appears to be an amulet that resembles an evil eye - perhaps to represent the dangers CIA agents face?
6) An artwork depicting Tony Mendez, a CIA officer who posed as a filmmaker to rescue six US hostages in Iran in 1980.
7) A pair of cufflinks, reportedly used by CIA agents to identify each other.
8) A grey wig, presumably worn by undercover CIA agents.
9) An ID containing a mugshot of former Director Gina Haspel.
10) A top-secret pulp bag, used by agents to destroy evidence.
