This Russian spy story just gets better and better. First a young, attractive Russian
woman called Anna – with a penchant for uploading suggestive pictures of herself onto Facebook — is seized in an FBI swoop for being at the centre of a Russian espionage network. Next, it emerges
that the agents from Moscow had outwitted the FBI by going back in time. Aware that electronic messages — via mobile, or online — are are an open book to any decent spook-catcher, they
simply learnt from the past and used invisible ink and messages in buried bottles to send information their colleagues in South America. Some of the spies even are said to have been schooled in
Morse code. It must be handy for our competitors; for Russia and China in particular, to know that we in the West are so blinded by technology that we have utterly forgotten the lessons of the cold
war.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in