Double agent

A double agent pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization. Double agents may be agents of the target organization who infiltrate the controlling organization, or may be previously loyal agents of the controlling organization who have been captured and turned by the target. Compare to defector.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Double agents are often used to transmit disinformation or to identify other agents as part of counter-espionage operations. They are often very trusted by the controlling organization, since the target organization will give them true, but useless, information to pass along.

Related Topics:
Disinformation - Counter-espionage

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The term "double agent" is often used in popular media erroneously to refer to someone acting simply as a spy or secret agent.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A triple agent pretends to be a double agent for the target organization, but in fact is working for the controlling organization all along. Usually, he keeps the trust of the target organization by feeding information to them which is apparently very important, but is in fact misleading or useless.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~