The New York governor's exposure as a client of an upscale prostitution ring this week affords editorial license to hold forth against the sins of hubris and hypocrisy. Then psychologists may capture the story to illustrate the contradictory sides of human nature. But to the security professional, Governor Spitzer's folly in creating audit trails when sending a coin-operated bed mate across state lines and making arrangements via communications susceptible to federal wiretap illustrates a phenomenon also seen among spies and traitors: indiscretion borne of overconfidence.
Whence the association between an extra-marital affair and treason? The requirement for deception is the same. As a tradecraft instructor once told my class of aspiring case officers many years ago, "Maintaining your cover takes the same talent you would use if cheating on your spouse." Thanks to Governor Spitzer, we can see that carrying out such illicit rendezvous indiscreetly is equally susceptible to breakdowns in basic tradecraft which, fundamentally, means breaches of security. After all, tradecraft amounts to nothing more than precautions taken to assure personal security and to safeguard a given operation.
So, setting aside the admittedly unsavory betrayals and hypocrisy permeating Spitzer's actions, let us examine his basic security failure. Here is a trained prosecutor with considerable expertise in the use of wiretaps and surveillance and forensic document examination. He should be an expert in conducting illicit activities without leaving traces, yet he leaves a trail for any rookie investigator to trip over while investigating the prostitution ring. What is the fundamental failure? Tradecraft or, in other words, failure to follow routine, mundane, and elementary security precautions.
While psychologists and pundits may speculate at the root cause and use this failure in operational security to underscore the governor's arrogance, there is another fundamental truth at the heart of the matter. It would have come into play even if Governor Spitzer were the most modest of men without any grandstanding proclivities. In reality, it comes equally into play in espionage cases and in cases where the most sophisticated traitors and case officers make the one fatal flaw which gives them away and compromises their operations or even their lives. What is the fundamental truth behind all these catastrophes?
Security is never convenient. And the corollary to this truth is that even the brightest participants in questionable activities will eventually surrender caution to convenience – hence their exposure. And it does not matter how smart they are, or how powerful, or how adroit in all other matters. All it takes is the calculated or chance exploitation of one fatal flaw in security, and exposure will result, with the attending ramifications of whatever represents catastrophe to those concerned. Ask the governor, who just added security malpractice to his growing list of fatal flaws.
– Nick Catrantzos
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Nick Catrantzos + Tom Goff
- All Secure
- NICK CATRANTZOS is the lead author of the All Secure website and is the emeritus security director for a large public organization. He has also managed security aspects of corporate takeovers, response to international hostage situations, and finding and keeping secrets. He has been board certified in security management, licensed as a private investigator, and certified as an incident commander. He worked as a case officer for a discreet branch of public service. He protected stealth technology at Lockheed and, later, as a consulting security director for both Kroll and Control Risks, he assisted executives with workplace violence cases and with protecting VIPs and critical assets globally in volatile areas. Nick's partner, TOM GOFF, was a captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Reserve and has a law degree from the University of California at Davis. He is a former reporter for Fortune Magazine, was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire, and has provided crisis and communications counsel to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, including Lockheed, ARCO, Microsoft, Nissan, and Sony Pictures.