Both in a modern and historical sense
In: Other
First, off let’s get rid of the word ‘spy.’ This has a multitude of meanings that confuses things. Usually people talk in terms of ‘agents’ and ‘officers.’ The agent is someone who lives in a country and has information. The agent makes contact with the officer (aka case officer, handler, etc) and gives that information to them.
Examples are helpful:
1. Robert Hanssen was an FBI agent and also an agent for the Russians. He volunteered to give FBI information to a Russian case officer.
2. Aldrich Ames worked for the CIA, and was also an agent for the Russians. He gave CIA information to a Russian case officer.
3. Shakil Afridi was a Pakistani doctor. He gathered information about Bin Laden and gave that information to a CIA officer.
You might notice a pattern here. In each case, the person actually collecting the information is a native resident of their country and an employee of the target organization. They almost never try to infiltrate the target organization with one of their own people. It is waaaaay easier to find someone who is already in position and wants to provide information. Most of what we call ‘spying’ is just this pattern of locating someone who wants to provide information and then getting that information from them.
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