Before James Bond heads out on a mission, he has to stop in Q's laboratory for custom-made gadgets such as an exploding watch. Life wasn't so dashing for the suspected Russian spies arrested this week: They allegedly relied heavily on off-the-shelf consumer electronics.
"In the old days, they'd have special KGB-type equipment. Now they use normal computers, normal laptops," said Sujeet Shenoi, professor of computer science at the University of Tulsa and a frequent consultant to the FBI. "Technology is so powerful now that you don't have to have special-purpose equipment anymore."
According to the FBI's complaints that sought the arrest of the 11 suspects, the array of tools included laptops, flash memory cards and at least one prepaid cell phone. The suspects are accused of backing that up with old-fashioned spy technology such as short-wave radios, invisible ink, and a classic, manual encryption method known as a "one-time pad."
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