CIA, Inc: Espionage & the Craft of Business Intelligence

Rating:
Summary: The real thing.
Review: A retired CIA couter terror operative informed me this is the real deal. The author is not using his real name. He did not know who wrote it, but that it right on.

Rating:
Summary: CIA INC, Business Intelligence Primer
Review: I profited from studying the book. The book presented easy to follow intelligence principles and methods with unique complementary stories. The discussion of business intelligence, recruitment of spies, legal issues, source protection, CIA case officer, targeting, employee vulnerabilities, importance of in-depth background investigations and terrorism was informative, enlightening and helpful. The book showed the dangers, failures, successes and trade craft problems that exist in the intelligence and business community. It give examples from Vietnam era to present day situations. An innocent, who knew no better, would gain insightful information for survival in the world of intelligence.

The book came across as sincere and truthful.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but not what I expected
Review: Rustman, an ex-CIA veteran, has written an entertaining, although not practical book, on espionage and business intelligence. My first problem with this book is the title. The topics of Espionage and Business Intelligence shouldn't be used together. Espionage is what a hostile government or a business rival does to another country or company. Business Intelligence is an all-encompassing term that includes the practices of competitive intelligence and counterintelligence. Espionage is both unethical and illegal; competitive intelligence is both ethical and legal.

This is one of many books written by an author who believes his exploits in the CIA somehow translate into practical lessons for the business world. Trouble is, they don't. If you're interest is in spies and spying, then you'll enjoy this book. If however, you have an interest in learning how to stay one step ahead of your competition, there are far better books to read than this one.

The author discusses such topics as bugs, wiretaps, and audio ops and countermeasures. These topics are better covered by persons that have a private investigative background or a technical countermeasures background rather than an intelligence background. When these topics are described in the book, the author does not tell us how to foil these attacks. A better approach would have been to describe the attack method and offer a solution.

The glossary is pretty good but the list of computer databases and information services is lacking in content.

Not a bad book, but one that is recommended only for those with an interest in spies and spying.