Ged Carroll

Jason Matthews on trade craft and social engineering

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Jason Matthews is a former CIA spy who used to run agents. He retired and became a novelist with books that have made the New York Times bestseller list. The most famous of his books is Red Sparrow, which has since been made into a film as well.

In his Talk at Google he talks about the spy game, but its also interesting in terms of thinking about social engineering in a wider sense.

Key outtakes:

Matthews also took a New York Times journalist on the street to explain what surveillance infrastructure looked like now

“You never try to elude or escape from surveillance,” he explained. “You want to lull them into thinking that you’re not operational on this particular day. You want to calm the beast.”

Shadowing Jason Matthews, an Ex-Spy Whose Cover Identity Is Author | New York Times

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