Biography of Robert Hanssen, Spy Who Betrayed the FBI

Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent who sold highly classified material to Russian intelligence agents for decades before he was finally arrested in 2001. His case is considered one of Americas greatest intelligence failures, as Hanssen operated as a mole within the bureaus counterintelligence division, the highly sensitive part of the FBI tasked with tracking foreign spies. Unlike Cold War spies of an earlier era, Hanssen claimed to have no political motivation for selling out his country. At work, he often spoke of his religious faith and conservative values, traits which helped him avoid any suspicion during the years that he was in secret communication with Russian spies. Fast Facts: Robert Hanssen Full Name: Robert Phillip HanssenKnown For: Worked as a mole for Russian spy agencies while serving as an FBI counterintelligence agent. He was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life without parole in federal prison in 2002Born: April 14, 1944 in Chicago, IllinoisEducation: Knox College and Northwestern University, where he received an MBASpouse: Bernadette Wauck Early Life and Career Robert Phillip Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 18, 1944. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. As Hanssen grew up, his father was reportedly verbally abusive to him, often ranting that he would never succeed in life. After graduating from a public high school, Hanssen attended Knox College in Illinois, studying chemistry and Russian. For a time he planned to become a dentist, but eventually wound up obtaining an MBA and becoming an accountant. He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. He worked as a policeman in Chicago for three years and was placed on an elite unit that investigated corruption. He then applied and was accepted into the FBI. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. Initial Betrayal In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. His job was to help assemble a database of foreign officials posted in New York who, while posing as diplomats, were actually intelligence officers spying on the United States. Many of them were agents of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, or its military counterpart, the GRU. At some point in 1979, Hanssen made a decision to sell American secrets to the Soviets. He visited an office of the Russian governments trading company and offered to spy. Hanssen would later claim that his goal was simply to make some extra money, as living in New York City was putting a financial squeeze on his growing family. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. Robert Hanssens business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. FBI.gov In 1980, after his first interactions with the Soviets, Hanssen told his wife what he had done, and she suggested they meet with a Catholic priest. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. Hanssen made the donation to a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa, and cut off contact with the Soviets for the next few years. Return to Spying In the early 1980s, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. To his colleagues in the bureau he seemed to be a model agent. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. In 1985 he approached the Soviets again and offered valuable secrets. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. He wrote to them anonymously. While not identifying himself, he was able to gain their trust by initially providing information which the Soviets found both credible and valuable. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. Hanssen refused. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. His Russian contacts and Hanssen were highly trained in espionage techniques and were able to work together without ever meeting. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. For instance, a piece of adhesive tape placed on a sign in a park in Virginia would indicate that a package had been placed in a dead drop location, which was usually under a small footbridge in the park. Undated file photo released by the FBI February 20, 2001 shows a package recovered at the Lewis drop site containing $50,000 cash allegedly left by Russians for FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen. FBI / Getty Images A Third Stint of Betrayal When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. Hanssen became alarmed that a Russian with knowledge of his activities would tip off the Americans that a highly placed mole was operating within the FBI and the resultant investigation would lead to him. For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. But in 1999, while assigned as an FBI liaison with the State Department, he once again began selling American secrets. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. The Russian had obtained Hanssens KGB file. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. Although his name was not specifically mentioned, evidence in the file pointed to Hanssen, who was put under close surveillance. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. The evidence against him was overwhelming, and to avoid the death penalty, Hanssen confessed and agreed to be debriefed by American intelligence officials. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. Yet some investigators believed anger about how his father treated him as a child triggered a need to rebel against authority. Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. News reports at the time of his sentencing said American intelligence agencies were not entirely satisfied with the extent of his cooperation and believed he was holding back information. But the government could not prove he had lied, and wishing to avoid a public trial, the government chose not to void his plea agreement. He was sentenced to life in prison. Robert Hanssen moments after being arrested. Getty Images   Impact of Hanssen Case The Hanssen case was regarded as a low point for the FBI, especially as Hanssen had been so trusted and had committed such betrayals for so many years. In court proceedings the government stated that Hanssen had been paid more than $1.4 million during his spying career, most of which he never actually received, as it was held for him in a Russian bank. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. Hanssen was incarcerated in a supermax federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. Sources: Hanssen, Robert. Encyclopedia of World Biography, edited by James Craddock, 2nd ed., vol. 36, Gale, 2016, pp. 204-206. Gale Virtual Reference Library,A Search for Answers: Excerpts From the FBI Affidavit in the Case Against Robert Hanssen. New York Times, 22 February 2001, p. A14.Risen, James. Former FBI Agent Gets Life in Prison For Years as a Spy. New York Times, 11 May 2002, p. A1.

Analysis of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay - 1720 Words

Analysis of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Analyzing a book can be a killer. Especially when it contains tons of subtle little messages and hints that are not picked up unless one really dissects the material. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein is a prime example. It is analyzed by scholars all the time because of the subtle messages it sends through its themes, one of which needs to be discussed that is called Romanticism. Romanticism dealt with simplifying things as a break from the previous age which deal with grandeur. Romantics highly valued nature as well as isolation for salvation and healing. Frankenstein has all of these elements but some are more muted than others. There are also subtle nods to other works or the Romantic era†¦show more content†¦Yet another easy example of Romantic style nature is that of just before and up to Victors trek up Montanvert after he is grieving over the death of his brother. He says, Dear Mountains My own beautiful lake How do you welco me your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock at my unhappiness? (52). This statement brings out a new view of Romanticism. The Romantics viewed nature as an entity all its own, a god amongst men for instance. Victor thinks that nature is mocking him with all its beauty because of the ugliness that he has marred it with by playing God. This mocking truly hurts Victor after his creation has just murdered his brother William. The Creature also has his views of nature but they are far more nurturing and healing than the images that Victor receives. When the creature begins to tell his tale to Victor at the top of the mountain the reader begins to get a mental picture of how much differently the Creature views things than Victor. This is really the readers first taste of the Creature actually being kind hearted and the character that is sympathized with rather than Victor who can not take responsibility f or his actions. 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Individual Organizational Structure Paper Free Essays

Individual Organizational Structure Paper MGT/230 July 23, 2012 Todd Lambertson Individual Organizational Structure Paper Facebook is a social-networking site that has a strong organization structure that is appropriate for their particular product; social media. Facebook seems like a simple site that does not require a structure to operate. Twitter works in the same way but is only set up for chatting through posts, or as it is called tweets. We will write a custom essay sample on Individual Organizational Structure Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Tweets are text-based quotes of up to 140 characters and are posted on the user’s profile page (Shetty, 2010). Users can also send pictures and videos through Twitpics and other sources (O’leary, 2011). Millions of people use Facebook and organizations use them to advertise and to promote their services. Facebook is set up where users have friends who can see each other user’s posts. They also can tag pictures, providing information on who is in a particular picture (O’leary, 2011). Facebook launched in 2004, and is now the most popular social-networking site. This strong organization structure has allowed Facebook to grow and continue to be strong in a competitive marketplace where the product is your personal life. Facebook has developed their organizational structure to become one of the most used social-networking sites in the world. This spot was previously held by MySpace. MySpace was used by individuals to chat with each other, create music playlists, and to post pictures and other personal information. Businesses never adapted to MySpace like they have with Facebook. Companies have found that it is more worthwhile to advertise with Facebook. Facebook realized that to stay in business and be profitable it would need high traffic on the site and many top advertisers. Once businesses could take advantage of this new web tool, they learned quickly how helpful it was to them. Users can befriend or follow organizations that they are interested in. The organizations can use this platform to promote a product, service, or even a cause. It is simple, easy to use, and effective. Facebook has developed games and applications to entertain a person while they are online. While a person is logged into Facebook a user can change their status, check on a friend’s status, post pictures or even post on their friend’s wall. Facebook is the most popular social-networking site that has developed a business structure that supports their organization. Facebook has many organizational functions that support the different responsibilities from within the organization. Facebook is set up for huge amounts of marketing through the use of advertising, and Twitter allows individual organizations to post tweets to keep followers interested in them. Through games, Facebook makes money by asking users to pay for different parts of the game. Anyone who has played Farmville or other games similar to it will say that these games are addicting. When playing these games users can purchase items in the marketplace with coins that they receive from playing that game whether it is from planting crops, harvesting them, crafting items, or harvesting their animals that they have placed on their farms. There are also items in the marketplace that takes cash to buy. In Farmville it is called farm cash, and in order to get farm cash the person has to either buy a card from a department store like Wal-Mart or Target, or they can charge the fees to their credit cards. The amount of farm cash you can buy is low as $10 and a high of $100. The $10 dollars buys that person $55 farm cash, and the $100 dollars buys $250 farm cash. Facebook has many ways to make money and maintain their financial stability; they can constantly try many different things. Because Facebook has a huge amount of daily traffic, organizations are willing to pay to advertise with them. Facebook uses a horizontal and functional organization. They are set up in a way that an employee on the organization chart has a particular set of responsibilities and skills. These responsibilities and skills are unique to a specific task; they are specialized. A functional organization has specialized departments, and they are grouped according to their business functions or particular skills that each function requires (Bateman Snell, 2011). Facebook is a strong organization, and it will remain that way for years to come. Companies and organizations from all over the world will continue to use them to promote their ideas, products, or anything else that they want to make known. Dell and Best Buy are focusing their primary efforts on the marketing and their service through social media (O’leary, 2011). There is an easy way to follow charts between each operation. This allows for less confusion and clear channels of authority. Without this, failure is inevitable. While one department is responsible for monitoring he IT (information technology), and another department is responsible for the web content. The same goes for marketing, human resources, and other similar aspects of the business. Every department is specialized and functions effectively this way. Without the proper structure, information can get confused and the responsibilities get unclear. This will create total chaos and in the end will cause the websit e to fail or collapse. For a business to be successful, it has to have an effective organizational structure. A basic organization structure gives any business direction which that allows it to function at its fullest potential. One of the first steps in starting up a business is to create a basic organization structure and to have it show all the departments, what their functions are, and who will be running it (Shetty, 2010). A functional organization is the proper structure for Facebook because of the different type of business they are. If responsibilities in the departments were not properly defined or organized, it can cause them to be less functional and less effective at social-networking. Social-networking sites are here to stay and Facebook is leading the way. They have learned from other social-networking sites like MySpace. That is what it takes to create huge traffic and attract many and different advertisers. By creating an effective organizational structure, they can remain successful and have little or limited internal issues. References Bateman, T. S. , ; Snell, S. A. (2011). Management: Leading ; collaborating in a competitive world (9th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. O’Leary, D. E. (2011). The use of social media in the supply chain: survey and extensions. , 18(2/3), p121-144. Shetty, N. (2010). Organizational structures. Retrieved from http://www. managementparadise. com/forums/human-resources-management-h-r/215152-organizational-structure. html How to cite Individual Organizational Structure Paper, Papers

Buyer Behaviour free essay sample

The purpose of this report is to describe the purchasing scenario of a consumer who is about to purchase a device to replace their broken or outdated laptop. The decision on what device to purchase is complex and depends on their individual needs. Consumer buying behaviour is defined by Kotler et al (2008:238) as â€Å"[t]he buying behaviour of final consumers-individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption†. The world as we know it today has rapidly changed due to advancement in technology. Consumers preference are also changing due to the market changes that continue to occur . In order for a business to survive in the competitive markets today ,a company/firm has to be up to date with the latest consumer taste and trends. Consumer behaviour offers vital information and guidelines to marketers on the new upcoming technological changes that they will need to explore for example, Lap tops, PC, IPods, Phones and etc. Consumer behaviour is important in marketing, because it focuses on the customer’s views and what customer value at all times. Customers’ needs/wants are always deliberated by the company so as to provide the best service/product in return. 2. The characteristics that affect consumer behaviour Mr Dennis Nyanmichaba an accountant at NBC Bank has faults with his HP Laptop which keeps on heating up and randomly shutting down every time he places it on a hard surface, due the problems he can hardly use his laptop at home or work because it keeps shutting down, and sometimes when he is doing important work (e. g. Balance sheet, profit and loss account and etc) the computer shuts down so he sometimes loses the work and has to start all over again which is not a good thing. So he recently visited the store wanting to know if he can either repair the laptop or buy a brand new one, and if it’s the case of buying a brand new laptop, what brand is suitable?. Mr Dennis Naymichaba would want to have a laptop that not only works perfectly but also appeals in today’s business world (Social) for example a really known and sophisticated brand like Apple (Mac Book) which not only has basic things that a normal laptop has but also has the edge and advanced technology which makes it different from other laptops, Dennis would want a laptop with outstanding quality that works really fast and does not have any sort of complication what so ever, at the same time it should have a logo/brand that stands out among peers, Because nowadays you don’t see business people or firms still using old brands they all try to upgrade and stay up to date with technological advances. Another thing would be (Psychological Factors) that he would want to buy it because his co-workers are using the same type or much more advanced technology laptops, so he wouldn’t want to feel left out in the technology world and decide to also upgrade to something m ore advanced instead of the laptop he has at present. In other words Mr Dennis Nyamichaba would want to purchase the laptop not only for necessity, but also out of desire and psychological need, he would also not only want the laptop for office needs only but also personal needs for example on a weekend off work he would love to watch movies, listen to music and perhaps play games take his mind off work and entertain himself, So basically he would want something with some sort of entertainment that would help him relax, set his mind off work and do something different as mentioned above. The consumer purchase decision process diagram is very important for anyone making a decision in marketing. It alerts marketers to consider the buying process rather than just the purchase decision. The diagram indicates that customers pass through all stages in every purchase. However in more routine purchases, customers often skip or reverse some of the stages. An example would be Mr Dennis Nyamichaba buying his well-known laptop (Mac book) he would not consider anything else but buying the mac book, just because everyone else has the same kind of brand at that particular time/period and go right to the purchase decision, skipping all the other processes . However the diagram is very useful when it comes to understanding any purchase that requires some thought and deliberation. The consumer buying process start with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer recognises a problem or need (e. g. Mr Dennis needs to know if he can buy a brand new laptop or repair the old one) 3. The types of consumer buying decisions Then Mr Dennis Nyamichaba (Kotler et al (2008:266) Information search: Seeking value) will have to seek for information regarding which brand he should really go for and if that certain brand is perfect for his needs and wants and if it is not underrated in today’s business world and technology, he would also want information on how long this certain product lasts for, what period of time will that certain laptop really stay for without problems occurring (In other words it’s durability). Then (Kotler et al (2008:269) Evaluation and alternatives assessing value) he would compare between his broken laptop and advanced technology laptop that was recommended for him, what things does the old laptop have that the one with high technology does not have and check if the technology has really changed like how it’s been stated to him by the store workers. Mr Dennis (Kotler et al (2008:271)Purchase decision: Buying value) would look into the price, if it’s really e xpensive that he has to wait for prices to go down then buy it or just purchase it now that he desperately needs it. Then lastly (Kotler et al (2008:271) Post purchase behaviour: Value in consumption or use) after purchasing the laptop Mr Dennis will have to compare the performance of the laptop and see if he really likes it and if it suits his needs and wants and if he is really satisfied /dissatisfied with product, and if so, he can share his experience with other co-workers that have yet to buy the laptop. Mr Dennis Nyamichaba’s customer involvement (Variety seeking buying behaviour) into buying this product is low because he has no Idea what to get after his old laptop broke down, there will be significant difference among brands (An example would be CHOCKLET, someone would not know the taste hence after eating only he can tell whether to still go for the brand or change to another one next time he is buying the cake. The companies try so hard to change the nature of habitual buying behaviour. ) so he would not know which among the brands is by far much better for him and that he is assured that he won’t face the same problems that he faced with his old laptop. 5. CONCLUSION This report has explained on how marketers should understand consumer behaviour and how they should go about it . And also has identified the characteristics (Cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics) that would affect the consumer behaviour when making a purchase relating to an incident or a customer replacing a broken laptop. Also it has looked into the buying decision behaviour (Variety seeking buying behaviour) that is associated with the purchase. Also the significance of consumer involvement is it high or low for the type of buying decision behaviour. It is now clearer that there is not a particular theory that is entirely faultless in the attempt to unravel the mystery of buyer behaviour as the debates have proven to be never ending. Each theory holds some degree of relevance. However, some tend to be stronger than others in terms of substantiation and certainty. The literature available reveals that there is an on-going tendency of rejecting ideas regarding the genesis of buyer behaviour. When we omit ideas and ration down the nature of buyer behaviour, danger is that we block out useful knowledge which bounds our scope of appreciation. The original premise therefore stands to be true that the nature of the buyer is indeed in need of investigation, rather that presupposition.