Nvidia’s board has launched an independent investigation, although the company has said it has no reason to believe its secrets or US national security had been compromised. Meanwhile, China has dismissed the espionage allegations as groundless and a smear campaign.
The controversy has cast fresh light on an age-old spying tactic – the honey trap.
What is a honey trap?
Imagine a seemingly chance encounter with an attractive stranger at a hotel bar, or a flirtatious exchange at a social gathering that blossoms into romance.
What appears to be a budding relationship could, in fact, be a carefully orchestrated intelligence operation.
That’s the premise of a honey trap – an espionage technique that uses romantic or sexual attraction to gain a person’s trust, extract sensitive information or manipulate their behaviour.
The term evokes the use of something sweet or alluring to draw an unsuspecting victim into a trap. It is believed to have been popularised by British spy novelist John le Carre in his 1974 novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Honey traps do not necessarily involve sexual intimacy, and can rely on emotional manipulation and deception rather than threats or coercion.
Some operatives seek compromising material, such as intimate photographs or evidence of an affair, that can be used to pressure targets into cooperating.
Others cultivate relationships over months or even years, exploiting the target’s emotional attachment to persuade them to share information.
“There are people who are actually assigned to operate in this way – to act, to capitalise on somebody’s human foibles,” John Blaxland, a professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University (ANU), told CNA.
Who uses honey traps?
Among the intelligence agencies known to have employed such tactics was the Soviet Union’s KGB, which used female agents known as “swallows” to seduce targets during the Cold War.
Meanwhile, East Germany’s Stasi secret police and intelligence agency employed male operatives known as “Romeo spies” to woo women with access to sensitive information in West Germany.
