Biographic leverage is a term used in the field of espionage to describe a form of blackmail in which a piece of negative information about an individual is used as leverage to persuade them to do something they are reluctant to do or to disclose secret information.[1][2] This information could be about events in the individual's past, or their current personal life. Details of criminal activities or marital infidelity are common forms of biographic leverage; recruitment as a spy is a frequent goal of such activity. For example, the fact that William G. Sebold had been prosecuted for petty theft was used as biographic leverage by Abwehr to persuade him to be involved in undercover intelligence work in the 1940s.[3]
An attempt to gain leverage material on a heterosexual male target through entrapment of a sexual nature by a female operative is called a honeytrap, honeypot, or swallow; an attempt to gain leverage material on a homosexual male target through entrapment of a sexual nature by a male operative is called a raven.[4] Attempts of this nature are so frequent and routine and taken so unseriously by the experienced HUMINT operator that the target is often better off reporting the leverage attempt to their handler/operator and letting the experienced professional deal with the attack than submit to the coercive force.
^Smith, W. Thomas (2003). Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency. Infobase Publishing. p. 29.
^Green, Jonathon (1984). Newspeak: A Dictionary of Jargon. Routledge. p. 23.
^Johnson, David Alan (2007). Betrayal: The True Story of J. Edgar Hoover and the Nazi Saboteurs Captured During WWII. Hippocrene Books. pp. 30–31.
^Palmer, Norman; Allen, Thomas B. (1996). Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage. Random House Reference.
and 22 Related for: Biographic leverage information
Biographicleverage is a term used in the field of espionage to describe a form of blackmail in which a piece of negative information about an individual...
until 1871. In July 1600, Ishida Mitsunari had attempted to gain some leverage over those leaning towards Ieyasu by taking as hostages all those whose...
development in Africa. As a Panel Member, he facilitates coalition building to leverage and broker knowledge, in addition to convening decision-makers to influence...
protest over Sudan's humanitarian crisis in Darfur. In 1999, he used his leverage as a former San Francisco cab driver to raise awareness about African Americans...
Eclipses have been seen as bad omens throughout history, so filmmakers leverage that belief "as visual cues or key plot points", according to The Oregonian's...
fails to leverage its assembly poll gains". Rashmi Drolia. The Times of India. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2020. Official biographical sketch in...
Oppenheim & Craft in ABC's The Deep End. He also guest starred on the Leverage series episode "The Gone Fishin Job" and on The Dukes of Hazzard sixth-season...
franchisees, which will not only provide a revenue stream, but give Kroc leverage over his franchisees and the brothers. Kroc incorporates a new company...
American actor, director and producer. He played Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask (1985), which earned him the nomination for the Golden...
getting Georgia Southwestern State University a four-year program. He leveraged his regional planning work, giving speeches around the district to make...
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1991, for a report on the leveraged buyout of Safeway Stores, Inc., a report that the Pulitzer Prize committee...
the North in the Vietnam War. Nixon ultimately used the idea of gaining leverage against the Soviet Union through relations with China to obtain the support...
co-operation was necessary for political progress against the British. He leveraged the Khilafat movement, wherein Sunni Muslims in India, their leaders such...
Nixon's theory of "linkage", believing that this would give the Soviet Union leverage over the United States and unlike Nixon was less concerned about the ultimate...
19th century Barbarians at the Gate (1993) – biographical comedy drama television film about the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco Belle van Zuylen – Madame...
interview, in May 2014, Snowden said he had protected himself from Russian leverage by destroying the material he had been holding before landing in Moscow...
12 December 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024. "Africa: Developed Countries' Leverage On the Continent Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine". AllAfrica...
colleague Digamber Singh. Vishvendra being a royal always had political leverage, however his defeat against Digamber Singh in 2008, reduced his political...
alliance, Muhammad once more set his sights on his hometown, Mecca. He leveraged his covert agent, Budayl ibn Warqa, to fan the flames of discord between...
go into that has one gets a free shout out on my FB page!" Kutcher has leveraged his social media presence, particularly on Facebook, to post and promote...
Gouverneur Morris, attempted to use the so-called Newburgh Conspiracy as leverage to secure support from the states and in Congress for funding of the national...
Global Information