Personal Protection

Secure Messaging: A Spy Primer

Greetings Everyday Spy, CIA I trained me to control my mind and body under unique circumstances. I learned how to master social settings, offensive driving, and pain tolerance. I learned how to prioritize information, mitigate risks, predict human behavior and steal secrets. I was issued custom weapons, personalized workouts, concealment devices and even alternate identities. […]

#SPYHACK: CODEWORDS

Greetings Everyday Spy, Welcome to your newest #SpyHACK! Over the last year, my children have become very comfortable living in hotels. I remember thinking of hotels as exotic destinations when I was a kid. Summer vacations to visit family in Indiana or Maryland were torture except for one thing – the Best Western hotel we […]

Beating Back Bullies

Greetings Everyday Spy, Three years after leaving CIA, my (growing) family of three had settled into a comfortable life in southern Florida. My wife and I were working for a Fortune 10 company. We lived near family and enjoyed time with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. My son, Sina, spent his weekends digging holes and […]

#SPYHACK: CIA Tactics to Counter Social Engineering

Greetings Everyday Spy, Welcome to your newest #SpyHACK! I received some exciting news this week. A generous man in Nigeria offered to give me $2 million if I helped him transfer his money from Nigeria to the US using my bank account. He said he trusted me because my name meant ‘good heart’ in his tribal […]

Surviving a High-speed Collision

Greetings Everyday Spy, I use the skills CIA taught me everyday; to win business, to win influence, to stay safe… And to survive. Every spy skill is useful, even though you use some more than others. But sometimes it’s the skills you use the least that have the greatest impact. That was the case for […]