What kind of information do spies seek?

Intelligence agencies are directed by their governments to focus their attention on specific priorities. State agencies, the military and companies working on sensitive technologies are favourite targets for foreign espionage.

Intelligence services working against the UK tend to focus on acquiring a number of different types of secret information, for instance:

• Military secrets, which include items such as technical information about weapons, details of where troops are located, information on defences and so on. This can be especially useful to an enemy country in wartime, as it can help an enemy to find weak points or launch surprise attacks. It is also potentially useful to terrorists, as it can help them to identify targets and weak points.
  
• Industrial secrets, which include information on companies' products and plans. Spies are particularly interested in details of new inventions that may be of military or commercial use, such as communications technologies, computers, genetics, aviation, lasers, optics and electronics. Such secrets may also help to give some countries an economic or military advantage.
  
• Political secrets, which include confidential information on political and security affairs, negotiating positions, sensitive economic information and details of policy developments Foreign governments could use such information to gain advantage in areas such as international relations and intelligence operations.

Some foreign governments also target dissident movements and individuals that they see as a threat to their control at home. The United Kingdom's long tradition of political tolerance has meant that many foreign dissidents have made their homes here over the years -- most famously the Russian revolutionaries Lenin and Trotsky -- but this has also prompted the sometimes hostile interest of foreign intelligence services.

Terrorists seek to use espionage techniques to gather information that will enable them to identify areas or individuals to attack. Such information may include details of military personnel and operations, or specifics about key targets that would enable them to cause maximum damage when carrying out an attack.