Meeting with Antoine Izambard, co-author of “Betrayals in the DGSE”

In the world of the DGSE, a betrayal can bring everything down. “Everything is compartmentalized, everything is secret. So someone who is aware of such secrets, and who reveals them to a hostile power, is all the trust that has been built (…) that is put in danger“Antonio explains. Izambard. the The journalist collected testimonies from former agents and made a book about them, with Franck Renaud: Betrayals in the DGSE. Certain clandestine agents may, for example, be repatriated in an emergency, because they are threatened with death.

To recruit sources, the DGSE uses four levers, which it symbolizes under the acronym MICE : ChangeIdeology, Commitment, Ego. money is the lever classic but leverage is considered minus sure, because someone corrupt can always be sold to the highest bidder. When it comes to commitment, it often involves sex and seduction. The city of Moscow (Russia) is often a trap for agents. Some of them say that when they arrived they were accosted”by a lovely young lady“, who tried to bond with them.

French intelligence today recruits many young and cyber profiles. Many have left digital traces. “The problem is more to keep them“, valued Antoine Izambard. While salaries are attractive at the start of a career, services struggle to “offer interesting career paths“.