Espionage is the clandestine acquisition of information. States engage in it to safeguard themselves; they also engage in it to secure an advantage over rivals. The practice is as old as conflict itself. Methods evolve; the objective does not. Spies seek to see without being seen. They seek to know without being known. The Rosenbergs conveyed atomic secrets to the former Soviet Union. Aldrich Ames delivered American agents into Moscow’s hands. Such cases expose the human cost of betrayal. But what occurs when the watcher becomes the watched? What occurs when the guardian of secrets becomes the point of greatest vulnerability?

Berlin now confronts that question.

August Hanning once led Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND). The 80-year-old directed the foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005. He was arrested on 6 October on suspicion of passing sensitive information to foreign powers. Prosecutors accuse him of espionage, treason, and working for foreign intelligence services. They have not identified the foreign powers. Sources say Russia and China are not involved. His former chief of staff was also arrested. He is suspected of aiding treason. Prosecutors allege that he obtained classified information and sold it to his former boss. Hanning then allegedly used it in private consulting. That work included preparing a briefing for a foreign spy and passing information to another intelligence service.

One German editor reportedly called it the........

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