The growing use of ordinary civilians for espionage and sabotage has created a detection problem that European security services are only beginning to grapple with. Unlike professional intelligence officers, civilian recruits leave few traces and operate outside established surveillance networks.
Youssef Ait Daoud, who leads the Netherlands' newly created anti-espionage police unit, outlined the challenge in an interview with Politico, "Hvylya" reports.
Ait Daoud said the shift means ordinary people are now carrying out tasks that were once the domain of trained operatives - motivated by money, a sense of adventure, or reasons they may not fully understand themselves.
The recruitment largely takes place online. Intelligence and media reports point to Telegram, a messaging platform popular in Russia, as a key tool for identifying and tasking recruits. The process often requires minimal persuasion - a promise of money or the thrill of a covert mission is frequently enough.
Gathering sufficient evidence for conviction adds another layer of difficulty. Under the Netherlands' new espionage law, prosecutors must prove that a suspect knowingly acted on behalf of a foreign state - a high bar when recruits may not even know who is ultimately directing them.
Ait Daoud, who spent three years at the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism before his current role, said the people involved "are not necessarily hardened criminals or professional spies." A study he referenced suggests that suspects in Russian hybrid warfare plots are typically in their thirties, while young people between 12 and 20 are "overrepresented" in related crimes like drug trafficking.
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