CNA Explains: What are honey traps and how have they evolved in modern espionage?

BEIJING: An extramarital affair, allegations of Chinese espionage and one of the world’s most powerful technology executives at the centre of the storm.Nvidia boss Jensen Huang admitted on Sunday (Nov 8) to being unfaithful to his wife of more than 40 years, following reports he had developed an intimate relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.Alice Huang, who is not related to Jensen Huang, is said to be a former executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed International.United States authorities reportedly identified the woman, also known as Huang Le, as a Chinese intelligence asset, raising questions about whether the Nvidia founder had been targeted in an espionage operation. A photo obtained by Reuters shows Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (right) with a woman confirmed by a Reuters source to be Alice Huang in Taipei, Taiwan, released on Jun 7, 2024. (Photo: Reuters) Nvidia's board has launched an independent investigation, although the company has said it has no reason to believe its secrets or US national security had been compromised. Meanwhile, China has dismissed the espionage allegations as groundless and a smear campaign.The controversy has cast fresh light on an age-old spying tactic - the honey trap.What is a honey trap?Imagine a seemingly chance encounter with an attractive stranger at a hotel bar, or a flirtatious exchange at a social gathering that blossoms into romance.What appears to be a budding relationship could, in fact, be a carefully orchestrated intelligence operation.That’s the premise of a honey trap - an espionage technique that uses romantic or sexual attraction to gain a person’s trust, extract sensitive information or manipulate their behaviour.The term evokes the use of something sweet or alluring to draw an unsuspecting victim into a trap. It is believed to have been popularised by British spy novelist John le Carre in his 1974 novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.Honey traps do not necessarily involve sexual intimacy, and can rely on emotional manipulation and deception rather than threats or coercion.Some operatives seek compromising material, such as intimate photographs or evidence of an affair, that can be used to pressure targets into cooperating.Others cultivate relationships over months or even years, exploiting the target’s emotional attachment to persuade them to share information.“There are people who are actually assigned to operate in this way - to act, to capitalise on somebody’s human foibles,” John Blaxland, a professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University (ANU), told CNA.Who uses honey traps?Among the intelligence agencies known to have employed such tactics was the Soviet Union's KGB, which used female agents known as “swallows” to seduce targets during the Cold War.Meanwhile, East Germany's Stasi secret police and intelligence agency employed male operatives known as “Romeo spies” to woo women with access to sensitive information in West Germany. Bugging equipment used by the Stasi is on display at the documentation centre of the former East Germany's Ministry for State Security, in Berlin, Germany, on Nov 7, 2006. (Photo: AFP/John Macdougall) "Potentially all intelligence services can resort to 'compromise' operations and similar methods," said Clement Renault, a researcher at France's Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM).But not all states are equally equipped to run them."These missions require an extremely high level of personal and physical commitment from agents," Renault told AFP.Authoritarian governments “which can exert greater pressure on their citizens or are driven by strong ideologies" may thus be better positioned to ask agents to make such sacrifices, he said.Intelligence agencies can also exploit existing relationships.“It can be somebody who is emotionally involved, physically involved with somebody who is then subsequently tapped for information,” noted ANU’s Blaxland.“And perhaps they themselves have been blackmailed into cooperating with the intelligence service to share information … about the person that they have an intimate relationship with.”What are some notable cases?Honey traps have featured in espionage scandals across the world, including in Asia.In 1980, Singaporean cypher officer Alan Wee Kheng Soon was jailed for 10 years after passing secret information to a Soviet intelligence operative while stationed at the Singapore embassy in Moscow.Wee, then 30 and married with a daughter, was seduced and eventually blackmailed by a female agent who identified herself as Luba Lubov Maluba. He eventually handed over diplomatic messages and information about Singapore’s encryption systems.In Taiwan, army general Lo Hsien-che was jailed for life in 2011 for spying for China. It was described at the time as the island’s worst espionage case in 50 years. Lo Hsien-che, a Taiwan army general, speaks during a public hearing at the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan, Apr 24, 2008. (Photo: AFP/Frank Wang) Taiwan authorities said he was recruited by Beijing in 2004 while stationed in Thailand. The South China Morning Post, citing Taiwanese media, reported that Lo was ensnared by a honey trap set by a “tall and beautiful” female Chinese agent.In another extraordinary case, Chinese opera performer Shi Pei Pu began a nearly two-decade relationship with French diplomat Bernard Boursicot after they met in Beijing in 1964.Boursicot believed Shi was a woman, unaware that the opera singer was in fact a man. He also believed they had a child together. He subsequently handed over French diplomatic documents to Shi, who passed them to Chinese intelligence.The deception unravelled after the pair were arrested in France in 1983. Both were convicted of espionage in 1986 and sentenced to six years in prison. French diplomat Bernard Boursicot (left) shares the defendant's box with co-defendant Chinese opera singer Shi Pei Pu as their espionage trial opens at the Paris Justice Palace, May 5, 1986. (Photo: AFP/Philippe Bouchon) Why do people fall for honey traps?From diplomats to senior military officers, honey traps have ensnared individuals entrusted with sensitive information and considerable responsibility.Some may even have been trained to recognise intelligence threats. So why are they still vulnerable?ANU’s Blaxland noted how such operations “speak to a part of the human condition”.“A desire for intimacy, a desire for adventure, a desire for satisfaction, perhaps in circumstances where marital bliss is long past its prime,” said Blaxland, who is a former intelligence officer in the Australian military.“And sometimes it's just a matter of loneliness and of having an ego being stroked by somebody who's attractive and attentive,” he added.“Even if you are briefed in - you’ve had a couple of drinks, people’s judgment can be compromised; people can make calls that they might not otherwise.”At the same time, becoming romantically involved with someone suspected of intelligence links does not automatically mean a person has fallen victim to a honey trap.Investigators would need evidence that the relationship was deliberately cultivated or exploited for espionage, such as links to handlers or attempts to obtain sensitive information. How have honey traps evolved?From pillow talk to pixels - the age-old honey trap has taken on a digital dimension.What might once have begun with a chance encounter at a bar or diplomatic reception can now start simply with a message on social media.“Nowadays, people's digital footprints are much more readily accessible and traceable … so that's another important way that people are approached or compromised initially,” Blaxland said.Intelligence operatives could also use such information to profile potential targets, gaining insights into their personal lives and possible vulnerabilities, he added.In Britain, a former police inspector researching alleged links between the Chinese state and organised crime said he was targeted through business-oriented networking platform LinkedIn.David Wilson, who authored a report commissioned by the British Home Office, said he received “around 20 to 25 connection requests” from women whose profiles contained little information beyond attractive photographs.“There’s nothing on the profile. They haven’t posted anything, there was no detail. It was just a photograph of a very, very beautiful woman,” said Wilson, British news outlet The Guardian reported in June.“Before I started (my research), I’d been on LinkedIn for 10 years. No one ever contacted me,” he added. Other suspected online honey traps have resulted in espionage investigations.In India, senior defence scientist Pradeep Kurulkar was arrested in 2023 over allegations that he shared confidential information with a suspected Pakistani intelligence operative. His trial began in July this year.The woman, who went by Zara Dasgupta and posed as a software engineer based in the United Kingdom, is said to have cultivated an intimate relationship with Kurulkar through the messaging platform WhatsApp.Their exchanges allegedly went beyond personal matters to include information about Indian defence programmes, including missile systems.But while the tools have changed, honey traps continue to exploit what Blaxland described as “human frailty and credulity”.“It's morally dubious, but it's well established as something that’s well and truly not going away.” Want an issue or topic explained? Email us at digitalnews [at] mediacorp.com.sg. Your question might become a story on our site.