The latest revolution isn’t simply a matter of gentlemen readin
g other gentlemen’s e-mail. That kind of electronic spying has be
en going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the Worl
d Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click
spying. The spooks call it “open-source intelligence”, and as th
e Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. In 1995 the
CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Bu
rundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company
called Open Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its master
y of the electronic world.