Each citizen of his state must respect the laws of his country and not violate them. However, this is not always the case. Criminals may disregard the norms established by society and betray the interests of their country. For example, they can carry out espionage - a type of crime that significantly harm the state. Naturally, it is necessary to consider this issue more carefully.
The concept of the crime presented
So, first you need to deal with the term itself. Espionage is a type of crime that provides for the unlawful collection and transfer of any information of national importance to a third party. Moreover, the client is most often a foreigner who has reached 16 years of age.
It should be borne in mind that the information provided may constitute a state secret or not be it, but be very interesting for the opposite side.
Espionage is a type of crime that involves different ways of transmitting information. This can be a personal contact, electronic means of communication, an intermediary, or other secret methods of communication.
Naturally, a spy should be as careful as possible in his activities. For work he receives a certain reward. However, if the offender falls into the hands of law enforcement agencies, then he will definitely pay with his freedom.
The subjective and objective side of misconduct
Espionage is a type of crime that has certain components that characterize any violation of the law. For example, the abduction or collection of information, its storage and transmission can be attributed to the objective side of a crime . As for the subjective side, it has one important feature - direct intent. That is, the violator is well aware of what he is doing, understands what consequences and damage can be. However, this does not matter to him, and the offender will still commit his deeds.
The subject of the violation of the law is precisely the person who seeks to obtain the necessary information, that is, the same spy subject to criminal punishment. As for the object, it is precisely the information necessary for the criminal.
Features of espionage as a crime
So, now we need to deal with some of the nuances of this type of violation of the law. State espionage is a particularly serious crime, which involves a lot of punishment. In this case, the motives or goals of the violator of the law are absolutely not taken into account. In any case, its actions lead to serious consequences for states.
Espionage (the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation calls it finished already at the time of the transfer or theft of information) can be prevented by the criminal himself. To do this, it is enough to destroy the conditions under which the information falls into the hands of the person concerned.
Types of espionage
Now we turn to the classification of the presented violation of the law. There are such types of espionage:
- Economic. It provides for the transfer of information on the financial plans of the country, as well as on economic design, development work, which may be of value to other countries.
- Political. In this case, information may be collected about some of the actors in the field. Moreover, not only their work plans can be stolen, people's personal lives can also be investigated. The information obtained in this way is considered a compromising material, capable of forcing the politician to change his decisions in accordance with the requirements of the enemy.
- The military. It provides for the collection of information on the strategic and operational plans of the country, areas of development of equipment, technological and industrial development of weapons.
Economic espionage: features
Information today is a very expensive product. Therefore, the theft of such information can be a real threat to business, both large and small. Due to illegal actions, competitors can seize your funds, lure customers and destroy your work.
In order to obtain information, an attacker can monitor the press, computer systems of a company, corporate websites, patent applications, databases. At the same time, the criminal can receive information both legally and illegally. In any case, a person receives a certain amount of other people's information, which he can use against its owner.
Agent Features
So, economic espionage is a special type of crime, which is aimed at weakening the position of a certain company or state in general in the international market. Naturally, in order to get information, you need to use agents. They can be almost any person who pursues mercantile goals. Although you can become a spy under duress.
The agent usually becomes either an employee who is dissatisfied with his position in the company, or a specially trained person. However, in some countries there are even training centers for spies.
The best option is a trained insider who knows in advance what he wants. Often, agents are representatives of business structures or students. The main thing is that they have legal and free access to those premises where the necessary information may be contained.
Today, there are computer systems anywhere in the world. Almost all information is now being transferred to electronic version. It is much easier to steal such information, despite all the modern means of protection. That is, the presence of agents is not always a prerequisite for obtaining information.
Criminal liability for a crime
Like any other crime, military espionage should not go unnoticed. For this crime, of course, criminal punishment is provided . Since the crime is considered especially serious, the responsibility for it is not small. For example, this crime provides for real imprisonment for a period of 12 to 20 years. In addition, the spy will have to pay a substantial fine (at least 500,000 rubles).
However, there are cases when the punishment may not occur. For example, criminal liability can be avoided if the spy timely and independently notifies law enforcement agencies. In addition, a person can destroy those conditions under which the transfer of information is possible.
Criminal liability can also be avoided if the agent helped prevent further damage.
As you can see, espionage is a very serious crime. However, keep in mind that you can recruit any person who is related to important information. Therefore, you should somehow protect yourself from such a situation. Good luck