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Private firms and open sources are giving spies a run for their money

There is plenty of co-operation, too

Mr Borene is executive director of Flashpoint, a “threat-intelligence” company which monitors terrorist groups and hostile intelligence services online, selling the information to governments and businesses. It is also easing their load: cyber-security firms have been as important as Western spy agencies in defending Ukraine from cyber-attacks. “The separation of private- and public-sector interests is a uniquely Western construct,” argues Duyane Norman, a former cia officer, “one that has great advantages but also important consequences.”

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