[Geeks Are Sexy] Technology News

By Mark O’Neill

They’re feared all over the world and they are constantly over-shadowed by their more famous sister agency Mossad.   But the Israeli Internal Security Service Shin-Bet, the equivalent to the US’s FBI or Britain’s MI5 has become the first government security agency in the world to launch its own live blog written by active agents.

The blog, written only in Hebrew, is written by four Shin-Bet operatives who don’t identify themselves except for the first letter of their name.    But anyone hoping to get juicy details of assassinations, shaken-but-not-stirred Martinis, Q-type gadgetry and gorgeous women are in for a big disappointment.    According to what I can find out, all four operatives claim to work in the IT department and the blog is mostly quite bland.

But there are some gems scattered throughout.   Apparently “A” joined Shin-Bet because he thought it would be like the Counter-Terrorism Unit in “24“.  He is now disappointed it isn’t anything like it and he’s even more disappointed that he didn’t get a siren for his car and has to sit in traffic jams like all the ordinary people.

Even though the blog is only in Hebrew right now, an English version may come along eventually and this may encourage other world spy agencies to open up and blog too.   Although I know they can’t say anything that would endanger the lives of agents or ongoing operations, they can nevertheless still give us a glimpse of life inside the agency. By doing this, they may encourage more people to apply for employment.  Do you agree?  Or should what happens in the agency stay in the agency?