Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents

It was considered one of the CIA’s worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities systematically dismantled the agency’s network of agents across the country, executing dozens of suspected U.S. spies. But since then, a question has loomed over the entire debacle.

How were the Chinese able to roll up the network?

Now, nearly eight years later, it appears that the agency botched the communication system it used to interact with its sources, according to five current and former intelligence officials. The CIA had imported the system from its Middle East operations, where the online environment was considerably less hazardous, and apparently underestimated China’s ability to penetrate it.

The penetration of the communication system seems to account for the speed and accuracy with which Chinese authorities moved against the CIA’s China-based assets.

The communications system used in China during this period was internet-based and accessible from laptop or desktop computers, two of the former officials said.

In the words of one of the former officials, the CIA had “fucked up the firewall”... 
(Foreign Policy, August 15, 2018)
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If all of your tradecraft is tied to an Internet connection, it won't be long until your agents are tied to post in front of a firing squad.

Technology will fail. Systems can be hacked. Or, you could have had an idiot configure your covert communications system.