Legal Definitions - mole

Mole

A "mole" refers to an individual who maintains a long-standing relationship or employment within an organization, secretly using their trusted position to obtain and then disclose sensitive or confidential information to an outside party, often with malicious intent or for personal gain.

• Example 1: Corporate Espionage

  A senior software architect, after working for a leading technology firm for over a decade, secretly copies the source code for an unreleased product and sells it to a competitor. This individual acted as a mole by leveraging their extensive tenure and high-level access to proprietary information, betraying their employer's trust for financial gain.

• Example 2: Government Intelligence

  An administrative assistant who has been employed by a national security agency for twenty years systematically photocopies classified intelligence reports and passes them to an agent of a foreign government. Here, the assistant is a mole, using their long-term, seemingly innocuous role to access and compromise highly sensitive national secrets.

• Example 3: Political Campaign Sabotage

  A campaign manager, who has worked on several successful political campaigns for a particular party over many years, accepts a substantial payment from an opposing party to leak internal polling data, fundraising strategies, and debate preparation notes. This individual functions as a mole, exploiting their deep-rooted position and knowledge to undermine the campaign from within.