Legal Definitions - spy

A spy is an individual who secretly gathers confidential or classified information about the operations, plans, or capabilities of a government, organization, or company. This clandestine activity is typically carried out without authorization and for the benefit of another entity, such as a rival nation or a competing business. The act of spying is legally known as espionage.

Here are some examples to illustrate this term:

• Imagine an agent from Country A, posing as a cultural attaché, secretly installing listening devices in the embassy of Country B to intercept communications regarding Country B's upcoming trade negotiations. This agent is acting as a spy because they are covertly collecting secret information (private communications about trade negotiations) about another government (Country B) for the benefit of their own country (Country A).

• Consider an engineer working for a cutting-edge robotics company, who is secretly paid by a competitor to download proprietary design schematics and research data from their employer's secure servers. This engineer is a spy engaging in industrial espionage, as they are secretly gathering confidential information (design schematics, research data) about their company for the benefit of a rival company.

• Picture a group of hackers, secretly sponsored by a foreign government, who infiltrate the computer systems of a major defense contractor in another country to steal blueprints for advanced weaponry and details about military deployment strategies. This hacker group functions as spies because they are secretly observing and collecting classified information (weapon blueprints, deployment strategies) about a company (the defense contractor) for the benefit of another government.