Movies and television have convinced us that surveillance is glamorous. The truth is that it’s mostly a test of patience.

I remember one evening parked behind a gas station, my green Ford Taurus (every undercover car I drove was green) wedged between two abandoned vehicles waiting for repair. To remain invisible, I couldn’t risk even the glow of the dashboard. No radio. No phone. No music. Just darkness.

Ironically, the greatest danger often wasn’t the target. It was being alone in a parked car at two o’clock in the morning in the wrong neighborhood.

My assignment was straightforward. Watch a house whose occupant will remain classified. If the target moved, I needed to know immediately.

For two hours I watched an ordinary front door. No lights. No visitors. No midnight rendezvous. Nothing. Yawn.

When another ghost relieved me just before dawn, I drove home without ever seeing the target step outside.

Hollywood would call it a boring night. Counterintelligence calls it Tuesday.

The reality is that espionage is built on thousands of uneventful hours waiting for one decisive moment. We called it go-time—the instant a target finally moved and weeks of patient observation suddenly pays off.

Spy Hunter’s Lesson: Most people believe success comes from doing more. My years in counterintelligence taught me something different. Success often comes from patiently outlasting the competition. Entrepreneurs celebrate hustle, but the people who ultimately win are usually the ones with the tenacity to stay focused long after everyone else has gone home.

Russia and Iran do not need to trust one another. They only need to agree on whom they want to hurt.

Earlier this year, officials familiar with U.S. intelligence told the Associated Press that Russia had provided Iran with information that could help locate American military assets in the Middle East. More recently, Reuters reported that U.S. analysts are investigating whether Russian targeting information or advanced drone technology may have assisted Iranian attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf. The investigation remains ongoing, and no public conclusion has been reached.

What is firmly established is the relationship flowing in the opposite direction. Iran has supplied Russia with drones, missiles, components, and training for its war in Ukraine.

Adversaries don’t need formal alliances to become more dangerous. They simply need to exchange capabilities.

As a spy hunter, I learned to watch what people exchanged, not merely what they said. The same rule applies to nations.

Before every trip, enable your phone’s theft protection.

Apple’s Stolen Device Protection and Android’s Theft Protection can dramatically slow a thief’s ability to access your accounts after stealing your phone.

The best time to prepare for a stolen phone isn’t after it disappears.

It’s before you leave home.

85%

According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center report, cyber-enabled fraud represented just 45% of complaints, but nearly 85% of all reported financial losses, totaling approximately $17.7 billion.

The biggest cyber losses don’t usually begin with sophisticated malware. They begin when someone believes a lie.

What’s one security habit you never travel without—and what mistake taught it to you?

Hit Reply and tell me. I may feature the best reader fieldcraft in a future edition of The Spy Hunter’s Notebook.

I’m writing this edition from Salt Lake City as I prepare for this week’s keynote. One of my favorite parts of speaking isn’t standing on stage, it’s the conversations afterward. The questions audiences ask often become future newsletter topics, book chapters, or keynote stories.

Next week we’ll return to our regular investigative format with a deep dive into one of the biggest cybersecurity stories of the moment.

Until next time…

Stay curious and always Think Like a Spy.

—Eric

If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, you’ll find even more inside my new book, SPIES, LIES, AND CYBERCRIME. Drawing on my years hunting spies for the FBI, it reveals how espionage, cybercrime, and AI-powered deception intersect—and what you can do to stay one step ahead.

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