mole hunt
Finding the traitor
A mole hunt is an investigation within an organization—typically an intelligence agency—to identify a suspected infiltrator or double agent.
The term comes from espionage, where a mole is someone who has burrowed into an organization to pass secrets to an adversary: The CIA launched an internal mole hunt after classified documents appeared in Moscow.
Extended to any search for a traitor or leaker within a group.
- spyCovert information gatherer
- deep coverProlonged covert infiltration
- traitorOne who betrays allegiance
- counterintelligenceDefense against enemy espionage
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
double agent · CIA · KGB · infiltrator · surveillance · leak · dead drop · betrayal · interrogation · paranoia · classified · handler · turncoat · suspicion · need to know · Cold War · sleeper · unmasking
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- Spy Thrillersspy, double agent, covert ops, classified, intel
- spy operationscovert ops, black ops, infiltration, exfiltration, deep cover