Leaked CIA document sent to several addresses: the CIA is getting rusty

The document suggests that the U.S. counterintelligence service underestimated its rivals, while the management of the agency is worried that more attention must be paid to the protection of agents, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported today, citing other world media.
A large number of foreign CIA intelligence agents were killed, captured or turned to rival agencies, according to an atypical and strictly confidential document sent to every bureau around the world, according to the Times.
Counterintelligence officials warned last week that dozens of spies had been compromised or executed in recent years, which, according to sources, represents a sharp rise in such incidents.
The leaked document included a number of agents killed by foreign agencies - a confidential detail that, the Times points out, is not usually shared in such widespread correspondence. The goal was to encourage bureaus to improve security protocols, former officials say.
Poor intelligence skills, overconfidence in sources, underestimation of foreign agencies and too rapid recruitment of informants were highlighted as some of the reasons for failed missions - a problem described in the letter as putting the mission above security issues.
While technological advances such as biometric scans, hacking, and artificial intelligence have been successfully implemented by other CIA spy surveillance agencies, the U.S. has kept the focus on agents by building a network of trusted informants that, the Times adds, should be the world's best in collecting and analysis of the collected data.
Affirming that recruiting spies in other countries is a high-risk business, a leaked CIA letter has raised issues plaguing the agency in recent years, especially as rival intelligence...