In September 1960, two U.S. National Security Agency cryptologists, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, defected to the Soviet Union. In a subsequent press conference they revealed a great deal about Western sigint activities, especially concerning the interception of the communications traffic of minor Western allies. They commented that the NSA routinely read the communications of some forty countries. Speculation that they were "sexual deviants" generated intense press coverage.

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GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency