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Generations, of U.S. counterintelligence officers have sniffed out foreign agents by sifting through their personal lives. A fat bank account was a flashing red light, as were signs of newfound wealth (like the pricey Jaguar purchased by the infamous CIA mole Aldrich Ames with the aid of Soviet funds). Anything that made a U.S. employee in a sensitive post vulnerable to blackmail set off alarms--a drug habit, for example, or sexual practices that could lead to embarrassment if exposed.

But the days of relying on those signals could be over. According to a March Pentagon study titled Changes in Espionage by Americans: 1947-2007, recently made public by the watchdog group Federation of American Scientists, today's spies aren't in it for the money, and coercion often isn't a motivating factor. In fact, since 1990, two-thirds of the 37 Americans known to have spied on their country were not recruited by foreign entities but volunteered; 80% received no payment. A growing number of spies have been naturalized U.S. citizens with foreign connections, motivated by what the study calls "divided loyalties." Even so, 65% of Americans engaged in espionage against the U.S. were native born. The numbers suggest that those in charge of keeping America's secrets need to figure out new ways, short of racial or ethnic profiling, to identify those who pose a threat.

Another potential issue: the growing number of agents spying for stateless terrorist organizations. U.S. espionage laws, written in the early 20th century, are couched in language that essentially ignores such groups. "It is unclear whether current espionage statutes actually prohibit passing information to a transnational terrorist network," the study concludes. Apparently, U.S. law as well as spycraft needs some retooling.