Which MI6 officer became a Soviet double agent and fled to Moscow in 1963?

Which MI6 officer became a Soviet double agent and fled to Moscow in 1963?

• A. James Bond
• B. Ian Fleming
• C. John Cairncross
• D. Harold 'Kim' Philby

Answer: (D)

Kim Philby was a real MI6 officer who secretly spied for the Soviet Union, becoming one of the most notorious double agents in Cold War espionage. He operated inside British intelligence for years, passing secrets to the USSR. In 1963, facing exposure, he fled to Moscow to defect, so he could live under Soviet protection. He was part of the Cambridge Five, a group of Cambridge-educated spies who betrayed Western secrets. The other names are not a real MI6 officer who defected in 1963 — one is a fictional character, another is the author who created him, and another was a different spy who didn’t defect at that time — so the person described is Kim Philby.

Kim Philby was a real MI6 officer who secretly spied for the Soviet Union, becoming one of the most notorious double agents in Cold War espionage. He operated inside British intelligence for years, passing secrets to the USSR. In 1963, facing exposure, he fled to Moscow to defect, so he could live under Soviet protection. He was part of the Cambridge Five, a group of Cambridge-educated spies who betrayed Western secrets. The other names are not a real MI6 officer who defected in 1963 — one is a fictional character, another is the author who created him, and another was a different spy who didn’t defect at that time — so the person described is Kim Philby.