Intelligence work included denying information and misleading an opponent as well as collecting reports. The comparison is to the Russian concept of maskirovka, a layered form of operational camouflage and deception that hides what is being prepared. Canaris's Abwehr increasingly took responsibility for producing and circulating disinformation. That mission explains how the Dutch airfield scare could occupy British attention even when the supposed German capability was implausible.
Chapter · 19:14-20:13
How the Abwehr concealed intentions and shaped enemy beliefs
Under Canaris, the Abwehr's mission extended beyond collecting information to denying knowledge and creating deceptive pictures of German plans.