BOSTON -- They called themselves Spies of the Deep. William Craig Reed was among the legion of U.S. Navy divers who went on underwater espionage operations during the Cold War more than 30 years ago, taking photographs of submarines, military installations and ships in Russian harbors.

He said the technology he used isn't very different from what was employed to find the 11 accused of being Russian spies arrested this week.

"The Cold War is as warm as it ever was," Reed joked.

In the 1960s, circular arrays of antennas, known as elephant cages, would pinpoint the source of Russian transmissions, a primitive version of what is used to gather information now.

"Today, they're using sophisticated techniques as we've read to transfer information back and forth on small networks such as Starbucks, but our guys -- CIA, FBI, NSA, have techniques now that they can tap into these things," said Reed, who wrote of his experiences in his new book, "Red November."

Reed said the Cold War isn't over.

"We're not pointing as we did before, massive amounts of missiles at each other, but we do have very sophisticated platforms now that can do even better job," he said.

What Reed found shocking is the length of time those arrested lived in the U.S. undetected.

"It shows us how advance their capabilities are for staying undercover and not getting caught many, many years," he said.

Reed said the nation' security is now threatened not by what Russia may learn, but who purchases the information.

"We know they have sold some of this technology to the Chinese," said Reed. "And the Chinese, of course, sold a lot of Soviet-developed submarines and technology to the North Koreans."

As for the children of those arrested this week, Reed doubted the parents told their families very much.

"A lot of submariners I know personally did not reveal what they did to their children and didn't talk about the clandestine operations they were on, myself included," he said.

Ultimately, Reed believes the arrests will send many terrorists and spies into hiding.

"Many of them are going to start going underground now because they're going to be a lot more cautious. They're going to take a lot of precautions so they may become a lot more difficult to find," he said.