I think you're right about the extreme level of opsec required, but with that level of opsec I think it would be feasible to avoid being targeted by the intelli

I think you're right about the extreme level of opsec required, but with that level of opsec I think it would be feasible to avoid being targeted by the intelligence agency in the first place. Which is the key to survival. Obviously this means you are doing something illegal but undetected, like spying for the Russians or Chinese in the West, spying for the West in Russia or China, etc. OTOH, if you are doing something like exposing human rights violations in China/Russia/Iran/etc. where, by its very nature, the results of your (in that place) illegal activity are published, you are far more likely to be targeted.