Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

Counter-surveillance is the game of spying on spies. Any group that has valuable secrets has a stake in defending itself against infiltration. The amount of security depends on the type of organization: a supermarket might only have a security guard and a few cameras; a right wing hate group might have a group of bruisers to defend its turf, and probably makes a practice of keeping up with the websites of hostile organizations; the government has nearly infinite resources for counter-surveillance, and may well know a lot about you, whether or not they've yet had occasion to make use of that information. If federal agents think you have lots of guns and are preparing for armed struggle, they are likely to burn your house down with your children inside; if you are just causing minor disturbances by wheatpasting posters and Reclaiming the occasional Street, they probably won't care enough to track you down, although their surveillance and counter-insurgency measures can be shockingly arbitrary. When in doubt, be careful?consult the Security Culture recipe on pg. 461 for more specifics.

There are things you can do to trick infiltrators into revealing themselves. Send out an announcement about a blatantly fabricated demonstration over a listserv, and take note of who shows up. Bait fascists: insult them, and learn what you can from their angry responses. Take circuitous routes when driving, so you can't be followed wdthout it being obvious. Before trying something really sketchy, do something moderately sketchy to see if you get caught for it. Never look directly at someone you suspect of following you. If you know you are being observed and you do not wish to let on that you know, pick your nose, talk to yourself, do something harmless but embarrassing.

Timing when to act on the information you glean from infiltration is also a fine art. Often spy intelligence, like revenge, is best served cold?not right after you have garnered it, when it could give away that you were the one who did so. Hold on to information until the connection to you is implausible, until telltale data is cleared from surveillance videotapes and short-term memories. In some situations, if the intelligence is needed

immediately or you feel you are in danger, it might make sense to broadcast whatever information you have to as many people as possible, obscuring the source from which it came. Otherwise, keep what you know a secret and use it only when needed.

In addition to single-goal infiltration missions, it can be worthwhile to position yourself in a milieu in order to obtain intelligence over a long period of time. The continual practice you get from being a long-term mole will keep your undercover abilities in top condition; however, as time passes and access to information increases, so do the chances of being caught, so weigh carefully how far it's worth going. Often, especially in the case of political groups, it is enough to join listservs and go to meetings; never neglect the small things, like the visit to the bar after the group you are monitoring finishes its more serious business. To build up trust, unassumingly do the jobs nobody else wants to do. If you are particularly ambitious and gutsy, you can even attempt to obtain a position of authority; with this, you can easily induct other members into the group. Think of the havoc you can wreak if you build up trust and responsibility within a group over a long period until the perfect moment arrives!

At some point in your life you may have to go undercover and never emerge: this is called going underground, and we can't tell you anything about it except that it is emotionally taxing and rarely ends well. You may want to adopt temporarily the behavior appropriate to someone going underground, however, in order to carry out a project that you do not want linked to you, such as a direct action resulting in lots of financial damages and a likely investigation. In such a case, always use cash to pay for food, hotel rooms, and other expenses, so there will be no check or credit card trail. Don't use a gas card, either, or a personal phone card, or a cell phone registered to your name. Rent or borrow a car, if you don't want your vehicle's motions to be tracked. Obey the little laws: don't risk getting caught for speeding or jaywalking before or after robbing a bank.

Deep Cover

Infiltration 31}

Account

Infiltration 3H