Spy Tips on Hiding, Car Chases, Explosives, Last Stand, and more…

In any desperate situation, the temptation is always to act immediately. It’s understandable but unwise. No matter how bad things are, the first step is always the same, assess the threat and figure out how bad things really are.

Not all hiding places are created equal generally speaking, a good hiding place is hard to find but easy to access. On rare occasions, for the most sensitive material, you have to go a step further and find a hiding place even you can’t get to.

Road hazards are a key tool in the spy trade. Whether you’re slowing traffic for surveillance, routing cars to set up a tail, or putting yourself in place for an ambush, it all starts with a busted road. For a quick and dirty road hazard that doesn’t take too long to set up, a water line is best. Water can shut down a road without raising eyebrows. It’s just a matter of getting a charge in the right place to bust the pipe underground.

Skill will only take you so far in a car chase. The bottom line is physics. Machine versus machine. If yours comes up short in that equation, it’s just a matter of time before it’s over.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Losses, C-4, Safes, Sneak Attacks, and more…

When a soldier loses a friend in battle, his commanding officer keeps a close eye on how he copes. If his judgment is affected, he is removed from combat so one fallen soldier doesn’t turn into two. Spies in the field take the same precautions. But without a strict chain of command, the decision about who stays in the game and who gets sidelined can get messy.

Used to expand mobile coverage to places without service, femtocells reroute and boost cellular signals. Which is great if you’re a hacker looking to tap and trace a call made by a specific cellphone number.

Of the many ways to launch a sneak attack, few are more disorienting and terrifying for your enemy than dropping in from above. It gives you immediate and overwhelming superiority. The only downside? Sometimes it means an 8-foot fall to the floor.

If you’re looking to frame a specific group for a bombing, you use their design plans, their construction materials, and their particular brand of C-4. Bomb experts know that not all c-4 is the same. The same taggant chemicals that allow manufacturers to identify their own product will also allow forensic teams to track down the source country to determine who’s to blame, just like checking the label on a t-shirt to determine where it’s made, only a little more complicated.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Cops, Napalm, Traffic, and more…

Covert intelligence, at the most basic level, is a type of weapon. Like any weapon, it can be used for good or evil, to make war or peace, to serve justice or power. It comes down to one thing, what you decide to do with it.

In the world of deception spies inhabit, the truth takes on a peculiar power. The truth — the verifiable, unvarnished truth, becomes the ultimate bargaining chip. The irony is that the only time you can afford to play that chip is when everything is on the line. And you only get to play it once.

Spies use different interrogation techniques than police. Cops tend to do their questioning in bright, fluorescent-lit rooms, and they’re legally required to let the bad guys know who they are before they start asking questions. Spies, on the other hand, often start interrogations in darkness in completely unfamiliar locations. And the less the bad guy knows, the better.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Secrets, Cover ID’s, Teamwork, and more…

There’s nothing more frustrating for a spy, than being on the sideline for a important operation. When you spent your career in the middle of the action it’s tough to take on a supporting role. Particularly when you’re stuck helping people pack.

For a spy, it’s often better to steal secrets than pay for them. It saves money and time and doesn’t leave a messy paper trail. Of course, anyone who’s in the business of selling secrets is also in the business of protecting them, which can make extracting information nearly impossible. Just because your target is willing to share a meal with you doesn’t mean he won’t put a bullet in the back of your head.

Spies don’t do well with downtime. Their idea of R&R is recon and rendition.

Re-establishing an old cover I.D. isn’t just a matter of changing your name. If you want access to the contacts that go with that cover, you have to re-create the past. The way you walk, talk, and look has to be consistent with what people remember down to the smallest detail, the direction you part your hair, what gun you carry, your brand of sunglasses, even the pinky ring you wear.

You don’t always have to rely on trained operatives to gather intelligence. A problem that seems impossible, like finding a single motorcycle circling in a crowded city becomes much easier if you can hire 100 people to sit on street corners and record every motorcycle they see for a few dollars a day. Whether it’s shop owners, cab drivers, or kids playing in the street, every city in the world has a network of potential spies just waiting to be recruited.

Sometimes the best way to get past security is to make it seem riskier to keep you out than it is to let you in.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Police Stations, Sunglasses, Blackmail, and more…

National intelligence Agencies and local law enforcement work together more often than you might think. Most metropolitan police stations have an office called a fusion center where classified intel is collected in one place. It’s a great resource if you need information fast. Unfortunately, it does involve breaking into a police station.

Because undercover Cops and confidential informants don’t like their pictures taken. only the public areas of police stations are kept under surveillance. So once you’re past the lobby, the only cameras you have to avoid are the ones taking mug shots.

Get caught with a lock-pick set in a police station, and you’ve got problems. A pair of cheap sunglasses is less suspicious and just about as effective. Modify them in advance, and you can use the stems as a rake and tension tool. And if you get caught, you’re just a guy with some busted sunglasses.

Police officers uphold the chain of command as sacred. Act like you’re in charge, and someone new to the force won’t dare question your authority.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Bribery, Deliveries, Fanatics, and more…

Spies live in the shadows, but they dream of the light. When you’re working covert ops for low pay in life-threatening conditions, the idea that your work won’t remain secret forever keeps you going. One day the world will learn what you’ve done, even if your name is never known. Some of the sweetest moments come when the job ends and the bullets stop flying. That is, unless one of those bullets rips through your chest.

The site of a break-in is like a broken bone. Years later, the spot will have either been made stronger or weaker by the ordeal. A replacement window pane installed with putty and weather stripping costs about 10 cents to remove.

You need confidence and a can-do attitude to make it in the field. But if you don’t have the physical strength to match your attitude, that confidence can just as easily get you killed.

Bribery’s a delicate art. Success often depends less on how much cash you offer and more on how you offer it. Pretending to believe there’s a standard fee for what you’re asking for means you’re less likely to report the bribe. And if you come across as unlikable, even a normally ethical person might not pass up the chance to make a buck off your stupidity.

Despite the expression, very few people actually shoot the messenger. Making a fake delivery is a great way to get close to a well-defended position. Carry a large enough bouquet, and you can get very close without being I.D.’d.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Spotting a Tail, Blood Loss, Movement, and more…

The Native American practice of counting coup involved touching enemies on the battlefield. The object wasn’t to do damage but to establish your superiority as a warrior. Infiltrating someone’s security can serve a similar function. It’s a not-so-subtle way of saying, “Hi. I’m not here to hurt you”. “But I could hurt you very badly if I chose to.”

One simple but effective trick for identifying a tail is known in the spy trade as “running errands.” You drive to different locations and stop, going about ordinary business in areas with open parking lots while your team follows, keeping track of the cars at each stop. It doesn’t matter how good your tail is. At a certain point, they’re going to pop up more than once.

You can learn a lot from patterns of movement. Much like a hunter follows animal footprints to find where the animal sleeps, feeds, and mates, a spy can examine vehicle trails to find out where a target lives, does business, and hides the things he doesn’t want found.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Booby Traps, Memory, and more…

Forging an intelligence file is always tricky. Spies are trained to catch even tiny inconsistencies, from outdated typeface to the wrong kind of thermochromatic ink. Even the folder needs to be picture-perfect, because the fact is, spies do judge books by their covers.

An effective booby trap not only needs to look like a good hiding spot, it also needs to leave your enemy incapacitated. A well-placed 50-gallon oil drum should pique your target’s curiosity. And a portable defibrillator packs enough punch to make their heart skip a beat without stopping it entirely. Wire the defibrillator to a convincing decoy, and whoever comes looking will be in for a shock. Connect a camera wirelessly through an internet phone provider, and you’ll be able to keep an eye on your trap from anywhere in the world, without having to pay long distance.

Spies spend plenty of time with sociopaths and criminals. But sometimes it’s even more dangerous to hang out with their victims. Letting your emotions get the best of you can threaten the entire operation.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Interrogating, Handcuffs, Knife Fights, and more…

When you’re preparing to interrogate a trained operative, the most useful information isn’t professional, it’s personal. You need to get into the target’s head, understand what makes him tick. Of course, that’s easier with some people than others.

Handcuffs, like anything metal, are vulnerable to metal fatigue. Give someone enough time to work on them, and they’ll break down just like anything else.   Click here to read more…

Spy Tips on Hit Men, Restraints, A.C. Units, S.W.A.T., and more…

Classified data has been digitally encoded since before computers were invented. Spies have used book ciphers for centuries to send numeric correspondence that only can be read when paired with the proper text. Bibles make good code books because of the variance between printed editions and the numbering of chapter and verse.

Hit men, like most career criminals, know the advantages of renting a cheap, furnished apartment. You can pay in cash, remain completely anonymous, and you can usually get free cable. The downside is it doesn’t include top-notch security, which can be a problem, unless you make your own line of defense.

A trained operative can tell a lot about a bomb maker by the way they construct their device. A directional explosive wired to a pressure-sensitive trigger that’s easy to activate, difficult to disarm, and only deadly to the person, standing in front of it means you’re probably dealing with an expert.

In the field, circumstances can change as fast as the weather. Salvaging a mission depends on your ability to change tactics and communicate plan “b” to your own team. If you need your team to stand by a radio rather than come charging in, you better send a clear message.

Taking control of a situation isn’t always about having the tactical advantage. If you can convince your enemy to want the very thing you need, it’s as good as calling the shots yourself. And if what you need is a two-way radio, you better steer the conversation in that direction.   Click here to read more…