Detecting Infiltrators, Informants, and Spies

Police use infiltrators, informants, and spies with the intent of detecting and preventing criminal activity. But, government agencies also use these same infiltrators, informants, and spies to target peace activists and political movements. For example, from September 2007 through July 21, 2009, Washington State peace activists found that an Army intelligence analyst infiltrated their group and collected private information that was later shared with several law enforcement agencies. At the end of August 2015, it was reported that this same Army organization, the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) Force Protection Division, was using Stingray cellphone monitoring devices to collect information about local political activists. In the summer 2016 it was reported that the JBLM Force Protection Division was gathering information from the social media accounts of Black Lives Matters participants, and later that year, and into 2017, collecting information about people who supported Seattle City Council member Sawant’s initiatives for a better Seattle.

Organized activists and political groups should be aware of the possibility that government agents will infiltrate their organizations and disrupt their activities.

Detecting these infiltrators, informants, and spies is essential to maintaining an effective security culture within the group, but at the same time groups should not become so hyper-vigilant in their search for spies that they become ineffective in their actions or drive away potential members and supporters.   

The following references (in no particular order) are provided to aid you in detecting infiltrators, informants, and spies in your organization. 

Identifying Spies and Infiltrators, by Stephen Devoy

Is S/He an Informant? A Ten Point Checklist

How The FBI Infiltrates Movements—And What You Can Do To Stop Them

RATS, by Claire Wolfe - Your guide to protecting yourself against snitches, informers, informants, agents provocateurs, narcs, finks, and similar vermin

How to Spot an Infiltrator in your Movement

How To Spot Undercover Cops

5 Ways to Spot a Snitch (Forbes)

How to Spot Undercover Cops (WikiHow)

Spotting Counterintelligence Threats in Your Group

Infiltrators, Informers and Grasses: How, Why and What to do If Your Group is Targeted

Bugs, Taps And Infiltrators: What To Do About Political Spying, by Linda Lotz

Popular Resistance School - Lesson 7

It is interesting to note that although the military has infiltrated political groups and targeted peace activists, the Department of Defense (DOD) has an 'Insider Threat Awareness Course' available on-line to teach DOD personnel how to detect and respond to anyone (such as the media) attempting to obtain information about government activities.