The end of May was marked by two extraordinary events: first, the miraculous “resurrection” of journalist Arkady Babchenko, or more precisely, the special operation of the Security Services of Ukraine, which claimed to have prevented his assassination; and second – the alarming allegations that Russian special services ordered the killing of 47 people in Ukraine, most of whom are journalists.
Of course, the best course of action for people who live in civilized countries (including Ukraine) and find themselves on such a list is to notify the law enforcement agencies. The safety of citizens should be handled by professionals, and I don’t in any way want to substitute their professional advice with my own. Of course, with regard to protection from surveillance, computer security, home security and other things, it is also better to consult with professionals, and always to be in touch with those who, under the law of the host country, are obligated to ensure your safety.
However, under no circumstance should we ignore the so-called “social engineering”, in this case – the gathering of information about the victim by the potential killers with the help of the “human factor” – personal contacts and psychological techniques. Obviously, no technical means of protection will help you if you yourself let dangerous people inside your circle or disclose important information about yourself to those who should not know it. Let’s remember the fatal mistake of Alexander Litvinenko, who maintained contact with his future murderer Lugovoy. Therefore, along with the “classic” expert advice, I venture to give some “social” advice on how to behave in public space in case you think you can become a target of potential killers or provocateurs.
1. The first and most elementary – it’s better not to mention your physical location in social networks, “check-in” in restaurants and airports or use other ways to allow someone to accurately track your route.
Of course, this does not mean that you need to completely disappear from view without sufficient reason. However, nothing prevents you from, say, uploading photos of your vacation a day after you have already left the place. Similarly, you should not discuss your route through open communication channels (in correspondence over unprotected messengers, etc.). Communicate your movements only to those who need to know about it. In a public space, it’s quite possible to create a deliberate “confusion”: “shift” your places of stay by a couple of days, if possible, publicly indicate the wrong cities to which you are going, do not discuss future meetings with friends in public space, etc.
2. The second naturally follows from the first: if possible, you need to minimize public communication in social networks, especially the discussion of what you do at work.
If you are a journalist and conduct journalistic investigations, you should not even mention the fact that you’re working on certain topics even with your acquaintances in closed groups, if you do not personally trust every member of this group, without exception. Remember that even an answer or comment that you write in public space to your friend can be read by strangers.
One indicator of possible danger may be an increased interest in you and your work, which does not necessarily have to be expressed in personal questions about your life or requests to provide some sort of secret information. For example, you may be asked what you think about this or that politician (official, oligarch, etc.), because your assessment of his activities reveals whether it’s based on the subjective perception of this person or on the facts that are known only to you. Understand that sometimes your enemies just need to know if you are investigating certain people. Therefore, if the results of your work have not yet been published in an open press, do not let the unfamiliar and barely familiar questioners know exactly what you are doing. Remember – you do not owe anyone anything and satisfying someone’s curiosity is neither your legal nor moral obligation.
For the same reason, it’s better to avoid virtual arguments. In the heat of the conflict, especially when responding to foolish claims and insipid accusations, many experts are tempted to show their professionalism. Your interlocutors can try to humiliate you in public, belittle or completely deny your merits, pretend that they do not believe that you know the material, make you out to be an amateur and a liar. Here, the most important thing is not to become dependent on someone else’s opinion and to avoid contact with any destructive people capable of causing you to lose your temper. It is important to understand that you don’t need to prove anything to anyone, and it is better to rely only on the opinions of people who are important to you – who are professionals like you are. Even first-rate professionals won’t be able to protect you if you publicly spread important information about yourself, your work and contacts in the heat of virtual exchanges. Do not be afraid that someone underestimates you – maybe this is what will save your life.
In and of itself, virtual altercations are not an indicator of the impending danger. Public figures often have to deal with attacks of “trolls”, envious and simply inadequate people. However, as was already mentioned, your public correspondence with one person can be read by many others, and among them, there may well be someone who is purposefully tracking you. However, if the number of questions, virtual attacks, slander, and attempts at provocation aimed at you and related to the topic you’re working on has dramatically increased in a short period of time, it’s a good reason to be alarmed and to report the facts to those who are obligated to protect you.
3. Another alarming signal can be any targeted provocation, not even formally connected with the dangerous topic that you are involved in.
Let us recall that the planned assassination of Arkady Babchenko involved the use of the ATO veterans. If the crime was successful, the Ukrainian special services would find it extremely difficult to prove the Russian trace in the murder. The mastermind’s goal was to present the tragedy as a “fight within the same gang”, a conflict and a shootout between people who are on the same side: Ukrainian soldiers and journalists supporting them. Such a scenario would allow not only to dispel suspicions of Moscow’s involvement, but also to completely discredit both the killers and their victims. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention if someone in your circle is suddenly trying to create a conflict situation with you over nothing.
To emphasize: this is not about natural conflicts arising at work or at home. The situation we have in mind is specifically unnatural deliberately created conflicts, carefully designed provocations, which do not allow you to suspect an accident or misunderstanding. Formally, these things can not threaten your life, but they can be part of the preparatory work before the attempted assassination.
For example, if you are a man, you can be provoked into a fistfight in a public place (restaurant or bar). If you are a single woman, you may be pursued by a persistent admirer, whose views are very similar to yours. Entrepreneurs may be suddenly hit with unexpected financial disputes, lawsuits on ridiculous grounds, reports to the tax authorities, and all that from people they have never dealt with before. If you are a journalist, you can be accused of slander or plagiarism. For example, last month several American journalists, including a correspondent for a major newspaper, were the victims of a pair of provocateurs who, in each case, followed the same scenario: they shared public materials with their “targets”, and then, when the journalists prepared their own research on this topic, began a smear campaign against them.
Of course, in this case it is entirely possible that the aim of the provocateurs was “only” to damage the reputation of their victims. Slander and an attempt to interfere with someone else’s work can often be a goal in itself, and not necessarily a precondition for murder. However, it is important to remember that the detectives investigating someone’s death, will first of all check the last conflicts that the victim was involved in, personal animosities and possible revenge, so it is likely that the organizers of the attempt will try to create the illusion of such a conflict. If you are faced with strangers who befriend you and then deliberately drag you into a compromising situation or persuade you to do something against your better judgment, and then on this basis start a quarrel, a slanderous campaign, a fight or an illusion of conflict based of personal relationships – you should inform the ones who are obligated to protect you. It cannot be ruled out that ruining your reputation and creating the illusion of a public conflict will then be used by your real killers as the “most logical version” of your death.
4. Similarly, don’t publicly write about misfortunes in your personal life or complain about your life.
Any public records and even personal messages that can be interpreted as thoughts of suicide, can provoke your enemies to organize an assassination attempt just when it would be the easiest to write it off as a suicide. Do not give them this opportunity.
5. Another alarming signal may be an increased amount of spam and phishing attempts, calls from unknown numbers that are then chronically inaccessible, a multitude of contact requests from fake accounts, messages that you have installed applications that you have never installed, signs of surveillance, etc.
At a minimum, this indicates an increased attention to you, and clearly not from the well-wishers.
Try to limit the number of contacts as much as possible. Of course, this cannot be done if you are a public person, but you can always at least limit your close circle and be very careful when dealing with strangers. By the way, such a “revision” of your environment can be useful regardless of whether you’re a target of an assassination attempt. Sometimes it is useful to remove destructive and random people from your personal space and to understand what is really important to you.
Believe me, your true friends will understand, even if you have to hide something from them. Those who really value you will not ask you to divulge your potentially dangerous secrets to satisfy their curiosity, and they do not believe that you should always do only what they want. Really close people will not demand from you excuses, explanations or evidence that you are “for real”. It is these people who should be cherished in the first place while giving up everything else is not that difficult.
