Resources

Searchable database of zines, texts and other media dealing with surveillance and operational security. The goal is to help anarchists and other rebels acquire a practical understanding of the surveillance threats they may face in their struggles and in their lives. Resources that are easy to understand and written by friends are preferred.
Resources found: 205
"There's a lot of work that goes into figuring out how not to get arrested, and how to minimise the damage if you are. To try to make it easier for our comrades, we want to share the techniques we've developed while operating an illegal activist organisation. This is a guide for non-experts, but for some procedures it will help to be moderately techy or at least be working with some techy friends."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Digital surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
July 11, 2025
"This zine goes into detail about mobile phone surveillance and the most common and effective countermeasures against it. Popular misconceptions and urban legends are addressed to help ensure that our threat models and OpSec are based on reality. This zine is suitable for everyone involved in social movements."
Other languages
(de) Handy Sicherheit für Aktivist:innen und Agitator:innen
"Dieses Zine befasst sich eingehend mit der Überwachung von Mobiltelefonen und den gängigsten und wirksamsten Gegenmaßnahmen. Verbreitete Missverständnisse und urbane Legenden werden angesprochen, um sicherzustellen, dass unsere Bedrohungsmodelle auf der Realität beruhen. Dieses Zine ist für alle geeignet, die sich in sozialen Bewegungen engagieren."
(es) Seguridad del teléfono móvil para activistas y organizadores
"Este zine entra en detalle sobre la vigilancia de los teléfonos móviles y las contramedidas más comunes y eficaces. Se abordan los conceptos erróneos populares y las leyendas urbanas para ayudar a garantizar que nuestros modelos de amenaza son OpSec se basen en la realidad. Este zine es adecuado para todos los que participan en los movimientos sociales."
(it) Sicurezza dei telefoni per situazioni di attivismo e agitazioni
"Questa zine esplora come l'identità possa fornire una mimetizzazione che permette di interrompere intenzionalmente o accidentalmente i circoli e le organizzazioni radicali, e come la cultura della sicurezza che abbiamo sviluppato per mitigare molte minacce possa scontrarsi con le norme antirazziste, antisessiste e altrimenti progressiste all'interno dei nostri movimenti."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Mobile phones
Type
Text
Last updated
June 17, 2025
Highlighted resource for topic Direct action.
"This re-edition contains a wealth of information to help anarchists and other rebels analyze their security needs, plan and carry out direct actions, and detect or evade physical surveillance. We hope it will help you defeat the State and achieve your goals. Good luck!"
Download
PDF: read | A4 booklet part 1, part 2 | letter booklet part 1, part 2 | A3 booklet | tabloid bookletTXT
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topics
Direct action, Physical surveillance, Security culture
Type
Text
Last updated
June 12, 2025
"In what follows, we're going to tell you about the miserable endeavor that kept the Munich State Protection busy for two years: how the hell they managed to steal the blood of anarchist N. for a DNA sample. The Bavarian cops spared no expense or effort to carry out this operation, and some of the methods they employed may well be of interest to you."
Other languages
(de) Räuber und Gendarm? Eine Geschichte über Ermittlungsmaßnahmen
"Im Folgenden wollen wir über das elendige Unterfangen sprechen, welches den Münchner Staatsschutz zwei Jahre lang beschäftigte: wie zur Hölle sie der Anarchistin N. ihr Blut zwecks einer DNA-Abnahme klauen können. Zur Bewerkstelligung dieses Unterfanges scheute die bayrische Bullerei keine Kosten und Mühen und einige der von ihnen angewandten Methoden könnten euch vielleicht auch interessieren."
(fr) Gendarmes et voleurs ? Historique de techniques d'enquête
"Dans ce qui suit, nous allons vous parler de la misérable entreprise qui a occupé les services de la Protection de l’État de Munich pendant deux ans : comment diable ont-ils réussi à s’emparer du sang de la compagnonne anarchiste N., afin de prélever son ADN ? La flicaille bavaroise n’a lésiné sur aucune dépense ni effort pour mener à bien cette opération, et certaines des méthodes qu’elle a employé pourraient bien vous intéresser."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topics
IMSI catchers, Physical surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
April 1, 2025
"Este manual está redactado por militantes que han vivido de cerca infiltraciones policiales destapadas entre los años 2022 y 2024. Va dirigido a toda la militancia pasada, actual y futura así como a todas las organizaciones y colectivos que estén mínimamente preocupadas por la seguridad en sus espacios."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Infiltrators and informants
Type
Text
Last updated
March 23, 2025
by Anarchistisches Netzwerk Dresden (a-dresden.org)
"Staatliche Behörden suchen tag täglich neue Mittel und Wege, Personen zu beobachten, abzuhören und zu tracken. Doch was ist eigentlich der aktuelle Stand? Welche „verdeckten Technischen Mittel“ befinden sich just in diesem Moment im Einsatz? Wie observieren Cops, wie werden Bewegungsprofile erstellt und wie werden wir abgehört?"
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topics
Digital surveillance, Hidden devices, IMSI catchers, Mobile phones, Video surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
March 17, 2025
by Klaus Viehmann
"Bang. The door to your cell is shut. […] You look around, trying to get an understanding of where you'll spend the next few years of your life. […] What I am writing here is the quintessence of my experiences. During the first five or six years of my imprisonment, I learned the survival strategies that got me through the last ten. These are the experiences I'm summarizing here."
Other languages
(cmn-Hans) 监狱往返之旅
"砰。你牢房的门是关着的。[…]你环顾四周,试图了解你接下来几年将在哪里度过。[…]我在这里写的是我经历的精髓。在我入狱的头五六年里,我学会了让我度过最后十年的生存策略。这些是我在这里总结的经验。"
(de) Einmal Knast und zurück
"Rumms, und zu ist die Zellentür. […] Du siehst dich um und betrachtest deinen Lebensraum der nächsten Jahre. […] Das, was ich hier schreibe, ist die Quintessenz meiner Erfahrungen. Anders ausgedrückt: In den ersten fünf, sechs Jahren meiner Knastzeit lernte ich, mich die nächsten zehn an die in diesem Artikel zusammengefassten Überlebensstrategien zu halten…"
(el) Ένα για φυλακή μετ' επιστροφής
"Γκρααπ, και η πορτα της φυλακης τρανταζεται πίσω σου. […] Κοιτάς γύρω σου και παρατηρείς προσεκτικά το ζωτικό χώρο των επόμενων χρόνων σου. […] Αυτό που γράφω εδώ είναι το απόσταγµα των εμπειριών μου. Για να το διατυπώσω διαφορετικά: στα πρώτα πέντε, έξι χρόνια της φυλάκισής µου, έµαθα να τπρώ και να στηρίζομαι στις στρατηγικές επιβίωσης που συνοψίζω σε αυτό εδώ το άρθρο για τα επόµενα δέκα."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Security culture
Type
Text
Last updated
February 4, 2025
"Bad-jacketing (or “cop-jacketing,” “fed-jacketing,” or “snitch-jacketing”) is the practice of accusing people of being a cop, informant, fascist, or other kind of bad actor on specious or non-existent evidence. […] In doing so, the people who make these accusations in effect carry out the work of the state."
Download
For reading: PDF
For printing: PDF
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Infiltrators and informants
Type
Text
Last updated
January 17, 2025
"Det här är ett zine med fokus på kameraövervakning av det offentliga rummet, städerna vi rör oss i. Den här texten innehåller exempel från Malmö hösten 2024. Principerna gäller många andra platser i Sverige, inte minst i storstäderna. Resurserna som presenteras här kan vara en ingång för alla som vill slippa kameraövervakas i sin vardag."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Video surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
January 17, 2025
Highlighted resource for topics Direct action, Fingerprints, Other physical traces.
by lunatics for system change
"In our experience, we have found that it is often difficult to find an overview of different forms of action, especially militant ones, as well as practical and contextual thoughts on different aspects of security and action planning. […] That's why we have collected information about taking action."
Other languages
(de) PRISMA: Prima Radikales Info Sammelsurium Militanter Aktionen
"In unserer Praxis fanden wir, dass es oft schwer ist, einen Überblick über verschiedene, vor allem militante Aktionsformen sowie Gedanken zu deren inhaltlicher und praktischer Planung und zu unterschiedlichen Sicherheitsaspekten zu bekommen. […] In diesem Heft haben wir deshalb Informationen rund um Aktionen gesammelt."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topics
DNA, Direct action, Fingerprints, Hidden devices, Other physical traces, Video surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
January 17, 2025
"The 2022 film How to Blow Up a Pipeline follows a ragtag crew of novice eco-activists who conspire to blow up an oil pipeline in Texas […] The film is fun, and they manage to outwit the feds in pursuit of their goals, but what if the film relied a little less on mishaps to create drama and drive the narrative? What if it was seasoned radicals very carefully outsmarting an adept adversary? […] What follows is suggestions for how the script could have been more realistic both considering what the feds could actually do and how the crew could actually pull off their direct action and get away with it."
Download
For reading: PDF
For printing: PDF
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topics
Direct action, Security culture
Type
Text
Last updated
January 12, 2025
"I had been arrested at a protest months earlier, and despite my original plans to the contrary, had my unencrypted Android smartphone on me during the arrest. […] The purpose of this text is to inform you of the kind of data cops can easily take from your phone if they have physical access to it, and what you can do to mitigate that, so you can keep yourself and loved ones safe in a wider range of scenarios."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Mobile phones
Type
Text
Last updated
November 11, 2024
by Nueva Subversión
"En la actualidad las operaciones urbanas son normalmente afectadas por muchos más factores que en cualquier otro periodo de las historias de las guerrillas, complejizando el escenario y exigiendo replanteamientos y cambios de parte nuestra, desde la lectura y reproducción de viejos manuales, hasta la elaboración propia y desconocida de la forma del cómo, con quién y cuándo planteamos combate al enemigo. Una buena manera de comenzar es conocer la morfología de las ciudades, en cómo están dispuestos los espacios."
Other languages
(pt) Elementos da Cidade e Desafios Técnicos da Guerrilha
"Atualmente as operações urbanas são afetadas por muito mais fatores que em qualquer outro período da história das guerrilhas, complexificando o cenário e nos exigindo mudanças e reformulações, desde a leitura e reprodução de velhos manuais, até a elaboração própria da forma desconhecida do como, com quem, e quando damos combate ao inimigo. Uma boa forma de começar é conhecer a morfologia das cidades, como o espaços estão dispostos."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topic
Direct action
Type
Text
Last updated
October 16, 2024
by Peter Jenkins
"The Theory of Covert Surveillance is a 2020 book on physical surveillance written by U.K. private investigator Peter Jenkins. It covers topics such as static and mobile surveillance, foot surveillance, and the composition and organization of a surveillance team, and briefly covers technical surveillance and equipment (such as cameras and tracking devices)."
Origin
Independent researchers
Topic
Physical surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
September 23, 2024
"Einige saßen oder sitzen vor Akten der Repressionsbehörden, oder werden das in Zukunft tun müssen. Traurig aber wahr! Während die Bullen beim herumschnüffeln hinter ihren Akten verstauben, möchten wir diese nutzen um für zukünftige Widerstandsmomente zu lernen. Ermittlungsmethoden, Datenerhebungen, Konstrukte, Technologien, Fehler und Strategien der Repressionsbüttel können zugänglich gemacht werden, indem für euch und uns relevante Analysen von Akteninhalte veröffentlicht werden."
Origin
Friends & other activists
Topics
DNA, Fingerprints, Mobile phones, Other physical traces, Physical surveillance, Police files, Video surveillance
Type
Text
Last updated
July 12, 2024