Cypherpunk Underground Ch 4 - Gray Man: The Art of Being Unremarkable Part 3

Welcome back to Cypherpunk Underground. CPU is a survival guide for the dystopian surveillance state. This is Part 3 of our series about the the "Gray Man" mindset. In Part 1 we go through case studies of to how to/not how to blend into your urban landscape. Part 2 discussed things that are commonly hidden in plain sight. In Part 3 we will conduct a practical into planning.

Task: CPU is sending you to deliver the One-time pad that the Underground will use to communicate in a their newest form of encryption. Once in the city you will be directed when and where you will perform a dead drop of a micro SD card containing the crypto key for Underground courier to retrieve. The fate of the Underground is in your hands as is your hope for a brighter future. The use of Cryptography is strictly banned by the regime, and anyone caught proliferating cryptographic material is sentenced to a life sentence in hard labor camps. BE CAREFUL!

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* For this post we chose a random city using a Random City List to show how we can use Open Source information to gain a better understanding of our threat enviroment.*

Random City Result: Nashville-Davidson, TN

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Nashville... nice. Things are looking easy so far. Most know of Nashville as "Music City USA" with its neon lit bars and live music played by aspiring superstars. Let's dig deeper and learn more about the city. Lets learn about the city and its culture and think of how we could blend in. If only there was a site that told you about all the events and attractions of the city...

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Recon Item # 1 What’s going on in Nashville? Visitmusiccity.com

Ok so from looking through the site it obvious that being an out of towner in Nashville shouldn’t raise too many suspicions. Lets go with the story that we are tourists in town to see a couple of the concerts. Tourists are a common site there. One stat is that Nashville had 16 million visitors during 2019-2020.

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Recon Item # 2 Police Surveillance Tools atlasofsurveillance.org

Atlas of Surveillance is an Electronic Frontier Foundation subproject that allows you to search for cities to see what types of surveillance equipment law enforcement possess and employ. After a quick search we have determined that Nashville has the following technologies:

Note: More about EFF click the attached hyperlink.*

*Note 2: F2Z has a Z2Z Donation Page for EFF here.

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What to wear & What no to wear.

In the situation of Nashville its probably best to not overthink it. If I had to choose some attire that blended in with the tourists but was unremarkable here are some dos and do nots.

Something like a Jack Daniels shirt would be the perfect combination of "local flair" but under the radar. The Jack Daniels logo is so well known that for those who look at you they really don't give it a second thought.

You can't go wrong with a pair of jeans. Keep them as plain as possible, no rips, designs, or skinny style. You are trying to acheive the look of the "everyman".

Ear buds is a useful fashion accessory. They provide you with a sense of plausible deniability to avoiding conversations and if used with some trade craft may allow you to overhear conversations of those around you.

Avoid the urge to wear cowboy boots. You're not trying to stick out right? People in Nashville know their boots and the less they look at you the better. Stick to a plain pair of running shoes or sneakers.

Avoid sports memorabilia, especially college sports memorabilia. Tennessee is part of NCAA's Southeast Conference (SEC) a conference known for its intense tribalism. College sports teams will often draw you into conversations you don't want to have. Remember you are not trying to be interesting.

Avoid backpacks. It isn't normal for someone walking with a backpack and it brings suspicion to yourself. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to carry things think of using re-usable shopping bags from a local store. Make it make sense to your surroundings. Maybe its a repurposed boot box, a guitar case, or a tool bag.

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Conclusion

Hopefully the tips provided aren't too common sense. Remember that your success will rely heavily on what you know about your environment. There are thousands of resources online you can use to fill in your knowledge gaps.

P.S. We did not talk about how the dead drop will be achieved. This will be covered in another chapter.

If you like this content and have a suggestion on something the Cypherpunk Underground needs to know please leave a message or send a private memo.

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