Understanding Sleep Cells
Defining a 'Sleeper'
In the terminology of espionage, a “sleeper” is an operative who infiltrates the society, or even the government, of a targeted country and is there to remain dormant until activated by a prearranged signal or a certain chain of events.
A sleeper cell is a small group of agents operating under very deep cover, sometimes waiting years before activating operations against the host country
The operative are often tasked with carrying out acts of sabotage or gathering intelligence to attack an establishment. But until activation, a sleeper agent's job was to do nothing operational besides blend into society.
Operatives must be mentally prepared for the stress they will endure in infiltrating the country and be capable of enduring the monotony of being in place for years without engaging in operational acts or betraying their true identity or purpose.
Terrorist attacks do not materialise out of thin air. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Those planning terrorist attacks follow a discernable process referred to as the terrorist attack cycle.
While surveillance is a necessary part of the planning process for a terrorist related attack, the fact that it is a requirement does not necessarily mean that terrorist planners are very good at it. With this in mind, the sleeper cell operatives are much more of a risk than an active terrorist cell carrying out a surveillance process.
Terrorist cells are able to see the location of a building and its general shape on Google Earth, but Google Earth does not provide the planner with the ability to see what the building's access controls are like, the internal layout of the building or where the guards are located and what procedures they follow, this is where the sleeper cell provides valuable information.
Looking for sign
The behaviour a person displays to those watching him or her is called demeanor. In order to master the art of sleeper cell surveillance , the operative needs to master the ability to display appropriate demeanor for whatever situation they are in. Practicing good demeanor is not intuitive. In fact, the things one has to do to maintain good demeanor while conducting surveillance frequently run counter to human nature. Because of this the sleeper cell operative at times will be at risk of discovery. Sleeper cell operatives typically do not receive this type of training — especially those who are grassroots or lone wolf militants.
Do you know your work force, are all of the employees acting in a way that shows there core values.
Training to spot and recognise behaviours, are one of the key tools in the counter terrorism arsenal.
A new requirement to be trained to read situations is now becoming more and more valuable in key areas of business
Executives, Managers & Team Leaders although against normal business skills, would be an effective deterrent if trained in these valuable detection programmes.
Find out the skills here with Protaris .... Profile - Behaviour recognition
