Former CIA Operative Explains How Spies Use Disguises | WIRED
WIREDCited 6× on HN, 2018–2020
interview · general · evergreen · 2018–2020 on HN
Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, explains how disguises are used in intelligence work and what makes deception effective, including changing one's gait.
Cited in surveillance and facial or gait recognition threads for tradecraft such as putting a pebble in the shoe.
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6 comments from Hacker News
> Chinese ‘gait recognition’ tech IDs people by how they walk link An ex-CIA disguise specialist said that you can change your gait by putting a pebble in your shoe: ▶ this video Her comments were targeting human recognition, and I speculate that one of the reasons she was allowed to share her disguise techniques is that maybe they're ineffective against automated facial recognition and therefore obsolete.
Somewhat tangential: Do you think there are no spies operating in China whom are known to the current government? Why would China choose some random Westerners over known intel assets while knowing full well the case will appear so prominently on the world stage? Tourism makes up 10% of their economy. Nations tolerate this stuff and are well aware of who is who, it's how it is. Kicking out a known operative means another unknown will replace them. Better the enemy you know and such. There's a recent video from the CIA on the lengths they go to disguise embassy-tasked folk and how they get them out into the _world_. ▶ this video
Mitigation strategies discussed in an unrelated (but relevant) conversation between WIRED and Jonna Mendez - ▶ this video (if you're not auto-jumped, find 4:38 in the video)
How well does gait analysis work against gait-disguise techniques like putting a pebble in your show as described in this video? ▶ this video
Also the specific concept of gait analysis[0] has been around for decades. Changing one's gait has been an important piece of the tradecraft tool box for a long time now[1]. [0]: link [1]: ▶ this video
> Someone that does not want to be tracked by facial or gait recognition, either because he's a criminal or a political activist, will always be able to do that. There might be a race between the recognition software and the circumvention technology, but a dedicated individual will always be able to avoid that. One issue is disseminating the knowledge needed to defeat such systems. I'm sure the CIA and KGB have manuals and training programs to teach those skills [1], but I'm not sure if the information is publicly available in a readily accessible form (e.g. not spread in small pieces among 100 books). [1] ▶ this video