Introduction
The primary purpose of Black Hand is to penetrate target entities with an agent, or a network of agents. Such agents can either infiltrate the target, or be recruited “in place”.
Handlers are members of Black Hand that manage agents and agent networks. The senior handlers will oversee the development of junior handlers and their agents.
Sometimes, agent handling is done indirectly, through “primary agents” that serve as proxies for handlers. It is not uncommon, for example, for a handler to manage a number of primary agents, who in turn handle sub-agents, these “networks” are organized in a cellular fashion in order to limit the potential damage when an agent is compromised. Additionally, this allows the primary agent to act as a buffer for the handler, shielding them from direct contact with the agent network. This works well in a situation where you do not want a particular sub-agent to know they are in fact working for us.
As a handler you have 3 primary objectives:
1. Make sure an agent in the field does not burn themselves.
2. Coach the agent to enable them to acquire needed information.
3. Keep the agent motivated and active.
It is extremely important that you do not tell an agent more than they need to know. “Need to Know” is the guiding principle by which we all operate. This minimizes damage to our organization in the event an agent or cell is compromised. Additionally, do not copy and paste conversations with your agent or the agents spy character name directly anywhere, always paraphrase and conceal their identity.
Keeping your Agents Safe
Agents should be aware of the following:
– not to tell anyone their spy character’s name. Even the handler. This keeps any accidental leaks to a minimum
– not to press for Intel (unless told to do so). They are to be passive, picking up only on what they see and hear, otherwise counter Intel types will get suspicious,
– act inline with their SP, if they have 1million SP they should not be taking about how to FC a fleet or how to fit/fly a ship properly,
– the minimum level of activity required to not get kicked from their target entity,
– plex trading, or any kind of trading will show on the API, same goes for transferring assets and ISK
– donating plex now shows on the API and should be avoided
– the only way to safely transfer money is to drop a plex or expensive item in space
– Steam friends, this is often overlooked, do not add people to your Steam account if you have known goons or IMP members on it. Same goes for related groups
– an active agent should try to keep quite on IMP comms in-case a hostile spy recognizes them
– try not to talk like a goon. this is hard. goons say “characters” not “toons”, there is a certain lingo associated with goons, avoid sounding like a goon at all costs (brush up on your pubbie talk)
– avoid being connected to multiple comms at once, this negates making the fatal mistake of keying up on the wrong one and burning
