Operating in the Shadows: Extremist Collective Publishes Guide for Illicit Organizational Survival
Executive Summary
A new operational security manual, The Briarthorn OpSec Guide, was released in 2025 by an anonymous collective through the No Trace Project. The guide is a tactical blueprint for operating an illegal activist organization while evading law enforcement in the UK.
Analysis
The Briarthorn OpSec Guide, published via the No Trace Project in 2025, is an openly subversive manual that offers step-by-step procedures for establishing and maintaining a clandestine activist organization. Explicitly targeting individuals engaged in unlawful actions, the guide describes in plain language how to travel undetected, avoid surveillance, manage sensitive communications, and eliminate digital traces — all under the premise of resisting state power.
The guide prioritizes two key concepts: threat modeling and defense in depth. Threat modeling helps actors assess their exposure based on what adversaries — primarily UK police — can realistically do. Defense in depth assumes eventual failure of security measures and builds multiple layers of redundancy to minimize damage when a breach occurs. This dual structure reflects operational philosophies used by insurgent or extremist cells globally.
Among the guide’s procedures are instructions for buying goods anonymously (both online and offline), sending mail securely, laundering money, using encrypted communications, hiding digital or physical materials, and managing arrest scenarios. Messaging strategies focus heavily on Signal, while browser anonymity and cryptocurrency best practices are detailed through tools like Tor, Tails, and Monero. For higher-risk actions, the guide outlines “Paranoid” procedures such as rotating burner phones, storing items offsite, and avoiding metadata leaks.
The authors caution users not to become paralyzed by security concerns, urging them to act despite imperfect setups. This emphasis on “doing over perfecting” reflects a movement mindset: resistance must continue even under threat. While the guide avoids any direct ideological labels, it is built for those who operate outside the law in pursuit of political or ideological goals — making it a potential threat multiplier for radicalized cells or lone actors.
Its publication through No Trace Project, a known anti-state resource hub, and its unapologetic framing as a tool for “illegal activist organisations,” position this guide not as theoretical advocacy, but as a manual intended for real-world subversion.
