1. Introduction

The enemy has a new form. Today's wars are fought from computer consoles; climate disinformation campaigns are planned in web conferences; decisions to deny healthcare are codified in software.

Free and just futures demand new strategies.

Unassuming civilians have an outsized ability to make a difference by directly impacting the ordinary services we build and maintain everyday. Many small actions can create a constant and tangible drag on the systems of violence and exploitation. When tyranny suffers, we create an opportunity for more sustainable and prosperous systems to replace it.

These ideas are specific suggestions for taking action in this new theater.

This is not a guide for overt displays of heroism. Surveillance is abundant in the 21st century work environment. Presented here are practical, everyday actions for reducing systemic harm while minimizing vulnerability.

These are Specific Suggestions for Simple Sabotage in the 21st century.

2. Simple Sabotage

1. Simple sabotage is more than malicious mischief, and it should always consist of acts whose results will be detrimental to the tools and systems of oppression.
2. Occurring on a wide scale, simple sabotage will be a constant and tangible drag on the operations of hostile systems, making it possible for just, resilient, and thriving ones to take their place.
3. Simple sabotage does not require specially prepared tools or equipment; it is executed by an ordinary person, and it is carried out in such a way as to involve a minimum danger of injury, detection, and retaliation.
4. The saboteur should be creative in using their every-day instruments. Opportunities will present themselves if one looks at their surroundings in a different light. For example, disabling the productivity of an entire workplace may at first seem impossible, but if the saboteur were to unplug a single wifi access point within a space, work might grind to a halt.
5. Where destruction is involved, the weapons of the saboteur are materials and tools they might normally be expected to possess in their particular occupation. Their arsenal is the conference room, the email client, their own usual software applications and supplies. The targets of sabotage are objects to which they have normal and inconspicuous access in everyday life.
6. There is also a type of simple sabotage that requires no destructive tools whatsoever and produces physical damage, if any, by highly indirect means. It is based on universal opportunities to make faulty decisions and generally slow the efficiency of a hostile process. Making a faulty decision may be simply a matter of committing software changes to one repository instead of another or copying the wrong person onto an email.

   This type of activity, sometimes referred to as the "human element," is frequently responsible for accidents, delays, and general obstruction even under normal conditions. The potential saboteur should discover what types of faulty decisions and operations are normally found in their work and should then devise their sabotage so as to enlarge that "margin for error" while avoiding detection.

7. The saboteur should never attack targets beyond their capacity or the capacity of their tools. An inexperienced person should not, for example, attempt to deploy malware or falsify legal documents, but should make use of familiar tools to carry out their work.
8. The saboteur finds power in the routine, the inconspicuous, and the mundane.
9. The saboteur should try to damage only objects, materials, and systems known to be used to carry out oppression or to be destined for use in harmful systems. (It will be safe to assume that almost any surveillance technology is destined for oppressive use.) Without special knowledge, however, it would be undesirable to attempt destruction of accessibility technologies or interfere with the distribution of health services.
10. The saboteur should never aim to hinder aid.
11. Potential saboteurs should vigilantly consider the extent of surveillance in contemporary work environments. Assume all actions are monitored when using an employer-provided digital device, such as a computer or smartphone, or on personal devices after any employer-provided software is installed onto them. Devices provided for public use like those in libraries should also be used with caution.
12. Although the saboteur may rarely have direct access to explicitly malicious processes—such as eviction and displacement, ecological destruction, or the manufacture of anti-personnel weapons—they should prioritize these above all others.
13. It will not be possible to evaluate the desirability of simple sabotage in an organization without having in mind what specific individual acts and results are embraced by the definition of simple sabotage.
14. Access to these materials should not depend upon any one individual and should be published widely to increase resilience.

3. Specific Suggestions

1. Unplugging routers, committing buggy code, changing file extensions, acting absentminded, feigning ignorance, and hiding key technologies and supplies will waste the materials, manpower, and time of the enemy. Sabotage may be as mundane as leaving the caps off of shared dry erase markers or as complex as supporting unprofitable business objectives.
2. The generator provided on this webpage suggests specific acts, classified according to context.
3. This entire library of specific suggestions and accompanying source code is deliberately placed into the public domain allowing anyone to download and repurpose for their particular needs.
4. As new techniques are developed, or new fields explored, the public is encouraged to make amendments and independently republish this reference with their own updates.
5. The suggestions presented here focus on novel actions within contemporary office and administrative work settings. More traditional environments are better covered by the Simple Sabotage Field Manual published by the United States Office of Strategic Services.
6. Interactive table of specific suggestions is provided below.
Context

Table Exploration Tools

4. Motivating The Saboteur

5. Supplementals

1. This webpage was originally created in the English language.
2. The translations presented on this webpage have been volunteered by the public.
3. Any support for enhancing the accessibility of these resources is welcome.
4. A ZIP file archive of this webpage is available for download at this link.
5. This webpage can be hosted on any web server that is capable of serving a static website.
6. To submit requests, translations, suggestions, or other support use this email address: Reveal
7. You can encrypt your message using the tool provided here: Reveal

Published into the Public Domain.