Triangulation Attacks

Triangulation is a type of coordinated social assault that involves multiple agents approaching a target from several different angles, in order to disorient and demoralize them. This is extremely effective when combined with various forms of duplicity. By hiding their relationships with one another, a small team of agents can quickly destabilize a target, and create openings for reinforcements and other types of attacks.

Triangulation attacks are a common facet of suicide-trolling campaigns, due to their highly destructive effect on the target's mental health.

A triangulation attack can be considered a type of social equivalent to the flanking maneuver. There are many ways in which it can be done, but the basic concept is the same no matter what: Set up positions around the target, and “bounce” the target around in the middle. This can be done with as little as two people, or it can consist of a full-on swarm of triangulating agents. There are usually three phases to the attack:

Each triangulating agent takes on a different “role” when approaching the target. One might present themselves as a casual friendly follower on social media, and another agent a devoted fan. One agent might arrive as an aggressive persecutor and start flaming or trolling the target, while another agent posing as a guardian angel arrives to “defend” the target. If the target is a journalist or hacker, they might be sent on a wild goose chase to a place where other agents are waiting for them. If the target is an activist, they may be encouraged to connect with other “activists” who are really agents in disguise.

As these agents get in position, they can start extracting more information about the target through both observation & direct interaction. This information can be used as leverage in the later phases. Existing acquaintances, coworkers, friends and even family members, can sometimes be recruited to get in position with the conspirators as well.

Discretion and subtlety is extremely important during the setup phase. Applying even just a little too much pressure on the target in this phase can tip them off that something is amiss, and sabotage the rest of the operation. It is not unusual for this phase to take several months, and sometimes even years in the case of high-profile targets like government workers, military personnel, journalists and whistleblowers.

Once all of the triangulating agents are in position, the actual games can begin. Two “friends” of the target might get in a fake fight with each other, pressuring the target to take sides and in turn providing pretense for the losing side to attack the target directly. A “mediator” agent might pretend to diffuse the situation, while covertly pushing the target further into the narrative bubble with more red herrings.

This phase is where the agents make an active push to disorient the target. They do this by bouncing the target from agent to agent in the middle, while keeping the target clueless of the agent's true relationship with one another. Mirroring is a common diversion ploy here. Agents may also engage in sealioning to push the target into a defensive posture, and encourage them reveal more information about their views or personal life that can be exploited for doxxing, swatting, and other forms of harassment.

The target at this stage will usually realize something is amiss. However, if the setup was done right and tracks were covered, it can be very hard for them to pinpoint all of the actors involved. As long as at least one agent can maintain their position, they can keep feeding red herrings to the target to prolong the game. The longer the game continues, the more the target will lose their sense of grounding in reality.

If the game continues long enough, and the target is unable to fully extract themselves from the circle of conspirators, then the target is likely to fall into a destabilizing spiral. Increased mental stress can provoke the target into making irrational or self-destructive decisions, making their situation worse. At this stage, the triangulating agents can employ increasingly more destructive plays to further accelerate the spiral.

The longer the agents are able to maintain a presence, they more they can systematically dismantle the target's life. Concern trolls may turn around and move outwards, spreading rumors “explaining” the target's instability, in order to separate them from friends & family, or prevent any further career advancement. The further the agents can entrench themselves in the target's life, the more they can set themselves up as intermediaries between the target and the outside world, isolating the target from any potential sources of real help.

Once the target is beaten down, the operation may be considered a success and the agents move on. However, this is not always the case. The agents can also go for the throat, or they can continue the charade indefinitely to keep the target pacified under long-term control.

The triangulation attack is also incredibly effective against groups of people. Communities, businesses, town halls, activist groups, news organizations, internet forums and more, can all be targeted with the same strategies described above. Being able to outnumber one's target is not required at all, and in fact being outnumbered simply provides more avenues and places to hide one's true intent. With careful planning and execution, even just two to three triangulating agents can bring an entire community of thousands of members to its knees.

Depending on the skill of the conspirators involved, triangulation attacks can range from being incredibly easy to recognize, to nearly impossible. The best time to catch these attacks is early on, in the setup phase as the agents are still getting in position. Are you suddenly in the middle of a conflict between people you just met? That may be a sign you are currently being targeted.

The longer that the charade is able to continue, the deeper the agents are able to embed themselves into the target's surroundings. Obvious signs may present themselves at this point (the aforementioned downward spirals, increased isolation, continual career sabotage, etc) but be aware that you are now fighting symptoms of a deeper rot.

You will have to examine these destructive synchronicities and identify everyone involved, as well as those who were sighted on the sidelines at the time. Once you have that, you will need to trace all of them back to their points of origins to weed out the good from the bad, in order to find the connections to other conspirators still unidentified. Going dark and throwing out red herrings of your own can also be very useful tricks to flush out these agents.

Anonymous recon groups in the field are still gathering more data in regards to known triangulation efforts in the wild. Expect this page to be updated as time goes on.

People are not the only things that can be triangulated. By studying other forms of triangulation, you can further augment your ability to use and/or defend against triangulation in military contexts.

An early triangulated map of the western United States, with multiple fixed reference points. Exhaustive triangulation & trilateration efforts by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in the late 1800's ushered in a new era of precision accuracy for maps of the fledgling nation.

The face of the Earth (and everything on it) can be triangulated as well. Many countries have established a web of Triangulation Stations in their territories. These stations (usually located on hilltops, national landmarks, etc) and their geographic coordinates are used as fixed reference points in local topographic surveys. Using trigonometry, these points enable accurate renderings of maps of the rest of the countryside, and assist in a myriad of other geodetic calculations.

Today, large-scale triangulation networks and their associated stations have largely been superseded by satellite systems. However, knowledge of their use is still a valuable skill for many survey teams. None of these stations are even required for old-fashioned geographic triangulation, as skilled surveyors and navigators are able to triangulate their positions as long as they have two known reference points to work from.

An example of triangular arbitrage.

Triangular arbitrage is the exploitation of exchange rate discrepancies in the foreign exchange and cryptocurrency markets. It involves a series of three trades, exchanging the initial currency for a second, the second currency for a third, and finally the third currency for the initial. Market forces will usually automatically adjust to prevent these golden opportunities from happening in the first place, but they do appear from time to time.

The window to exploit these instances is usually short, because when such opportunities arise, many traders will pounce on it and execute trades of their own. This “gold rush” forces currency values to adjust up or down until the opportunity disappears. These moments are even shorter in the 21st century, as many traders now use computers and AI to catch them and automatically execute trades on sight.

A conceptual diagram illustrating political triangulation.

Triangulation is a common strategy in politics, and especially two-party political systems. To appeal to the public, a politician may present a position as being above or between the left and right wings. It involves adopting for oneself some of the ideas of one's political opponent. The logic behind it is that it both takes credit for the opponent's ideas, and insulates the triangulator from attacks on that particular issue. In the words of Bill Clinton's chief political advisor Dick Morris:

“The president needed to take a position that not only blended the best of each party's views, but also transcended them to constitute a third force in the debate.”

Because of its association with Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign, it is sometimes called “Clintonian Triangulation”.

Political triangulation can take other forms as well, presenting itself as a type of faux-centrism. In systems where the ruling class controls both the right and left wings, the ruling party can engineer a conflict between the two parties in order to present a “compromise” to pacify the population. This trick, known as the action-reaction-synthesis model is sometimes erroneously referred to as “Hegelian Dialectics,” though it has very little to do with the writings of Hegel.

The Karpman Drama Triangle.

In psychology, triangulation is used to refer to several models of toxic interpersonal dynamics between three people. One of these models is the Karpman Drama Triangle, which describes the parasitic relationship between three co-dependent individuals: The persecutor, the victim, and the rescuer:

1. The Victim: The Victim in this model is not intended to represent an actual victim, but rather someone feeling or acting like one. The Victim seeks to convince him or herself and others that he or she cannot do anything, nothing can be done, all attempts are futile, despite trying hard. One payoff for this stance is avoiding real change or acknowledgement of one's true feelings, which may bring anxiety and risk, while feeling one is doing all one can to escape it. As such, the Victim's stance is “Poor me!” The Victim feels persecuted, oppressed, helpless, hopeless, powerless, ashamed, and seems unable to make decisions, solve problems, take pleasure in life or achieve insight. The Victim will remain with a Persecutor or, if not being persecuted, will set someone else up in the role of Persecutor. The Victim will also seek help, creating one or more Rescuers to save the day, who will in reality perpetuate the Victim's negative feelings and leave the situation broadly unchanged.
2. The Rescuer: The Rescuer's line is “Let me help you.” A classic enabler, the Rescuer feels guilty if he or she does not go to the rescue, and ultimately becomes angry (and becomes a Persecutor) as his or her help fails to achieve change. Yet the Rescuer's rescuing has negative effects: it keeps the Victim dependent and doesn't allow the Victim permission to fail and experience the consequences of his or her choices. The rewards derived from this rescue role are that the focus is taken away from the Rescuer, who can also feel good for having tried, and justified in his or her negative feelings (to the other actor/s) upon failing. When one focuses one's energy on another, it enables one to ignore one's own own anxiety and troubles. This rescue role is also pivotal because one's actual primary interest is really an avoidance of one's own problems disguised as concern for the Victim's needs.
3. The Persecutor: The Persecutor insists, “It's all your fault.” The Persecutor is controlling, blaming, critical, oppressive, angry, authoritarian, rigid and superior. But if blamed in turn, the Persecutor may become defensive and may switch roles to become a Victim if attacked forcefully by the Rescuer and/or Victim, in which case the Victim may also switch roles to become a Persecutor.

The “Dark Triad” is another well-known triangular model of obnoxiously destructive tendencies in human beings. These types of people are another perpetual nuisance to the Anonymous community.

Various forms of the Karpman model can happen on the family level, though there are also other three-point models as well. From Wikipedia:

“In the family triangulation system, the third person can either be used as a substitute for direct communication or can be used as a messenger to carry the communication to the main party. Usually, this communication is an expressed dissatisfaction with the main party. For example, in a dysfunctional family in which there is alcoholism present, the non-drinking parent will go to a child and express dissatisfaction with the drinking parent. This includes the child in the discussion of how to solve the problem of the alcoholic parent. Sometimes the child can engage in the relationship with the parent, filling the role of the third party, and thereby being “triangulated” into the relationship. Alternatively, the child may then go to the alcoholic parent, relaying what they were told. In instances when this occurs, the child may be forced into a role of a “surrogate spouse”. The reason that this occurs is that both parties are dysfunctional. Rather than communicating directly with each other, they utilize a third party. Sometimes this is because it is unsafe to go directly to the person and discuss the concerns, particularly if they are alcoholic and/or abusive.

The Perverse Triangle was first described in 1977 by Jay Haley as a triangle where two people who are on different hierarchical or generational levels form a coalition against a third person (e.g., “a covert alliance between a parent and a child, who band together to undermine the other parent's power and authority”.) For example, a parent and child can align against the other parent but not admit to it, to form a cross-generational coalition. These are harmful to children.”

While these models are related to triangulation as a military tactic (and they can even be deliberately mimicked for the use of offensive triangulation) these forms of triangulation oftentimes develop naturally as a byproduct of dysfunctional family environments and toxic relationships.

Devices that emit radio waves can be triangulated as well, using data received by at least two other radio receivers. By analyzing radio signals from two points of reception, the position of the transmitter can be calculated. The accuracy & precision of these calculations can be increased by including more points of reception. Triangulation/trilateration of signal origins is a core component of SIGINT. Operators of cell phone towers, satellite navigation systems, stingrays and more, are capable of doing this. It is even a popular hobby in the amateur radio community.