Going Gray: The Gray Man

Photo by Kim Loveless

First off, this is not because I am old and have gray hair. Second, this is not meant to be gender specific, even though it has the word "man" there. But if you are looking for information on the concept of "gray man" on the Internet, then you probably should use this term when searching.

What Is This Thing?

The main thing about "going gray" is it involves blending in. Not standing out in a crowd. Oddly, while it is usually men explaining this online, I think the true history of this is most decidedly from a female standpoint. I started telling my wife about the whole gray man thing, and she was like "well yeah, women have been doing this for ages, trying not to stand out during that long walk to the car after work." She was right. So I've asked a number of females about the topic specifically, and it has influenced my approach. For me, and most of my Infosec colleagues, this is not wearing camouflage or tactical clothing, this is simply not standing out. And while it involves blending in, it does tend to go slightly deeper.

Bland Is Good

There is a part of the brain that responds to stimuli automatically, and a lot of this is learned behavior. This is not intended as a blog post about brain function - start here if you're interested, mainly the section on ARAS aka Ascending Reticular Activating System. The main point to bring up here is that parts of the brain will respond to stimuli without conscious effort. Some of this is what one might call as "instinct" and some is from learned behavior. The regulation of this is in the ARAS, and obviously it can vary heavily from person to person, but the important point here is that the brain is processing stimuli from your senses constantly. There are triggers from stimuli that impact one’s conscious attention. Things like bright colors cause the brain to start processing the color itself, something that sticks out in a crowd of people. Things like logos are specifically designed to trigger that part of your brain to get your attention. When the brain sees words it tends to start reading them. So naturally the opposite could have a different impact. The lack of a logo, the blending in with the patterns around you, like the movement through a crowd by staying with the flow. And of course wearing bland colors that are less likely to trigger the brain like gray - hence the name “gray man”.

Your Environment

If you’re attending a funeral and everyone is in black suits or dresses, showing up in gray with a ball cap and hoodie breaks the pattern - you’ll stand out. A tuxedo at the beach also stands out. But in a crowd at the mall or some other setting with a large crosscut of people, you'll end up blending in wearing that bland outfit. The main point here is to try to not trigger the ARAS. Bright colors trigger things, logos by design are intended to trigger a response of some kind, and lettering in general is typically read - all subconsciously, at least initially. Trying to eliminate ARAS triggering and getting the subconscious brain to not respond is one of the goals.

Another is to look like you belong. If you are going to be seen, then you should look like you are suppose to be there. This can be subtle. If you are slowly moving through a space and are looking around, you might appear lost, and therefore you stand out ever so slightly. Moving through a space with a purpose, like you know where you are going, you are slightly less noticeable.

Other Avoidance

Something that helps is to avoid eye contact. Outside, sunglasses help with this, but if you are inside the sunglasses may cause you to stand out unless there are a lot of people wearing them in your environment. While moving through a crowd, eyes forward and slightly down works best. If you make eye contact, it creates a connection and certainly makes you stick out in someone's mind.

If you appear threatening, you will stick out. And you have to remember what "threatening" can actually mean. Without trying to get political or anything, there are certain triggers that can make you stand out as anywhere from mildly to extremely threatening. Obviously if you are brandishing a weapon, or are doing open carry, you will stand out more than someone who is not. If you are wearing tactical gear or camouflage in an urban environment, have obvious clothing items on that suggest you are current or former military or law enforcement, you will be slightly more threatening to some people. The idea is to not appear threatening to anyone. I am not saying you can't have tactical gear or a weapon in a bag, just remember you're trying to keep a low profile.

Don't Smell

This one might seem weird, but I would try to avoid omitting smells. Smells can be immediate triggers and really get the old brain working away. This means you need to clean yourself and use deodorant, but not use strong aftershave or perfume. In the Infosec community there is a running joke about smelly people attending security conferences, particularly those held in the desert. Well, consider this more than just a public service and better OPSEC. Curb your strong smells, whether they are good or bad odors.

Field Examples

Probably the best examples I can give you of how this works are completely non-scientific ones. You know, things that happened to me, but I'll refer to them as some sort of gospel.

I’ve stated this before, that at a DEF CON a few years ago I was all in gray and was able to walk past people I know who simply did not seem to even see me. There were numerous non-encounters, with my favorite being Bruce Potter who nearly ran right into me as I stood in front of him. “Oh my god, I didn’t even see you.” Of course you didn’t.

I’ve walked through the Las Vegas TSA Precheck with electronic tools in my bag and nothing was done, and another individual was stopped with the same tools and had to go back and check his bag (he was PISSED about that as well). I was wearing bland gray with my plain no-sticker laptop. This pissed off individual had blue hair, a provocative anti-government t-shirt, and his laptop was covered in hacker and security stickers. As the individual complained to his friends later at the airport food court, he described the tools that triggered TSA into action. They were the same set of tools I bought in the vendor area at DEF CON.

I’ve walked past event security personnel unchallenged. I used to get pick-pocketed a lot, and it hasn’t happened in years since donning the gray. Of course it isn’t magic - I still get stopped and whatnot, it just happens way less.

50 Shades

Going gray is not a complete solution to urban camouflage or being all stealth, but it does help. And hopefully it will get you started in the basic mindset. Just remember, trying not to stand out works best when it is second nature. But once it becomes habitual, you will begin to reap the benefits.