A term used by Central Intelligence Agency personnel to indicate compromising behavior that would be likely to indicate to an adversary that a particular individual was a professional intelligence officer. When working in a denied area, an officer is reluctant to break cover and thereby give any indication to an adversary that a professional is active. Accordingly, operational acts, which may involve the preparation of signal sites, the servicing of dead drops, or brush contacts, are kept to an absolute minimum and undertaken in the absence of hostile surveillance.