This guide has been written to inform you on what the variations of ganking are, how they work and most importantly, how not to fall victim to any of them. This information has been collated from years of living in High Sec, studying and speaking to gankers and discussing how they gank, as well as learning from other people’s mistakes.

What is ‘Ganking’?
There are multiple variations of ganking in EVE, as will be explained below. Some are more sophisticated than others, but all are avoidable one way or another. Information is key and this guide will hopefully be the foundation of knowledge you need for that.
Ganking, in it’s purest form, is known as ‘Suicide Ganking’. This is the act of killing another player in High Security space with the acceptance that one will lose their own ship as a result of their actions. The idea being that the aggressor is able to do enough damage to their victim to destroy their ship before CONCORD arrives to destroy the, now criminal, aggressor. CONCORD response times vary depending on the security of the system you are in. For example, the CONCORD response time in a 1.0 high sec system is ~6 seconds, whereas in a 0.5 high sec system it is ~19 seconds.
The most common, or at least the most widely known, suicide gank is the destroyer/miner gank. For those that do not know, this is when a player uses a very cheap Tech1 destroyer, fits it for maximum damage output and targets a mining ship with very low defensive capabilities, (usually one that is worth significantly more than the gankers ship). This can be done solo, however, it only takes a small group for such a fleet to become very dangerous to most sub-battleship ships, let alone mining ships.
Suicide ganking isn’t only limited to mining ships though. Any ship can be suicide ganked if the forming fleet have enough dps (damage per second).

Variations of Ganking
One variation of ganking is HVT ganking (High Value Target). This is usually where the target is a Freighter, or a Marauder (or just any ship with a high value hull/cargo). The targets usually require a large offensive fleet in order to destroy the target before CONCORD intervenes. Due to the higher amount of hitpoints of such ships, the gankers require a much larger fleet of T1 destroyers, or they must switch to larger ships themselves, to deal more damage. HVT’s can also include Abyssal runners, especially those running higher tier sites, as they tend to use blingy ships and modules to run them.

Another variation of ganking is known as ‘Suspect Baiting’. This is a more sophisticated form of ganking in that it actually relies on the target becoming the aggressor. In order to achieve this, the aggressor will find a target ship, (let’s use a Golem as an example), and will warp to it while it is running a mission. The aggressor will likely be flying a smaller ship than the Golem, or one that seems inferior to the target ship, such as the Triglavian Assault Frigate: Nergal (a favourite amongst suspect baiters), so that it appears they are an easy target. The aggressor then loots one of the Golem pilot’s mission wrecks or maybe an MTU (Mobile Tractor Unit), causing them to become ‘Suspect’. Doing this means they can be engaged by anyone in EVE, even in High Security space. Because they are in what appears to be an inferior ship to the target, the Golem pilot will often engage the smaller aggressor in the misplaced belief that they can overpower it and score an easy kill. Here is where the shift occurs. As soon as the Golem pilot engages the Suspect, they are effectively dead from that moment on. The aggressor will orbit the Golem very closely, with a Warp Scrambler (to prevent the Golem warping away). The close orbit means that the Golem cannot apply damage very well at all, so little that even an Assault Frigate such as the Nergal can tank the damage no problem. The Nergal would then apply damage to the Golem, with increasing dps, until eventually the Golem succumbs to it’s fate, either when it runs out of capacitor, or it is just no longer capable of withstanding the huge damage being inflicted.
Suspect Baiting is a very unpleasant experience for the target and usually results in the loss of an expensive ship + modules (and potentially an expensive pod). It is so easily avoided though, as will be explained later.

Who are the Gankers?
Gankers can be literally anyone in EVE. Everyone has the option to attempt to shoot someone else in High Sec. Therefore, the old saying, “only fly what you can afford to lose”, comes into play, even in High Sec. The moment you undock, whether it be in a corvette or a Paladin, you should consider the possibility that it will not re-dock.
There have been some very well-known ganking individuals, corporations and even alliances. The most famous ganking group in EVE is likely to be ‘CODE’ (now known as ‘Safety.’). This is a group of semi-role-playing pilots whose primary activity in EVE is suicide ganking people in High Sec.

What ships do Gankers use?
Gankers use a variety of ships, ranging from T1 destroyers, such as Catalysts, to Battlecruisers, like the Tornado. Gankers will usually bring the right tools for the job, so the bigger the ship or fleet, the bigger the target. All will be much cheaper than the target ship and fit for all-out dps or alpha strike damage.

Where do they operate?
Gankers operate in every system in High Sec. However, some places are more popular than others. The most common place for a gank in High Sec is Jita. Due to the sheer volume of traffic passing through this system, the gankers do not even have to go looking for targets when the targets come to them.
Another popular choice for gankers is Level 4 mission hubs, (systems with L4 Mission agents within them). Here is where many of the largest and blingiest ships in High Sec fly, often with no thought as to their own safety.
The final place worth mentioning is asteroid belts. Belts can be warped to by anyone, from anywhere in the system without scanning. This makes it very easy for gankers to jump into the system and be in-warp to your location within seconds.

Should I buy a mining permit?
This is an old scam but people are still falling for it. The short answer is No! Eve is a sandbox and High Sec regions cannot be officially controlled by any player groups. Consequently, if you are told to buy a permit in order to mine safely in a specific location of High Sec, the threat is that if you do not purchase one, you will be ganked. As long as you are observant and do not afk, you should be able to easily avoid any ganking attempts made on you and the majority of the time, you will be able to mine in peace.

How do I avoid being a victim?
The easiest way to avoid becoming a ganking victim is awareness. By following these simple tips, you will likely never fall victim to a gank attempt.
Do not AFK-Mine. If you must AFK for a short time (i.e. toilet/coffee break etc.), either dock up or have other members that are able to fleet-warp you, be on grid with you in case a ganker appears.
Combining ‘Local Chat’ with d-scan is the most effective way of countering ganks. If you notice a spike in the number of people in the system with you, you should have d-scan open and be scanning every 5 seconds or so (map this to the preferred keyboard button to save you from click-fatigue). As soon as you notice a Catalyst or other popular ganking ship on scan, you should be ready to warp out.
Another effective way to avoid ganking, whether you are mining or running missions, is to set up as far away from the landing point as possible. While mining, move away from the warp-in point and mine rocks that are as far away as possible. This will require the gankers to make a bookmark before they can warp right on top of you, otherwise they will be too far away, giving you plenty of time to warp out. While running missions, use propulsion modules such as the MWD and MJD, to move away from the warp-in point. Again, this means that even if you missed the ganker/s in local and on d-scan, you have time to react and warp away.
Making your ship as unattractive as possible will help prevent being targeted also. Using high-tanked ships, such as Procurer and Orca, are perfect for deterring gankers. The amount of time it takes to kill such ships is significantly more than the CONCORD response times in most systems, unless they have a significant amount of members on grid. Remember, If you see a spike of people in local, you should consider this as a sign to dock asap. With enough members in fleet, any ship can be killed.
Never engage anyone in PvP in High Sec. Remembering this will ensure you do not fall victim to suspect baiting. Keep your safety setting on green and no matter how easy a target you think they may be, do NOT engage. And as a bonus tip, don’t accept fleet invites from people you don’t know.

Mining Ship Selection
Ventures – are the easiest targets for gankers due to their ability to be one-shot-killed. But in all honesty, they really shouldn’t be. Ventures have good align speed and anyone paying attention to local and d-scan should be able to warp out before the gankers can even finish exiting their warp. If gankers land on-grid and the first time you notice them is while they lock you, you messed up.
Covetors – Are the easiest mining barge targets for gankers. Covetors can mine great quantities very quickly but to do so, they sacrifice most of their defensive options and are relatively slow to align. Consequently, using one should be reserved for use only while mining in a fleet and while paying careful attention.
Retrievers – Are appreciated for their increased ore hold and are therefore a popular choice. However, they too, sacrifice a lot of their defensive capabilities and while not as squishy as a Covetor, still make for an easy target.
Procurers – Heavily armed and the king of mining barges. While they do not mine as quickly as the other barges, their significant tank ensures that only the most dedicated gank fleet would be able to take one down. When combined with the other avoidance techniques mentioned previously, a Procurer is a very safe mining ship.
Porpoise and Orca – These are industrial command ships and possess much greater tanking capabilities than barges. However, they can only mine with drones, making their use for solo mining quite inefficient. While the Orca in particular has a much greater amount of hitpoints and increased tank, it is also a very expensive and slow ship, meaning it is often targeted by HVT gankers.
Exhumers – These are the T2 counterparts to mining barges. They offer increased mining capabilities with similar defensive options as their T1 brothers. Consequently, the only one ever worth considering is the Skiff (T2 version of the Procurer). However, given the significant cost of these ships, we recommend you just stick with a Procurer, unless you have ISK to burn.

Can I fight back?
It is recommended that you do not attempt to fight back when being ganked.
If you lose a ship, accept that you made multiple mistakes to get to that point and move on. Learn from the encounter and strive to avoid making the same mistakes again in the future. Don’t start chatting in local complaining about them. They often enjoy that more than the kill itself. Similarly, don’t private chat them. If you want to vent your frustration, speak to experienced members of your corp, so they can explain where you went wrong.

Summary
As you can see, ensuring you do not become a victim to ganking is reasonably straightforward. They should not be feared, nor should you feel as though you cannot mine or do other activities while they are in the system. Observe what has been discussed above and stay aware to stay safe.

If you do fall victim to any of the above, please don’t quit EVE. Try to learn from the experience and discuss it with your corp mates. Most people in High Sec have fallen victim to a gank at some point in their EVE career and everyone loses ships, it is part of the game and a crucial part of the economy. If you can’t afford to lose it, don’t fly it until you can.