Well, that or he is a rare strand of hay in a stack made mostly of needles. (I'm stretching the analogy to point out that you are correct that he is providing

Well, that or he is a rare strand of hay in a stack made mostly of needles. (I'm stretching the analogy to point out that you are correct that he is providing cover [the hay], but that most of the traffic currently is of the type that the surveilling entity is looking for [the needles]).