Eavesdropping: You can’t say “It won’t happen to me”  IT IS HAPPENING!

 

The cases of electronic eavesdropping that get reported in the press are increasing, but they are only the tip of the iceberg. Eavesdropping is like computer fraud, no one likes admitting they have been a victim, but everyone admits that it is on the increase.

 

Whether its commercial espionage, of even a difficult divorce, someone will want to learn as much as they can about you and use that information to their own advanatge.


When you start to think about it, you may well know business associates or friends who have experienced an apparently inexplicable leak of sensitive information, or you may have experienced it yourself.

 

The following excerpt from a BBC news programme from 2011 gives an idea of how we work albeit the technology has come on a long way since then !

 

 

 

Modern technology makes eavesdropping very easy for the industrial spy. The same developments that have made the mobile phone even smaller and cheaper, have made bugging devices more available and affordable and made them harder than ever to detect.

You don’t need to go through a cloak-and-dagger routine to acquire them either, they’re on the shelves in most High Street electronics shops. They’re available by mail order, or on the Internet. You could pick up the phone and join the ranks of the industrial spies by quoting your credit card number.

Theft of information from your business can mean the difference between success and failure of an important project and no insurance company will cover you for the loss of information.

By the nature of our business, many people think that we will plant eavesdropping devices to gather information on their behalf. We do not and will not.

However it is interesting to note that we receive more enquiries asking us to plant devices, than we do asking for us to search for them!

It is therefore reasonable to assume that there are probably thousands of devices planted in homes, offices and boardrooms throughout the world without the knowledge of the occupier. In many cases such devices are connected to a permanent power supply and will continue to transmit information for a long and protracted period.

Technology has now moved on so much that there are CCTV cameras connected to transmitters that are so small, that they can be concealed within a matchbox and can transmit a clear picture and sound for well over a 100 metres.

The most important things to remember about eavesdropping is that it’s getting easier and easier and that the rewards far outweigh the risks.

When faced with such a depressing scenario, what can you do?

The most certain way to ensure that your offices are totally ‘clean’ is to take action now.