Technical Surveillance Countermeasures

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What is Technical Surveillance Counter Measures (TSCM)?

Technical Surveillance Counter Measures; also known as electronic bug detection, bug sweeping or surveillance counter measures; is the method of electronically and physically inspecting offices, buildings, homes, vehicles, telephone systems, network systems and cabling for the existence of eavesdropping devices and to identify weaknesses in security that could potentially be used to install illegal devices.

What is the threat or cost of being complacent in this area?

FactThe cost of not implementing a comprehensive security architecture in your environment leaves you vulnerable! Choosing to ignore your concerns or suspicions leaves you open to numerous threats including theft, blackmail, financial losses, and litigation!

FactThe cost of Cybercrime and Industrial Espionage in Australia alone amounts to over $4.6 Billion Dollars per annum! (AON) Worldwide this figure jumps to over $445 Billion!(CSIS) Keep in mind this is only what gets reported as many companies stay silent for fear of harming their stock value.

Fact The discovery of hidden recording devices and transmitters has increased dramatically as they have become more readily available and simpler to use. This practice is no longer limited to covert operatives. Even someone with only a Primary School education could ruin you or your company!

Fact “Competitive Intelligence” is sometimes used as a politically correct term for Industrial Espionage. The number of people worldwide advertising this skill in their professional profiles and LinkedIn, numbers in the hundreds of thousands! Their skills may range from standard social engineering techniques to sophisticated covert electronic installations. Competitive Intelligence specialists are well funded and continually training with the latest technology and covert practices.

FactThe old complacent attitudes of “It won’t happen to us” or “That doesn’t happen over here” is no protection when facing Litigation or Bankruptcy. Neglect often equals negligence and that alone can be so damaging you may never recover.

Fact Electronic bugs, listening devices, hidden cameras, Bluetooth bugs, infra-red beams, burst/packet bugs, spread spectrum and other similar eavesdropping devices are all easily available over the internet to anyone with a credit card.

Fact The threat of electronic bugging is very real! The cost of not acting can cost you financially, close your business, land you in court, or put you in danger!

Fact In 2015, the British insurance company Lloyd’s estimated that Corporate Espionage cost businesses as much as $400 billion a year, which includes direct damage plus post-attack disruption to the normal course of business. Some vendor and media forecasts over the past year put the figure as high as $500 billion and more.

Fact From 2013 to 2015 these costs quadrupled, and it looks like there will be another quadrupling from 2015 to 2019. Juniper research recently predicted that the rapid digitization of consumers’ lives and enterprise records will increase the cost of data breaches to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, increasing to almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015.

What is the Unique NSI Methodology?

What is unique to NSI is that we assess your ENTIRE working environment including the premises, the staff, your practices, your technology, and external threats.

After completing a full technical threat assessment, a bespoke security package is designed for your specific environment and circumstances. We uncover every vulnerability that rogue elements would exploit in order to steal from or damage you.

Part of this is your TSCM Bug Sweep which comprises of:

Physical search for hidden transmitters, microphones, and cameras.
Radio frequency spectrum analysis;
Non-Linear Junction Evaluation;
Thermal Emissions Analysis;
Telephone and network analysis;
VoIP system analysis;
Electronic inspection for covert video setups;
Carrier current analysis of AC outlets and cabling throughout the premises.

All NSI Bug Sweep Teams only use equipment that is commissioned by Intelligence agencies, Defence departments and governments worldwide.

Our highly specialised equipment is recognised by the Department of Defence (DOD), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), among others.

NSI has committed over seven figures on an annual basis to constantly equip its teams with the latest Government spec equipment. With this equipment, we are able to detect the presence of active and passive bugging devices, digital burst/packet bugs, hidden camera setups, keystroke logging devices, telephone interception and wiretaps, laser microphones, infrared beams, and more.

All of our TSCM teams can currently scan up to 90 GHz in real time, more than any other TSCM provider in the country.

As a comparison, devices used by other companies in Australia will generally scan up to 12 GHz and only some companies will have a 24 GHz capability.

Beware anyone who tells you this is not necessary. They may be making excuses for not having the clearance, training, or budget necessary to purchase Government Grade Equipment. Worse yet they may be unaware or inexperienced with detecting the latest crop of 5G capable devices and threats in unlicensed bands up to 90 GHz.

The Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) are fast-tracking super high to extremely high frequencies. These frequencies, far exceeding 24 GHz, are a regular occurrence in the Asia Pacific Region. NSI has detected burst transmitters operating at these frequencies both in Australia and Internationally since 2008.

Burst transmitters are covert recording devices that operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and only transmit at a predetermined time for a set burst limit which could be set between 15 to 30 seconds or more. These transmissions are commonly set for the early hours of the morning over a weekend in an effort to avoid detection.

What this means is your attacker can now transmit much longer ultra high-quality audio and video recordings almost instantly. This makes the transmissions even harder to detect by the inexperienced or under equipped, as the data is transmitted far more quickly at a frequency they are incapable of detecting.

What makes these devices so attractive to the criminal element is the fact that the quantity of data able to be transmitted far surpasses the now superseded covert devices. A burst transmitter operating at 90 GHz has the potential to transmit up to 10 Gigabytes of data per second. That is 300GB’s of data over a 30-second burst! When you consider the average DVD contains 8GB’s of high-quality audio and video footage, the threat to your business can be catastrophic.

At NSI, our international exposure has allowed us the opportunities to experience first hand these threats as they emerge and prepare our clientele with cutting edge countermeasures.

If you suspect someone is spying on you at your workplace or premises – call us immediately! However, do it from a safe location, i.e. phone box or mobile phone away from the potential threat. Avoid significant discussions in the surrounding area until we are able to confirm the room or phone line is safe. Our experienced operatives will arrange a private meeting and determine the best course of action to take in order to save your intellectual property, financial data, and trade secrets from being stolen. NSI offers TSCM Bug Sweeps in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Australia & Worldwide