This TSCM video page will answer many of your questions about security, counterespionage measures and the different techniques and equipment involved in the worlds of espionage and counterespionage. We hope you find them informative. If you still have questions after viewing them, feel free to contact us.
A malicious spy cable is any cable (electrical or optical) which performs an unexpected, and unwanted function. The most common malicious capabilities are found in USB cables. Data exfiltration, GPS tracking, and audio eavesdropping are the primary malicious functions. (11:30)
Countering corporate espionage is more than not discussing business in public. FM wireless microphones, commonly used in business meetings, can be intercepted up to a mile away. Watch a corporate espionage spy take advantage of this. (1:59)
Bugging a boardroom is simple and it can be implemented in a matter of seconds. See how easily the corporate espionage spy can compromise a Board meeting. (1:59)
There are many ways someone can enter your offices to plant bugs and other electronic surveillance devices. This is just one example. Alerting our clients to these vulnerabilities is just part of our counterespionage service. (1:30)
A quick look into a desktop telephone to inspect it for implanted eavesdropping devices. Fortunately, none seen. Eavesdropping or corporate espionage concerns? Contact us. (0:20)
There are many corporate espionage tricks to get around your security measures. Physical security professionals Brent White at WeHackPeople.com, and Deviant Ollam, and Rob Pingor of RedTeam Alliance demonstrate. (3:30)
An audio only interview with Kevin D. Murray about the professional TSCM inspections he conducts for business and government begins at 6:05. Courtesy – PRI – Public Radio International (14:22)
The term wand refers to an antenna. A wand waver is a person pretending they know what they are doing. They can be very glib and convincing. Fact: Nine out of ten sweep teams are not in the top 10% of their class. (0:16)
Is he an employee coming to work?
Is he a vendor attending a proposal meeting?
Is he here to repair something? It doesn’t matter.
He was allowed on your premises for a legitimate purpose. (0:16)
If you ever wanted to look over the shoulder of a bug sweep team in action, this is your chance! The Daily Planet interviewed the Murray Associates technicians while they conducted an electronic eavesdropping detection audit. The video clip shows them conducting spectrum analysis, nonlinear junction detection, infrared detection, a Wi-Fi security and compliance audit and more. (5:27 – Low resolution. Posted for informational value. Retired versions of our instrumentation shown.)
Transcript:
Male host – But first. Speaking of technology, as we seem to be all the time, it seems getting to be harder and harder to keep electronic file safe. In fact the world of corporate secrets, protecting files is Big Business.
Female host – That’s right. Corporate espionage is alive and well, which is why there are companies coming out with some highly sophisticated technologies to help sniff out a spy. We hooked up with one to see what they can do.
(music)
Male host – An important meeting is about to take place in this New York hotel. But before it happens Kevin Murray’s team is going to shake down this room. It’s his job to make sure company secrets stay that way.
Kevin – You never know who you’re going to run into. Could be anybody from foreign government right on down to the secretary just wants to know what the boss is up to.
Male host – Kevin Murray is an expert in eavesdropping.
Kevin – The telephone is the most dangerous instrument in the office. Of course you can wire tap it. Everybody knows that. But they don’t realize is that the telephone itself as a couple of microphones in it and a couple speakers in it which can also be used as microphones. It also has plenty of open space inside, and it has power coming to it all the time. And, if that weren’t bad enough, it’s right on the desk in front of the person you want to listen to
Male host – Kevin’s been doing this for more than 30 years and he’s got some pretty sophisticated equipment that lets him see into unusual places.
Kevin – …and ceiling in this room probably about 12 to 15 feet up. So, we’re going to take our little eyeball… and just push up the ceiling tile. And, now we can poke around and see what’s going on upstairs.
Male host – Some things aren’t visible to the human eye which is why they have this.
Andrew – So, this is a thermal imaging camera, which we use to look for sources of heat in the room. Basically, anything that’s electronic, that has current running through it heats up, like your television at home.
Male host – It is super-sensitive to heat.
Kevin – Here is an example of just how little heat this camera sees. I’m going to take a look at my fingertip and the heat coming from off of that.
(music while drawing on the wall)
That’s amazing, it really is amazing. But, that’s worst case scenario. A bug would look a little bit more like this. (shows heat hand print on the wall)
(music)
Male host – So far, they haven’t found anything in the ceiling or the walls. Time to sweep the rest of the boardroom.
Kevin – Our next test involves an instrument called a Nonlinear Junction Detector. It’s one of the basic tests in electronic countermeasures. Very simply what it does is it sends out a radio signal. When the signal hits something like a transistor, or a diode, also called a nonlinear junction, it reflects back to us at twice the frequency.
Bill – Initially, when we come into a room object I try to tag every object in the room. And, as I sweep it over, I could actually go quite quickly, to accommodate the size of the room, but I do it carefully enough so every indication I get I can analyze and see what it’s giving me. As a case in point here, I’m getting an incredibly high reading for a nonlinear junction, so that forces me to go and resolve what that anomaly is. In this case, it’s our test strip, that we ultilize, literally, for testing.
Male host – Even if Kevin can’t find a bug he can tell if information is going to the wrong person. This state-of-the-art equipment tracks hidden radio signals.
Kevin – Our next instrument is a spectrum analyzer. This is a very special instrument. The thing that’s special about this is it allows us to see signals behind the signals. FM transmitters, like your FM broadcast FM radio stations, they transmit all the time, very strong signals, they make an ideal location for hiding your other signal. Normally you can’t see that. That’s very very difficult to discover. This is one of the few instruments that does that.
Male host – No bugs here but there are other ways to spy on a company.
Kevin – All it takes takes is somebody with a setup like this to be out in the parking lot, and hook onto one of the computers on the inside, and go all the way into the mainframe, if the security settings aren’t correct.
Male host – This machine looks unusual Wi-Fi transmissions.
Kevin – As we look as these transmissions, we can tell what they are associated with, whether it be a laptop or a handheld portable device like a tablet or telephone.
Male host – Although they have scanned the room completely and find no signs of espionage the job does not end here.
Kevin – The sweep of the room went well. We didn’t find any electronic eavesdropping devices, but this is a pre-meeting inspection. Normally it doesn’t end at this point. The meeting usually commences right after we’re finished and we go to another location and set up the radio receivers, and continue monitoring for things that might be brought into the room at the last minute, by somebody on the staff, or maybe by one of the meeting participants themselves.
Male host – By listening in, Kevin has found a way to keep company secrets.
The New York Times / Discovery Channel documentary with Murray Associates explaining eavesdropping detection and the specialized instrumentation which helps discover the spying. (2:42 – Low resolution. Posted for informational value. Retired versions of our instrumentation shown.)
Thermal Emissions Spectrum Analysis (TESA), an electronic eavesdropping detection technology pioneered by Murray Associates and used during their TSCM bug sweeps for business and government. (1:21, low resolution)
Murray Associates TSCM X-ray analysis offers the most assurance a room object isn’t bugged. Used when the stakes are high and the opposition is sophisticated. Eavesdropping or corporate espionage concerns? Contact us. (0:37)
Kevin D. Murray of Murray Associates conducts an eavesdropping detection audit and provides a debriefing for James Carville and Mary Matalin. (Executive Producers: George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, 4:15 – Low resolution. Posted for informational value. Retired versions of our instrumentation shown.)
Synopsis: As the show opens, the offices of Bergstrom Lowell are being searched for listening devices. James Carville and Mary Matalin talk to Kevin D. Murray, a consultant, about increasing their “perimeter security.” He points out that none of the offices have locks on the doors, and suggests shredding their garbage and installing a noise masking system to thwart eavesdroppers. When Matalin wonders if they’re just being paranoid, Murray tells them to trust their instincts if they feel something is wrong. Apparently, all these precautions are in response to suspicions about the real-life leak to columnist Robert Novak of the name of a CIA operative.
Discussion of business espionage, corporate-level debugging (TSCM) and the electronic countermeasures instrumentation involved, with Kevin D. Murray. Especially important is the FBI’s warning. (3:05 – Posted for informational value. Retired versions of our instrumentation shown.)
Fox News follows Murray Associates on an assignment. (5:43 – Low resolution. Posted for informational value. Retired versions of our instrumentation shown.)
Who we are. What we do. How we can help you. (4:17 – Posted for informational value. Retired versions of our instrumentation shown.)
Have a Question About TSCM?
If you have any questions about the TSCM services provided by Murray Associates, simply fill out the form below, or call us from a safe area and phone.
If you think you are under active electronic surveillance, or believe you have discovered a bug or covert video camera, go to our Emergency TSCM page. The procedural checklist there will tell you exactly what you need to do next.
