Simon Clements, director of electronic counter-surveillance (ECM) consultancy Templepan Security Systems, discusses what ECM is all about.
First, he describes a one-off sweep.
I had arrived at the main reception of a large organisation in the City of London in the early morning and an hour before the board room was to be used. I was escorted to the directors’ suite on the ninth floor. My task was to check for listening devices in and around the directors’ offices and the board room. I had been called in to carry out a routine check only and there was no particular reason for the inspection, only that it had not been carried out for some time. I went into the board room and set up my equipment to examine the area for the presence of strong RF signals. Normally, certainly not always, a bug present in the area will produce the strongest signal. ECM work in the City can be tricky as there are so many signals to analyse, mainly telephone and data traffic in a point to point path between transmitting aerials which pass straight through the building and cause false alarms with detection equipment. Within a few seconds my detection equipment sprung to life and indicated the presence of a strong signal, probably a bug in the room. A search of the area with a strongest signal detection meter soon located a modified GSM mobile phone bug. It was a small device and fixed with Blu-tack to the underside of the bottom shelf of the lectern which was to be used in about half an hour for the meeting. The device, made in Israel, is one of many I have seen and is essentially a mobile phone which requires a SIM card (usually a pay-as-you-go to avoid detection) and some batteries. When the SIM card is dialled the modified, highly sensitive microphone in the device is made active and the caller listens in to the conversations in the room. The caller was already listening to me at work. If he had not been, then the device would have been dormant and radio frequency power detection would not have found it. Other detection methods would. The device was removed and handed to the client. This episode clearly justifies the effort which goes into ECM sweeping. Without it you can never be sure that your meeting rooms are clear of listening devices.
Info leaks
The type of inspections that should be made now cover a range of searches as new threats generated from modern technology are opening up every day. It is not always understood by management that they should take the most basic precautions against eavesdropping. Information leaks via telephones, faxes, wireless LANs, boardroom radio microphones and mail all need security procedures to minimise their exposure to information loss. Many executives seriously undervalue these risks and are blind to the value of information within their organisation. Information is the most important and valuable asset an organisation has, yet it is the physical assets that receive the most protection, not the spoken or written word. What is most at risk is information on prices, competitors, staff, plans, acquisitions, new products and new technology, in roughly that order. Eavesdropping is quite a natural thing to want to do. It is quite normal to want to listen in to a conversation in a restaurant or to look at documents on another’s desk or view someone else’s PC screen. Executives often seem quite unaware that bugging does take place and believe that their premises are very unlikely to be a target for such activity. They will be confident that the premises are physically secure with the use of access control, CCTV and security guards. What is forgotten are the activities of those who have legitimate access, such as cleaners, guards, outside contactors and the staff themselves. Security systems all break down once you allow unsupervised contractors into the building and to work in protected areas. Why does this happen so often? I have frequently worked along side other contractors at a weekend who are, for example, maintaining the air conditioning system in the ceiling areas. Are they putting in bugs whilst I am trying to find them?
Sweep approaches
Companies seem to adopt one of two approaches to ECM sweeps. They either carry out the work themselves having bought all the equipment and received training on its use from the supplier, or they call in a sweep team and have the job done professionally. I believe strongly in the professional approach. Here the sweep team has huge everyday experience in the business which is being constantly upgraded. As trends in eavesdropping change so do the detection methods. The in-house sweep operator is usually unable to spend the time keeping up with modern devices and detection methods. There is also a large capital cost of purchasing ECM equipment and continual training required to keep ‘current’. I believe that a security report issued by an independent sweep team after the inspection has more worth than one produced in-house simply because a more objective view has been made. The subject of electronic counter-surveillance is fascinating and exciting. It is dynamic business and needs constant review to ensure that it is always up-to-date and ahead of those intent on stealing our confidential information. Companies should constantly review their ECM procedures. Our company, will always provide a free assessment for those wishing to update and review their procedures.
About Templepan
The covert and electronic counter-surveillance consultancy was founded in 1972 by the current Managing Director, Peter Clements. For high risk profile individuals, the firm also covers security for VIP residences. Visit:
