Bugs Pose a Threat to Every Industry
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the security guard on point for the All Blacks Ruby team and one of their managers found a bugging device that had been planted in their Sydney Hotel late last year.
The news hadn’t come to light earlier as the former general manager of the hotel in question had been told by the team’s management to keep the story under wraps; specifically asking that the Police not be involved as a means to avoid any negative press.
The covert listening device was stowed away inside one of the boardroom’s chairs, thereby raising concerns as to whom planted the device, what their intentions were and what they had heard during the team’s regular meetings. You can read the full story on the Western Australian’s webpage, here.
Boardrooms and higher-level executive’s offices are notoriously effective places to hide bugging equipment; aside from the fact that confidential or at least potentially sensitive information is discussed more frequently in these spaces, but more so in the fact that they tend to be more difficult to sweep because of the frequency at which they’re used and the amount of “buggable” furniture within them.
Larger organisations around the country tend to schedule regular sweeps as part of their ongoing attempts to minimise corporate espionage and confidential data leaks with smaller companies often overlooking the service all together. The reason? Most smaller companies or at least the owners of those companies tend to believe that they would never be bugged, whilst in fact there are many reasons as to why someone would be interested in having a fly on their wall.
Taking this into consideration, small business owners may be jumping to the conclusion that any bugs planted in their offices would have been brought in by a special operative from a distant and mysterious spy organization. The truth is far less romantic and far more real, in the fact that the culprit could be someone working within the company, a courier receiving a payment for the additional service or even maintenance staff looking for an extra bit of cash on the side.
Added to this, smaller companies may believe that they’re immune to bugs, but they may simply be considering the wrong types of bugs. Long gone are the days of sophisticated wire taps and detectives sitting for hours in nearby receiver vans… instead, these days, every mobile phone is a potential bug and therefore a threat to corporate confidentiality.
Mobile phones have a wide range of innocent uses, for sure, but they make the perfect basic surveillance tool because they can be used to record audio and video, track a person’s movements and transmit that information to a third party computer or linked device at the click of a button.
Furthermore, advanced bugging equipment, like fibre-optic microphones and button-sized cameras are becoming increasingly easy to come by and purchase online, with the likes of eBay and Amazon selling such devices from anywhere between $10 and $5000, depending on how seriously you’re taking your new hobby.
With all of this information in mind, Precise Investigation would like to remind you that we have the tools, expertise and experience necessary to perform professional, time-efficient and cost-effective bug sweeps on a domestic and commercial scale.
In having operatives stationed across Australia, ready and available to assist with any bug-related issues or potential counter-espionage, Precise Investigation can provide every Australian state with the same high levels of service and the outcomes our clients ultimately seek with regards to any bug or espionage-related concerns.
Reach out to us today by calling us on 1300 856 011, and have a chat with one of our knowledgeable investigators. We’ll be sure to provide you with the information you need right away, giving you the means to make an informed decision about your security risks and the most appropriate ways to decrease them and improve on your commercial confidentiality.
