Look in the glove compartment: maybe there’s a bug sitting there ?!

[Игорь Коракс]

Today we can listen to our conversations not only through spyware, but even through an iron and a heating battery.

Surely many people remember how in the era of Brezhnev, as soon as guests began to poison political jokes, the hostess covered the telephone with a pillow in order to protect herself from all-hearing "organs". The fear of wiretapping, fostered by the totalitarian regime, has successfully survived to this day. WikiLeaks recently added fuel to the fire by publishing the names of companies that manufacture equipment for monitoring conversations and computer correspondence in 125 countries. Two large companies supplying equipment to the SBU, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies were also named in Ukraine. The assumption that these companies can monitor ordinary citizens was immediately refuted. But neither the scandalous brainchild of Assange, nor the omnipotent Google knows how many firms and firms are actually ready to send a “big ear” to any of us.

NO RECEPTION AGAINST VOICE RECORDER

According to experts, a modern complex of listening equipment costs from $ 80,000 to $ 150,000 on the black market. Equipment is usually disguised as a regular laptop, so as not to arouse suspicion.

Inexpensive, but still effective, bugs remain. If they are on batteries, they are usually mounted under the countertop, in the glove compartment of a car or disguised in some sort of trinket. “Bugs” with constant power supply are comfortable in sockets, various alarms. To catch "insects" with the help of a specialist, you will have to pay from 80 to 120 hryvnia per square meter of space. Complete protection of the office from possible wiretapping is much more expensive. For the so-called noise of the air, blocking the leak of information from computer and office equipment should be laid out from 4,000 to 10,000 hryvnias per workstation. Acoustic protection will cost 7,000 hryvnias for one special generator and a small device that is installed on glass, batteries or walls. And such "little things" for one office will require at least four. The protection of the telephone network is about as much. A device for suppressing mobile communications will cost 7,000 hryvnias, and this is only an estimated cost.

But against the usual dictaphone, which can be disguised anywhere - in the cell phone, ballpoint pen, cigarette case, experts say, there is no effective protection. The only "antidote" is the acoustic noise flooring system. But it turns out that the same noise that will interfere with the recording will interfere with the conversation. Therefore, many company executives primarily practice not technical, but organizational protection - they allow only a limited verified circle of people to enter the office, do not keep them in places where important negotiations are held, presentations from competitors and even business partners.

They said to FAX: "FAS!"

Today, technical espionage has reached such a level that even the most innocuous-looking household item can be turned into a means of surveillance.

“There are several physical channels through which information can be taken,” educates us, Alexander Shpita, director of the RIAS research and production enterprise, which is developing information security tools, including for government agencies and authorities. - The first channel is radio engineering. We are surrounded by electromagnetic radiation, which can be removed using scanning equipment. A very effective acoustic channel: a laser beam is induced on the glass behind which several people are talking, and each word can be distinguished from a distance of up to 200 meters. The transmitter of information can also be a heating battery, building structures, and even an iron included in the outlet. When using special equipment, the role of the microphone will be freely played by building structures. A meter-long concrete wall is audible today.

And the most common way in which information is taken is through communications — telephones, electrical networks, fire alarms, and so on. A regular fax can record conversations: a program is installed that misses two calls and turns on on the third. At the same time, calls are not heard in the office, the device looks lifeless.

LISTEN TO PRESIDENTS, MAYORS AND DEPUTIES

Scandals around wiretapping periodically arise in different countries of the world. One of the most high-profile erupted in the winter of 2004, when in an interview with the BBC, former British Foreign Minister Claire Short said that British intelligence was listening to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the eve of the Iraq war.

In 2007, Clive Goodman, editor of the Royal News department of the British newspaper News of the World (NoW), and private detective Glen Mulkire received four and six months in prison for wiretapping, respectively. The investigation began after an article in November 2005 revealed that Prince William injured his knee. Journalists could find out about this only from the prince's voicemail. The investigation of the high-profile case resumed in 2001 - the London police estimated that a total of 4 thousand people, including officials and show business stars, had listened to the newspaper for the sake of sensationalism.

Ukraine in the sense of "spy passions" is no exception. Personally, Viktor Yushchenko said that in January 2009, at the height of the "gas war", the security services listened to telephone conversations with Tymoshenko. In 2008, spy equipment was discovered in his office by the mayor of Nikolaev Vladimir Chaika. One of the cameras was installed in the recreation room, the second - directly opposite the desktop of the mayor. A set of a microphone and a transmitter was found in a desktop drawer. The equipment was so high quality that it ensured the transmission of information over a distance of ten kilometers.

In the summer of this year, a scandal erupted in Odessa: the regional prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against a policeman for illegally tapping the telephone of people's deputy Sergei Kivalov. In 2009, the Security Service of Ukraine announced the seizure of three sets of high-quality equipment, through which they listened to mobile phones of deputies, businessmen and judges. And in August of that year, three Ukrainians were detained, who installed a wiretap in one of the elite hotels in the capital.

In a few words, how not to recall the notorious “Melnichenko films”. None of the experts, even though a little familiar with the technology and organization of the presidential cabinet security, believes in a digital voice recorder under Kuchma’s sofa. This was a real professional wiretap, which since the time of the KGB all state leaders have been exposed to.

WHO TREATS THERE AND CRAMPS

On the Internet you will find a lot of detective agencies offering services in the fight against bugs, but not a single offer to install them. However, the proverb "who heals, he cripples" in this case is confirmed by real cases.

At the end of winter 2010, SBU officers exposed in Dnepropetrovsk a group that, under the guise of a detective agency, was engaged in illegal surveillance. A day of "wiretapping" cost customers $ 150, for video surveillance had to lay out $ 250. In addition to Dnepropetrovsk, detectives worked successfully in Kiev and Odessa, keeping sight of both businessmen and officials.

Lawyers working for the commercial or personal interests of their customers do not disdain pampering with "bugs" and similar accessories. In January, the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case against a lawyer who was caught by the hand while secretly taking information from electronic media.

The SBU regularly initiates criminal proceedings against sellers of equipment for taking information, which indicates the demand for this kind of business. Yes, only at the end of last year, special services in the Chernivtsi region detained the distributor of a large batch of special equipment to remove information that was camouflaged for household appliances and office equipment. The goods pulled on 10 thousand hryvnias. In the State Customs Service, by the way, they note that the smuggling of listening equipment in Ukraine has almost tripled recently.

AT THE SIGHT - EVERYTHING

Many people think that today the whole radio broadcast is being tapped, but this is a myth - it would be too expensive a pleasure. But the fact that you can listen to anyone is true. None of the telephone exchanges, not a single mobile operator will receive a work permit without installing listening systems. Modern technology allows you to freely, being, for example, in Kiev, listen to conversations even on the Ivory Coast.

According to the legislation of Ukraine, telephone calls can be monitored only by court order in a criminal case. But this rule is violated, which is unofficially confirmed in the power structures. An unauthorized entry can help both solve a crime, expose a corrupt act, and become a powerful weapon in political games (all the same "films of Melnichenko"!).

In the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service and similar structures, even a cleaning lady knows that all the conversations are in full view. Therefore, individual cabinets are protected with the latest technology. The same thing happens in state institutions. According to some reports, about 20 million of only budget funds are spent on information protection in Ukraine, not counting commercial injections. The amount may seem colossal, but by world standards it is negligible.

“Each year, the flow of information doubles,” says Alexander Shpita, director of the RIAS research and production enterprise. - In the United States, 30 percent of the funds to create an information base are pledged to protect it. In Ukraine - only 3%, so our country is still very vulnerable in this regard. A new round of information security is expected by Euro 2012.

It is generally accepted that industrial espionage in Ukraine is not as developed as, for example, in Britain or the USA, but nevertheless it is actively gaining momentum. First of all, overheard secrets are a good means of blackmail, especially in the conditions of our shadow economy. Secondly, they are a powerful weapon in the competition. Eavesdropping helps assess the size of the adversary’s income, intercept profitable deals, lure managers with a large client base, get acquainted with new market capture technologies and product advertising. Therefore, experts advise that the most important business negotiations be conducted not in fashionable restaurants or hotels, but in a quiet green meadow with mobile phones turned off. True, no one will guarantee that in your interlocutor’s pocket there will be no small recorder.

Photo by Maxim LYUKOV, Ukrinform and Thinkstock.

FROM THE HISTORY OF THE QUESTION

People learned to eavesdrop on each other as soon as they became speechless. Primitive tribes dug up the path of a fat mammoth from each other, the walls of medieval castles were equipped with cavity cavities to weave palace intrigues, the musketeer Athos listened to the conversation of the milady with the cardinal through the chimney. But hardly the Italian Guglielmo Marconi and the Russian Alexander Popov in 1895 invented information exchange systems using radio waves, other minds began to work on how to intercept this information.

On the territory of tsarist Russia, the official date for the creation of radio and electronic intelligence is considered March 21, 1904, when, by order of the commander of the Pacific Squadron, ship signalmen were instructed to record enemy emails without fail.

OFFICIALLY

What threatens technical espionage

According to Art. 359 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the illegal acquisition, sale or use of special technical means of secretly obtaining information is punishable by a fine or restriction or even imprisonment for up to 4 years.

For repeated acts or withdrawal of information by prior conspiracy, a group of persons provides from 4 to 7 years in prison.

***

In 2011 alone, the Security Service of Ukraine stopped 276 facts of illegal circulation of tacit information withdrawal funds.

About 3,000 pieces of special equipment were seized from violators, including a complex for monitoring cellular communications.

240 criminal cases were instituted.

126 people were convicted, 71 - brought to administrative responsibility.

TO THIS TOPIC

Four naive questions about cell phones

Is it true that:

1. Even when the mobile phone is turned off, you can determine the location of its owner?

Not true when it comes to widespread models. A non-activated cellphone is a lifeless item.

2. Smartphones are capable of spying on their masters.

True. And not only smartphones, but also the latest models of expensive phones. A program can be recorded in them, which turns on automatically and listens to conversations. In rare cases, such a program may work even in a non-activated phone, so for especially important calls it is recommended to remove the battery from the device.

3. The simpler the phone, the easier it is to track the movement of its owner.

Not true. In cheap phone models do not provide "spy stuff." The more expensive the device, the greater their likelihood.

4. The whole broadcast is listened, and special equipment is turned on for keywords, after which the conversation begins

Not true. Listening to the whole broadcast is harder than looking for a button in a city dump. Keywords are searched for by specific subscribers.

Source https://kp.ua

 

[Частный детектив. Владивосток.]

Thanks Igor ! Interesting !

 

[Детективное агентство Тула]

Really curious.

 

[Евгений СБ]

Thank. Interesting.

 

[Игорь Эдуардович]

Thank! I read it with interest!

 

[Патрушев Михаил Владимирович]

Thank you! Interesting article.

 

[Частный детектив. Панда. Краснодар.]

Thanks Igor! Very interesting stuff.

 

[Плотников Юрий Михайлович]

Interesting stuff, thanks!

 

[Sevhelp]

Igor, thanks, cool and informative article.

 

[Частный детектив. Тайный советник. Омск.]

Igor, well done !!! Thanks for the interesting stuff.