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VOLUME 9
NUMBER 1 | January 1994 |
Justice is a commodity which, in a more or less adulterated condition, the State sells to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, taxes and personal service.
- Ambrose Bierce
TSCM Seminar
If we can get things organized in time, the next Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) seminar will be held in New Orleans on March 17-18 1994. Terry Couch of Acadian Investigations feels there is enough interest in the South Louisiana area alone, so keep that period in mind when looking at the next seminar. If it fits in with your agenda, contact me and Išll keep you individually apprised of the status.
As in the past, the seminar will be held on Thursday and Friday. Enclosed with the Hot Micx is a sheet containing information TSCI requests you provide on your company or organizational letterhead. Please include a signature.
Sessions will begin at 8 AM with introductions and will continue until approximately 5 PM. Topics of discussion will include the who, what, how, why and when of TSCM sweeps and who should be performing it. As they are an integral part of a TSCM sweep, physical security, information loss detection and prevention and computer security will be addressed.
Sessions are presented in an informal manner. Attendance, for the most part, will be restricted to corporate security and law enforcement personnel.
Dress is casual.
in as much as the seminar will be held in New Orleans and the costs will be considerably greater, due to travel costs and hotel fees, the cost for this session will be $425.00 per person. If two or more are attending from the same organization, contact me for rates.
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing; others judge us by what we have done.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
400 MHz Transmitters are
alive and well
(for limited periods of time and distance)
Last year, TSCI performed a TSCM examination of several offices and a conference room in a multistory building in another state. Recently, the security director contacted me with information a device had been found in an office in another part of the building (The office was not related to the areas examined).
The transmitter was a described as operating at approximately 400 MHz, powered by two button type 1.5 volt batteries, and had a range of approximately 100-200 feet (when new batteries were installed and a test performed). The batteries were dead, so it had been there for at least several days. It was found during an office move.
There is no moral to this story, just information about what is going on.
For this company, that makes two transmitters found by company employees. They were found at different operations and in different states. In both instances, the batteries were dead and both had limited transmitting range. The first one was of a type easily purchased at one of the ubiquitous łSpy Shops˛ where you can purchase almost anything pertaining to surveillance and counter surveillance (at a price designed to give them a profit margin of approximately 150-300%).
My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.
- Charles F. Kettering
November's Seminar
Very briefly, the seminar in November went over very well, according to the comments of those attending (I still can't get anyone to send me a critique sheet, so I'm hoping the format is to everyones' liking).
Harley Fanshaw, a distributor of video equipment located here in the Phoenix area, loaned me several cameras and monitors for use during the show and tell portion of the presentation. I have also purchased video cameras and other items from Harley for clients who have had a requirement as a result of thefts, breakins, etc.
Regardless of where you are located, if YOU have a requirement for video equipment of any sort, either by the piece or in bulk, I would suggest you contact Harley for his prices; I can almost guarantee you'll be extremely pleased with the savings.
Again, thanks to the Sahara Hotel and Casino, and especially to Cliff Holder (who took over as Director of Security when Art Steele moved to the MGM Grand Casino as Security Director). Cliff assisted in clearing up a couple of situations with rooms for seminar attendees as well as arranging for the suite in which the seminar was conducted.
We are not free, it was not intended we should be. A book of rules is placed in our cradle, and we never get rid of it until we reach our graves. Then we are free, and only then.
- Ed Howe
Notes from Bob Runyon
Bob Runyon has been at it again. He took a cellular telephone and modified it so the audio and squelch was off. He also disabled the "in use" light as well as the ringer. He then called the modified phone and it activated without any visible or audible indicators, a remote controlled bug. As he mentioned in the letter, you might want to ban cellular telephones from rooms or areas where sensitive meetings are occurring (along with telephones, intercoms, speakers, wireless intercoms, beepers, audio/video recorders, etc.
By the way, he did the same with a cordless telephone.
Fortune knocks at every man's door once in a life, but in a good many cases the man is in a neighboring saloon and does not hear her.
- Mark Twain
More from Bob on what's going on in the Florida area. He was recently contacted and asked to do a TSCM sweep. Bob's specialty is radio intercept, not TSCM, so he referred them to me. Rather than pay the air fare and my exorbitant fees, they opted to use a local PI (here in the Phoenix area, I guess I'm classified as a local PI). Bob said the client watched a part of the sweep and saw the individual walking around with an antenna and an instrument that looked like a small television set. The equipment had the word OSCILLOSCOPE printed on it. Bob double checked to make sure it wasn't a spectrum analyzer the individual had seen-the client was certain the nomenclature was correct. (So far, the client has spent over $2000.00 on sweeps by this individual)
Bob is also aware of an ex-FBI agent doing a booming business using one of the frequency counters advertised for sale in electronics magazines for approximately $250.00-$400.00.
And last of all from the sunny shores of Florida, a young PI asked Bob to check out his "bug detector", which looked like an ordinary pen, but would sniff out hidden transmitters. Bob stuck it in the air conditioning duct of his house and it picked up the audio from a nearby radio station very well (theory of wave guides and peaks and nulls in signals). The young PI was crestfallen. By the way, the young PI is not really a PI, he is operating without a PI license.
Don't count your blessings, those of you not in Florida; the same thing is going on in every major city and state in the United States.
Always forgive your enemies--nothing annoys them so much.
- Oscar Wilde
Computer Security?
Speaking of computers, I recently performed a TSCM examination for a client. As a function of the examination, I always check the computers to see if they are password protected or to determine the level of information contained on them. This is with prior notification and approval of the client. In this instance, I was assured the computer was password protected. I believe it was, because I couldnšt get the screen saver to go away, but out of curiosity, I tried a couple of things and in less than a minute I was able to access all the desktop files and E-Mail.
Just to clear the air, I am in no way a "computer hacker". I just got luck and found some kind of back door access to the system. I own a Macintosh LC because I would rather start working than programming when I have something to do.
Capitalism and communism stand at opposite poles. Their essential difference is this: The communist, seeing the rich man and his fine home, says: "No man should have so much." The capitalist, seeing the same thing, says: "All men should have as much."
- Phelps Adams
If a child annoys you, quiet him by brushing his hair. If this doesn't work, use the other side of the brush on the other end of the child.
- Anonymous
Nationwide Investigative Network
I've had several inquiries regarding the entry in the last issue of THE HOT MICX regarding Intelnet so Išll print it again. INTELNET is a nationwide organization of former federal investigators, all operating independently covering most major cities most of the 50 states as well as internationally. Their expertise is varied, with members specialization in fields such as fraud, white collar crime, organized criminal activities, undercover operations, audio and video tape processing, electronic countermeasures, covert surveillance, etc.
There is no charge to be placed on the mailing list. Jim will send you an up-to-date listing of the investigators and their area of coverage. For information, write to
INTELNET
PO Box 350
Gladwyne, PA. 19035
Attn: Jim Carino
He can also be contacted at 215-525-1097 or FAX 215-752-9620
Alexander Hamilton originated the put and take system in our national treasury: the taxpayers put it in, and the politicians take it out.
- Will Rogers
Wanted
I am still looking for articles which may appear in newspapers or magazines pertaining to eavesdropping or surveillance.
If you wish to share an experience which has occurred in your organization, provide a sanitized version. It may be of help to others.
I am always looking for padlocks or combination locks to which the keys or combinations have been lost. These are used in TSCM seminars or security presentations.
Tim Johnson
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