Catching a Bug in the Boardroom

Behind any wall a microwave listening device may lurk.

Technology can listen for the electronic waves these bugs emit.

Even before 007, telephones were tapped. Guess what?

They still are. Every phone needs to be checked.

There are bugs that can monitor every keystroke made on a laptop or computer and capture what you type. These bugs have signatures that tell the experts exactly where they are hidden.

Video has been shrinking. Cameras can be placed anywhere and can record and send everything happening in the room. Cameras emit electronic noise sensitive devices can hear.

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When you bring the counterespionage experts into the boardroom, they can sweep it with sophisticated electronic tools that analyze radio spectrums, search for imaging devices and find out if your data is safe.

CATCHING A BUG IN THE BOARDROOM Listening devices are tiny. They can be planted anywhere.

The challenge is to find them.

It happens—people secretly listening and watching.

Boardrooms are vulnerable.

There are many reasons why shady characters snoop. To steal business, trade and technology secrets. To make money from a stock. To leak board-level disagreements or management departures.

But there are steps you can take to stop secrets from being stolen, even in today’s hyper-transparent world.

Our voices vibrate windows.

These vibrations can be picked up by faraway lasers, turned into sound and recorded. Laser detectors can find these bugs.

Think metal tape. That’s how bad guys often connect their listening devices to windows, doors, ceilings floors and walls. Metal detectors find that tape.

I LLUSTRATION BY PAUL GARLAND CONTENT COURTESY INTERNATIONAL SECURITY GROUP, LLC

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