'This goes no further ...'

'Mobile Phones'

'Undetectable'

'Seiko Epson Develops Micro Flying Robot'

'Bugging'

'Almost Invisible Wireless Covert Earpiece'

News

(AFP)  -- 'This goes no further ...'

Following revelations about bugging at the United Nations, is there any way of ensuring that your private conversations stay that way?
News that Kofi Annan and other senior UN figures may have been routinely bugged by US or British security services has caused a huge political row around the world. But it will also have caused alarm among other people in the public eye who deal with sensitive information - or anyone, indeed, who values their privacy.

If the secretary general of the United Nations cannot prevent his private conversations from being listened to by all and sundry, who can?

It seems if someone wants to listen to what you are saying badly enough, there is very little you can do to stop it.

"Technological advances, particularly in the fields of power supply and miniaturization, mean that its now possible to bug almost anywhere and anything," says Charles Shoe bridge, a former counter-terrorism intelligence officer.

"Similar advances have enormously improved anti-bugging capabilities too, and an enormous effort has gone into making communications secure - particularly those of governments and even large commercial organizations.

"However, if security is absolutely critical, it will always pay to assume that a conversation is at least capable of being monitored."

(AP) -- 'Mobile Phones'

According to security experts, the most common listening device remains the electronic bug. But government agencies such as the CIA and MI5 have far more advanced systems at their disposal.

Powerful uni-directional microphones can pick up conversations through open windows. If the window is closed, radio waves or a laser beam can be bounced off the glass. The vibrations detected can be translated into speech.

But potentially the most powerful tool for the modern spy is the mobile phone.
Mobiles that double as listening devices can be bought over the internet. Spy phones are easy to find on criminal websites like: www.spybox.eu

(REUTERS) -- 'Undetectable'
 
Today's spies are also able to convert conventional phones into bugs without the owners' knowledge. Experts believe this is the most likely method used to gather information in the UN building.

Mobiles communicate with their base station on a frequency separate from the one used for talking. If you have details of the frequencies and encryption codes being used you can listen in to what is being said in the immediate vicinity of any phone in the network.

According to some reports, intelligence services do not even need to obtain permission from the networks to get their hands on the codes. So provided it is switched on, a mobile sitting on the desk of a politician or businessman can act as a powerful, undetectable bug. The technology also exists to convert land line telephones into covert listening devices.

(DPA) -- 'Seiko Epson Develops Micro Flying Robot'

Seiko Epson Corp. is developing a flying robot that looks like a miniature helicopter and is about the size of a giant bug. The company hopes it'll prove handy for security, disaster rescue and space exploration.

The robot, 3.35 inches tall and 0.4 ounces, follows a flight-route program sent by Bluetooth wireless from a computer. On board is a 32-bit microcontroller, a super-thin motor, a digital camera that sends blurry images and a tiny gyro-sensor, which the company said may also appear in digital cameras and cell phones as soon as this year to help deliver more precise images.

The Micro Flying Robot barely managed to get off the ground in a demonstration this week. It crashed off the table at one point and required long waits for battery changes. It can fly just three minutes at a time, for now, and its lift was wobbly because the machine's precision is not much better than a wind-up toy.

But developers say its power, relative to its minuscule size, makes it potentially a useful tool for rescue and surveillance. The robot is not yet available for sale; a commercial model is planned for release in two or three years.

(BELGA) -- 'Bugging'

The object to the right is a bug - a tiny microphone that can be hidden almost anywhere. It is but one in a startling arsenal of devices used today to spy on personal enemies, competing companies, and other world powers. Such devices played a major role in the recent spying controversy between the United States and the Soviet Union. Much was written about the resulting international skirmishing. But little has been said about the devices themselves, their incredible capabilities, and the astonishing technology on which they are based. Almost nothing has been written about how some of the most interesting equipment works.

What kinds of bugs are available? How are they put in place? Detected? Designed to avoid detection? What about tuning in on the computer down the block to learn the secrets it contains? Bugging typewriters? Bouncing laser beams against window panes? In the larger picture, what is happening in the bugging war between the superpowers? What did security officials find in the Moscow embassy?

Most of this information is classified. Yet much can be learned. Today, snooping is big business with widespread industrial and commercial applications. Companies make and sell a remarkable variety of devices.

In addition, bits and pieces of information have leaked from Congressional hearings and from other unclassified sources. Those with inside knowledge make occasional statements that, combined with what we know about commercial equipment, can be revealing. From these sources emerges a hazy but informative picture of the shadowy world of spying.

(AP) -- 'Almost Invisible Wireless Covert Earpiece'

The Wireless Covert Earpiece allows you to listen to a radio device such as a radio transceiver or radio scanner where there are no visible wires from the radio device to your ears. This earpiece device is commonly used by government security agencies and surveillance teams in police forces.

The earpiece fits inside the ear, and features a tiny amplifier, button cell and small aerial. The user wears an inductive neck loop around their shoulders underneath their thin clothing. The inductive loop plugs into the earphone socket of the radio device and turns the output signal from the earphone socket into an electromagnetic (EM) signal (effectively amplitude modulation). The EM signal is received by the wireless earpiece, amplified slightly, and then converted into sound which the user can hear in their ear. The EM signal is not a strong one, but the distance between the earpiece and the loop is very short and sufficient for the earpiece to work correctly.

Used in the correct way, the earpiece allows individuals to stay in communication with the rest of their surveillance team. Hiding the wiring to the ear prevents the mark or other members of the public becoming suspicious, and thus keeping the operation covert.

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