TSCM Case Studies
The Great Bug Story
In Moscow in 1946, Soviet children presented a two foot wooden copy of the great seal of the United States to the American Ambassador to the USSR. The seal was hung in the ambassador’s office until 1952. A routine search found a concealed microphone hidden in the seal that had been transmitting sensitive US information to the Soviets for nearly 4 years. Russia's notoriety for eavesdropping and espionage stretches back even to the Czars. James Buchanan, U.S. minister in St. Petersburg during 1832-33 and later U.S. President, recounted that 'we are continually surrounded by spies both of high and low degree. You can scarcely hire a servant who is not a secret agent of the police’.
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Recent History - Lawful bugging
Bugging offices in the UK is not illegal! There is nothing in any piece of legislation that stops you from putting a physical bug in a room, office or similar location provided that you are there lawfully and haven’t committed any criminal offence to gain access to the location. This excludes bugging a public or personal telephone system, which is illegal!
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