The simple answer, in most cases, is yes. Think about it. If your competitors have bugged your office and are listening in on secret meetings and discussions about profits, clients, marketing strategies and more, then your business, confidentiality and reputation are all potentially at stake. This makes the use of bug sweeping services relatively inexpensive.
The threats can be very real, and what often happens is that an employee will steal company secrets or data, which they have sourced via bugging devices, and when leaving the company will pass that data onto the new employer. Bug sweeping services can prevent this from happening by finding the bugging devices before the employee is able to extract sensitive data. Sometimes the discovery of the bugging device can also shine a light on the employee trying to steal the data. This enables you to fire that employee for gross misconduct, before they can inflict or attempt to inflict any further damage.
How easy is it to plant a bug?
Spy bugs are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the world of corporate and especially government espionage. This is making them easier and quicker to install without being noticed, and harder to detect and remove. It is also making an ever-expanding array of visual and audio bugs much more readily available than they were before.
These days, if a person knows how to insert a plug into a plug socket, they know how to plant a bug. Increasingly clever technology means that if you have a cordless keyboard with your computer, for example, a simple bug installed in the keyboard can transmit all of your keystrokes, including every password you enter.
Virtually anyone with access to your premises will be able to place a radio frequency bug in a matter of seconds; for that second on, they can hear everything you say. Now think about how many people have access to your office or workplace. There are your employees, but then there are cleaners, contractors and security guards who can wander round your building freely and without being challenged. Workers such as these have been known to plant bugging devices on behalf of someone on the outside, i.e. an ex-employee, a competitor or client.
Clients themselves have also been known to plant spy bugs; even though they don’t have as much freedom to wander, it is becoming very easy to install a completely unnoticeable spy bug in an office (perhaps while you’re getting the client a cup of tea).
The damage that can be done if people hear things they shouldn’t can be catastrophic to a business’s position in the market and its reputation.
An increasing need for expert bug sweepers
There is an increasing need for expert bug sweepers because technology is advancing every day and bugs are becoming more and more sophisticated. In most cases, bugs are invisible unless you have the training, experience and technology to be able to find them. Bug sweeping and bug detection, also known asTechnical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM), are not investigative skills. They are highly technical skills, and only private investigators with the requisite level of skill to detect the latest devices will be worth the money. You also need to exercise caution with private investigators who purchase bug detectors online; unless the operator is highly trained, this is also a waste of money – and time.
Global Investigations can help. Their team of electronic, mechanical and acoustic engineers can help with debugging your office or home. They use a variety of state-of-the-art equipment, including over a £100,000 of debugging equipment and all the latest bug detectors, and can respond to a potential bugging issue in a matter of hours.
