Articles

1.Competitors and Insiders targeting business.

Intellectual property theft and corporate espionage are the two things which are today perceived with utmost importance. Earlier there was a misconception that corporate espionage is a limited concept and it only affects companies with high reputation. With increasing cases of business concept thefts and espionage this conception has gone for a toss and now people have started understanding the importance of maintaining the high profile secrecy in business dealings.

There is another misconception amongst the business leaders that they better understand the corporate espionage and have taken adequate measures to address it. On close scrutiny it can be observed that many espionage theft programs installed by the business concern are inadequate to meet the requirements of new industrial age thinking.

Following are some of the destructive identity thefts that have rocked the businesses worldwide.

Competitors and Insiders targeting business: This is one of the most common forms of espionage and it is meted out through a very known insider like an employee, a corporate member, production manager, a third-party manufacturer, or sometimes with too many people.

Pirates, counterfeiters, targeting specialized products: It is considered a most pervasive threat and is often meted out by organized criminals who make dents into specific technologies or programs for high monetarily benefits. According to a statistics released by the US Chamber of Commerce the pirated and counterfeited products mount up for about 5-7 percent of global economy and about 7, 50, 000 people across the world have lost their jobs due to this kind of theft. It has impacted about $250 million sales in US itself. This type of crime is experienced in all business sectors irrespective of their concerns. Software piracy thefts are the serious kinds of the espionage experienced by industries world over.

Government sponsored or state sponsored theft: State or government sponsored espionage is today considered a serious global threat. It is mainly performed by government to gain access to some sophisticated public interest programs devised by some individuals or companies. This type of espionage is mostly conducted through governments own intelligence services or law enforcement departments. Sometimes it is meted out by installing some sophisticated software programs or through an employee who calls action in company’s hierarchy.

Today you can think of overcoming these threats with the help of some established bug sweeping services like sweeping.co.uk. It has helped many businesses over the years to counteract the espionage threats by offering the services like bug sweeping, TSCM, bugging devices, bug sweeper, and bug sweep services.

2.How to Save Your Business from Corporate Espionage?.

Corporate espionage – this term has gain momentum since last few years. Corporate espionage is considered an illegal and destructive activity. It is especially dreaded during these times when the businesses are striving to find foothold in their niche market. .

Sometimes the competitors keep the business corporations on long term surveillance to gather business secrets, which mean leaking of secret business documents, technical information, customer databases, tender bids, can spell doom for the company.

This is the reason why many companies are today seeking services of professionals trained in TSCM (Technical Surveillance Counter Measures). These professionals develop their skills over the period of time and their services are valued on the basis of their seniority in detecting an espionage based activities performed by individuals and people working within organization. These experts utilize the wisdom of industry experience and involve latest technologies to conduct regular bug sweeping.

On entering Google search, you can easily find details of a TSCM company offering all desired services as required by you. The main challenge lies in choosing the right company which will help you to thwart corporate espionage through its dedicated services. If you seek a wrong candidate then there are still chances of the business secrets leaking despite applying all precautionary measures.

Here are just few things which you should look into prior to choosing the TSCM company-

• Risk Assessment – Conducting a sweep without analyzing or understanding an inherent business atmosphere can be detrimental for the existence of an organization. Most of the branded TSCM companies take time to understand and access the risk. They make in-depth assessments by discussing the problems with company officials and may also suggest precautionary measures to counter the same. In some cases these experts may advice against any bug sweeping service or any specialized TSCM services.
• Discreetness – Every business owner likes to maintain discreetness in his or her business dealings. A professional surveillance company is one which handles these business cases seriously and discreetly without disturbing the company atmosphere. A responsible TSCM company always plans its bug sweep in such way that it does not hamper the work atmosphere of the organization. Also, your TSCM contractor should be able to give suitable coverage details to justify their findings.
• Qualifications – It is very important to analyze the qualification details of a particular TSCM vendor prior to hiring them. ASIS, BECCA, The Security Institute, The British Computer Society, IISP, CESG, CISA, and CISSP are some of the qualifications and membership schemes which are considered ideal in this field.

Sweeping.co.uk is an UK based certified TSCM Company which is recognized by many security bodies and it has been serving the customers for quite a long time.

3.What When You Suspect You have been Bugged: Step-by-step Instructions.

About 60 percent of people who suspect they are being bugged turn out to be true post the investigation. So, it is crucially important to not ignore anything that you suspect to be fishy or strange. This could involve anything, from strange sound coming from your phone to surprising behavior of your laptop and missing files from your workstation to irregular placement of your furniture etc., to name but a few. Usually people become panic when they sense something is wrong somewhere, and then in a hurry they end up alerting the bugging spy, which finally earns them nothing but more loses. On the other hand, following a few thoughtful steps can help them track down the bugging spy and save sensitive business information from being leaked further. The steps-to-follow are outlined below.

• Step 1: Be sure of your suspicions: Sometimes sensitive information leaked may not mean you are surely being bugged. It may be just a slip of tongue by you/your colleagues/workers. First, confirm the amount of information shared in public, go to the possible sources who can leak it. This means asking the people with whom you shared the information first. If it doesn’t help, go to the meeting room where the information was discussed. Do you find something is misplaced, unorganized or uneven there? If yes, the chances are you may have been bugged.
• Step 2: Don’t touch/change anything: As soon as you realize anything is unwelcoming, the best thing is stay alert without changing anything unless you are a TSCM specialist. Don’t touch the unorganized objects or any device you suspect is carrying the bug. Instead, stay calm. Tampering anything may alert the bugging spy and also affect the investigation of TSCM specialists.
• Step 3: Keep it within yourself: Many times, the bugging devices are planted by internal members of office or by someone who has easy access to all sensitive business information. So it is recommended not to disclose anything to anyone when you confirm your suspicions. Revealing the truth may again alert the spy and s/he could go unnoticed from being tracked post the investigation.
• Step 4: Contact bug sweeping services provider: Now is the time to contact expert bug sweeping professional or surveillance experts or TSCM (Technical Surveillance Counter Measures) professionals. Leave the meeting room, call the experts by phone (preferably from public telephone) or email them from computer (preferably not from the ones you work). Tell them everything in details and fix an immediate appointment.
• Step 5: Begin the sweeping process: The TSCM service provider would carry out the bug sweeping process utilizing all needed tools and strategies. Help them with all information so that they can successfully make the room bug free. An expert team of bug sweeping professional should easily solve the job, depending on the complexities involved. Follow the tips they give so that you don’t fall victim to bugs once again.
• Step 6: Keep alert: Post the bug sweeping job, it is important to be extra careful while sharing business information. Ask people you share information to treat it as confidential. Keep your telephonic and email conversation safe and secure. Always, keep yourself in the know of office improvements. Above everything, conduct periodical bugging checks of your office rooms and other important areas to ensure you are totally safe.

4.An Introduction to TSCM

Researchers conducted on business entities worldwide reveal a shocking surge in the number of spying activities, respective of their types; some of which necessarily include corporate espionage, industrial espionage, economic espionage etc. All such activities/practices cleverly differ from ‘competitive intelligence’ which involves ethical, healthy and legal means to systematically gather, analyze and compare information on competitors. The worse is it often gets too late when someone actually comes to know that s/he has been spied on. Given the scenario, it has become crucially important to stay alert beforehand to protect your sensitive business information from being stolen. To put it otherwise, it is immensely important to have periodical investigations or checks of your office rooms, development centers, meeting rooms; not by any amateur investigators but by specialized TSCM professionals, who know how to track down the spy without blowing the whistle.

What is TSCM?

Short for Technical Surveillance Counter Measures, TSCM is the process of debugging or bug sweeping, carried out by experienced professionals who are thoroughly trained on a board portfolio of services including monitoring, examining, surveying, detecting and destroying physical, virtual or other aligned bugging devices which are planted unethically to leak, steal and misuse sensitive business information which you would never want to share with anyone. An all-round and thoughtfully detailed TSCM investigation usually involves layers of exercises, including but not limited to physical, visual and electronic detection.

More about TSCM Specialists

A specialized TSCM team generally has a lot of updated and fully featured devices, tools and technologies to effectively carry out a sweeping job, much of which are readily available in the market in expensive and inexpensive price ranges. That however doesn’t mean anyone with access to such stuffs can perform such job with same level of efficacy. A specialized TSCM services provider usually go though many levels of training about how to track, trace and deactivate the sweeping spy, that too without alerting the subject. Also, they have an intelligent mechanism to carry out the investigation which requires them to be highly proficient and knowledgeable about radio frequency, electricity, computers, mobiles and etc. They need to be creative, thoughtful and have an eye for detail to fulfill all basic criteria of a thoroughly successful investigation. What makes them stand out from other common investigators is their ability to suspect and analyze things which others can’t see or imagine.

Services offered by a TSCM professional:

The professionals do offer a range of interconnected services, which collectively constitute the total bug sweeping process. The services include pre-research, monitoring, surveys, post-detection etc., to name a few. The services are usually customized according to specific requirements of clients. A project tends to be complex and time talking if it requires a comprehensive investigation in a large facility involving the whole team of professionals. An ideal team of TSCM experts would have a winning methodology to comprehensively work on a project, ranging from secured initial client meeting to pre inspection and vulnerability understanding to active and preventive action and more..