Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Security Director Alert: Law Enforcement Spied Upon Using Police-Level Surveillance Tactics... The Business Espionage Crowd Does It Too

Canada - Workers with the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada were spied on during an employee-appreciation event in June, according to a government intelligence alert issued the following month. 

Sample Room Bug
"While the true purpose of the surveillance is unknown," such spy tactics are often used by organized crime groups to "better know their adversaries, as well as to target individuals believed to be susceptible to co-option," according to the memo, issued by a CBSA intelligence officer... "It's not just a bunch of thugs trying to force their way in," he said. "They can employ tactics or equipment that match the level of sophistication that law enforcement can employ."

...The method of surveillance was not specified, nor was it clear how the government came to learn about it. (more)

What does this mean to you?
• Adversarial surveillance is very real. 
• This is a rare case of it being exposed. 
• Expect to be "sized up" before an espionage attack. 
• Expect the attack to use sophisticated techniques; including advanced electronic surveillance eavesdropping. 
• Realize that during this extended intelligence collection phase, you have an opportunity to detect and deflect, before the harm is done... if you conduct regularly scheduled TSCM inspections.