The World’s Smallest Voice Recorder?

Is this The World’s Smallest Voice Recorder?

(PDF version)

Specifications
TileRec by ATTO Digital 
Ultra-small: ≈1.53”x1.53”x.02” (≈39 x 39 x 5 mm)
Record modes: Voice activated or continuous.
Storage capacity: 145 hours.
Format: 128 kbps CD Quality MP3.
Playback: Download files to any computer.
Battery “on time”: Up to 24 hours.
Battery charge time: 2 hours.
Housing: Sturdy aluminum case.
Operates with one on/off switch.
Cost: $59.80 Amazon

Voice recorders keep getting smaller and smaller. 

However, If smallest means thin to you, yes there is a thinner one, the Edic-mini Tiny16+ A75…
 1 mm thinner, 12 mm less wide, but double the length. And, at $345, six times the price. They also make one card-key sized (2.7 mm thin).

 

If by smallest you mean really, really thin… You might want to consider the NAGRA Dollar Bill recorder that’s being marketed to law enforcement instead. Thirty-one times as expensive as the TileRec.

There are many slightly larger voice recorders that are still considered to be mini in size. Our search on eBay returned 1,809 results and over 2,000 on Amazon.

 

The prices on eBay ranged from $1.45 (with free shipping from China!) to $2,000. for the Edic-mini Tiny+ B76-150HQ. The Edic-mini Tiny+ being closest in size to the TileRec.

A Voice Recorder Manufacturer Speaks

Jang Sung-Churl, chief executive of electronics firm Auto Jungbo Co. Ltd., told Reuters that covert recording devices “have been selling like hotcakes” …sales of voice recorders so far this year (2019) have doubled to 80 devices per day, Jang said as he forecast sales to also double this calendar year to 1.4 billion won ($1,172,289).

Think about it. That's almost 30,000 devices sold per year... before the expected doubling of sales. And, he is only one manufacturer. An educated guess is that there are thousands of manufacturers around the world.

Accessibility + Affordability = Big Concerns.

 

Who Cares About Voice Recorder Size?

Lots of folks, for many and varied reasons…

• Sneaky people who want to eavesdrop.
• Sneaky people who want to entrap others.
• Anyone worried about covert surveillance.
• Local law enforcement detectives and Private Investigators. They might not have the budget necessary for a covert NAGRA Dollar Bill Recorder, but have the smarts to slap a TileRec between two one-dollar bills.
• Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) Technicians whose job it is to find illegal, electronic surveillance devices.

It all boils down to these two things:
People hiding voice recorders, and… thwarting the people doing it.

 

Discovering Voice Recorders 

Since the offense has the advantage let’s concentrate on the defense.

The average covert voice recorder will either be carried by a person to record face to face conversations or it will be hidden within conversations-of-interest areas.

 

In-Person Recording Detection Tips

• Since frisking is probably out of the question, assume you are being recorded.
 Even if you could frisk, results would be iffy; these voice recorders are tiny.
• At the outset of a conversation ask the other person if they are recording you. Watch their reaction. Do they overly protest, or fake anger? 

If they say no but record anyway, the recording’s value can be challenged. They lied, so maybe they also faked, edited or doctored the recording.
• Also… Be professional. If you would not say it in a courtroom, don’t say it.

Big Red Flag – When someone tries to recreate a previous conversation with you.

 

Covert Recording Detection Tips

• Pay attention to your surroundings. Who has access and when? Voice recorders need to be retrieved: to review recordings and to recharge batteries.
• Avoid using the same area for all your sensitive conversations. Use various and unpredictable locations if possible.
• Conducting your own search for surveillance devices is futile. An experienced eavesdropper will plant one easy-to-find device. They know the search will stop at that point. The harder-to-find device and it’s back-up will still be on the job. Without proper training and instrumentation your success is unlikely.
• 

For office and home office situations an independent Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) sweep team should be employed. Have them conduct periodic due diligence debugging inspections. In addition to searching for room audio and video surveillance devices have them check your vehicles. Vehicle inspections also include a search for GPS tracking devices.

 

TileRec Voice Recorder Detection Test

 

Testing Our Defenses

Murray Associates conducted tests to determine the effectiveness of their detection techniques on mini voice recorders. 

TileRec was difficult–but not impossible–to detect compared to other recorders tested.

During a professional TSCM inspection the technician’s physical search is aided by an instrument called a Non-Linear Junction Detector (NLJD). This instrument can detect electronic surveillance devices, including mini voice recorders, active or dormant.

A distance of 3 to 4 inches was chosen to test the NLJD detection technique. This simulates the recorder being secreted within another object. Green shows the power output. Red shows the level of detection.

With the NLJD set at 50% power output the TileRec was barely detectable. When the power was increased to 90-100%, success. Even at this higher power operator skill in using the NLJD was critical.

Conclusions

• The TileRec is (probably)
  The World’s Smallest (affordable)
  Voice Recorder (as of now).
• Size doesn’t matter. Any mini recorder can be easily secreted and threaten privacy.
• The market for mini recorders is huge. There are a lot of them out there. Some of the very good ones are very inexpensive.
• Detection is difficult, but not impossible.
• The best self-protection tactic is watching what you say and situational awareness. Critical situations require the assistance of a professional TSCM / counterespionage firm.

* * *

Kevin D. Murray CPP, CISM, CFE is a business counterespionage consultant and TSCM specialist with over four decades of experience.

Murray Associates is an independent counterespionage consulting firm, providing eavesdropping detection (TSCM) and counterespionage services to business, government and the at-risk individual.
 

Headquartered in the New York metropolitan area, a Murray Associates team can assist you quickly, anywhere in the United States, and internationally.

If you have any questions, or would like to schedule TSCM / information security audits, please let us know.

Santa and Cuebiq Know if You've Been Naughty or Nice

After Memorial Day, as the United States began to reopen, coronavirus cases began to rise...

For the Fourth of July weekend, a new analysis of cell phone data suggests even more people hit the road among 10 coronavirus hotspots, despite warnings from health experts.

The analysis comes from data shared with CNN by Cuebiq, one of the private companies that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses to track general movement in the United States. 

Cuebiq gets its data when people download apps on their phones and opt into anonymous location data tracking. The company's full data set includes 15 million phones nationwide. more

The Atlas of Surveillance

Documenting Police Tech in Our Communities. 

Explore 5,300 datapoints in the U.S. collected by hundreds of researchers.

TOGGLE the Legend to reveal how each technology is spreading. ZOOM into any region to see the technologies in greater detail. If an area has no markers, it means it hasn't been researched yet.

Click to enlarge. Go to website to explore. Wired article here.

Former Police Officer Accused of Spying on Neighbors

MO - A man told police he found a mini video recorder on an outside window ledge of his St. Charles County home... The camera allegedly was pointed into a closet and bathroom inside his home.

When St. Charles County police analyzed the camera and SD card, they found multiple clips showing the man and his wife, both clothed and nude, inside of their home...

According to court documents, more recordings led authorities to believe the camera was resting on John Zlatic’s back porch at one point in time. When police attempted to talk Zlatic, the suspect did not answer his doorbell...

Officers were able to get DNA profiles from a plastic clamp that was used to prop the camera on the window ledge. They then used Zlatic’s former police uniform, which had been given back to the department upon his resignation, to confirm the DNA on the clamp was his, court documents state. more 
Learn how to detect spycams.

Is Your Hotel or AirBnB Spying on You?

Have you ever found a random USB charger in a hotel room and thought “How lucky, someone left their charger and now it’s mine!”?

Have you ever plugged your phone into the USB of an alarm clock and said, “I’m so glad this hotel or guest house made my life easier with this bedside technology!”?

Have you ever looked up at a smoke detector and said, “Thank god that’s there in case of a fire, I’ll be protected!”?

Well, here’s some bad news: all of those items can be, and possibly are, hidden cameras that are watching you, recording you, spying on you, and violating you. And the worst part, these disguised cameras are only sometimes illegal.

Don’t believe us? Do a simple Amazon search and prepare to be frightened by the amount of spying equipment you can get two-day shipping on. There are hidden cameras in wall outlets, clocks, picture frames, clothes hooks, pens, and so much more. more

Learn how to detect covert spy cameras.

Privacy Protector – Anonymous Camera for iPhone

 A new camera app has been released for iOS that, unlike basically every other photography app, is designed to hide the photo’s subject rather than highlight them. Called Anonymous Camera, this app works to protect the people captured in a video or photo by blurring or otherwise hiding their faces — or, in cases where it is necessary, by removing their bodies entirely.

There are times when you may need to interview someone or take a picture, but hide someone featured in the content for their sake. This could include interviews with someone who wishes to remain private, protecting whistleblowers, or simply hiding the faces of protesters and activists so that facial recognition technology can’t be used to identify them.

Anonymous Camera is a free app that can perform these actions, as well as entirely removing the subject’s body in cases where they have other identifiers like tattoos. The app is free to download, though there’s also a Pro version priced at $2 that includes watermark-free video recording. more

Regulator Ask for Credit Suisse Directors' Mobile Data in Spy Inquiry

Swiss regulators have requested electronic messaging data from the mobile phones of several Credit Suisse managers and supervisory board directors as part of a probe into spying at the bank, three people familiar with the matter said. more

ADT Employee Had Access to Hundreds of Home Security Camera Streams, Lawsuit Alleges

Hundreds of ADT customers are suing the home-security firm after it admitted that a former employee gained unauthorized access to their systems over the last several years—including the live video streams of their in-home cameras. 

Two federal class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the customers, The Dallas Morning News reports.

The employee was able to add his email address to customers’ accounts during home-service visits, according to the company. With his email address added to the accounts, he was then able to use the company’s mobile app to snoop on in-home security cameras. 

“Moments once believed to be private and inside the sanctity of the home are now voyeuristic entertainment for a third party,” the lawsuits state. “And worse, those moments could have been captured, shared with others, or even posted to the internet.”

ADT reportedly fired the employee after discovering the abuse, and said it brought in measures to prevent a similar incident from taking place in the future. more

Assembling an Ikea Spy Case

Ikea and some of its former executives were ordered to face trial in France over accusations they conspired with police officers to spy on staff.

An Ikea unit in France was accused of collecting information on employees and people applying to work for the furniture giant, according to an indictment dated April 30.

In exchange for a fee, police officers provided confidential information to former Ikea executives on past convictions.

This was in turn used to dismiss staff or turn down applications.

Ikea France said it has “always firmly disapproved” of such practices. more

NSA Publishes: Survey of Videoconferencing Apps

Selecting and Safely Using Collaboration Services for Telework
During a global pandemic or other crisis contingency scenarios, many United States Government (USG) personnel must operate from home while continuing to perform critical national functions and support continuity of government services. With limited access to government furnished equipment (GFE) such as laptops and secure smartphones, the use of (not typically approved) commercial collaboration services on personal devices for limited government official use becomes necessary and unavoidable. survey

IR Eye of Ra, or The Drone Patrol

Police in Westport, Connecticut, announced this week that they’re testing a so-called “pandemic drone” that can detect when people on the ground have fevers.

The new drone platform will also be used to determine when people are closer than six feet to each other. Police will be able to deliver a verbal warning through the drone’s speaker to anyone not practicing social distancing.



The new drone technology was developed by a company called Draganfly Inc., which has been around since the late 1990s, and uses Westport PD’s existing quadcopter drones with Draganfly’s software. Draganfly worked with a deep-learning company called Vital Intelligence Inc. and researchers from the University of South Australia to develop the new tech, according to a press release. more

Google Searches for "Wiretap" Up 100% in the Past Week

A lot of people have too much time on their hands.
Or, interest in knowing someone else's business is mirroring the uptick in phone calls.
Or, interest in protecting one's business is mirroring the uptick in phone calls.
Or, all of the above.
We'll put this in the You Decide file.

Coronavirus Surveillance Escalates, Personal Privacy Plummets

Tracking entire populations to combat the pandemic now could open the doors to more invasive forms of government snooping later.

...government agencies are harnessing surveillance-camera footage, smartphone location data and credit card purchase records to help trace the recent movements of coronavirus patients and establish virus transmission chains...

...authorities are analyzing location data transmitted by citizens’ mobile phones to determine how many people are obeying a government lockdown order and the typical distances they move every day. About 40 percent are moving around “too much,” an official recently said.

...internal security agency is poised to start using a cache of mobile phone location data — originally intended for counterterrorism operations — to try to pinpoint citizens who may have been exposed to the virus...

...ratcheting up surveillance to combat the pandemic now could permanently open the doors to more invasive forms of snooping later. It is a lesson Americans learned after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, civil liberties experts say. more

Face Masks v. Facial Recognition - China has it Covered

Hanwang, the facial-recognition company that has placed 2 million of its cameras at entrance gates across the world, started preparing for the coronavirus in early January.

Huang Lei, the company’s chief technical officer, said that even before the new virus was widely known about, he had begun to get requests...to update its software to recognize nurses wearing masks...

The company now says its masked facial recognition program has reached 95 percent accuracy in lab tests, and even claims that it is more accurate in real life, where its cameras take multiple photos of a person if the first attempt to identify them fails. more

Schools Using Kids' Phones to Track and Surveil Them

Teachers often lament that phones can be a distraction in classrooms. Some governments have even banned phones outright in schools. But a few school administrations see phones in schools as a benefit because they can help keep track of students more efficiently.

At least 10 schools across the US have installed radio frequency scanners, which pick up on the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals from students' phones and track them with accuracy down to about one meter, or just over three feet, said Nadir Ali, CEO of indoor data tracking company Inpixon.

His company has been in talks with other school districts, and a few schools in the Middle East are also considering the product... more

Brazen B&E to Plant Spy TV

NY - State Police have arrested a Town of Moreau man for breaking into a home and hiding a recording device in a bedroom.

State Police in Wilton arrested 39-year-old Todd D. Derush. Police say Derush unlawfully entered the home of the victim and hid a recording device in their bedroom. Derush's actions were in violation of a full stay away order of protection barring Derush from being on the property, according to State Police. more

FutureWatch: You've Probably Been Photo-Napped by an App

Clearview AI, devised a groundbreaking facial recognition app. You take a picture of a person, upload it and get to see public photos of that person, along with links to where those photos appeared.

The system — whose backbone is a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites — goes far beyond anything ever constructed by the United States government or Silicon Valley giants...

The computer code underlying its app, analyzed by The New York Times, includes programming language to pair it with augmented-reality glasses; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw...

Searching someone by face could become as easy as Googling a name. Strangers would be able to listen in on sensitive conversations, take photos of the participants and know personal secrets. Someone walking down the street would be immediately identifiable — and his or her home address would be only a few clicks away. It would herald the end of public anonymity. more

Android Users Beware: These Top Camera Apps May Secretly Be Spying

The latest warning has come from the research team at CyberNews, exposing “camera apps with billions of downloads [that] might be stealing user data and infecting them with malware.”

...But that’s exactly what some of the top beauty camera apps have been found guilty of doing. more

1. BeautyPlus – Easy Photo Editor & Selfie Camera
2. BeautyCam
3. Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera
4. Selfie Camera – Beauty Camera & Photo Editor
5. Beauty Camera Plus – Sweet Camera & Makeup Photo
6. Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera & Photo Editor
7. YouCam Perfect – Best Selfie Camera & Photo Editor
8. Sweet Snap – Beauty Selfie Camera & Face Filter
9. Sweet Selfie Snap – Sweet Camera & Beauty Cam Snap
10. Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera with Photo Editor
11. Beauty Camera – Best Selfie Camera & Photo Editor
12. B612 – Beauty & Filter Camera
13. Face Makeup Camera & Beauty Photo Makeup Editor
14. Sweet Selfie – Selfie Camera & Makeup Photo Editor
15. Selfie camera – Beauty Camera & Makeup camera
16. YouCam Perfect – Best Photo Editor & Selfie Camera
17. Beauty Camera Makeup Face Selfie, Photo Editor
18. Selfie Camera – Beauty Camera
19. Z Beauty Camera
20. HD Camera Selfie Beauty Camera
21. Candy Camera – selfie, beauty camera & photo editor
22. Makeup Camera-Selfie Beauty Filter Photo Editor
23. Beauty Selfie Plus – Sweet Camera Wonder HD Camera
24. Selfie Camera – Beauty Camera & AR Stickers
25. Pretty Makeup, Beauty Photo Editor & Selfie Camera
26. Beauty Camera
27. Bestie – Camera360 Beauty Cam
28. Photo Editor – Beauty Camera
29. Beauty Makeup, Selfie Camera Effects & Photo Editor
30. Selfie cam – Bestie Makeup Beauty Camera & Filters

Dude, you gotta be a government before you shoot spies!

FL - A man is facing charges after authorities say he fired shots at children he thought were spying on him from canoes outside his home.

Deputies with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office

said they were called to the home in the 1500 block of Murphy Road in Pierson after the victims said they were fishing in a lake when 30-year-old Michael Adams fired several shots their way...

Adams was arrested and booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. more

FutureWatch: The Demise of the Common Spies

Not so long ago, Secret Agent Man could globe-hop with impunity (sing-a-long) and hide with undercover diplomatic immunity. Now, he may as well wear the Scarlet Letter "A", for Agent.

WTF happened? Quite a bit...

9/11, for one. It's not so easy to fly under the radar these days.

In 2014, U.S. spies were exposed when the Office of Personnel Management was hacked. About 22 million fingerprints, security clearance background information, and personnel records allegedly fell into Chinese hands. In 2015 it happened again.

One can be fairly sure this isn't just a problem for U.S. spies. Other countries get hacked, too. You just don't hear about it.

If all this wasn't bad enough, a spy's best friend turned on him in the 2000's. Technology.

Video cameras are planted everywhere, and facial recognition is becoming more accurate every day. It is being used at airports, in buildings, and with in conjunction with city surveillance cameras. This list will grow, of course.

The latest advancement is analysis of video streams using artificial intelligence logarithms.  Suspicious movements, packages left unattended, predictions of future movements and crimes are analyzed by mindless machines 24/7, waiting to trigger an alert.

On the communications side spyware is a concern. Smartphone and GPS tracking don't help spies hide either.

It has been reported that some countries are compiling real-time databases which incorporate the above-mentioned speed bumps with: taxis, hotel, train, airline, credit card, customs and immigration information. As soon as one enters the country, they know where you are—minute by minute. And, if one takes too long going between locations, or a dual timeline appears (being in different places at the same time), a security alert is generated.

Couple all this with countries sharing information, e.g. EU, being a spy who needs to make in-person contacts becomes nearly impossible.

Think staying out of view is a good spy strategy? For now, perhaps. However, progress is being made by constructing a person's face by the sound of their voice.

The future of spying (no, it won't go away) will be radically different out of necessity. One can only guess how, but I understand they are working very hard on mind-reading.

Be seeing you.