How to steal secrets of your company with the help of high technologies

The other day, the world was shocked by the news about listening to the conversations of the New Zealand rugby team. Smaller listening devices were sewn into the chairs of the hotel conference room. This example illustrates how far modern espionage technologies have advanced in recent years.

For one decade, the technology has moved far ahead

Only in one decade the technical equipment of spies radically changed. Now, in order to find out valuable information about competing organizations, these people no longer need to hire a van with cumbersome recording equipment. There is no need to watch under the windows of the object of interest, to sit in the headphones and listen to the sounds of the voice amid the chaos of various interferences. Veneers are free from force majeure in the form of a discharged battery. Now they have miniature gadgets the size of a matchbox. Who would have thought a decade ago that valuable information can be easily extracted without leaving the apartment.

Due to access to the Internet, the work of spies has become simpler

Modern devices can transmit several hours of audio and video information, even if the object is on the other side of the globe. But that's not all. Since most people are constantly on-line, carry with them telephones connected to the Internet everywhere, and are happy to exchange valuable information about work and family life on social networks, all this further simplifies the work of cybercriminals.

Low protection against information leakage

Alex Bomberg, the founder of International Intelligence, provides counter-espionage services. In addition to working with legal and governmental organizations, the firm's specialists help private corporations search for eavesdropping devices used in the field of corporate espionage. According to the expert, at present no company is able to completely protect itself from information leakage.

Today, Alex is to visit the head office of a major corporation. For obvious reasons, the company's name is not disclosed, because no one wants to publicly demonstrate their vulnerability. The expert takes a quick look at the environment and shows his customers a number of things that can easily hide various recording devices. Further, Bomberg will have to give a series of consultations on security issues.

Many companies are still vulnerable

The expert believes that cooperation with security organizations and entry permits can not provide full protection against espionage. Many companies are still vulnerable. Now spies do not need to rummage in garbage cans in the hope that some of the valuable documents will be mistakenly thrown into the trash. Also, these people do not need to rely on the negligence of cleaners and maintenance personnel. Confidential documents are no longer stolen randomly. Cybercrime has intensified with the help of modern technologies.

How do criminals collect information?

Almost every conference room is equipped with a phone that can be hacked. Anyone with portable flash memory and a few minutes of time spent on a workstation can download huge amounts of data or spread the virus. There are other methods of collecting information. For example, Xerox hard drives can store data for several years after the replacement.

In addition, corporate spies are constantly developing new tricks, wishing to stay one step ahead of competitors. The most common of these can be considered preloading a malicious program on a USB drive. Now it's a little thing. You just need to leave the flash drive in a place where it can be found. Human nature can not resist the curiosity. Few will rush to get rid of the transmitting device immediately. In most cases, people will immediately ask who this device belongs to. By plugging a USB drive into the computer, the office employee falls into the trap of cybercriminals.

Smartphones are silent allies of spies

If earlier spies were associated with people in suits and hats, and their binding attribute was a newspaper with a slit for eyes, now we have smartphones that can be tacit allies of people interested in collecting valuable information. That is why many companies equip so-called sterile zones. When employees go to a meeting with colleagues, they do not have the right to take a phone with them. Even old-generation devices are equipped with microphones. Therefore, scammers have several ways to connect to this device.

Dangers in Traveling

In business travel, there are also many dangers. Experts do not advise leaving the laptop unattended or using a public Wi-Fi network. It is more reasonable to use several phones, one of which at the end of the trip will be thrown into the trash.