The past decade has seen remarkable advancements in surveillance technology. These breakthroughs have made it easier for one to track your location and even listen to your conversations, all with a simple touch of a button. Surveillance equipment and devices are more discreet than ever, making it possible for someone (or a malicious person) to bug your home, car, and personal devices. These devices can lie undetected in plain sight, another reason many people are paranoid of their homes and devices being bugged.
The Most Common Forms of Surveillance
1. Physical Surveillance
This is one of the oldest yet effective surveillance methods. It involves following you wherever you go (but at a safe distance) and trying to grasp all your conversations. The perpetrator, however, needs to know you very well, your habits and routine, to know where/how to find you. Aside from this, the individual may choose to assume a false identity online, trick you into becoming their friend, then get you into trusting them, eventually sharing sensitive information and/or location. However, physical surveillance is not only resource-intensive but takes lots of skill and experience to do covertly.
2. Hacked Devices and Online Accounts
This is one of the most popular forms of surveillance today. It involves gaining access to your online accounts and devices (without your consent) to eavesdrop or access your private data. With smartphones our primary means of communications and their capability to transmit your location, a hacker can use such to know precisely where you are and every bit of information stored on the device. The individual (hacker) can use the device to track your every move and information simply by installing a malicious code or spyware. The spyware gives them access to the device’s microphone, camera, location, settings, and other communication channels on the device. Hacking becomes even more complicated for businesses owners, because it is not just your own data at risk, but also the data of others. Bill Panatazis, small business owner of a Sydney Pool Building company explains the importance of business security, “Our work requires payment information and home addresses of clients so we need to ensure the highest security at all times. We have systems in place to protect this information and recommend all other businesses are aware of hacking risks”.
3. Use Devices Already in Your Possession
Are you aware of the number of cameras, microphones, and location-enabled devices already available in your home? Almost every smart device in our possession (smartphones, TVs, smart speakers, computers, tablets, watches, home automation tools, security systems, etc.) can connect to the internet or be controlled remotely. Most of these can be managed through a mobile app or the internet, which means they too can be hacked and used to spy on you as well. According to Children’s Development Coach Heidi No, not even baby monitors are safe from potential hackers.
Think about apps designed to share your location with your family and friends and what a hacker would do if they had access to the same. The good thing, however, is that the individual would need to have physical access to the device (or your phone) to infect and take control of it. This is why you need to be particularly careful and ensure no one can access your mobile devices physically.
4. Planting A Camera, Bug, Or Tracker
Spy cameras, microphones, and trackers are easily and readily available online. While owning/buying such a device is completely legal, using the same maliciously is illegal. Nonetheless, someone can buy these devices with the intent of installing them at your home or office without you knowing about it. Owner of Shield Security Doors, Con Nicolau says, “A culprit would need to access your home/office physically to plant the bug so it is also crucial to ensure physical security for your home or workplace.”
How To Deal With/Handle Cameras, Bugs, And TrackersKeep a record of suspicious incidents: Take a proactive approach by logging all incidents where/when the suspect turns up to a location they shouldn’t be, or shares private information only you knew of. Be sure to note down the time and date, where it happened, who knew about it, and the devices you had at that particular moment. You can later use the gathered information to narrow down where the leak might be coming from.
* Alert the police (if someone is stalking you): If you suspect someone to be following you, then the best cause of action is to walk to a busy (public) area, alert those around you, then contact the police immediately. Never make the mistake of confronting a stalker.
* Secure your devices and online accounts: Secure your online accounts with a strong password, and change the password after a few days or weeks. The same applies to all smart devices already in your possession.
* Do a bug sweep: This may entail borrowing or buying an RF Detector. These devices help detect all devices that might be transmitting, especially those you don’t know about. A good sweep will help you detect any bugs, cameras, or trackers installed in your home or vehicle without your consent.
* Have a professional do a bug sweep: A professional will do a better job sweeping for bugs than you would. These professionals have all manner of equipment designed to do this and more, hence the best option so far. See our bug sweeping services.
What To Do If You Find a Surveillance Device
Should you find a surveillance device in your home/car, the first step is to take evidence. Take good quality photos of the device while still at its original location, then call the police for a more thorough investigation.
Take a screenshot of any login or suspicious activities for compromised online accounts, then contact the police.
You can also choose not to involve the police, remove the malicious access, then secure your devices and online accounts. While doing so might kick the culprit out, chances are they will look for another exploit to use. One way to protect yourself from this would be to hire a security expert for help. Contact QLD Covert PI today 1300 553 788
