Area : SNET-L
Date : Oct 29 '95, 08:32
From : Chris Terraneau, 1:330/201
To   : Marilyn159
Subj : High Tech Surveillance


 -=> Quoting Marilyn159 to All <=-

 Ma> From: ur-valhalla!aol.com!Marilyn159
 Ma> Subject: High Tech Surveillance Gear (fwd)
 Ma> Message-ID: <951101101834_95045051@emout06.mail.aol.com>
 Ma> Date: Wed, 1 Nov 1995 10:18:56 -0500

 Ma> Interesting that this spy stuff is available from an online 
 Ma> source. Weren't they just closing down the spy shops in New York 
 Ma> and making all that stuff illegal for us to own? 

Hi Marilyn,

Much of that spy stuff is perfectly legal for anyone to own. There is 
a glut of Russian night-vision scopes on the market, at reasonable 
prices. Nuts and Volts magazine recently did an article on these. 

Vehicle tracking transmitters are perfectly legal, as are bugging 
transmitters, as long as they comply with FCC regulations regarding 
output power and range. Some of these devices which are available DO 
NOT meet the FCC requirements, they are quite powerful. The sales of 
these is handled by selling them in an incomplete form, as a kit, for 
the end purchaser to do the final assembly. Then, the USE of these 
becomes legally questionable, POSSESSION of these is not necessarily 
illegal. 

Bugging detectors, both for RF room and telephone bugs, are not 
illegal. They are simply wide-band receivers, or frequency counters, 
like those made by Optoelectronics. Anyone can buy and use these. 

Telephone direct-line taps are illegal, and covered by wiretapping 
laws. It is incredibly easy to make your own, and they are even legal 
to use IF both parties to the conversation have been notified. Some 
answering machines even have this feature built-in, and they put an 
intermittent 15-second tone on the line to alert both parties. 

Laser window conversation devices are probably available too. I can 
see no reason why possession would be illegal, but obviously the USE 
of them may be. About 10 years ago, Radio-Electronics magazine had a 
construction article on these. 

Monitoring modem communications by tapping a phone line is illegal 
under current wiretapping laws. The special modem needed would likely 
be more complicated than standard modems, since it has to recover the 
data stream from both sides at once. I don't know if such a device is 
commercially available or not. 

Tempest receivers are probably not illegal. This is a high-gain 
reciever and antenna combination, that can be pointed at someone's 
computer monitor, let's say, and receive directly the video signal 
from the monitor's picture tube cathode(s). This is known as Van Eck 
Phreaking, I think, and I don't know of any commercial manufacturers. 
I'll bet the FBI/CIA/DEA/DIA does, though. There is also a story about 
how Russian spies used similar techniques to recover the AC line 
current surges from Selectric typewriters at the American Embassy in 
Moscow. As each key was pressed, solenoids in the typewriter would 
actuate in a known sequence, and monitoring the slight changes in the 
building's incomming power line led to the recovery of the text that 
was being typed. 

So, even if the shops in NYC are being shut down, there's a plethora 
of equipment available via mail order, to anyone who wants it. 

Regards,
Chris


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