A bug search is the active process of trying to detect the presence of covert surveillance devices in a building, vehicle, or outdoor area. The primary technique in this process is a manual, visual search of the area. A secondary technique is to use specialized detection equipment.
Searching for bugs in a comprehensive and effective manner requires an extreme degree of technical expertise. If you do not have that expertise, when searching for bugs in an area, you cannot be sure that you have found all the bugs present in the area. Therefore, the purpose of searching for bugs should be to prevent an adversary from gathering information about you, not to consider an area free of covert surveillance devices. Incriminating conversations should always take place outdoors and without electronic devices.
The primary technique when searching for bugs in an area is a manual, visual search of the area:
- If you're searching a building, you can use appropriate tools to disassemble electrical outlets, multiple-socket adapters, ceiling lights, and any electrical appliances, looking for anything that shouldn't be there. You can also look inside furniture, basically anywhere a bug might fit.
- If you're searching a vehicle, you can look under the vehicle, inside the wheels, on the rear bumper, behind the vents, looking for anything that shouldn't be there. You can use appropriate tools to dismantle the interior, the ceiling, the dashboard, the seat heads, and so on. On motorcycles or bikes, you can look inside or under the seats. Unlike other vehicles, when searching a bike, you can determine with a high degree of confidence whether or not a bug is present.
- If you're searching for cameras installed at the windows of buildings on a street, you may be able to see such cameras with binoculars.
- If you're searching for cameras installed in surveillance vehicles on a street, you can detect such vehicles with passive surveillance detection.
A secondary technique when searching for bugs is to use specialized detection equipment. Such equipment can be purchased at specialty stores or on the Internet, and includes:
- Radio frequency detectors, to detect devices that are transmitting data on radio frequencies at the time of the search.
- Camera lens detectors to detect cameras.
- Professional equipment — spectrum analyzers, non-linear junction detectors, thermal imaging systems — which can be more effective, but is very expensive and complex to use.
See Ears and Eyes for a database of cases of covert surveillance devices used against anarchists and other rebels.
Techniques addressed by this mitigation
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Covert surveillance devices | ||
| Audio | With the proper techniques and tools, you can locate hidden microphones, and eventually remove them. | |
| Location | With the proper techniques and tools, you can locate location tracking devices, and eventually remove them. | |
| Video | With the proper techniques and tools, you can locate hidden cameras, and eventually remove them. | |
| Targeted digital surveillance | ||
| Authentication bypass | Before entering a password in a room where a hidden camera may be present, you can search the room using appropriate techniques and tools to locate and possibly remove such a camera. Since it's not possible to be certain that a camera is not present, you can enter the password while under an opaque sheet or blanket. | |
| IMSI-catcher | With the proper techniques and tools, or simple visual observation, you can detect the presence of an IMSI-catcher. Such a detection can have various benefits:
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