Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) is one of our core services, and we are often asked about the market size and demand for services. Over the past ten years, there have been significant changes in the threat landscape due to technological advances. These advances have been coupled with increased available equipment to counter these new and evolving threats. One such area of advancement, both from a threat and counter-threat perspective, is TSCM.
Historically the TSCM market has been quite niche. Still, the industry has grown considerably due to technologies availability to store or access our electronic data and privacy concerns. The market is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. However, as well as the evolving technology threats, the market faces challenges, such as regulatory and legal uncertainties and the increasing sophistication of electronic eavesdropping techniques.
With the increase in hybrid working during/post C-19, the places where TSCM inspections are not just offices but can be anywhere from residential properties, home offices, cars, yachts, and aircraft. To address evolving technology threats where we are working and the increasing sophistication of electronic eavesdropping techniques, TSCM equipment must be invested in to stay ahead of the curve. At Valkyrie, we continually assess our capability and recently purchased additional equipment to combat new and emerging threats.
We also see great value in combining Technical Surveillance Countermeasures with cyber expertise, providing a holistic approach. Clients are becoming proactive with their security. To summarise, being proactive can be done through the following:
Focus your efforts. Protecting your entire office/team against surveillance is pretty much impossible, so focus on high-priority areas such as C-suite offices and dedicated conference rooms
Harden areas against surveillance. Being proactive in protecting designated areas against surveillance is beneficial. Minimise the effectiveness of exterior microphones/cameras. Look at the room’s layout from a security perspective and identify where sensitive information can be displayed to ensure they are not visible to external parties such as monitors, TVs, white boards etc.
Inspections. It is essential to perform regular Technical Surveillance Countermeasures sweeps to detect any eavesdropping devices in high security areas
Use a combined approach. Don’t rely only on TSCM to protect against surveillance; the best solution is multifaceted. As effective as sweeping can be, it is imperfect and should not be relied upon without other protective measures.
