Levels of TSCM Legitimacy - The "P-Levels"
If you are considering engaging (or have already
engaged) a TSCM firm, you would do well to
immediately ask the following questions. It is
also important you understand that legitimate
services by a competent TSCM firm are rarely less
than several thousand dollars for even a basic
sweep, and a proper sweep can sometimes take days, not hours to complete.
Keep in mind that there only a small number of
legitimate and competent TSCM counterintelligence
specialists or "Bug Sweepers" in the U.S. private
sector. Legitimate TSCM firms are in very high
demand, hard to find, and expensive so be patient
when trying to find one to help you. Furthermore,
TSCM firms are not attorneys and cannot provide
legal advice concerning the monitoring of your
own phones. Always call a competent licensed attorney for legal advice.
You use the following list like this. You assign
each of the P-Levels a score between negative
numbers and positive ten, essentially adding or
subtracting points up to ten either way depending
on how each of the attributes apply to the person
you are talking to. In a few cases, you can
subtract more then ten points for issues that
provide grave areas of significant concern.
You would hope that the person or company you are
considering performing a TSCM project would
attain a perfect score as that means the person
is very legitimate and professional and that you
feel that none of the negative attributes or
levels apply to them, but in reality such, a
score is impractical. Nobody is perfect, and
anybody who appears to be perfect should
certainly be viewed with caution and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Professional - A true blue, died in the wool
security expert with years of RELEVANT experience
and background in their specific area of
expertise. He will "walk the walk and talk the
talk", and have the scars to prove it. This
person will own all the necessary equipment,
hundred of books (some of which he wrote or
contributed to), a large number of original web
pages or white papers on the subject. He (or she)
will seek to illuminate the subject matter, and
will be able to explain very complex topics in
terms the non-technical public or layman can
understand and is comfortable is discussing the
matter without pushing their services too much
(they let you come to them, and never gets
pushy). If they are very professional they get
+10 points, if they seem a little rough around
the edges give them +7, but start dropping
points, as you get more uncomfortable with their
professionalism. If they are rough around the
edges, or just a little too pushy to get your
business then award them zero points, and if they
really get pushy or seem desperate for your
business then start subtracting points quickly.
Pretender - Similar to the above professional but
has irrelevant or bogus credentials. They may
talk the talk, but cannot walk the walk (nor have
the scars). Will talk a good game, but generally
lacks legitimate equipment, materials, or
training. He often has not written a book but
will often plagiarize others (and claim it as his
own work). If the "pretender" has an online
presence or web page, it is full of hype,
rhetoric, and paranoia (but little science). He
is quite capable of totally baffling customers,
but cannot explain things in a non-technical way
(or without hyping surveillance technology to
death). In this case you start by awarding them
-10 points, and as they convince you that they
are legitimate you slowly start adding points up
to as much as a +10 points. Very often, the
pretender will be someone who retired from
government service with honorable service, but
who lacks the technical background to perform a
competent sweep, and thus pretend to know what
they are doing. In many cases, the pretender
actually has themselves convinced that they can
do a good job, but sometimes their inabilities
lead then into the next category.
Putz - This is nothing more then a buffoon.
Generally he does not know how to do the job, has
virtually no equipment, training, or resources
(but tries hard). He may or may not be honest,
and may actually believe that he is competent. He
may have a few technical toys, and may have a
week or two of training in electronics,
surveillance, and security (all in one). In this
case, you start by awarding them -10 points, and
as they convince you that they are not a putz,
you slowly start adding points up to as much as +10 points.
Parasite - This type leaches off of the
credibility of others, generally has no
expertise, knowledge, or training of their own in
what they are offering. Usually someone like this
walks and talks like a salesman, and they love to
run their mouth about all the people they know.
Name-dropping is an art form to the parasite. The
parasite may be detected by the way they rattle
off a list of references, customers, or contacts
before anybody has really asked for them. He will
usually be desperate to prove to you how
legitimate he is right from the very beginning of
your contact with them. You start them with zero
points, and gain or loose points as you feel
appropriate. The parasite is the consummate
salesmen, but not an actual sweep person. One
rule of the TSCM profession is that you never
talk about your customers, so someone who is
trying to impress you with who they know or is
name-dropping is a parasite who is trying to
impress you, and in turn, you should not trust
them, and score the parasite accordingly. Start
with awarding zero points, and each time they
name drop or mention a company name with whom
they have performed sweep work subtract 3 points,
up to 30 points. If on the other hand the TSCM
expert does not mention his customers award 3
points, then ask for references, and then when he
declines to provide references award three more
points (or if they give you references subtract 6
points). Next, you want to aggressively pressure
them for client names, and for references, and
then if at this point (under pressure) they keep
their mouth shut you add 6 points, or if they
give in and breach their client privacy, you
subtract 6 points. There is nothing wrong with
being involved in sales, but in the TSCM
business, a “sales push” or pushing to close the transaction is a liability.
Predator - This type is pure evil and the only
reason they are involved in security is to
victimize the customer. The predator is only
interested in backstabbing, theft, betrayal, or
harming the client in a serious way. The only
reason this type of person is involved in TSCM or
the security industry is to ferret out their
customers secrets so they can be exploited for
swindles or for criminal purposes. If this person
gives you even the slightest hint of being, a
criminal hit them with -100 points and let them
work their way out of it. Now, do not confuse
someone who hunts spies for a living for someone
who performs eavesdropping for a living, or
someone who is a professional criminal who preys
upon his client. A true TSCM expert is hunting
spies and bugs, and is not preying off their
client, they do not hunt the spy directly, but
rather hunt the spiesÂ’ technical toys (it is a
subtle, but important difference).
Poison - He has nothing good to say about anybody
except himself and his associates and tends to be
bitter against everybody around him. When
questioned about his own credentials he will lash
out at his competitors with personal attacks
(instead of discussing his own credentials). This
type is easily identified after five minutes of
talking, and they have not said one thing
specifically regarding their own merit,
equipment, or credentials. It is easy to figure
this one out and to award or subtract points
either way. If this person only slightly lashes
out against others it may be that, he has a
backbone, but is not actually toxic. Be careful
here and only subtract points if this person is
hardcore in his angst and bitterness. Hint: Most
TSCM folks have a strong moral backbone, and have
a strong sense of fairness and of what are right
and wrong. Most TSCM professionals will be
strongly biased against eavesdroppers, felons, or
wrong doers, and this bias should result in
points being awarded as you discuss just “how
white his hat is”. On the other hand, if the TSCM
expert is bitter against others, but cannot
specifically tell you why, then you should
subtract points. Also, be wary of any TSCM expert
who is overly complementary towards other people
as this may indicate a potential parasite. If the
person lashes out against a criminal award them
ten points (this is a good thing), if they stand
mute award them zero, and if they get wound up at
the slightest mention of anybody else in their
profession then subtract up to ten points. Pay
attention here though that you only subtract
points for them attacking good people, and if
they have bad things to say about good people
request proof from them of what they claiming.
Puffer Fish - Typically, he has little or no
credentials of his own, but knows all of the
industry lingo and jargon. He will claim to be
the president of a huge corporation with scores
of employees, tens of millions in assets when in
fact this type is a penniless mooch who is still
living with their parents. If not living with his
parents his (or her) spouse will be the primary
breadwinner in the family, their primary income
(and references) will be from close friends or
family. Listen very carefully for any hint as to
where the seed money came from for them to start
their business, as you may find that a rich
family member bought them the equipment and has
been subsidizing their TSCM activities. Often
this type is also a pretender and bumbling putz.
Listen for any hint of grandiosity or of what
this person is going to do in the future, versus
what they have actually done in the past. Dream
and aspirations are important; delusions and
illusions are not and should be graded
accordingly. If they are fully independent and
are the primary breadwinners for at least two
years then award five points. If they slowly
purchased their sweep equipment over many years,
(usually ten years or more) then add an
additional five points. On the other-hand if
their talk about inheritances, or how they
“borrowed” money from family members, or give you
their mothers home address as their “corporate
headquarters” you need to subtract ten points or more.
Psychiatric Patient - These people are really
nothing more then con artists who will ramble on
for hours with wild tales of how they were a Navy
SEAL, covert CIA operative, undercover FBI agent,
won the Congressional Medal of Honor, was a POW,
won the war, and so on. They could tell you about
their credentials, but then they would have to
kill you. Often they will offer credentials,
which at first appear real, but cannot be
confirmed, or is suspect in another way.
Frequently these psychiatric patients will have a
small number of groupies and close person friends
who provide their support structure and who
endorse them and provide their primary references
(but who also have mental health issues). They
will often offer credentials which cannot be
verified by their own admission, or offer
credentials that are totally unrelated to the
project. With them everything is "too secret" Ask
questions, get specific answers, grade as you
feel is appropriate. However, step carefully, as
many TSCM people will not discuss a great deal of
their background initially, so this level should
be considered in regards to initial contact. If
the person sounds and talks a little crazy
initially then subtract points, but if they seem
sane and coherent then add points. Do not get too
carried away on this issue though. Always
remember that the TSCM person is grading you as a
customer as well, and may not be too keen on
disclosing too much about their background until
they get to know you better, so this is a two way
street. Start by awarding zero points either way,
and if the person seems quite healthy and sane
then award five points, and if they seem just a
little “off” then subtract five points. If you
try to convince them that you are hearing voices,
seeing ghosts, and having visions then and they
suggest that you need to talk to a doctor award
them ten points (and explain to them that you
were just testing them). On the other hand if
they launch off on claims of magical powers, and
tell you about how THEY hear voice then you
should subtract ten points (or perhaps more).
Phelons (or Felon) - This group is a real problem
within the security business. Many con artists,
felons, and dirt-bags try to capitalize on their
criminal skills by claiming to be able to catch
other criminals. Usually their only credential
(which can be verified) is the criminal
conviction. Often this type will claim to be a
convicted hacker and computer expert when in fact
he was convicted of arson, or of being a drug
dealer, is a psychiatric patient, and is
incapable of recovering his own hard drive or of
performing the most simplistic of technical
tasks. The few cases where the conviction was
relevant to their field will not set your mind at
ease about their now "reformed" status. Now this
gets a tricky because if you become reasonably
convinced that you are talking to a felon (or
they brag of their crimes) you need to subtract
50 points, and not consider dealing with them
unless there is some overwhelming reason to do
so. If the person was involved in a crime that
did not involve moral turpitude or violence
(i.e.: drunk driving, disorderly conduct, etc)
then perhaps subtract only 15 points. Now, on the
other hand if the TSCM appears to be a good
citizen, with no criminal histories then they get only a positive 10 points.
Paranoids - Usually has knowledge of security
because of an anti-establishment, paranoid or
criminal mind-set, which compels them to
constantly look over their shoulder. Of course,
the government is constantly harassing them, has
their phones taped, has video cameras in their
house, and has legions of agents employed just to
harass them specifically. They will sometimes
rant on about government mind control, biological
implants, electronic harassment, and so on. In
some cases they have written books or articles,
but the materials is published only in very
narrow channels, or by paramilitary or fringe
publishers. Very often, they will hear voices in
their head, and/or be able to convince other that
they too are hearing voices or seeing visions. If
they are hearing voices, seeing visions, or claim
to have any kind, of "special powers”, you should
subtract 30 or more points. If they seem like a
normal and rational person they get zero points,
but if they are "professionally cautious" add a
few positive points as TSCM experts operate in a
world where they assume that a place is bugged
until scientifically proven otherwise, they are
not paranoid, but more accurately are in touch
with the eavesdropping threat. To be awarded +10
point the TSCM expert should be cautious,
careful, and delicate with the project, but
should not act "crazy", and should make you feel more secure, and not fearful.
Police – When a TSCM expert enters the
profession, they hopefully come with a multitude
of prior experience, some have a technical
background, and some have little or no technical
background. Sadly, there are quite a few retired
or fired members of the law enforcement or
intelligence community who try their hands at
TSCM, and who are woefully unqualified to render
such services. Commonly, they run out and spend a
few hundred or even a few thousand dollars in
simplistic equipment and dance around with it,
but really have no idea what they are doing. It
is also common to see someone in law enforcement
(or even security guards) purchase a $99 scanner
or frequency counter and attend four days of
training, then start selling their services as a
TSCM expert. Con artists often claim to be, or
have been a police officer, so to err on the side
of safety you should be suspect of anybody who
makes a claim of a connection to the police, and
automatically award them a neutral score of zero.
If they have a considerably strong technical
background, and have very specific training in
TSCM then award them five to ten positive points.
However, if they claim to be or to have been
involved in law enforcement you should remember
that quite a few fraudsters claim to have been
police officers, and you should err on the side
of caution and start subtracting up to ten points.
Private Investigator – PI’s must by the nature of
their profession be generalists, and know a
little bit about a whole lot of things, and must
have connections to people who are actual subject
matter experts. As a rule, PIÂ’s do not actually
perform bug sweeps, and you need to be extremely
suspicious of anybody who tells you they perform
bug sweeps and that they are a private
investigator. It is desirable for a PI to bring
in an outside TSCM expert to perform a sweep, but
when the PI themselves try to perform the sweep
the customer is probably going to be fleeced. A
TSCM expert on the other hand is an expert with
electronics, has very specialized skills,
background, and training in technical matters,
and tend not to be a generalist like a Private
Investigator. Granted, some TSCM people do come
from an investigative or intelligence background,
but you need to be on guard for any PI who is
trying to come across as a TSCM expert. You start
by awarding a neutral score of zero, if the
person is a private investigator in a state that
requires licensing, bonding, and insurance of
PIÂ’s then you award a negative 10 score (-10). If
they are a PI, in a state that does not require a
PI license then only award a negative 3 score. If
they have been a PI in the past, but are not one
now they get a positive five, and if they have
never been a PI they get a +10. The logic behind
this is that the more of a PI someone is, the
less you want them to do sweeps for you. If
someone as gone to the effort and expense of
becoming a licensed private investigator then in
is doubtful that they are making their living
performing sweeps, but rather making their living
performing domestic investigations or working for
insurance companies (not performing sweeps).
Professor – Heavy academic experience, but fairly
light on actual field experience. This type is
very hazardous to your sweep, as they can often
talk about technical subjects exhaustively, and
may own a smattering of equipment, but they
usually (but not always) lack actual experience
out in the field. They can talks for days about
antenna factors, signal propagation, and “what
can be done” but when it actually comes down to
putting their knowledge to work things start
falling apart. When a TSCM person tried to
impress you with which universities they
attended, or what degrees they earned you should
start awarding negative points as you see fit,
and if they are humble about their academic
experience award positive points. In reality, the
college you went to and the degree you earned is
only important while you are in your 20Â’s and are
looking for work. A number of TSCM experts have
Masters and Doctorates, but they rarely crow
about it. If they have a strong academic
background (Master or Doctorate) award, ten
points so long as the degrees are in technical
fields. If the degrees are in non-technical
fields (business, criminal justice, security,
etc) then award only three points. If they have
only a bachelorÂ’s degree award zero points,
expect in the case of an engineering degree where
you would award five points. If the have only
graduated from a trade school or have an
associate degree then award a negative three
points. For someone who is a high school
graduate, but did not complete a legitimate
college degree then subtract five points, and if
they never graduated high school subtract a full ten points.
Phed (or Fed) – Just how long did the TSCM person
work for a federal agency, did they perform
sweeps, for how long did they perform sweeps, did
they serve in a technical position prior to
working in TSCM. Did they attend the State
Department or CIA School , or was it one of the
orphan schools. Did they stay with the same
agency for their entire term of service or did
they job hop to various agencies. Start by
awarding a neutral score of zero, if they never
performed TSCM services as a full time employee
of the federal government then you award -5
points. If they worked for the government
performing sweeps, but “job hopped” more then
twice award then -10 points, as there is some
ugliness afoot (which resulted from them being
fired from one agency, but being rehired by a
second agency), if this happens more then twice
then there is a serious problem. Now, if they
served in a technical position before getting
into TSCM award then +5 points, and if they
performed at least 100 (7+ day) sweep projects
for the federal government they get +10 points.
Philby – In 1963, Harold Adrian Russell "Kim"
Philby, a high-ranking British intelligence agent
was exposed as a long-term spy who was had
actually been working for the Soviet Union 's
NKVD and KGB. This treason was particularly
devastating as he was a mole planted deep inside
the CIA, and his actions lead to the deaths of
countless CIA and MI6 agents. When a TSCM expert
tells you that they served in an intelligence
agency for more then 5 years you award -5 points,
and if they retired from an intelligence agency
you award then -10 points. The problem is that
because of the Philby incident the CIA and other
intelligence agencies are organizationally
dysfunctional when it comes to sweeps, and they
do not like to teach sweeps in such a way that
allows the sweeper to function outside of the
government (with huge numbers of people
performing logistical support for a sweep). Yes,
they may be quite good in TSCM, but it is very
tough for them to perform sweeps as they were
trained to be a “cog-in-the-machine”, but not the
machine itself (thanks to Philby). If someone is
going to be performing sweeps for you, it is
critical that they be able to provide this
service solely on their own without having to
bring in other people or outside agencies. If
they served with an intelligence agency for less
then five years you award then +5 points, and if
they served for two years or less award them+3
points. If they never served with an intelligence
agency award then zero points. If they shifted
from intelligence agency to intelligence agency
over a decade, and spent at least two years at
each then award a full ten points.
Pirate – Meet Captain Hook and his merry band of
pirates. Just how many people are going to be
showing up for this sweep, and why are so many
people required for the project? The more people
involved in the sweep the more likely it is that
you have a pirate on your hands, and the greater
the probability that pillaging is about to
happen. In addition, as the sweep team becomes
larger the greater the likelihood is that the
security of the project is going to be
compromised and that the eavesdropper is going to
be accidentally tipped off. The ideal situation
is for only one or two TSCM people to be involved
in a sweep, with a maximum of three people on
site at any given time. Start this score at zero,
and if only one person is coming out then award
+10 points, if two people will come out then
award +5 points, 3 people is -5. As the number of
people increases up to six, you award -10. When a
sweeper starts tells you they are going to show
up with more then two people you need to be on
guard, and ask lot of questions.
Prima Dona – Does the TSCM expert seem just a
little too ego driven? Do they crow on endlessly
about what college they attended, and how they
spent 30 years working for NASA, invented a cure
for warts, heals the sick, and so on ad nauseum?
Beware the Prima Dona, as they tend to want their
own office for the sweep, or show up for a
low-key project in a Ferrari or Porsche (not that
there is anything wrong with these vehicles).
They wear designer suits, flash shoulder
holsters, smoke expensive cigars, and go way
overboard in trying to show or tell you how
important and powerful they are when in fact they
are impotent. Start with a neutral score, and as
the TSCM person impresses you with how slick and
important they are, start awarding negative
points. If they have a little bit of “grit” to
them then award +5 points, and the less polish
they have the closer you can get to awarding them
+10 points. You do not want a TSCM person who is
flamboyant, is a fancy dresser, who is arrogant,
or who feels like the World is beneath them.
Pathetic – A few self-anointed sweep people have
sob stories about how miserable their life has
been, how they have overcome unrelenting odds,
and they have a sob story for every occasion. If
you give more then a few minutes of your time you
will start feeling sorry for them and will want
to give them the sweep project just to help them
out. Unfortunately, in most cases, the person is
trying to trick you, and they really are not
performing sweeps, but rather confidence tricks
and swindles. If a TSCM expert comes to you with
stories about how pathetic their lives are, you
should start adding negative numbers, and
conversely if they do not start up with the pity
party you should award positive numbers. Most
people will get zero points, someone merely
having a bad day will garner +3 points, and
someone having minor problems in life a negative
3 points. If someone is “totally on top of their
profession” award then a full ten points, and if
they almost seem pitiful subtract six points, and
if they make you feel sorry for them subtract a full ten points.
Philanthropist – If the sweeps are too cheap then
you have a serious problem. There are no cheap,
good cigars. Real sweeps actually costs thousands
of dollars or tens of thousands of dollars, not
hundreds or dollars, nor do they cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars. Beware of anybody who
quotes you prices for a sweep that are too low.
Any sweeper who quotes you less then $750 for any
sweep should be awarded negative ten points, as
something is gravely wrong with their pricing. If
they offer to perform the sweep for more then
$750 but less then $1500 you may have a minor
problem with them and should award negative three
points. If they charge between $2250 and $2750
per day for the sweep, you should award then zero
points. If the rate is $3000 up to $3500 for the
sweep award +3 points, for up to $4750 per day
award five points, and for $5000 to $7500 per day
award a full ten points. Since a small sweep may
only require a single day and since the
scheduling of short-term projects can be flexible
a lower rate may be obtained for quick sweeps as
opposed to larger corporate or estate sweeps
which are usually multi-day affairs with a much
higher per day cost. Also, watch out for the
duration of a bug sweep, as there is very little
that a sweep person can do in four hours on-site,
but with eight hours on-site they can render only
basic, essential services. To evaluate a single
room they will usually need two to three days
on-site, and it is not uncommon for these three
days on-site to cost $15,000 plus travel time and
per diem charges. A larger, corporate sweep
involving six executive offices may take a seven
to ten days and cost $40,000 and $50,000 plus
travel time and expenses. When someone quotes you
a price that is too low you have a huge problem
on your hands as someone with only a couple of
briefcases may be planning to defraud you, and
they may or may not put on a good show for the
$500 you pay them. Always remember that real
sweeps costs thousands of dollars, not hundreds.
Phreaks – People get into TSCM for a range of
reasons, some of these reasons are honorable,
some are based on professional curiosity, but
sadly, some people get involved in TSCM due to
dishonorable, crooked, or illegal activities. One
group of folks who sometimes get involved are
drug dealers, dope growers, drug users, meth
cookers, tweakers and those involved in the
illegal narcotics trade. In these illicit
professions they tend to be extremely paranoid
and feel that the government is out to get them
(which is it), and they are constantly afraid of
being bugged (which they should be). They
frequently load up on sweep gear and learn about
how to perform their own bug sweeps in an
paranoid attempt to find the bugs on their own
phone lines. They may or may not have attended
formal bug sweep training, and may or may not be
operating under a company name. In fact quite a
few druggies incorporate companies, have
legitimate business addresses, and some even
become licensed private investigators in order to
conceal their illicit drug operation and launder
the money they are bringing in. Always query the
TSCM person as to how they “got into” the
business, and why they chose to study the subject
in such detail. It only takes a couple of
questions to figure out if the person is a drug
phreak or not, an most of those questions have to
do with why they got into the business in the
first place. If they started with a strong
electronics background, and that chose TSCM as
their specialty award then ten points, if they
came from a technical field but not electronics
then award 5 points. However, if at any time you
suspect that they come are, or have been involved
in an “illicit agriculture or pharmaceuticals”
profession then subtract fifty points and make
every effect to distance yourself from them.
Power Sweeper – If a sweeper is very good at
balancing their workload they can schedule a
string of sweeps in a row for different clients,
so that they usually perform larger sweeps
intermixed with smaller sweeps. The larger
multi-day sweeps (four or more days) are like the
bricks or stones in a wall, and the smaller
sweeps are like the mortar that is used to hold
the larger stones or bricks in place. If a
sweeper tells you about how they only perform
large, corporate of government sweeps, and that
they do not perform smaller sweeps they are
likely lying to you. If they claim not to perform
private, domestic, or residential sweeps, they
are also lying to you. If half of their sweep
work is 50% large sweeps (over 3 days), and the
other half is sweep that are short one or two day
project award then 10 points. If their clients
are 25% large 3+ day sweeps and 75% small, one
day sweeps award then only five points. If they
claim to perform, large corporate sweeps subtract
5 points, and if they tell you that most of their
projects, are only one to two days in length (no
including travel time) then subtract ten points.
Phantom Sweeper – Claims to perform hundreds of
sweeps per year. The only problem is that for
them to perform as many sweeps per year that they
claim they would have to be working 30 hours per
day, 400 days per year, and would have to possess
8 arms, 6 eyes, and possess physic abilities
(none of which is likely). A good TSCM expert can
handle a single multi-day sweep per week, plus a
couple of smaller single day sweeps worked around
the larger project. If a sweeper claims to be
performing 100 sweeps per year you should ask
many questions, and if they claim to be
performing “hundreds per year” you should
consider finding somebody else. In reality, most
corporate or government sweeps require 3-5 days
for a single room, and then a day or so for each
additional room. Very simple residential sweeps
take only a day or so, but a more complicated
residential sweep can take a week or more. As far
as scoring this issue, you start by awarding zero
points, and when the TSCM expert tries to
convince you that they perform more then a few
sweeps per week (on average) you subtract points,
the more they claim, the more you subtract. On
the other hand, if they explain that there are a
limited number of projects they can handle per
month then award them up to ten points. Watch out
for people who use the words “projects”,
“assignments”, or “engagements” and then claim to
perform hundreds, or even thousands of these per
year when the truth of the matter is that every
time their phone rings they claim it is an
assignment even though they never do any work for
the client. Listen carefully, are they performing
actual bug sweeps for these numbers, or are they
up to something else. If you really get to the
point where you feel they are being evasive and
not answering your questions properly then come
right out and ask them how many actually bug
sweeps they perform per month where they are
going out to a different address each time.
Listen for clues as to the length of each sweep,
and for clue of how many different customers per
months they service. If they are servicing over
15 customers per month on average (over 25 sweep
days) they are likely ripping them off and you
need to subtract ten points. If they are handling
10-12 customers per month (20-21 sweep days)
their schedule will be healthy and you can award
them ten points. If business is slow for them
that may only be performing two to three sweep
per month involving one day each, and you should
award then only 3 points. If they only perform
sweeps on the weekends and on holidays, avoid
performing the sweep during normal mid-week
business hours, or two to keep the sweeps to one
or two days in length that you are likely talking
to a “moonlighter”. This is someone who has a
full time job somewhere, and TSCM is not his or
her primary occupation. If you are bold enough
you can come right out and ask them where they
work normally, and watch them sputter and stammer
to evade answering your question. You only want
to be dealing with sweepers who perform sweeps
full time, not some moonlighter who is
“borrowing” (er, actually stealing) their employer’s equipment.
Phantom Equipment – This is a simple matter of
the TSCM expert actually owning the equipment
they are proposing using. This is not an issue of
what equipment they “have access to”, or what
they will buy so they can perform the project for
you. You do not want a TSCM person who is
borrowing equipment, or who is going to run out
and buy equipment he does not already possess.
Instead, you want to be dealing someone who
already has hundreds of thousands, if not
millions of dollar invested in equipment, and
they can bring that equipment to your location in
very short order. You grade the equipment like
thisÂ… If they have $50,000 in equipment that they
can bring to your project then they get a neutral
score of zero. $300,000 in equipment results in
five points being awarded, and over one million
dollars of equipment (on site) results in a score
of +10. On the other hand, if they can only bring
less then $25,000 of equipment on site they get
-3 points, under $5,000 in equipment, -6 points.
If they have only a small kit of equipment
involving only one or two briefcases, or a single
broadband field detector (valued under $2,500)
you award -10 points. If at any time they use the
phrases “has access to the equipment”, “can
borrow the equipment”, “can use their employer’s
equipment” or other similar statements you automatically award -10 points.
Patents and Designs – A very small number of TSCM
specialists have actually designed TSCM equipment
themselves and hold patents, and/or trademarks in
regards to these designs. A few of these people
can actually design products from the ground up,
can design and build circuit boards, develop
chassis, design specialized antenna, and can
write computer programs. Some of these products
may be offered to government agencies only, or
are for the use of the TSCM specialist only,
while other products are openly sold to non-TSCM
people. The rather delicate issue here is that
quite a few TSCM companies claim to have designed
equipment, but all they are really doing is
inventing marketing gimmicks and not actual
equipment, essentially taking someone else design
and plastering their own name on it. You grade
the “Patents, Designs, and Trademarks” issue by
awarding +10 points if they have at an actual
patent, +5 points if they have some original
designs or products (but no actual patents yet).
Award zero points to someone who makes no design
claims. If the person claims to have designed a
product but they are doing nothing more then
taking a someone elseÂ’s existing product or
methods and plastering their own name on it then
you need to subtract 5 points. If they are
egregious with their claims then you should
subtract ten points or more. For example, an
engineer who designs and builds their own
microwave pre-selector is different then PI who
buys one from Agilent and puts their own label on
it and then claims a trademark on the clever
name. You want to deal with someone who actually
designs equipment form scratch, not someone who invents colorful labels.
Other – This is the “something special” factor,
and it will vary from firm to firm, and is a bit
of a wildcard. It may be that the TSCM firm has
several patents, that they have actually designed
equipment and methods, that that are widely
published and quoted, or have other specialized
factors that warrant the awarding of other points
not otherwise covered. Congress may have
consulted them on technical matters, or some
other matter that strongly effects the scoring in
some way. The scoring should be no more than 30
points in either direction, where a series of
good things provides a score of positive 20-30
points and a series of negative things subtract 20-30 points.
Add the scores up, in a perfect world it should
be 200-250 points, but anything over +140 points
is a decent sweep person (with an average score),
and over +175 points is an excellent sweep
person. An overall score that is below +50 means
indicates that you should be polite, but consider
not having them do a bug sweep or anything else
for you. If they have an overall negative score,
you should figure out some way to distance
yourself from the person before you end up losing
more then just a few dollars.
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World Class, Professional, Ethical, and Competent Bug Sweeps, and
Wiretap Detection using Sophisticated Laboratory Grade Test Equipment.
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James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue #291 Web:
http://www.tscm.com/
Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 E-mail: mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
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We perform bug sweeps like it's a full contact sport, we take no prisoners,
and we give no quarter. Our goal is to simply, and completely stop the spy.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:27 CST