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Contracting a TSCM Service Provider
One of the most difficult and confusing tasks involved in the management of any technical security program is contracting Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) services. Most organizations and individuals do not have the proper training, experience or equipment resources to properly perform TSCM inspections or "electronic bug sweeps" themselves. Because of this, it becomes necessary to contract these services from an outside provider.
When contracting a TSCM service provider, customers are faced with an onslaught of information with each provider emphasizing different backgrounds, training and levels of experience while providing an assortment of opinions and advice to potential clients.
It is important to understand that the TSCM industry in Canada is, for the most part, unregulated and there are no national, provincial or industry accepted standards for training or services performed. This creates a situation where claims or statements can be made by any service provider to convince potential customers that their services are legitimate, discredit other providers or to appear superior to another.
Such circumstances pose a huge hurdle in trying to locate legitimate professional TSCM services and leaves potential customers wondering what to believe and whom to instill with the responsibility of protecting their privacy and information. Without the proper knowledge and understanding it is virtually impossible to know how much, if any, of what is said is accurate. When faced with this type of obstacle there are two key courses of action customers can take.
The first is to obtain a better understanding of TSCM services. While it's not necessary to become an expert in electronics or counter surveillance, a better understanding will help in your decision to contract services based on questions asked and information supplied. Armed with the proper knowledge, clients will be less vulnerable to the possibility of being provided with and accepting inaccurate or misleading information. Contracting the proper service provider is critical to implementing successful technical security or counter surveillance programs and often clients will have only one chance to make the correct decision, especially if they believe a possible compromise is taking place.
The second is to monitor and evaluate all TSCM inspections. Larger businesses or organizations often exhibit extensive, complex target environments requiring sophisticated and highly detailed TSCM services. These customers need to be sure their information is being properly protected. By monitoring and assessing TSCM inspection services, any provider claims, capabilities, equipment, techniques and testing procedures utilized along with information in reports can be verified. In fact, legitimate TSCM service providers will recommend monitoring and evaluating various security measures to ensure their effectiveness.
It's safe to say that legitimate professional TSCM service providers will have many years of experience, proper training and quality equipment resources. TSCM operators should also have criminal / security clearances and be in good physical condition as inspections can be physically demanding.
Legitimate professional TSCM operators can be part of a security or investigation agency or a company providing TSCM services only. They can be retired from other, or similar occupations or operate independently running their own private TSCM business. Some service providers utilize smaller teams of one or two TSCM operators, some will have one operator with one or two assistants and others will utilize a team consisting of several (3 - 7) operators.
While a smaller team of one or two operators will in most cases be more than sufficient and even preferred for less complex residential environments or smaller businesses with limited physical size and budgets, their ability to provide highly detailed inspections for larger more complex businesses, corporations and organizations will be limited.
Small teams or single operators will require far more time to complete a detailed inspection for larger clients and may have to divide the service up over many days. An inspection performed by a smaller team lasting four to five hours will only provide a limited lower risk assessment. However, smaller teams can provide a good general survey at a lower cost and the results can be analyzed to determine areas of weakness and can also act as a supplement to less frequent more detailed inspections.
Companies who provide larger teams of trained professional operators can cover far more ground by utilizing each operator for a specific task and more time can be spent analyzing and performing the various tests and procedures required. There will generally be a higher cost for inspections with several operators, but they will provide greater detail and more in-depth results. There are advantages and disadvantages for each type of operational set up and they need to be evaluated individually with respect to a client's needs and budgets. When deciding to add TSCM inspections to your overall security posture, you need to decide what those requirements and budgets are.
Still, another factor to assess is the location of a TSCM service provider. While there may not be a legitimate provider in your immediate area, greater travel distances can pose certain issues. Travel by air, costs for transporting equipment for a large corporate inspection as well as food, lodging and ground transportation costs can be significant. For situations where international locations are involved, any legal issues and equipment restrictions need to be considered.
In some cases a provider may limit the amount of equipment that they travel with, however a client should know this in advance if it differs from the normal scope of work performed. It may be that a legitimate provider in your area can perform a more detailed inspection at less expense. Some organizations may prefer a single TSCM company to perform all work required regardless of different locations to be inspected, while others like the ability to compare operators and different points of view. Travel can also pose problems for emergency inspections or whenever time is a factor. Once again, there are advantages and disadvantages to each situation that need to be considered.
There are a variety of opinions with regards to equipment resources and many TSCM service providers have certain types and brands of equipment they prefer. Some providers will emphasize the overall dollar value of their equipment resources, while others will focus on specific equipment capabilities. Although it is good to know the equipment resource capability for a provider, what is more important here is not what a provider claims or lists but what they actually utilize during the inspection. The major equipment resources that will be utilized, their particular capabilities and how they are utilized will be of greater interest to potential clients with a solid understanding of TSCM services. While circumstances may change during an inspection depending on various results and possible findings, clients should always know the minimum scope of work that will be performed in advance.
The electronic equipment utilized by legitimate TSCM operators has become more sophisticated and expensive but is also available to anyone who has the money to purchase it. A service provider's equipment resource list has become a very common focus for marketing as proof of legitimacy. However, the ownership of such equipment does not guarantee its proper use or that it will be used at all.
TSCM operators need to be knowledgeable and well informed with regards to the many methods used to collect intelligence or information, many of which are non-technical in nature. The protection of privacy and information goes beyond the realm of electronic surveillance devices which dominated our thinking in the past, and while important, are only part of what needs to be looked at and evaluated by TSCM service providers today.
Contracting TSCM services is not an easy task by any means, with many different factors to consider but the bottom line is individuals, businesses and organizations of all sizes must be vigilant and take responsibility for the protection of their privacy and information as a key component of an overall technical security / counter surveillance program. By taking these actions they will be in a much better position to make accurate and informed decisions regarding their overall technical security posture and the protection of their privacy and information.
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