Surveillance Countermeasures: A Serious Guide to ... - Paladin Press

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C H A P T E R 1INTRODUCTIONTOSURVEILLANCECOUNTER-MEASURESThis book was originally publishedduring the last decade ofthe 20th century. Since that time,there has been an unanticipated proliferationof hostile covert elementsthat has significantly increased thethreat to citizens, businesses, andnational security interests of theUnited States and other democraticnations, both at home and abroad. Forthis reason, this book’s applicabilityhas broadened significantly from theoriginal target audience of a smallcore of security professionals to virtuallyeveryone.The techniques in this work weredocumented shortly after the conclusionof the Cold War and were in largepart intended as a tribute to the legacyof the cloak-and-dagger intrigue thatcharacterized that era. In those bipolardays, adversaries generally exercisedmutual protocols in a highstakesgentlemen’s game of spy versusspy. Even in the world of internationalterrorism during the previous era,there was a relatively rigid distinctionbetween what were considered “legitimate”targets and off-limit targets(such as innocent civilians) thatwould result in negative sentimentstoward the terrorist cause.Today, terrorist and espionageoperatives are less discriminate aboutthe individuals they target, and criminalorganizations have become lessrestrained in order to compete in theincreasingly unscrupulous globalcrime market. These factors, coupled1
with the dynamics of globalization, are responsible for a muchmore dangerous world for many more people. As a general rule,there are no rules, and no one is exempt.The new reality of the contemporary environment is characterizedby a wide range of unconstrained and asymmetric threatsthat act with relatively less regard to consequence. In the past 15years, we have experienced the development of a much more pervasiveand dangerous “underworld”—one that threatens a muchbroader stratum of society. Now there is a plethora of acutethreats to the personal privacy and security of average citizens,including common criminals and stalkers, private and corporateinvestigative elements, international crime and terrorist organizations,government-sponsored espionage agencies, and, ofcourse, radical Islamic terrorists who view all nonbelievers ofIslam as infidels and enemies and therefore legitimate targets.In virtually all cases, the elements that threaten individual,corporate, or national security conduct surveillance operations tofurther their objectives or as the primary means to an end. Intoday’s hazardous environment, security professionals mustunderstand the threat and be able to advise clients regarding theappropriate countermeasures to protect against a hostile surveillanceeffort. The average citizen, too, has a vested interest inunderstanding the concepts of surveillance countermeasures thatcan enhance personal security.At the most basic level, criminals will “case” potential targets todevelop information to maximize their probability of success incommitting a crime. Sophisticated criminal organizations will conductmore extensive surveillance efforts to develop information onindividuals they intend to intimidate, exploit, or terminate.Terrorist organizations conduct comprehensive preoperational surveillanceto maximize the probability of successful attacks. Inpreparation for criminal or terrorist acts, surveillance is employedto determine when and where the target is most vulnerable.Methods of international espionage have become much moreaggressive toward nonmilitary and nongovernment targets. To alarge degree, the intelligence services of foreign countries, bothfriend and foe, are competing in a global war based on economics.With less emphasis on military advantage and more on economicstrength, the number of individuals who are vulnerable to espionage2 Surveillance Countermeasures
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