ASIC counter-spy to be a tough search
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will be hard pressed sourcing a single company for technical counter-surveillance activities, says a local counter-intelligence professional.
(Credit: ZDNet.com.au)
Earlier this week ,the regulator released a request for tender (RFT) to source technical surveillance counter-measure (TSCM) services. ASIC hopes to find a company to sweep its offices and IT systems for spying devices, a task ASIC is mandated to do.
The problem with ASIC's RFT is that it wants the TSCM — a phrase coined by military describing scanning a site for spying devices — from a single company.
"For TSCM, which is the bug detection process, there are not enough qualified people in Australia with the right level of industry training or government experience to provide the service," Les Goldsmith, managing director of Australian counter-intelligence firm, ESD Australia told ZDNet.com.au.
Goldsmith said his company would not bid for the work due to the likely scale of it. However, he added, "I don't see for this contract they're going to find a single contractor that can do that scope of work."
The counter-intelligence work would mean inspecting everything from light fittings and ceilings to PABX systems, LAN cables and electrical wiring, said Goldsmith. "Unused wires or LAN cable are a great place to bug," he said.
Conducting such work on a three-bedroom house, for example, would take around four hours — double if the team were looking for government level threats.
"A single floor corporate office in a high rise would be a two- to five-day exercise. And that's using two teams," said Goldsmith.
Goldsmith said each of ESD's two seven-person teams, one of which is based in the US, carries $200,000 worth of equipment to each job. Prices for the services vary widely, from $200 per day to $200,000 per day, said Goldsmith.
Additional information supplied by ASIC in response to questions from hopeful contractors has revealed that the issue of consortium bids has been raised.
"Multiple contractors would be considered if ASIC was unable to obtain the services of a contractor to fulfil ASIC's requirements. It is our intention to engage a contractor to service all ASIC's sites nationally as prescribed by the statement of requirements," ASIC said in an addendum to the original tender documents.
Goldsmith said that spying devices are found in around three out of every 10 inspections within Australia, with much higher rates in Asia, particularly in the government sector.