5 ms·

The hypothesis that both China and Cuba used the same weapon targeting US diplomats seems incredibly unlikely.

candiodari 6y ago
No but them both using the same physical principle seems reasonable, especially given that the US used this as well. The purpose is to store passive electronics (say, for eavesdropping) with a frequency specific RLC circuit providing power in the walls, when they're built. These cannot be found by spy detector gadgets because except at one frequency there's almost nothing to be found (there is a "passive cavity", which will not easily be identified as a spying device but can be used to eavesdrop, and more modern versions are the size of an rfid tag, 1/4th the size of a grain of rice is quite doable). They need remote power, however. So you need to direct something at them strong enough to power the circuit, which then sends the data back, and you need to do this from a few hundred meters. There's technical reasons (easy availability of generators) why you want(ed) to do this with microwaves. https://www.eetimes.com/eavesdropping-using-microwaves-addendum/ https://www.eetimes.com/eavesdropping-using-microwaves-adden...
- tcgv 6y ago
  > These cannot be found by spy detector gadgets because except at one frequency there's almost nothing to be found Doesn't RF spectrum analyzers exist that could be employed for this purpose? This also reminded me of a paper I read about some years ago, seems like a great use case for it: - Drawing inspiration from nature to build a better radio: New radio chip mimics human ear, could enable universal radio [1] https://news.mit.edu/2009/bio-electronics-0603 https://news.mit.edu/2009/bio-electronics-0603
  - sneak 6y ago
    Not touching the rest of their comment, but I think they mean "except at one [illumination] frequency": that is to say, they emit nothing until you transmit them energy at a specific (usually microwave) frequency, and then they reflect/modulate it back out, carrying the audio data. They are passive/unpowered otherwise. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
    - SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
      Any spectrum analyzer with a tracking generator (TG) could be used to find one. Sweep the spectrum with the TG off, save the waveform as a reference. Then turn the TG on, measure the return strength, watch for where it jumps above the reference. I've got a device capable of this as a hobbyist (Siglent SSA3021X-TG). Such bugs are undetectable by cheap equipment, but we've known about them for decades and any competent counterintelligence team will be able to spend the extra 2-3 thousand dollars for a good detector. It's chump change.
onetimemanytime 6y ago
Maybe the Chinese diplos in Cuba did
calyth2018 6y ago
A misconfigured device used by the diplomats might be a bit more likely.

No but them both using the same physical principle seems reasonable, especially given that the US used this as well. The purpose is to store passive electronics (say, for eavesdropping) with a frequency specific RLC circuit providing power in the walls, when they're built. These cannot be found by spy detector gadgets because except at one frequency there's almost nothing to be found (there is a "passive cavity", which will not easily be identified as a spying device but can be used to eavesdrop, and more modern versions are the size of an rfid tag, 1/4th the size of a grain of rice is quite doable). They need remote power, however. So you need to direct something at them strong enough to power the circuit, which then sends the data back, and you need to do this from a few hundred meters. There's technical reasons (easy availability of generators) why you want(ed) to do this with microwaves. https://www.eetimes.com/eavesdropping-using-microwaves-addendum/ https://www.eetimes.com/eavesdropping-using-microwaves-adden...

tcgv 6y ago
> These cannot be found by spy detector gadgets because except at one frequency there's almost nothing to be found Doesn't RF spectrum analyzers exist that could be employed for this purpose? This also reminded me of a paper I read about some years ago, seems like a great use case for it: - Drawing inspiration from nature to build a better radio: New radio chip mimics human ear, could enable universal radio [1] https://news.mit.edu/2009/bio-electronics-0603 https://news.mit.edu/2009/bio-electronics-0603
- sneak 6y ago
  Not touching the rest of their comment, but I think they mean "except at one [illumination] frequency": that is to say, they emit nothing until you transmit them energy at a specific (usually microwave) frequency, and then they reflect/modulate it back out, carrying the audio data. They are passive/unpowered otherwise. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
  - SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
    Any spectrum analyzer with a tracking generator (TG) could be used to find one. Sweep the spectrum with the TG off, save the waveform as a reference. Then turn the TG on, measure the return strength, watch for where it jumps above the reference. I've got a device capable of this as a hobbyist (Siglent SSA3021X-TG). Such bugs are undetectable by cheap equipment, but we've known about them for decades and any competent counterintelligence team will be able to spend the extra 2-3 thousand dollars for a good detector. It's chump change.

onetimemanytime 6y ago

Maybe the Chinese diplos in Cuba did

calyth2018 6y ago

A misconfigured device used by the diplomats might be a bit more likely.