Wiretapping is the preferred method of obtaining intelligence (for quality reasons), it involves tying in to a wire or other conductor that is used for communications. This wire can be a telephone line, a PBX cable, a local area network, a CCTV video system, an alarm system, or any other communications medium. The goal in a wiretapping is to secure high quality information, and to minimize the possibility of the eavesdropping being detected (remember radiated signals are easy to detect).
Wiretaps are broken into four primary categories (Hardwired, Soft, Record, and Transmit).
A Hardwired Wiretap, is when physical access is gained to a section of wire that the signal (ie: telephone line) travels on. A second set of wires is attached (normally through the use of an isolation or slave device), the signal is then bridged back to a secure location. This type of wiretap when discovered is fairly easy to trace back to the listening post. This type of wiretap is very popular with the police, but is usually outside the scope of most eavesdroppers. If the eavesdropper is using a “slave” or similar isolation device on a telephone the tap will be virtually impossible for anybody without proper countermeasure equipment
A Soft Wiretap, is a modification to the software used to run the phone system. This can be done at the telephone company, or in the case of a business, the PBX. A soft wiretap is a preferred method to tap a phone, easy to catch on a PBX, but tougher to find in the phone company’s system. It is sometimes called a REMOBS (REMote OBServation), DATU, ESS, or translation tap. This type of tap is very popular with large law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, larger corporations, and with hackers who find it quite simple to gain access via maintenance software. This type of tap is actually very simple to find, but does require completely un-restricted access to the inner workings on the phone companies computers (which is very tough to obtain).
A Record Wiretap, is nothing more than a tape recorder wired into the phone line.. Similar to a hardwired wiretap, but the tapes must be changed on a regular basis. This is very, very popular with amateur spies, and private investigators, but they are very dangerous to use, and many eavesdroppers have been caught red-handed when they showed up to service their illicit recorder.
A Transmit Wiretap, is an RF transmitter (or “Bug”) connected to a wire (often containing a microphone itself). This type of tap is very popular, however; the RF energy it produces radically increases the chance that it will be detected by a competent “Bug Sweeping” equipment
Wiretaps are extremely difficult to detect (if properly installed), require a very high level of technical expertise, and the right kinds of equipment to locate.
