Bugging and eavesdropping is continues to be a serious threat.

  • What: Eavesdropping devices were discovered in advance of a Polish government meeting.
  • Significance: High level meetings are a serious target. If this can occur at top level government meetings where high security measures are in place, it can also happen in less secure corporate boardroom settings. Advance inspections by a skilled TSCM team discovered the devices and were able to protect the meeting. Be sure to have qualified TSCM inspections scheduled regularly for your facilities and all off-site meetings.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened a cabinet meeting in Katowice on Tuesday.

Warsaw, Poland

Ahead of a crucial government gathering in Katowice, the State Protection Service (SOP) and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) have uncovered potential eavesdropping devices in the meeting room where top officials are slated to convene.

“The State Protection Service, in co-operation with the Internal Security Agency, detected and dismantled devices that could be used for eavesdropping,” wrote security services spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski on X. “The services are carrying out further activities in this matter.”

“We will clarify the matter to the end,” assured Special Services Coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak. Head of the Chancellery Jan Grabiec added that the facility, in which the government meeting is scheduled to take place, has been checked and “the government will work normally.”

The government session is intricately tied to the inauguration of the 16th European Economic Congress. Notable dignitaries such as Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were to headline discussions focusing on transformation and security.

The off-site meeting of the Council of Ministers was scheduled to take place as planned in the building of the Silesian Provincial Government Office in Katowice.

Polish Secretary of State, Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski, responds to news of eavesdropping devices found prior to important cabinet meetings.

Additional sources:

As was noted, the meeting was being held at an off-site venue. Conference centers and hotel meetings are always at a higher risk due the number of outside staff  and vendors present. This doesn’t take away the concern for meetings held at your own facilities. Insider threat, visitors and guests, as well as authorized vendors may all have access to your confidential meeting areas.

In this case, it was the standard of regular TSCM sweeps that allowed them to discover and dismantle the eavesdropping devices prior to the meeting getting underway.