Hotels can be fertile ground for eavesdropping. Security teams for executives as well as politicians should consider hotel TSCM sweeps to be part of their standard protocol especially when important meetings are planned.
Brisbane, Australia, via DailyMail, Nov 9, 2014
U.S. security officials have stripped down an entire floor of a Brisbane hotel and removed furniture to prevent President Barack Obama being spied on during his stay for the G20 summit this weekend.
Mr Obama’s security agents ordered beds, mirrors and bedding be removed from rooms surrounding the suite where the President will stay at the five-star Marriott Hotel in Queensland’s capital city, the Courier-Mail reported.
The floor will be checked for bugs before Mr Obama arrives on Saturday, to ensure he can make secure phone calls and conduct meetings.
President Obama and his staff will occupy multiple floors of the Marriott Hotel in Brisbane this weekend
In addition to the President’s floor, hundreds of Mr Obama’s staffers will occupy additional floors in the hotel.
World leaders, the media, tourists and protesters will soon begin to converge on Brisbane for the G20 summit this weekend.
Security agencies are scanning the city 24 hours a day and barricades have been going up around the restricted zones where dignitaries will be meeting and sleeping.
Special G20 laws came into force on Friday evening and one man has been already been banned from the area.
He was charged after allegedly refusing to provide police with his details after taking photos of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday night.