A New Canaan man reported to police that he had found a recording device left in his coat pocket.
He believed his wife had been eavesdropping on him, and when confronted she admitted it.
The husband told police that his wife had told him in the past “that she would find ways to ‘ruin him’ and ‘take all of his money’ ” the [warrant] application said.
He told authorities that he “runs a business from his home office and that she was intentionally and knowingly eavesdropping on his private business conversations with colleagues and other personal conversations,” the application said.
The report indicated the device was a voice recording device made by the company iZyrec. Police were able to recover multiple audio recordings from the device.
Police connected the device with the wife through the email address she used to obtain it from iZyrec.com.
iZyrec website shows the device available for about $99. It is small, ~50mm x 43mm, not much larger than a book of matches or slightly larger than the popular Tile tracking devices (although this unit is only a recording device).
Readily available
The iZyrec device is now readily available on Amazon as well as directly from their own website. While there are certainly many legitimate uses for a small voice recorder, their website demonstrates two uses well suited for corporate espionage. They show it magnetically attached to a table leg and also stuck under the edge of a conference table with Velcro.
Small recording devices have, of course, been available for decades, providing a serious threat for corporate confidentiality. With the cost for such units reaching well under $100 now, it is important to recognize the significant concern they create for confidentiality in offices and conference rooms.
Crowdfunding shows thousands of backers
iZyrec first offered the device as a Kickstarter project in 2023. The crowdfunding campaign they did boasts almost 7000 backers. It is obvious then that many people are interested in obtaining such devices. It’s worth recognizing that a number of these supporters and many of the later purchasers could easily be employees or executives bringing them into your corporate offices.
Field testing
Since the unit was so readily available, we decided to purchase one to test its functions as well as our detection capabilities for such a device. It took one day to have it delivered from Amazon to my front door.
Features
It boasts up to 30 hours recording time and 72 days standby time, with 480 hours of storage. With today’s batteries and low cost memory available, I’m sure the 30 hours recording time and 480 hours storage is easily achieved. The main control of the device is done through a Bluetooth LE connection to a smart phone that is running the iZyrec app. There is also a USB-C port for charging and connection to a PC that can also be used for transferring the audio files.
The unit has two modes, determined by a three-way slide switch.
- manual record – where you slide the power switch to one side. It begins recording right away unit the switch is turned off, back to the middle position.
- automated/ remote controlled recording – slide the switch in the other direction and you can now control it via Bluetooth with their proprietary app.
The app can be used to start and stop recording, set scheduled start and stop times, and listen to the audio recordings as well as transfer them from the device. It can also be set for Voice-Activated Recording from within the app. The Wifi function is used only for faster transfer of the recordings. If the unit has recorded for a long time, the file size could be quite large. They recommend using Wifi to transfer any large files. You can only activate the Wifi while connected via Bluetooth in the app.
Espionage concerns
Using the remote Bluetooth control and the scheduled recording features allow this to be a serious corporate espionage concern. For Bluetooth control you do need to be within Bluetooth range to activate it, but that could easily be from a next door office. Wifi does not allow control of the unit.
The scheduled recording option, though, could allow it to easily be pre-programmed for say, an upcoming board meeting, left in place, and retrieved at a later date – or it could be left in place and one would just need to be near enough to the device for a Bluetooth connection then perform the file transfers.
TSCM solution
The good news is that these devices and others like them can be detected by professional TSCM techniques. They are not transmitting strong signals so typical RF scanning devices would easily miss them. A much more thorough inspection along with an understanding of Bluetooth signals would be needed. Contact us at info@execsecurity.com if you would like professional assistance with privacy protection for your offices and meetings.
The original news report can be found at the NewCanaanite.com.