The following statistics highlight the increasing need for TSCM services for a wide range of customers:
- $888 Million in illegal eavesdropping equipment is sold each year in the US alone.
US State Dept.
- $512 Million believed to be installed in US Corporations
- According to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 72% of businesses (regardless of size) without counter-espionage protocols are destined to suffer financial loss within 2 years.
- 44% of UK Businesses suffered at least one malicious information security breach in 2001
Information Security Breaches 2002 PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dept. of Trade & Industry, UK
- 80% of employees will disclose sensitive info to people they do not know over the phone
Companies Remain at Risk for Information Theft PrWeb Newswire, November 11, 2005
- Combined costs of foreign and domestic economic espionage, including theft of intellectual property, are as high as US$300 Billion per year and rising.
Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection & Industrial Espionage, 2002
If we consider that this much espionage occurs in countries where possession of a covert listening device is a federal offence, then consider the availability of these devices in other countries like Australia for example who do not currently prohibit possession of these devices.
