Doesn't mention the good old Nonlinear Junction Detector. (NLJD) [1] or The Broom as they call it. It can find any unshielded device containing semiconductors, no matter if the device is powered or not - which is pretty cool. It is possible to build one yourself which is even cooler. Although I have to say, while it is a WW II era device, DIY building is not a beginners project. The British documentary "The Spying Game - Walls Have Ears" has a good interview with its inventor that even includes a demo of the device by him in his wonderful old school lab[2].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_junction_detector

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EWYI9zfF9Y#t=22m30s

One quick and cost-effective way to detect IR light is by using the front-facing camera on your phone.

Unlike the rear-facing camera, the front-facing camera does not have an IR filter and can easily pick up IR lights in the dark.

To try this at home, grab your TV remote, which uses IR light to send information to your TV and open the front-facing camera on your phone. Next, point the front end of the remote at the camera and press any of the remote buttons. The IR light that is normally not visible will be completely visible on your camera screen.

Well I’ll be darned. This works! (iPhone 7)

Here's a review of a hidden camera digital clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMtG_fAL9aI

And someone using a FLIR infrared camera to find hidden cameras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndlhlBIG0SQ

I have a routine when entering a hotel room that involves scanning for devices similar to what the article mentions (but not as far as using specialized equipment). I'm not paranoid about being spied on, giving a proper once-over makes me feel more at ease when inside the room. You never find anything, which is always a relief, but a couple years ago when hotels started installing smart mirrors it sure made my heart beat faster when you shut off the bathroom light and look at the mirror with a light source. I've also recently started seeing hall effect switches on hotel room doors. I'm not sure how they are being used, but I usually pull the magnet out of the door and put it on the mini bar and no one comes running thinking the door has been left open. I'm not a fan of the hotel knowing when I come and go. I've seen a motion sensor once but I believe those are more for the room's HVAC.

I'm interested that it doesn't mention the nonlinear junction detector, but I'm no spyhunter or anything and maybe that's an obsolete piece of equipment now. After all, there's certainly a lot more innocent transistors and diodes out in the world today than there were during the cold war. Also I'm not sure they're legal for just anybody to use since they vomit so much radio interference.

An interesting build:

http://67.225.133.110/~gbpprorg/mil/non/index.html

this article is actually just an advertisement for this product. https://www.senteltechsecurity.com/lawmate-dd802-defender.ht...

Google cache: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rZMVkY...

"The best way to check for a two-way mirror is by using your fingertip. On most mirrors, if you place your fingertip on the mirror, the reflection of it will not touch. Instead, it will leave a quarter inch gap or so"

Went to check all mirrors at home, and placed my fingertip on them. In all, the reflection of my finger touches my finger.

I'm gonna need to have a serious conversation with my wife now.

Is unplugging the power of the router in an AirBNB a good basic security step?

Presumably some cameras depend on flash storage rather than Internet connection but many cameras do use Internet connection to function?

Why does a completely static blogpost have a loading animation? Some really bad engineering decisions have been made here.

You could also roll your own (at your own risk) :) [1]

[1] - https://github.com/JulianOliver/dropkick.sh

This is a real problem for females in Korea, where spy cameras are a real thing. So much so, there's a Korean word for, it "molka," and a Kickstarter for a handheld device that can find even pinhole cameras based on reflected visible light from an array of LEDs.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spyassociates/spyfinder...

This is an excellent follow-up to the AirBNB story posted here earlier.

Tl;dr AirBNB ruled that a host's photo with an easily-glanced-over single camera tucked in a corner was sufficient evidence and documentation of the fact that they had multiple cameras inside - i.e. that the guest should've been aware that there was no expectation of privacy. The article mentioned unplugging said equipment, other comments mentioned guests having found cameras in alarm clocks in AirBnBs, etc.

If it’s an IP camera, you can solve the problem by carrying a little switch and patch cable. The switch plugged into an Ethernet port, then the jumper cable plugged across two of the ports in the switch. If the camera is on the same network no appreciable amount of data will be getting from that camera back to where it is supposed to be recording

There's also a research paper on this subject. Some of the information in it might no longer be relevant in today's world though.

http://www.tentacle.franken.de/papers/hiddencams.pdf

So spend 250+ and carry all that extra gear with me while traveling to hotels?

I could see this being a thing in Airbnb though unfortunately.

Cameras are easy to find. You use red glasses (laser safety ppe) and a red light source. The type of polymer they coat lenses in is highly reflective in the red spectrum. With out getting into too many details you just shine the light around looking for strong pin pricks of red light. I've got experience doing this for over 20 years and this is by far the most effective approach 100% of the time.

It's funny how in spy movies a sniper or observer has a big ol lens pointed at a target.

Govt buildings have lens detectors.

And I'd hope high value targets teams do too

I've proposed a talk at CircleCityCon that includes this area... except the software stack I'm using makes sounds and then rapidly watches a large swath of spectrum to find FM bugs.

I can also pick up 802.11* bugs too with standard wireless hacking toolset that we're all familiar with.

I can't pick up video with it (5.8GHz FPV modules), but that shouldn't be too hard to add at a later date.

I also can't pick up "record to SD" style of bugs. There's nothing to pick up radio widse, and their tempest emissions are too miniscule to detect.

Didnt Hilton pay large sum of money to an ESPN reporter to settle a voyeur cam issue ? This is why I choose Hilton -- they know spying on me or enabling spying on me is going to be expensive for them.

For people using AirBnB -- the best you can hope for is your pictures don't end up on a fetish site.

Bookmarking this for when we need to sweep the white house in a couple years.

Why does he have 2 clocks, a bed, a toilet and a bathtub in the same room?

Camera inside alarm clock will pass all these tests.

Curious why they aren't using public key encryption when writing to the SD card if they went to that much trouble hiding it.

As a pervert/voyeur I can recommend these tips for spotting 19 out of 20 such pervs. The thermal being most effective.

You can do basic detection via mobile app itself and they are surprisingly good. I know they can't replace dedicated gadgets but for most it should be enough and convenient.

On android i use Ultimate EMF Detector PRO and Hidden Camera(PRO version). These should help you to detect electro magnetic field emanating from devices and infrared camera. Be very careful while selecting the app since there are lot of similar apps in the market from shady looking companies.

My hidden bullshit detector says it's an advertising article playing on fears, and having fake comments below it.

This ia paranoid as hell. If you really needed to worry about it, you wouldn't be reading this article.

I guess I'm lucky that I'm not important enough for anyone to bug me, besides taking amazing video of me going at it with my hot wife going at it in a hotel. Now that I think about it, someone would hit the jackpot if they got us on film.

using IR devices or buy RF detector from amazon to avoid hidden camera

Also, as any pretty girl in a DongGuan city's Sauna will teach you, put all portable objects inside the room's wardrobe and cover everything you can, including mirrors, with towels, bedsheets, or whatever piece of cloth you can find. Put all flasks of Shampoo or body soap in the wardrobe aswell. Scan the long curtains of the room's window with your eyes and hands. They are really professionals there.

Has anyone considered these pieces of equipment?

http://aitproducts.com/products/fiberscopes/micro-fiberscope...

They are very hard to spot. you have to inspect the area of concern for tack holes or raised features in the wallpaper. As far as price is concerned, there is a fair bit of profit that will be realized short term from the disgusting type of porn that could be generated. Im sure there is some gaurded position regarding sales of these devices, if not there should be.

would you drink from a bucket if it only had one little turd floating in it?

Why does he have 2 clocks, a bed, a bathtub and a toilet in the same room?