Last week a man named as Gareth Williams was discovered at his flat in London in a macabre scene. His body appears to have lain undiscovered for around two weeks and was stuffed into a sports bag. So far there have seemingly been no clues as to the murderer’s identity or even a motive that may give investigating officers a reasonable line of enquiry. No signs of forced entry were apparent at the crime scene. The named man was understood to be an MI6 agent, which makes the discovery even more bizarre.

Was Williams on an undercover operation, but his identity was uncovered leading to his death as a cover up? If this was the case, then why was the agents body not discovered earlier. Surely colleagues would have become suspicious earlier and the discovery would have been made earlier. More to the point. If Williams had been assassinated by the opposition, then surely some sort of untraceable method would have been used to kill him rather than what must have clearly been a ‘butchers job’. Of course with there being no notable forced entry into the flat then the murderer could also have been somebody that he knew who was invited inside his flat and who later attacked and killed Williams. Could it have been a work colleague with something to hide or maybe a partner who committed this gruesome act as a result of a violent argument?

Whatever your opinion is, one thing is for sure. We probably won’t find out what really happened for another 50 years! And with spies recently being discovered and uncovered in the US, who says the cold war is over. I don’t think that it ever really was, it had just changed shape and gone further underground.

This week we have had many incidents in the news that have all made us think about security and surveillance. Firstly we had the Russian Spying fiasco in the US, which culminated in the exchange between Russia and USA of each others captured spies. Then, more locally we have had the controversy in relation to the CCTV cameras being erected in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.

I think that many cannot believe that in this day and age we have Russians living undercover in the USA. OK, it is understood that these were not really high profile spies, but still, even though their threat to national security may have been low, the ’sending home’ exchange of each others spies sends a message to the other side that the vigilance of their own security services has not slipped. As regards the cameras in the Muslim community. I wonder if there would have been a big outcry if these cameras had been erected in a community with another predominantly religious group. It is my belief that it would probably not have been newsworthy.

Overall, there has always been a mainly subdued opposition to the introduction of ‘Spy Cameras’ and CCTV in the community. Whilst I do believe that we have to be careful not to erect CCTV and spy cameras for the sake of it; most are put in place after much consultation. Most of us do not concern ourselves with CCTV cameras in our streets or in shops and businesses, because we are law-abiding citizens and their presence does not hold any fear for us.

One final thought on this subject. If there had been far more CCTV cameras in place in Rothbury, then there is a distinct possibility that Police would have cornered Raoul Moat far earlier rather than the fiasco running on for nearly a week. I guess that hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Here at Spy Equipment UK we have in the past consistently been asked for a GPS tracking device that was small and discreet enough to place in a handbag or a piece of luggage in order to track the movements of the carrier of the bag. Now, we all know that ladies carry everything, but the kitchen sink in their handbags, so hiding a device in there should really be quite easy shouldn’t it? Maybe not, because in my experience, however disorganised, women still quite often have a system in their bags and even if they don’t, an unusual item discovered whilst rooting round in the bags for the mobile phone or keys would arouse suspicion.

Until now there wasn’t a device compact enough and powerful enough to insert in the lining of a handbag or suitcase without it intruding into the general bag space. However, now at Spy Equipment UK, we have just launched a new extremely compact GPS Logger that is about 38 mm square and thin enough to slip inside the lining of a bag with ease. The iTrail GPS Logger records up to 120 hours of data onto its internal memory that can be subsequently downloaded onto a PC at a later time to give a comprehensive map of movements of the tracker or in fact the item in which it was secreted. With battery-saving technology inside, this device will also lend itself the quick deply vehicle tracking and in some instances it may be possible to hide the device in an unused pocket of a coat.

Whatever you decide, this new compact and sophisticated device is sure to pave the way for a whole host a new applications, devised by those customers who have a need for gathering evidence in this way.

If you look back over the history of surveillance equipment you will see the amazing leaps forwards that we have enjoyed over the past 10 years. GSM bugs have gone from the size of the first mobile phones to no bigger than a car key fob, camera lens have gotten smaller and battery lives increased. This article is a brief look at the possible future for spy & surveillance equipment from Spy Equipment UK.

With the advent of ‘Smart Phones’, and a wider range of operating systems, the conventional Spy Phone software available on the market is no longer compatible. Spy Equipment UK, however, have been working away on this problem for some time and are weeks away from unveiling a new breed of software that will operate on almost all of the latest handsets available. This will allow Spy Equipment UK to offer software packages for use on Blackberries, iPones, Windows Mobile, Android, Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets to name a few.

What about evidence gathering? If something is going to be included in court then time and date stamping is crucial and if GPS location can also be incorporated to show where something was taking place, then the evidence whether video or audio will stand up for itself. In the future we are sure to see new cutting edge devices that automatically include time, date and GPS location stamping as a matter of course. Let’s see them wriggle out of that one!

In today’s technology fueled world it can be harder and harder to protect your personal details or personal property. With thieves having access to a range of high tech, covert means of gathering sensitive information about you or your possessions it can be important to be upto date with the means and availability of protection equipment, this is where Spy Equipment UK are here to help you.

The first stop is Spy Equipment UK’s Security Solutions, this section of the SEUK website is dedicated to bringing you the latest in home and personal security items from our range. In the area of personal data security there a re a few options such as the Personal Pocket Safe, a secure data storage unit with a near unbreakable 256bit encryption system. PC Shelter is also an excellent option as this software can help protect you against some of the most common data theft techniques around.  In addition to these there is also SEUK’s White Noise Generation CD, a simple way of disrupting audio monitoring in the general vicinity by filling the background with white noise, making voice detection near impossible. SEUK also offer a range of outdoor camera systems for protecting valuable property whilst you are not around along with an In-car camera and logger system and covert vehicle tracker for vehicle safety and security.

Spy Equipment UK also offer a range of Bug Hunting devices aimed at hunting out transmition type bugging devices, these can be found in our Bug Detection Section and Bug Hunters Sub-Section. These units can detect bugs ranging from 1MHz all the way up to 12GHz depending on the model you go for, however it is worth mentioning that only the highest quality bugging devices would operate near such a high frequency.

So as you can see, it isn’t too hard to keep one step ahead and protect that which is important to you with a little help from Spy Equipment UK.

There has been a lot of press coverage recently about Local Councils conducting covert investigations into local residents in order to bring offences to court. Both Hull and East Riding councils have recently admitted carrying out the secret investigations over the past two years. These local authorities, however, rank low in the league table when compared with others councils.

Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), councils can carry out secret surveillance operations without anyone else knowing about it. Newcastle City Council topped the table with 231 secret
surveillance operations in the two year period. Hull City Council clocked up 85, while East Riding Council
carried out just 43.

The City Council’s secret surveillance operations covered issues ranging from the sale of alcohol to underage children to litter and fly-tipping through the use of publicly available Body-Worn & Out-Door camera systems. The council’s covert work also included taxi licensing, trading standards cases and anti-social behaviour through the use of various publicly available voice recorders and GSM listening devices.

In its reply, the East Riding Council gave a breakdown of the numbers of cases it had used RIPA powers. They included 17 cases involving antisocial behaviour, 12 benefit fraud investigations, two suspected thefts, one trading standards case involving the sale of meat products with false labelling and one private
hire vehicle being driven without a licence. By the City Council using the RIPA Act to deal with issues like this more time can be spared by the local Police Force to investigate more serious issues.

The new Tory-Lib Dem coalition Government has pledged to ban councils from using powers under the RIPA Act unless they are first signed off by a magistrate and are required for stopping serious crime.

Campaign group Big Brother Watch said many councils are misusing the powers to spy on residents over relatively trivial issues, including dog fouling and smoking in public places. Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, said:

“Now the absurd and excessive use of RIPA surveillance has been revealed, these powers have to be taken away from councils.

“The coalition Government plan to force councils to get warrants before snooping on us is good, but doesn’t go far enough.

“If the offence is serious enough to merit covert surveillance, then it should be in the hands of the police.”

GSM Bugs have been around for a few years now. When they first hit the market they literally were adapted mainstream mobile phones, in a black box, with certain functionality disabled and certain software/hardware alterations to make them behave in the required manner. Obviously ‘back in the day’ this new type of bugging system was the answer to many prayers for those who needed the facility to listen into a given room or area from miles, hundreds of miles or even thousands of miles away. These days customers expect that much more from the technology that they are investing in and so demand for smaller and smarter GSM units is higher than ever.

In response to the demand Spy Equipment UK have been savvy enough to source some excellent new GSM units that are very compact in size, with excellent sound quality and functionality. The latest in our range of GSM units is the GSM Key Fob Bug. This device literally is designed like a smart metal/plastic modern looking key fob. It has GSM internals, a sensitive microphone and a sound activation control facility giving it excellent verstility. The unit is so innocuous that it can happily be attached to a bunch of keys and hung up, left on a desk or a pot for total discreet remote listening.

The GSM Key Fob Bug really has to be one of the smallest and smartest GSM listening devices on the market and with a very competitive price a device of this quality is easily within reach of the majority of potential customers. The race for ever more compact GSM listening technology is not over yet, so keep an eye on our website for future developments.

Spy Equipment UK are always looking to add new quality products to the range and certainly over the last six to twelve months there have been a number of bodyworn camera recording solutions that have come onto the market that provide simple and discreet recording solutions. Here at Spy Equipment UK we have been evaluating emerging product lines and as a result we have now launched a high quality simple and robust covert camera device called the USB Mini Recorder.

This device is made from high quality materials and manufactured to a superb standard. The unit can be clipped into a top pocket which is the ideal height to record a face to face meeting because it looks from the outside like the wearer is carrying a marker pen in the top pocket. The unit could also be clipped into the outside pocket of a bag and this means that the camera can face the recording subject, whilst the operator can be looking elsewhere. Of course placement of this device is not limited to these two scenarios because the device is small enough to be concealed in many everyday objects.

Built into the clip is a decent resolution CMOS camera system and an excellent microphone. There is a concealed Micro SD Card slot taking a maximum card size of 2GB. The USB Mini Recorder captures video/audio onto the inserted SD card, which can be played back and stored onto a computer. Of course not having to rely on a rewritable internal memory means that original evidence does not have to be deleted.

All in all, the USB Mini Recorder is very simple to use and will appeal to both the professional investigator or the amateur sleuth. Whatever your requirement, the USB Mini Recorder is competitively priced and is sure not to break the bank.

Spy Equipment UK have made a new addition to the security section. The Flash Drive Personal Pocket Safe solves a identity theft problem that until now has remained a hot issue. At home most of us now are a bit more careful about the way we deal with our personal data because of identity theft issues. The UK public should be fully aware from media reports that identity theft is on the increase and crooks are always on the lookout for that crucial data that will turn information into cash.

Most of us have issues with remembering PIN numbers and so many people just use one for everything. Many of us have numbers and personal data stored on our mobile. Things disguised as phone numbers. How many of us are carrying around crucial personal data in a diary or personal organiser? All of these methods are insecure and open to abuse. Imagine having your apartment or room broken into whilst holidaying abroad. All of your identification documents are stolen and you credit and debit cards are also gone. How can you convince anybody who you are, let alone get a passport to get home?

The USB Personal Pocket safe solves all of these issues. Combine the portability of a USB flash drive with the security of high level encryption and a PIN to keep your private documents and vital data secure in this personal electronic safe.

The Personal Pocket Safe consists of a removable USB device that requires a PIN for access, which holds organisational software that offers a range of options for saving important information.

Plug it into a PC and input the code directly onto the USB unit to access your data and documents, but when you’ve finished, simply unplug it and there’s nothing is left on the computer – everything’s saved securely. The Personal Pocket Safe is virtually hack-proof, with the latest in encryption software and leaves nothing behind on the computer it’s been used on. However, if you do worry that you’ll forget your PIN you can back everything up online, and there’s also an optional PIN replacement assistance service available too.

It’s a smart way to organising and protecting your personal records that’s small and convenient enough to take with you wherever you go.

Spy Equipment UK are proud to announce that due to popular demand, we have been able to vastly reduce the prices on our mobile phone spy software packages. Now these are all at incredibly low prices and with new features.

When Spy Phone Software was released onto the market some three and a half years ago, it was extremely expensive. To have software that could duplicate an incoming or outgoing SMS message and forward it to a pre-determined number (Spy Text) would have cost in the region of £2000.00 per file. At that stage because there literally was nothing on the market to monitor mobile phone activity in this way, customers were forced to swallow hard and pay the price.

Spy Phone Software has evolved since that time and now Spy Equipment UK have the only real stable version at prices that everybody can afford. We are now able to offer text forwarding, spy phone function and call interception in one package (SpyDeluxe Package) at a price of only £99.00 + VAT and our new call/room recording software (SpyUltimate Package) which has all the features of SpyDeluxe + call/room recording is only £250.00 + VAT!

Coming very soon to the line-up is the same software available for Windows Mobile phones and Phone Tracking software and you can see that Spy Equipment UK have the best line up of spy phone software available on the market.