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TheThing(listeningdevice)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheThing(listeningdevice)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheThing,alsoknownastheGreatSealbug,wasoneof
thefirstcovertlisteningdevices(or"bugs")tousepassive
techniquestotransmitanaudiosignal.Becauseitwas
passive,beingenergizedandactivatedbyelectromagnetic
energyfromanoutsidesource,itisconsidereda
predecessorofRFIDtechnology.[1]

Contents
1Operatingprinciples
1.1Technicaldetails
2Use
3UnitedNations
4Seealso
5Notes
6References
7Externallinks

ReplicaoftheGreatSealwhichcontaineda
Sovietbuggingdevice,ondisplayattheNSA's
NationalCryptologicMuseum.

Operatingprinciples
TheThingwasdesignedbyLonTheremin,[2]whoalsomadethetheremin.Itconsistedofatinycapacitive
membraneconnectedtoasmallquarterwavelengthantennaithadnopowersupplyoractiveelectronic
components.Thedevice,apassivecavityresonator,becameactiveonlywhenaradiosignalofthecorrect
frequencywassenttothedevicefromanexternaltransmitter.Soundwavescausedthemembraneto
vibrate,whichvariedthecapacitance"seen"bytheantenna,whichinturnmodulatedtheradiowavesthat
struckandwereretransmittedbytheThing.Areceiverdemodulatedthesignalsothatsoundpickedupby
themicrophonecouldbeheard,justasanordinaryradioreceiverdemodulatesradiosignalsandoutputs
sound.
Theremin'sdesignmadethelisteningdeviceverydifficulttodetect,becauseitwasverysmall,hadno
powersupplyoractiveelectroniccomponents,anddidnotradiateanysignalunlessitwasactivelybeing
irradiatedremotely.Thesesamedesignfeatures,alongwiththeoverallsimplicityofthedevice,madeit
veryreliableandgaveitapotentiallyunlimitedoperationallife.
TheprincipleofaresonantcavitymicrophonewaspatentedbyWinfieldR.KochoftheRadioCorporation
ofAmerica(RCA)in1941.InUSpatent2,238,117hedescribestheprincipleofasoundmodulated
resonantcavity.Highfrequencyenergyisinductivelycoupledtothecavity.Theresonantfrequencyis
variedbythechangeincapacitanceresultingfromthedisplacementoftheacousticdiaphragm.[3]

Technicaldetails
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Thedeviceconsistedofa9inch(22.86cm)longmonopoleantenna(quarterwavefor330
Megahertz(MHz)frequencies,butabletoalsoactashalfwaveorfullwave,theaccountsdiffer)a
straightrod,ledthroughaninsulatingbushingintoacavity,whereitwasterminatedwitharounddiscthat
formedoneplateofacapacitor.ThecavitywasahighQroundsilverplatedcopper"can",withtheinternal
diameterof0.775in(19.7mm)andabout11/16in(17.5mm)long,withinductanceofabout10
nanohenry.[4]Itsfrontsidewasclosedwithaverythin(3mil,or75micrometers)andfragileconductive
membrane.Inthemiddleofthecavitywasamushroomshapedflatfacedtuningpost,withitstop
adjustabletomakeitpossibletosetthemembranepostdistancethemembraneandthepostformeda
variablecapacitoractingasacondensermicrophoneandprovidingamplitudemodulation(AM),with
parasiticfrequencymodulation(FM)forthereradiatedsignal.Theposthadmachinedgroovesandradial
linesintoitsface,probablytoprovidechannelsforairflowtoreducepneumaticdampingofthemembrane.
Theantennawascapacitivelycoupledtothepostviaitsdiscshapedend.Thetotalweightoftheunit,
includingtheantenna,was1.1ounce(31grams).
Thelengthoftheantennaandthedimensionsofthecavitywereengineeredinordertomakethere
broadcastsignalahigherharmonicoftheilluminatingfrequency.(Notethatthetransmittingfrequencyis
higherthantheilluminatingone.)[5]
TheoriginaldevicewaslocatedwiththecanunderthebeakoftheeagleontheGreatSealpresentedtoW.
AverellHarriman(seebelow)accountsdifferonwhetherholesweredrilledintothebeaktoallowsound
wavestoreachthemembrane.Othersourcessaythewoodbehindthebeakwasundrilledbutthinenoughto
passthesound,orthatthehollowedspaceactedlikeasoundboardtoconcentratethesoundfromtheroom
ontothemicrophone.
TheilluminatingfrequencyusedbytheSovietsissaidtobe330MHz.[6]
TheThingwasdiscoveredinastrokeofluckbyatechnicianwithanuntunedvideoreceiverawideband
receiverwithasimplediodedetector/demodulator,similartosomefieldstrengthmeters.Itwasthenlocated
duringatechnicalsurveillancecountermeasures"sweep"oftheAmbassador'soffice,usingasignal
generatorandareceiverinasetupthatgeneratesaudiofeedback("howl")ifthesoundfromtheroomis
transmittedonagivenfrequencythegeneratorwastunedto1800MHz.Thedevicewasfirstassumedto
operateonthisfrequency,buttestsshoweditwasunstableandinsensitive.PeterWright,aBritishscientist,
thengottheThingoperatingreliablyat800MHz.
ThemembraneoftheThingwasextremelythin,andwasdamagedduringhandlingbytheAmericans
Wrighthadtoreplaceit.Wright'sexaminationledtodevelopmentofasimilarBritishsystemcodenamed
SATYR,usedthroughoutthe1950sbytheBritish,Americans,CanadiansandAustralians.
Thesimplicityofthedevicecausedsomeinitialconfusionduringitsanalysistheantennaandresonator
hadseveralresonantfrequenciesinadditiontoitsmainone,andthemodulationwaspartiallyboth
amplitudemodulatedandfrequencymodulated.Theteamalsolostsometimeonanassumptionthatthe
distancebetweenthemembraneandthetuningpostneededtobeincreasedtoincreaseresonance.
Therewerelatermodelsofthedevice,somewithmorecomplexinternalstructure(thecenterpostunderthe
membraneattachedtoahelix,probablytoincreaseQ),andsomeAmericanmodelswithdipoleantennas.
MaximizingtheQfactorwasoneoftheengineeringpriorities,asthisallowedhigherselectivitytothe
illuminatingsignalfrequency,andthereforehigheroperatingdistanceandalsohigheracousticsensitivity.[7]
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Use
Theremin'sdevicewasusedbytheSovietUniontospyontheUnitedStates.Thedevicewasembeddedina
carvedwoodenplaqueoftheGreatSealoftheUnitedStates.OnAugust4,1945,adelegationfromthe
YoungPioneerorganizationoftheSovietUnionpresentedthebuggedcarvingtoU.S.AmbassadorW.
AverellHarriman,asa"gestureoffriendship"totheUSSR'sWorldWarIIally.Ithungintheambassador's
Moscowresidentialstudyuntilitwasexposedin1952duringthetenureofAmbassadorGeorgeF.
Kennan.[8]TheexistenceofthebugwasaccidentallydiscoveredbyaBritishradiooperatorwhooverheard
AmericanconversationsonanopenradiochannelastheSovietswerebeamingradiowavesatthe
ambassador'soffice.TheDepartmentofStatefoundthedeviceintheGreatSealcarvingafteranexhaustive
searchoftheAmericanEmbassy,andPeterWright,aBritishscientistandlaterMI5counterintelligence
officer,eventuallydiscoveredhowitworked.[7][9]

UnitedNations
OnthefourthdayofmeetingsintheUnitedNationsSecurityCouncil,convenedbytheSovietUnionover
the1960U2incidentwhereaU.S.spyplanehadenteredtheirterritoryandbeenshotdown,theU.S.
ambassadorshowedoffthebuggingdeviceintheGreatSealtoillustratethatspyingincidentsbetweenthe
twonationsweremutualandtoallegethatNikitaKhrushchevhadmagnifiedthisparticularincidentunder
discussionoutofallproportionasapretexttoabortthe1960ParisSummit.[10]

Seealso
Radiofrequencyidentification(RFIDtransmitters)
Covertlisteningdevice
Nonlinearjunctiondetector
Technicalsurveillancecountermeasuresakabugsweeping
TEMPEST
Surveillance
LonTheremin
PeterWright

Notes
1. HackingExposedLinux:LinuxSecuritySecrets&Solutions(thirded.).McGrawHillOsborneMedia.2008.
p.298.ISBN9780072262575.
2. Glinsky,Albert,Theremin:EtherMusicandEspionage,UniversityofIllinoisPress,Urbana,2000
3. USPatent2238117(http://worldwide.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2238117),Koch,Winfield
R,"Ultrahighfrequencymodulator",published19410415,assignedtoRadioCorporationofAmerica(RCA).
Retrieved24September2013."US2238117A(https://www.google.com.au/patents/US2238117?
dq=US+2238117+A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AjtBUuXUAs2ekgWKvICIBA&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAQ)"GooglePatent
Search
4. Brown(?),Robert.M.(1967)."ElectronicEavesdroping"(http://books.google.cz/books?
id=NkVJAQAAIAAJ&q=great+seal+bug+frequency+MHz&dq=great+seal+bug+frequency+MHz&hl=en&sa=X&
ei=m2ALUefZBKjd4QTfiIGQBA&sqi=2&redir_esc=y).ElectronicsWorld(ZiffDavisPublishingCompany).
Volume77(Issue36):p.23.Retrieved24September2013.
5. "DesignHowTo:Eavesdroppingusingmicrowavesaddendum"(http://eetimes.com/design/audio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)

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6.

7.
8.
9.
10.

TheThing(listeningdevice)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

design/4015284/Eavesdroppingusingmicrowavesaddendum).EETimes(eetimes.com).UnitedBusiness
Media.12November2005.Retrieved24September2013.
Pursglove,S.David(1966)."GreatSealBug"(http://books.google.cz/books?
id=E9gEAQAAIAAJ&q=great+seal+bug+frequency&dq=great+seal+bug+frequency&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QEsLUei
aDsnm4QSqiYHgCg&redir_esc=y).ElectronicDesign(HaydenPublishingCompany).Volume14(Issues14
17):p.35.Retrieved24September2013.
Murray,Kevin."THEGREATSEALBUGSTORY"(http://www.spybusters.com/Great_Seal_Bug.html).
Retrieved20070324.
GeorgeF.Kennan,Memoirs,19501963,VolumeII(Little,Brown&Co.,1972),pp.155,156
Davis,Henry."Eavesdroppingusingmicrowavesaddendum"
(http://www.audiodesignline.com/howto/173602214).Retrieved20070324.
UnitedNationsSecurityCouncilVerbatimReport860.S/PV/860(http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?
symbol=S/PV/860)page15.26May1960.Retrieved20080829.

References
Wright,Peter(1987).Spycatcher:TheCandidAutobiographyofaSeniorIntelligenceOfficer.New
York:Viking.ISBN0670820555.
Kennan,George(1967).Memoirs,19251950.Little,Brown.
Kennan,George(1983).Memoirs:19501963.Pantheon.ISBN9780394716268.

Externallinks
PassiveResonantCavity&"Spycatcher"TechnicalSurveillanceDevices
(http://servv89pn0aj.sn.sourcedns.com/~gbpprorg/mil/cavity/index.html)
TheGreatSealBugStory(http://www.spybusters.com/Great_Seal_Bug.html),Spybusters,KevinD.
Murray
ATrojanSeal(https://sm.asisonline.org/Pages/atrojanseal006971.aspx)SecurityManagement,
KenStanley,April2010
HistoryoftheBureauofDiplomaticSecurityoftheUnitedStatesDepartmentofState
(http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/176589.pdf),October2011,pp.136137
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=The_Thing_(listening_device)&oldid=681296120"
Categories: Covertlisteningdevices Espionage Espionagedevices Espionagetechniques KGB
InventionsbyLonTheremin SovietUnionUnitedStatesrelations
SovietUnionintelligenceoperations Surveillance
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