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Bouncing lasers off window panes to detect audio is a worrisome development. The counter-measure is to install dual pane windows equipped with acoustic transduc

Bouncing lasers off window panes to detect audio is a worrisome development. The counter-measure is to install dual pane windows equipped with acoustic transducers that vibrate the panes with white noise. For the device mentioned in the article, when the technology becomes available to consumers and/or is open-sourced, anyone will be able to count the occupants of any location near to them. The question again becomes one of counter-measures.

woodman 12y ago
Development? The technique has been well known for a long time, I remember hearing about it in the late 90s. It isn't widely used because it isn't practical. Also, your countermeasure doesn't work if there is another reflective surface inside the room.
- acdha 12y ago
  > Development? The technique has been well known for a long time The difference is that these things used to be the domain of major government agencies rather than a hobbyist with a few hundred dollars and a poor sense of privacy.
  - woodman 12y ago
    In the 70s maybe, but in the late 90s? No, it has been a potential hobby project for a long time now.
enneff 12y ago
There are plenty of pages online that explain how to do it yourself: http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Surveillance-System-for-under-$20/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Surveillance-System-fo... http://hacknmod.com/hack/how-to-long-range-laser-microphone-spying/ http://hacknmod.com/hack/how-to-long-range-laser-microphone-...
morcheeba 12y ago
The other countermeasure is windows angled downward so that the laser would have to be on the premises to get a direct bounce. Not viable for most homes, though.
mseebach 12y ago
The bottom line with both of these technologies is that their usecases are simply too narrow to inspire causal use. The radar-gadget is useful if you're about to storm a house full of armed adversaries - in most other cases, you can just peek through the window or knock on the door and get much the same information. The laser-bouncer is great for eavesdropping on people who take some effort to hide their communication - if they don't, hiding a wireless microphone or a high-capacity dictaphone is orders of magnitude simpler and cheaper.
cmdrfred 12y ago
You can always do what they did in burn notice and simply tape a vibrator to the window.
- badpeaches 12y ago
  What a great idea for a new concept industry. Vibrator Windows™. If the windows are shaking, no one can hear you're makin' bacon.
spyder 12y ago
... or just use thick soundproof curtains.

woodman 12y ago

Development? The technique has been well known for a long time, I remember hearing about it in the late 90s. It isn't widely used because it isn't practical. Also, your countermeasure doesn't work if there is another reflective surface inside the room.

acdha 12y ago
> Development? The technique has been well known for a long time The difference is that these things used to be the domain of major government agencies rather than a hobbyist with a few hundred dollars and a poor sense of privacy.
- woodman 12y ago
  In the 70s maybe, but in the late 90s? No, it has been a potential hobby project for a long time now.

enneff 12y ago

There are plenty of pages online that explain how to do it yourself: http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Surveillance-System-for-under-$20/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Surveillance-System-fo... http://hacknmod.com/hack/how-to-long-range-laser-microphone-spying/ http://hacknmod.com/hack/how-to-long-range-laser-microphone-...

morcheeba 12y ago

The other countermeasure is windows angled downward so that the laser would have to be on the premises to get a direct bounce. Not viable for most homes, though.

mseebach 12y ago

The bottom line with both of these technologies is that their usecases are simply too narrow to inspire causal use. The radar-gadget is useful if you're about to storm a house full of armed adversaries - in most other cases, you can just peek through the window or knock on the door and get much the same information. The laser-bouncer is great for eavesdropping on people who take some effort to hide their communication - if they don't, hiding a wireless microphone or a high-capacity dictaphone is orders of magnitude simpler and cheaper.

cmdrfred 12y ago

You can always do what they did in burn notice and simply tape a vibrator to the window.

badpeaches 12y ago
What a great idea for a new concept industry. Vibrator Windows™. If the windows are shaking, no one can hear you're makin' bacon.

spyder 12y ago

... or just use thick soundproof curtains.