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Types of Listening Bugs

A listening bug is a covert listening device that combines a microphone with a radio transmitter. Listening bugs are used in espionage, surveillance and police activities to secretly obtain information. While bugs are glorified in the movies, they do exist and can very expertly be used to listen to conversations. If you are concerned that you are being bugged, contact your local police department or a private investigator to ensure your safety.

Acoustic
- The acoustic bug is the simplest and least technological method used for bugging. If you have ever seen a person hold a glass to a door and listen through it, they are using an acoustic bug. An acoustic bug uses a stethoscope, rubber tube, or a glass to directly obtain communication with the ear alone. This can be performed around a leaky window, structural defect, poorly installed power outlet and ventilation structures.
Hardwire
- A hardwire bug is a device that is tapped directly into a phone or phone line. The device can run interminably, as it's powered by the phone itself. These bugs are one of the toughest to detect because they only transmit when a call is in operation. The bug doesn't have to be directly on the phone; it can be placed in the spot where your physical phone line meets your junction box.
Radio Frequency
- A radio frequency bug is typically the kind of bug you would find at a spy store, and it can be placed in many different items. The device sends wireless signals through the air, and somewhere nearby someone intercepts and listens to those signals. These bugs are inexpensive and easy to detect, but they are difficult to trace back to the person who planted the bug. An example of a radio frequency bug is a bugged fake olive in a martini glass.
Infrared and Optical
- Infrared (also known as optical) listening devices feed into the location being bugged through a window or other opening, and project a laser or infrared beam into the room. This laser picks up audio and transfers it back to the sender who is anywhere up to several miles away. The device is expensive and easy to detect, but the device transmits sound very accurately. This device is seen often in movies by special operative teams that feed a tube with an infrared beam into a room for listening.
Ultrasonic
- An ultrasonic bug can be placed in a room like a radio frequency bug, except that it transmits a different type of signal. The sound is converted into an audio signal above the typical range of human hearing. It is then intercepted from a close-by location and converted back to its original audio signal. This makes the device more difficult to detect and more expensive.

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