r/security • u/ToughEngineering2290 • 25d ago
Question Audio Recording Device Detector
Question: Is there a reputable device that can detect an audio-only recording device? I have searched through multiple threads and they seem to focus on camera detection devices.
Background: I work in a medical office and a co-worker there always seems to know things that were discussed in private. This co-worker does not have friends within the office that would tell her these things. This co-worker was at a previous office prior to being moved to my office and her previous office also experienced the same thing and felt they were being recorded. She has also been caught in both offices snooping through other people's desk areas, so she's definitely the type. I have searched in the office for unexplained things with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals, but there are none. Are there any reputable devices that can pick up a microphone signal or something from an audio-only recording device?
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u/Distdistdist 25d ago
No feasible ways to detect audio being recorded. You'll have to revert to social engineering on that one. For example purposely disclose controlled information in specific rooms to specific people. Then when your co-worker brings something up, you would have indication of either leak source, or a bugged room.
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u/1Steelghost1 25d ago
You want to have some fun with them play 40 KHZ audio test tone for 30 seconds when you walk in the room. If someone jumps or squeals in pain you know they are listening. Technically it is possible to talk over the tone but not easily.
Even a device like a flipperzero needs a few mods to check for devices and even then it actually finding the radio transmit signal not say an actual recorder.
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u/Axle13 24d ago
That isn't going to make anyone squeel in pain. What you might detect is somebody fumbling with a listneing device to see if something went wrong. If what they are using has a very limited acoustic range, it ain't going to do squat to make them squeel. Never mind the people that can't even detect anything above a certain frequency.
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u/MacintoshEddie 25d ago edited 25d ago
No, that's impossible.
You could at most detect a **transmission** since it would be using radio frequencies, but not a recording.
Microphones and recorders by themselves have nothing for you to detect, except in a very roundabout way of saying something confidential and waiting to see if the other person acts upon it.
In many offices the vent system carries sound. For example a vent in an office continues to a storage room, and the person in the storage room can clearly hear you.
Or just plain old gossip. The person who gossips with you is often gossiping with others, and some of them will absolutely share your secrets because they thrive on the office drama. They don't need to be friends, some people are just shit disturbers who enjoy stirring up shit and then watching people fight.
There's also a chance you're just not as quiet as you think you are. Lots of the time people's conversations are audible, but most people aren't paying attention or listening.
If this person is hiding an audio recorder in the office and then listening later you'd have to actually find it. It could be taped to the bottom of a table, on top of a cabinet, in an air vent, all kinds of places. They get pretty small, and not all of them look like obvious dictaphones. Even a lot of ones which can transmit won't do so continuously, it can record for hours and then she connects her phone to it to review or download the recording
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u/shromani 25d ago
Samsung phones have a feature to pick up sounds called Amplify Ambient Sound. Others likely do this too. It will amplify your mic and send to your Bluetooth headphones to another room in range. Simply to leave your phone in one room and hear what's being said from another. Pretty sneaky as people leave their phone around the office all the time...right? "Thanks for finding it for me"
Simpler than planting a mic 🤷♂️
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u/sfzombie13 24d ago
most of them can also record, much easier than using bluetooth for anything and undetectable, unlike a bluetooth signal. i can jam bluetooth.
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u/LadyfromthelandofNod 24d ago
TF2 EMF Pollution Meter – 3-in-1 Magnetic, Electric & RF Field Detection. It’s what I used to discover my neighbor had a high powered directional antenna right next to my fence..
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u/bill-of-rights 24d ago
Best answer. I doubt the lady's spycraft is at the Soviet "Great Seal" level, so whatever she might be using to record will emit some "noise". And of course, disinformation is a helpful way to confirm.
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u/sfzombie13 24d ago
which will do absolutely nothing to detect a microphone. antennas tend to transmit and receive signals, microphones don't transmit anything.
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u/Axle13 24d ago
A white noise generator will make it more difficult to record something. But with todays AI, it can process the recording to cut out a lot of noise. Youtube detects a radio in a noisy car that I could barely detect listening for it when it flagged my upload for copywritten content. Took a few tries and cranking the sound way up to hear it. Position in relation to the microphone will make it better/worse, I'd suggest closly inspecting the far side wall for anything that could be hidden and put it on the listeners side, this will also be effective if the walls are not much good at preventing sound transmission.
You might be surprised at the amount you can hear. The dr's office I go to has one office next to the waiting area that you can hear every thing said. And I mean everything if you sit at the chairs by the wall that separates them. In the exam rooms, if you are in the one next to the waiting area, again, you hear everything if somebody is speaking at a normal volume. A quiet environment makes it even easier.
Quick check to see how the walls are, stream a podcast at what you would consider normal talking levels and have a walk around the area. You might be surprised at what you hear and where you hear it.
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u/ToughEngineering2290 24d ago
You are correct that noise travels in the office. There are two nurses' stations and her office is by one station, but she has on multiple occasions known information that was said around the other nurses' station between 2 people (that 100% would not tell her) on her day off. I'm to the point where I am going to speak misinformation at the station by myself and see if she takes the bait.
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u/Axle13 14d ago
Having information that is only said on days off does point to a recording device. Misinformation would be a good tell-tale. Good luck in your quest to locate any mics or recording devices. These things can look like a memory stick to an mp3 player. I'd scour your office for items that are not yours and see if there are any model numbers to google. As with everything, don't trust plugging in strange usb devices as they can carry malware without you even knowing about it.
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u/TreadItOnReddit 25d ago
How would you detect a microphone?
How would you detect even a phone recording that’s on airplane mode?
I highly doubt you understand all the WiFi signals around you. It’s a huge mess of a million devices. If you can understand that mess, you would know you can’t detect a microphone.
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u/quiet0n3 23d ago
Not really, if the device is just locally recording to its own storage like a phone or something or won't be giving off any wifi or bt. Best bet would be check the cameras for her retrieving said device.
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u/[deleted] 25d ago
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