Stiffler Scientific wrote:
1) Prior to ESS phone systems, the old relay banks did not work well for
covert monitoring. It did require intervention from the phone company that
controlled the switches. It was possible to bridge a line and have it
monitored via another line, yet the best method was to connect to the
physical line and monitor or record it from the pole or a hidden battery
operated system close to the location.
I believe you are talking about tapping phone conversations. David
Thompson claimed that the NSA could listen to conversations in the
room when the phone was on-hook, which is what the Russians used to do:
"That is because the circuits have a feature that allows the NSA to dial your
number and hear everything going on near your telephone, even without making
it ring or be lifted off the receiver."
To tap a phone call, there was never any need to add equipment to the
telephone sets, or go into the target house or office. As noted, this
is done from the central office or nearby equipment. On the other
hand you would have to modify the set to record sounds from the room
when the phone is on-hook. The Russians used the phone set or some
other equipment attached to the phone line. Even in 1945 they used
radios. After V.E. day they presented the U.S. Ambassador with a
large "Victory Eagle" sculpture which he proudly displayed in his
office. One day the U.S. technicians had a look at it and found a
radio transmitter bug inside it. It was hard to hide bugs in those
days. Back then, the U.S. government was an amateur in the spy game,
compared to the Russians and the British. I gather it still is.
- Jed
