WHO INVENTED IT AND WHY?

 

No one invented it. The leakage of electromagnetic radiation from electronics is inevitable. That said, Van Eck isn’t just a couple of made-up syllables like “Brangelina” or “Steinbrenner.”

Wim van Eck is a Dutch engineer and researcher who demonstrated his method for intercepting and reconstituting electromagnetic signals at the 1985 Securicom convention. The demonstration caused a worldwide fascination with the technique and inspired a generation of high-tech paranoia.

Van Eck’s technique wasn’t a new thing, but he was the first civilian to do it on the cheap.

The government had known since World War II that any electromagnetic signal could be intercepted and decoded. The National Security Agency even created a classified program related to the control and interception of what at the time were called “Compromising Emissions”—which sounds like something government agencies suffer when they begin puberty.

This program, started in the 1960s and called TEMPEST, developed standards for protecting the electronic assets of the United States government from eavesdropping. The NSA also attempted (and one assumes, succeeded) to develop and deploy their own intercept devices. Indeed, in 1984, a Polish spy was arrested in West Germany. Among his papers was a list of locations ideal for engaging in electronic interception of information from government computers. If the Soviets were able to deploy that kind of technology, it’s certain that the West had something similar.

The standards established by TEMPEST are probably still followed by the government today—it’s tough to say, as most TEMPEST documents remain classified. However, there are a number of TEMPEST measurement standards that were never part of the classified program. This information allows consumer-grade electromagnetic shielding to be made to U.S. government standards.