Granite Island Group

Terms and Conditions

Granite Island Group specializes in highly sensitive "bug sweeps" and wiretap detection. We have legitimate TSCM training, extensive credentials, and sophisticated equipment. Our chief engineer is the internationally recognized leader in this field. When many world governments need help in this field, they call Granite Island Group first.

Basic Daily Rates

Non-Residential Locations within New England (1-day minimum on-site)
$5,000 for the first day, plus $2,500 for each additional day

Residential Locations, within New England:
$7,500 - Normal, 12-Hour Residential Inspection (three rooms)
$5,000 - Limited, 8-Hour Residential Inspection (up to three rooms)
$2,500 - Focused, 4-Hour Residential Inspection (single room)

Location outside New England (3-day minimum on-site)
$7,500 for the first day, plus $5,000 for each additional day

Government Offices, Facilities, or Contractor Sites (5-day minimum)
$15,000 for the first day, plus $10,000 for each additional day

Any project, for any customer in Canada (3-day minimum)
$15,000 for the first day, plus $10,000 for each additional day

Any project, outside of the United States or Canada (7-day minimum)
$25,000 for the first day, plus $20,000 for each additional day

Any project, in the Middle East, Pacific Rim, China, or Asia (10-day minimum)
$40,000 for the first day, plus $30,000 for each additional day.

Flat Fee Projects

For select clients who prefer a flat fee only situation we offer a short single day (8 hours or less) minimally intrusive inspection at your home or office anywhere within a single, half-day/four hour drive of Boston for only $5,000. This will include all costs, travel expenses, per diem, other expenses, and will include a brief written report. To qualify for the flat fee of $5,000, full payment will need to be received in hand at least four days in advance of rendering services, and the scope of the service will be confined to only three rooms at most, and will not include an exhaustive search, as we would normally be performing in our longer services. Scheduling of such a project will also need to be coordinated so that the assignment falls during a time period between our other engagements.

For customers in the Washington DC area, we provide a flat fee, 7-day service whereby all expenses, travel time, per diem, and so forth are included for only $59,250. As above, the fee will need to be paid in full in advance, and will need to be received at least 7-days before rendering services. A written report will of course be provided, unless you request otherwise. This will also assume that the project is of a sensitive political nature, and special measures will be taken to conceal the nature of what is being undertaken and to maintain client privacy. This special flat rate does not apply to any government customer.

For our Boston area clients who need to have their home checked, we offer a flat fee of $2500 for a brief, single one day inspection (not to exceed 8 hours on site, with 6 hours being spent on the actual sweep). This does not include a written report, and the entire fee must be paid in advance of services being rendered. The project will also have to be scheduled a full week (7 days) in advance. In this type of project the efforts will concentrate on locating spy shop level eavesdropping devices or signals that may utilize the airwaves. A brief inspection of the phone lines and telephones will be included, but will not be the comprehensive level of inspection that would be used in a higher risk situation.

For our New York City/Manhattan clients who need to have their home or office quickly checked, we offer a flat fee of $7500 for a brief, single one day inspection of a single room (not to exceed 10 hours on site, with 8 hours being spent on the actual sweep). This does not include a written report, and the entire fee must be paid in full at least three days in advance of services being rendered. The project will also have to be scheduled a full week (7 days) in advance, and worked around other projects we have at the time. A brief inspection of the phone lines and telephones will be included, but will not be the comprehensive level of inspection that would be used in a higher risk situation.

Project Expenses

Depending on numerous variables (location, expected eavesdropper retaliation, high secrecy, having to go to a safe-house for all discussions, travel time, conference room rentals, "cubing" a room) and the additional requisite expenses can amount to as high as triple our daily rate. This rarely occurs, but in complex governmental and diplomatic projects that are of the most delicate in nature often there are additional areas that were not considered initially, but must be addressed. Granite Island Group has a Travel and Expense policy that is very generous, as we cap our T&E costs at 17.5% of the agreed to daily rate.

Written reports or the production of PowerPoint presentations will be an additional 10%; however, there will be no charge for an oral report. Meetings in regards to the written report, or PowerPoint presentation will be at the hourly rate of $250 per hour, with a four hour minimum.

Also available from Granite Island Group via by telephone, computer, or E-mail is detailed consulting or technical writing and analysis at a rate of $250 per hour.

Coverage Area

We are available to quickly respond to any location in the Northeastern quadrant of the United States and Canada, including all cities within 500 mile (or one-day drive) of Boston. These cities include: Boston, New York, Providence, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Richmond, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Buffalo, Toronto, Cleveland, and so on. For our most discerning clients, we also provide global coverage at a premium.

We have secondary coverage that includes all locations within a two-day drive of Boston. This area starts at Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia then sweeps Northwest to include St. Louis, Springfield, Chicago, Detroit, Lexington, Madison, and most of the central Mid-West area East of the Mississippi. However, we prefer not to provide sweep services in the State of North Carolina, and generally prefer not to undertake assignments south of Virginia or Kentucky, nor West of the Mississippi River.

We can bring a highly sophisticated, well equipped, and portable counter-intelligence electronics laboratory built into a truck (which no other TSCM firm has) to any location in New England in a matter of hours, and within 1500 miles of Boston in a matter of days. A sub-set of this mobile lab can be transported via the client's private or chartered aircraft for an additional fee.

There are only a small number of legitimate and competent TSCM counterintelligence specialists or "Bug Sweepers" in the U.S. private sector. Legitimate TSCM firms are in very high demand, hard to find, and expensive; so be patient when trying to contact either us, or someone else in our profession.

Conflict of Interest

We do not engage in any situation where there may be even the slightest conflict of interest of any kind. If a bug is present we will tell our client truthfully, if one is not present we will also tell them truthfully. If someone comes to us and asks us to "look the other way" while they install a bug at our clients location, or we are asked to find nothing when in fact there is someone... we will always tell out client, period.

We do a huge amount of bug sweeps, TSCM, TDR, technical security, TEMPEST, and similar skills. We also have a diverse client base with whom we are careful our mutual relationship. We may be called into situations where we come in the same building four times in a six month period, to perform a single office sweep for one of four offices, and we are very careful not to let executive A know that we are in the building doing a sweep for executive B. We are careful to maintain the confidences of each of the executives, and to keep their individual private matters in secret.

We do not play both sides of the coin, and we do not have conflicts of interest.

We Are Not Attorneys, Physicians, Social Workers, or Clergy

We are not attorneys and cannot tell you whether it is legal or illegal for you to monitor your own phones, your spouses cell phone, monitor your kids, or eavesdrop on your on business. Always call a competent licensed attorney for legal advice.

Without exception, we do not perform eavesdropping services nor do we sell surveillance equipment to anyone other than government agencies AND WE WILL NOT REFER YOU TO ANYONE WHO DOES.

If you are having physical aliments due to eavesdropping then you should contact a physician, and deal only with a physician and your attorney until the medical problems are resolved. Please do not contact us seeking free medical advice and we are not physicians. While it is normal to be anxious and stressed about being the victim of eavesdropping, the presentation of physical problems is a medical concern and not a technical one (we deal with technical matters, not medical ones). If you are concerned about bugs, then please give us a call.

Price and Value of Things

Rates are non-negotiable and reflect the decades of experience, cost of the our time, investment in equipment acquisition and maintenance, hundreds of hours of in-service training each year, travel, administrative and communications time and expense to coordinate the sweep and written report, plus a fair profit for our services.

It is very unwise to shop for sweeps by using price as a criterion as it only invites getting ripped off. Legitimate TSCM professionals are not interested in, nor will they engage in negotiating for a lower price. When you contact us, you are talking with someone in the same league as an attorney, scientist, or surgeon, not a Spy Shop salesman or wanna-be. We have more time in our specialized training than do most attorneys or medical professionals. Please see our page on how to recognize a legitimate TSCM service provider.

Anything beyond an initial phone call usually will be billable time. Attorneys and doctors don't consult for free, and neither do we. If a potential client calls with a long list of questions not pertaining directly to hiring the practitioner, or wants to know how to do his own sweep, or wants to know how to use the sweep kit he bought on his own, expect to pay an hourly rate in advance for consulting services.

It is also important you understand that legitimate services by a competent TSCM firm rarely start at less than several thousand dollars for even a basic sweep.

Some Basic Numbers

Granite Island Group offers fully instrumented services, which utilize highly sophisticated laboratory grade equipment for an hourly fee.

Low threat, quick check sweeps require a minimum of four hours on-site.

Typical Low threat corporate and private residential sweeps require eight to ten hours on-site.

There is a 24-hour (or three days) on-site minimum for medium threat, fully instrumented corporate sweep work. This is our most requested corporate or estate engagement.

Fully instrumented, higher threat corporate or government sweeps require a minimum of 40 hours (or five days) on-site for completion.

Corporate Bug Sweeps (within New England)

A quick, low cost, and low threat, focused "Bug Sweep" involving one small area, office, or an area of a home (inside the Boston/Rt 495 area) normally requires eight to ten hours on-site for completion (plus several hours off-site in advance of the project beginning). This type of TSCM service only involves a brief inspection of the airwaves, power lines, and telephone lines for obvious eavesdropping signals, simple TDR inspection of the telephones lines, and a basic inspection of the telephone instrument. This inspection may also include an optional examination of the physical security of an area. A "Quick Check Bug Sweep" such as this should only be used when time is limited, or when the budget will not allow a more comprehensive inspection.

Medium Threat Bug Sweeps (within New England)

A small medium threat corporate TSCM inspection involving two executive offices, and one conference room will normally require two to three days for completion. A more typical medium threat corporate TSCM inspection involving 3-4 executive offices, and one conference room will normally requires three to five days on-site for completion.

High Threat TSCM Inspection "Bug Sweep"

This type TSCM inspection or comprehensive bug sweep typically requires five to seven days or more on-site to complete and is extremely comprehensive.

Motor Vehicles

A low threat TSCM inspection performed on a standard, non-luxury motor vehicle will require four to ten hours per vehicle (depending on the vehicle). Examinations of luxury vehicles, larger SUVs, motor coaches, boats, and similar motor vehicles will usually involve several days at a higher cost.

Should a client require a full, detailed inspection that requires more then four hours of work or an assignment that requires partial vehicle dismantling, we do offer an option to have the vehicle picked and dropped off from any location in New England and brought to a fully equipped facility by a specially shielded truck that will render the vehicle movement invisible to any tracking devices. Essentially, the vehicle will be trackable only to the initial pickup time and location, and no further.

Recurring Inspections

Granite Island Group also offers a program of recurring TSCM inspections at a reduced daily rate with a pre-paid retainer. Typically these inspections can be performed on a random, monthly, or quarterly basis.

To properly secure a single executive office for corporate or government clients we recommend at least four sweeps per year. These sweeps should be evenly spaced out on a quasi-random basis, including one annual comprehensive (five to seven day) sweep and an annual or quarterly comprehensive physical security audit.

Budget Numbers (outside of New England)

We offer sweep services to any location within a two-day drive or 1200-mile radius of Boston (we do not provide services in NC), and will typically respond with an entire electronics laboratory, and a full complement of sophisticated laboratory grade TSCM equipment.

For work outside New England, but within a 1200-mile radius there is a minimum charge of three days on-site, plus travel time, and related expenses.

A TSCM inspection of a typical medium threat corporate office in the Mid-West, South, or South East (which involves more than a one-day drive in each direction) will normally require three full days on-site (plus travel time) to complete. An example of this would be a corporate sweep in Atlanta, Chicago, Richmond, Detroit, St. Louis, and similar cities located more then one or two day from Boston.

Other Services

Our firm also provides several related technical services such as high precision time domain reflectometry, cable locating and certification, underground fault location, and sophisticated RF surveys including, but not limited to pager, cellular, PCS, and broadcast station coverage area surveys and mapping. We also offer services to identify; trace, and locate interfering radio signals or noise that may be disrupting communications.

We also have an hourly consultation rate with a 4 hour minimum, which includes: security surveys, threat assessment, network audits, assistance in planning a TSCM program, and so on. This includes non-instrumented TSCM, technical security, engineering, vulnerability analysis, and related consulting services.

Private consultation is also available via telephone, with a quarter hour minimum (Telephone consultations, technical research, report writing, etc....) All written reports, research, and related activities will be billed at an hourly rate with a one-hour minimum.

Granite Island Group is available to assist attorneys and investigators with discovery, coaching while taking depositions, technical consultation, and research for an hourly fee (paid in advance). We can also consult with you or your practice concerning case law and statutes concerning the finer points of eavesdropping laws, and can coach you on how to debunk expert witnesses and find holes and deceptions in their claims. We have provided the service to Congress and will be happy to assist you as well.

Forensic identification of a suspected eavesdropping device is available for a flat fee (but only for a successful match). A hard copy report is also available but for an additional hourly fee. To facilitate such identification simply send us an E-mail describing what was found (please attach a photo of the device, if available). Please include dimensions of the device, including the wire lengths, battery type and so on.

Travel

Our services are available nationwide and worldwide, however; we try to maintain a focus on New England (MA, RI, CT, VT, NH, and ME, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Washington DC area.

All travel time exceeding one hundred (100) miles each way is billable on a door-to-door basis (plus all travel expenses including air transportation, ground transportation, and related expenses are to be paid in advance for all clients).

Services provided outside of a two-day drive of New England will involve additional charges for air transportation, equipment shipment, and so on. Typically this is at least $3,250 for domestic airfare, $300 for ground transportation (airport limo, taxi, or rental car), plus $250-$350 a day for per diem expenses (plus related equipment transport costs).

In special cases we will consider coverage with a portable counterintelligence lab anywhere in North America or globally when it is practical to do so.

Travel will normally be billed at one half the normal hourly rate (if it exceeds one hour in either direction).

If you are outside our normal coverage area or we are unable to respond in a timely manner for other reasons, we will recommend another TSCM firm in your area upon request. We are not at all bashful about sending you to one of our qualified competitors should they be more appropriate to your needs or location.

Payment Terms

Terms for all work is strictly by retainer in advance unless otherwise indicated in writing. Upon approval; corporate and government clients may pay 50% in advance, and the balance upon presentation of the final report or briefing. Cancellation of a scheduled TSCM service will result in a cancellation charge equal to all expenses, plus half of the estimated fee. All travel time, per diem, and expenses are fully payable in advance for all clients, and are not discountable.

Payment is accepted via cash, corporate or government check, certified bank check, business check, cashiers check, money order, or wire transfer. Cashiers check, or wire transfer is the most private and secure means to provide payment, and we have even more private methods of payment as well. All instruments will be held for bank clearance. Checks or other any instrument returned or rejected for any reason are subject to a $100 handling charge (or the maximum amount provided by law).

Hardware and Software

In the event that this project involves the purchasing, installation, sale, or procurement of hardware, software, cables, or any other deliverable equipment all parties recognize this kind of equipment is highly specialized and frequently custom built or programmed for a specific customer, transaction or application. With this in mind there will be a 50% cancellation charge on any non-programming portion of an order that is cancelled once production or development of the goods has begun. For any custom installation, or custom programming, including the development of ciphers, algorithms, or source code the cancellation charge shall be 75%. For any transaction where a deposit is paid, but in which the transaction which is not consummated within 90 days of the deposit date for any reason other then actual production time of the goods or Customs clearance the deposit shall be fully forfeited to Granite Island Group as liquidated damages. If the transaction is structured so that the customer has promised to purchase a certain numbers of goods within a given timeframe but has only taken partial delivery, the time frame to take full and final delivery shall not exceed 90 days, and the customer agrees to pay 30% of the value of the unshipped goods as a cancellation fee, and the order shall be considered cancelled.

With regards to source code, and auditing of source code. Quite frankly, we do not provide source code to customers, not to corporate customers, and not to government clients. Should a customer desire to perform a formal code audit, we will provide a hardcopy (not digital) of the source code to the customer and the programmer who wrote it will review it one line at a time with you. Of course we are more then willing to transport source code to your location, work with your own programmer to audit and customize the code, and then to perform the final compile to your machine for maximum security.

We do not place any kind of backdoors or deliberate weakness into our programs, and we refuse to permit others to tamper with code on which our name appears. Further, we do not sell finished code, but rather we license the final code to the customer on a month-by-month, or year-by-year basis. The software will have been pre-programmed to go dormant at the end of the license period, but there is no kind of a backdoor.

Due to the highly specialized nature of the goods being sold, no equipment, software, encryption, or other equipment is returnable for any reason, and no refunds or returns for equipment is available. Equipment previously sold to the customer however, may be traded in as part of an upgrade at some future date. Equipment that requires warranty repairs, recalibration, or realignment must be sent to the factory, and an RMA number must be obtained in advance.

International Sales and Exports

Payment for all international work, expenses, and materials is strictly by full payment in advance. Also, for all exported goods we rigidly comply with all U.S. export laws, and we will not falsify any export document, nor assist anybody else in doing so. Essentially, what you pay for the equipment will be the value we declare the goods on all export documents. Certain items may require special government approvals for export, but we will let you know if any restrictions or special approvals are required on the items you are seeking.

Project Cancellation

Should a project be cancelled by the customer once scheduled, the deposit is completely forfeited (or an amount equal to half the project fee, whichever is greatest). If the project is rescheduled to begin within three business days of the original day there is no penalty, but if the date is changed by more then 72 hours of the original date half of the deposit is forfeited, and the difference will be payable at the end of the project as a rescheduling fee.

Other Concerns

We do not work on a contingency basis or any variation thereof.

It is our policy that should a government agency, law firm, third party, or anybody else inquire about a customer or a transaction we will make every attempt to alert the customer to this enquiry.

Should our client have significant concerns in regards to the confidentiality of our relationship we will arrange for payment to be made in such a way so as not in any way lead back to the customer. Also, for certain customers we will arrange for a dead-mans switch whereby we have to contact a third party on a periodic basis and provide a code or other anti-duress signal. This third party will then only contact the customer to alert them of a problem should this code not be turned in by us as scheduled.

All projects will be handled strictly as a technical counterintelligence, engineering, or intelligence project, and no investigative services or surveillance devices will be provided. Should any investigative services be required the customer agrees to arrange for these via other means.

All parties recognize that this project requires 24 man-hours of measurements and inspections in the area being inspected for a single room of not greater than 250 square feet, and one day for each additional room or additional 250 square feet. If more than this area or space is to be inspected at a rate greater then the listed times then both parties agree and understand that portions of the inspection will be abbreviated or omitted and that the inspection will not as thorough as possible.

If a serious security hazard or vulnerability is found the customers representative will be notified as soon as reasonably possible. If a minor hazard or vulnerability is found the problem will be documented and presented in the written report. Any safety violation or concern will be communicated verbally to the customers contact as quickly as possible, and will be mentioned in the written report if one is to be prepared.

In the event that a obviously hostilely induced eavesdropping device or activity is found both parties agree that the customer will contact appropriate law enforcement agencies as appropriate or their attorney to make report of such findings, and that such report will be made within one hour of such discovery. In the event that it is discovered that classified information is being disclosed via an eavesdropping device, by an equipment malfunction, or by any hostile induction or modification both parties agree to initiate emergency contact to cognizant authorities via the customers contact, but such notification will be performed in such a way so as not to tip off the eavesdropper or spy. All parties agree to work with the appropriate authorities in the event that any criminal activity or hostile penetration or exploitation is encountered. Further the customer agree to pay the customary daily consulting fees and expenses in advance should Granite Island Group be required to interface with the authorities, prepare for legal proceedings, or to testify in court in any matter related to the services being rendered.

Reports

Any projects which involve more than three days on site will result in a written report automatically being provided on the last day of the engagement. For projects which are three days long or less a written report will not be provided unless the customer agree to pay an extra charge. An optional, in-person verbal presentation to senior management, detailed PowerPoint presentation, and executive two page written report is also available for an additional cost beyond that of the regular written report.

If a customer does not desire that a report be provided (for legal or risk management reasons) then only a verbal report of findings will be provided, but this is issue should be decided upon well in advance of services being rendered.

Records Retention

All parties agree to protect the trade secrets, sensitive information, activities, and confidential materials of either party. The vendor (Granite Island Group) normally retains all records of the project for only ten business days after the end of the project, and then after these ten days destroys all records of the assignment. With this in mind the customer understands that any queries regarding the project must be made within this ten day window. For highly confidential or classified project all records are destroyed within 24 hours following the end of the project and receipt of final payment.

As always, we will only act in the absolute best interests of our client, and always with the utmost of professionalism, honor, honesty, and integrity.

For a confidential consultation please E-mail: jmatk@tscm.com

Telephone: (978) 546-3803 / Fax: (978) 546-9467
International Callers: 001-978-546-3803 / Fax: 001-978-546-9467