Boardroom ProtectionListed CompanyHong Kong
Recording device discovered 36 hours before a contested board vote
The chairman's office of a Hong Kong-listed company engaged Risk3 ahead of a board meeting convened to decide a contested divestment. Two directors were known to oppose the transaction, and elements of a prior board discussion had already appeared, paraphrased, in market commentary. We were asked to provide assurance for the meeting itself.
A night-time inspection of the boardroom and adjoining breakout rooms identified a voice-activated recording device fitted inside a power extension unit beneath the boardroom table, positioned to capture discussion at the chairman's end of the room. The device stored audio locally, meaning it had to be physically retrieved by whoever placed it.
On advice, the client elected not to remove the device. The board meeting was relocated under a routine pretext, the room remained in apparent use, and retrieval was monitored. The subsequent investigation, run with external counsel, identified a facilities contractor acting for a third party and supported both the termination of the relationship and the client's civil recovery strategy.
Trigger
Board discussion content surfacing in market commentary ahead of a contested vote.
Finding
Store-and-forward audio device concealed in boardroom power accessory; placement required physical access.
Outcome
Meeting protected; operator identified through controlled retrieval; evidence preserved for civil action.
Family OfficePrivacy BreachSingapore · Hong Kong
Family office succession discussions reaching an estranged family member
A single-family office managing assets across Singapore and Hong Kong approached Risk3 through its external counsel. Details of succession planning discussions, held only in the family office meeting suite and the principal's residence, were being relayed to an estranged family member engaged in a dispute with the principal.
An electronic privacy audit across both premises found no active transmitting devices. The audit instead identified two informational pathways: a compromised personal tablet belonging to a household staff member, synchronising ambient recordings via a consumer app, and a video-conferencing endpoint in the meeting suite configured for auto-answer, allowing any caller with the address to open a live microphone into the room.
Digital forensics established the tablet compromise was deliberate and traced its configuration to a private investigator retained by the estranged party. Findings were preserved to evidential standard and materially strengthened the principal's position in the ensuing legal proceedings. The family's footprint was subsequently brought under a standing monitoring programme.
Trigger
Succession discussions repeated by an adverse party who could not have attended them.
Finding
No "bug", a compromised staff device and a misconfigured conference endpoint. Both invisible to a device-only sweep.
Outcome
Pathways closed; attribution established; evidence used in proceedings; standing programme established.
Executive ResidenceHNW PrincipalBangkok
Covert cameras in a principal's residence during a contested divorce
Counsel acting for a high-net-worth principal in contested matrimonial proceedings engaged Risk3 to inspect a Bangkok residence after their client noticed that private conversations and domestic circumstances appeared to be known to the opposing side in unusual detail.
The inspection identified two miniature optical devices with audio capability: one integrated into a replacement smoke detector in the principal's study, the second concealed in a media unit in the master suite. Both stored and transmitted over the residence's own Wi-Fi network, using credentials that had not been changed after a domestic staff departure.
Working under counsel's direction, devices were documented in situ, forensically imaged and preserved. Network analysis established the collection window and the external endpoints receiving material. The evidential package was central to the principal's application before the court, and the matter concluded on terms favourable to our client. The residence, the family's vehicles and a second property were subsequently brought under scheduled inspection.
Trigger
Opposing party demonstrating knowledge of private domestic conversations during proceedings.
Finding
Two Wi-Fi optical/audio devices installed during a period of staff access; residence network unsecured after departure.
Outcome
Court-ready evidential package; collection window established; family footprint brought under standing protection.
Corporate EspionageTechnology CompanyRegional
A competitor consistently one step ahead: espionage investigation across three jurisdictions
A regional technology company had lost three consecutive tenders to the same competitor, each time by a narrow commercial margin that suggested knowledge of its pricing. Internal reviews had found nothing. The board commissioned Risk3 to approach the problem as an intelligence problem rather than an IT problem.
We began with the information itself: who had access to final pricing, when it was fixed, and in which rooms and systems it existed. TSCM inspections of the pricing committee's meeting spaces in two cities were clean. The investigation then narrowed to the interval between price fixing and bid submission, and found that final pricing decks were being shared with an external bid consultant whose retainer with the client had lapsed, and who had since been engaged by the competitor through an intermediary.
No device was ever involved. Digital forensics and eDiscovery support enabled counsel to reconstruct the disclosure chain, terminate the exposure, and pursue contractual remedies. The client's next major tender was conducted under a clean-room protocol we designed, and won.
Trigger
Pattern of narrowly lost tenders implying counterparty knowledge of final pricing.
Finding
Human channel: a lapsed external consultant re-engaged by the competitor. Rooms and systems were clean.
Outcome
Disclosure chain evidenced; remedies pursued; clean-room bid protocol adopted; next tender won.
Insider ThreatPrivate EquityHong Kong
Deal terms leaking from a fund's investment committee
A Hong Kong-based private equity firm suspected that terms discussed in its investment committee were reaching a rival bidder in a competitive acquisition process. The firm's general counsel engaged Risk3 directly, with knowledge of the engagement restricted to three people.
A covert electronic audit of the IC meeting room, conducted over a weekend, identified a smartphone configured as a live transmitter concealed above ceiling tiles, placed with knowledge of the room's meeting schedule. Rather than remove it, the client approved a controlled-information operation: a fabricated term sheet, unique in three details, was discussed in the room at the next scheduled meeting.
Within days, one fabricated detail was played back to the client by an intermediary of the rival bidder. The combination of physical evidence, transmission forensics and the canary detail isolated the insider, a member of support staff with after-hours access, and gave counsel the evidential basis for both employment action and a negotiated resolution with the counterparty. The fund completed the acquisition at its original valuation.
Trigger
Rival bidder anticipating IC positions during a live competitive process.
Finding
Concealed live-transmission device placed by an insider with schedule knowledge.
Outcome
Insider isolated via controlled information; evidence supported employment and commercial resolution; deal completed.
These summaries necessarily omit operational detail. In consultation, and under appropriate confidentiality, we can discuss methodology and outcomes relevant to your situation, including matters in your sector and jurisdiction.