Michael Peros
Founder & Lead TSCM Specialist
For three decades, Michael Peros has helped executives, attorneys, and private clients take back their privacy — finding the surveillance devices others miss, and handling every case with absolute discretion.
The Story
Executive Summary
Privacy Electronics (operating today as Bugged.com) is a specialized Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) firm founded by Michael Peros in the mid-1980s in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.
For more than three decades, the company has detected and neutralized illegal electronic surveillance for corporate, legal, aerospace, defense, and private clients. Stated former clients have included Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, and Mike Flynn.
Peros began exploring analog telephone networks at age three in Denver in 1961 alongside his older brother—who was teaching Einstein’s theory of relativity at the University of Denver at the age of 13—and Bruce W. Ravenel (later a contributor to the Intel 8086). Early influences included encounters with figures from the phone-phreaking and counterculture scenes, including Joybubbles, Captain Crunch, and Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. He was later mentored by former CIA technical surveillance expert Glenn Whidden and trained in the same elite class as intelligence historian H. Keith Melton. Additional instruction came from personnel associated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Naval Intelligence, the National Security Agency (NSA), Delta Force, DEVGRU, Unit 8200, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Yamam, and Israeli intelligence services.
He has built one of the longest-running independent TSCM practices in the United States. His work spans high-stakes domestic investigations, early engagement with the security and cryptography communities, technical innovation, and international security support. He was also featured alongside Glenn Whidden in the BBC program The Walls Have Ears.
Foundational Work & Early Innovations
Invented the Telesentry device in 1986 (later sold to The Sharper Image). Innovated cellular phone hacking techniques, including eavesdropping on phone and room conversations, intercepting text messages and emails, and real-time tracking of phone location (video). Following the September 11 attacks, innovated methods for live audio and video streaming from commercial aircraft to ground stations. Currently pioneering unidirectional laser diode semiconductor technology intended to enable physics-enforced, unhackable optical communications without man-in-the-middle or backdoor vulnerabilities, targeted at defense and financial applications.
Landmark Domestic Cases
Exposed the Key Bank wiretapping scandal in Tampa (documented as involving more than 65,000–130,000 illegal intercepts). Uncovered illegal listening devices in the Aisenberg case, contributing to the dismissal of charges. Neutralized foreign and domestic surveillance devices in the TRW aerospace investigation and conducted counter-surveillance related to Henry C. Yuen at Gemstar’s Hollywood Boulevard headquarters. Documented structural and intelligence-related vulnerabilities at the Federal Reserve.
Community & Technical Engagement
Spoke at DEF CON 2, 4, and 6 on topics including illegal wiretapping, Japanese intelligence devices at a DoD contractor facility supporting the F-18 program, and related technical subjects. Photographed with RSA co-inventor Adi Shamir at Crypto ’98 in Santa Barbara. Active in the mid-1990s telecommunications exploration community, with activities referenced in Phrack magazine.
Advanced Monitoring
Conducted darknet surveillance operations using bots deployed on nodes in McLean, Virginia, between 2016 and 2018.
International Security Work
Installed surveillance cameras near the Temple Mount / Western Wall in Jerusalem (receiving a Key to the City of Jerusalem) and has continued providing security and intelligence support to Israel following the October attacks.
Modern Evolution
In 2026 formalized the CyberBugged multi-vector protocol designed to detect and defeat sophisticated “Entangling Attacks” that combine active RF transmitters, dormant network implants, compromised IoT devices, and burst-transmission trackers.
Additional high-profile matters include the discovery of a TK-400 Japanese audio bug at Cape Canaveral, exposure of an illegal hook-switch bypass targeting the Airline Pilots Association in Miami, and neutralization of 13 illegal wiretaps at a professional horse track associated with George Steinbrenner.
Privacy Electronics / Bugged.com continues to operate at the intersection of technical counter-surveillance, civil-liberties protection, and high-stakes security.
My job is to find what someone went to great lengths to hide — and to make sure my clients can speak freely again.
— Michael Peros, Founder
For forty years, our mission has been simple: protect civil liberties, secure high-stakes infrastructure, and stay five steps ahead of the adversaries. As bad actors combine physical bugging with cyber implants, CyberBugged ensures our clients remain completely invisible to modern surveillance.
— Michael Peros, Founder of Bugged.com
Experience & Credentials
Why clients trust Michael.
Years of Experience
Protecting clients with professional TSCM since 1995.
TSCM Specialist
Trained on the same equipment used by government and law enforcement.
Trusted Expertise
Relied on for high-stakes, high-sensitivity engagements.
Sweeps Completed
A track record across homes, businesses, and vehicles nationwide.
The press calls Bugged on counter-surveillance.
Three decades of casework covered by national outlets and the security community.
Featured In National Media
Real cases, real coverage — watch Bugged's specialists break down surveillance threats on air.
Real Cases. Real Results.
Three decades of high-stakes counter-surveillance — from corporate wiretaps to nation-state espionage.
What people are saying
Three decades of high-stakes cases — in the words of the people we protected.
Thanks, Michael, for discovering an illegal hook-switch bypass in our conference room — a bug that cost us billions. Even when the company couldn't be saved, it kept Lorenzo out of the airline industry for good.
Peros uncovered over 65,000 illegal intercepts. That evidence led to the case being thrown out — and earned praise from the U.S. Inspector General's Chief Investigator.
Michael Peros, our White Knight, saved us from malicious prosecution when we were wrongly charged with our child's murder. Exposing the illegal microphone hidden in our bedroom was key to prevailing — all charges dropped.
Michael saved me $3M in legal fees and protected 12 other defendants. He uncovered illegal wiretaps and a hidden “Brady Bug” in my office — what's considered the largest illegal wiretapping case in U.S. history.
Michael found a TK-400 Japanese audio bug hidden behind my desk. He saved my billion-dollar company — the greatest TSCM counter-surveillance engineer there is.
Thank you, Michael Peros, for saving my professional horse track from financial disaster by exposing 13 illegal wiretaps on the phones.
Your privacy deserves protection
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