http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/how-soviets-used-ibm-selectric-keyloggers-to-spy-on-us-diplomats/
"The implants were ultimately found inside 16 typewriters used from 1976 to 1984 at the US embassy in Moscow and the US consulate in Leningrad. The bugs went undetected for the entire eight-year span and only came to light following a tip from a US ally whose own embassy was the target of a similar eavesdropping operation."
Getting the bugs in there undetected was key.
When I was living in Moscow as a kid it was a common joke among the American community there that the Russians had poured listening devices right into the concrete and the mortar between the bricks when the buildings were constructed. The joke probably wasn't too far off.
Quote from: Airborne Rifles on October 14, 2015, 08:29:30 AM
When I was living in Moscow as a kid it was a common joke among the American community there that the Russians had poured listening devices right into the concrete and the mortar between the bricks when the buildings were constructed. The joke probably wasn't too far off.
It wasn't really a joke at all. We spent 15 years rebuilding the embassy that was built in the 80s using Soviet laborers.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2000-07-07/news/0007070212_1_embassy-building-american-embassy-new-embassy
My dad spent 4 months on a diplomatic passport as a courier ferrying building supplies from Helsinki to Moscow in locked trucks in '83-'84
He was under no illusions that the KGB were hand-off. He knew they were bugging everything about the construction of the new embassy, but he never actually caught anyone messing with any of his trucks.
I.B.M.--- Intentionally Bugged Machines.