Tech Espionage in Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark

A Space-Tech startup in Thiruvananthapuram working on low-earth-orbit satellite communications suspected that proprietary encryption keys were being visually intercepted.

Although the company had strong digital controls, the physical end-point of the screens remained vulnerable.

The office environment relied on glass-heavy modern interiors, creating risk for high-resolution visual theft and covert audio interception.

• Hidden camera detection across smoke detectors, access points, and ceiling fixtures.
• Audio transmitter detection for launch-window and engineering discussions.
• Threats for corporate integrity including loss of defense-grade contracts.

Wahid Shaikh supervised the Astro-Shield operation, combining optical inspection, spectrum analysis, and infrastructure review across the R&D area.

• Laser-based lens sweeps of smoke detectors, sprinkler heads, and clocks.
• RF spectrum analysis across 5GHz and 6GHz bands used by modern Wi-Fi cameras.
• Infrastructure checks of raised flooring and AC ducts for recorders and hidden hardware.

Indiebim found a 4K Wi-Fi hidden camera with a downward-facing lens disguised as a standard Wi-Fi access point mounted on the ceiling.

The cloned AP visually matched the company’s official hardware while silently recording the encryption team’s monitors.

• Applied tamper-evident labels to all network hardware.
• Installed RF jammers to block unauthorized transmission from the R&D zone.
• Updated the clean-desk and visual exposure policy for the engineering team.

The startup protected its LEO contract pipeline by hardening the physical layer around critical engineering work.