Man on wire

Covert surveillance and counter-espionage expert Seán Hartnett was the man who Ireland’s leading businesspeople and financial institutions called upon to protect their most valuable information and secrets. In the run-up to the financial crash of 2008, he found himself behind closed doors at Anglo Irish Bank. Here, he tells the story of those eventful days and nights for the first time

As early as 2007, I found myself conducting TSCM (technical surveillance countermeasures) on behalf of Anglo Irish Bank. It was obvious to me that they had concerns they might be under some form of covert surveillance. In layman’s terms, what I do is sweep for bugs, but that is far too simplistic a view, as the work often involves so much more than that.

My journey into the murky world of commercial espionage ...