harmonica bug
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From harmonica for the tone that activates or deactivates the device, and bug (an electronic eavesdropping device).
Noun[edit]
harmonica bug (plural harmonica bugs)
- An electronic eavesdropping device (bug) that attaches to a landline telephone and is activated or deactivated by a specific tone. When activated, it prevents the telephone from ringing but activates its microphone to transmit to another telephone at a remote location.
- Synonym: infinity transmitter
- 1975, Alan LeMond, Ron Fry, No Place to Hide, page xii:
- The most interesting device for tapping a telephone, though, is still the old reliable “harmonica bug,” which was invented in the early sixties by an electronics wizard from Lower Manhattan, Emanuel Mittleman.
- 1975, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Surveillance Technology, page 18:
- Whoever invented the harmonica bug realized that it's nearly impossible to find a bug that isn't operating, so he devised one that can be turned on and off by remote control.
- 1982, Sonny Kleinfield, The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT & T, page 240:
- It is, of course, tough to find a bug that isn't operating, which is at the heart of the harmonica bug principle.
- 1985, Vernon Tom Hyman, Giant Killer, page 78:
- The misplaced telephone receiver suggests they may have left a harmonica bug.