surveillance. In the United States it is illegal for an individual to take effective counter-measures against TEMPEST surveillance. This leads to the conundrum that it
I really DO wish this particular bit of misinformation would go away! It is most definitely NOT illegal to shield one's computers against TEMPEST surveillance. In fact, the FCC requires that manufacturers limit the same spurious radiations that TEMPEST exploits to minimize interference to nearby radio and TV receivers. The details appear in Part 15 of the FCC rules. They are more stringent ("Class B") for devices intended for home use, since receivers are much more likely to be nearby than for devices intended solely for office use ("Class A"). The Part 15 interference rules for computers came into being in the mid 1980s, so anything you may read about the ease of intercepting computer emissions that was written before that time is somewhat suspect. Thanks to the rules, modern computers are FAR quieter than those sold in the 1970s and early 1980s, though they're still not completely silent. Phil