A single voice command. Five seconds. That’s all it takes to push alerts across a criminal network, trigger remote wipes, and destroy digital evidence before officers have even made it through the door.

This isn’t theoretical. We’ve built a working demonstration environment using off-the-shelf consumer hardware and free software that shows exactly how this works. Every component is a legitimate product you can buy on any high street. Nothing is hacked, no security is bypassed, and you don’t need any specialist knowledge to put it together.

That’s the problem.

The Risk

Devices like Alexa, Google Home, Ring doorbells, smart plugs, and the automation built into every iPhone and Android are being used by criminals as counter-surveillance tools, alert systems, and remote evidence destruction mechanisms.

Setting this up takes minutes. No programming knowledge needed. The systems it creates operate faster than traditional operational planning accounts for. Forces across the UK are going through doors at properties kitted out with devices that can undermine the entire operation, and most don’t recognise the risk until evidence is already gone.

What We Demonstrate

The demonstration covers the threat vectors that matter most to live operations:

Automated alerts. Voice assistants and smart home platforms can be set up to notify associates across multiple channels the moment an operation kicks off. These alerts go out in single-digit seconds, faster than any physical containment.

Passive surveillance. Doorbell cameras and smart sensors detect activity and push notifications automatically, no human involvement needed. They run around the clock and can be configured to behave differently depending on the time of day, which makes early-morning warrant executions particularly exposed.

Phone automation. iOS Shortcuts and Android’s Tasker can respond to device events like changes in connectivity, location, or proximity. Many of these events happen as a direct result of a phone being seized. The act of arrest becomes the trigger.

Dead man’s switches. This is probably the most operationally significant threat. Devices send regular check-in signals to remote infrastructure. When those signals stop, for whatever reason, automated actions fire. It’s triggered by the absence of activity, not the presence of it, which makes it extremely difficult to detect or counter with conventional methods.

Custody call exploitation. A standard phone call from custody can interact with automated systems that trigger pre-configured actions, without anything incriminating being said during the conversation.

Remote evidence destruction. Smart home devices and remote access tools can lock encrypted volumes, run deletion commands, and cut power to devices to force encrypted drives offline. The window between trigger and irrecoverable evidence loss is seconds, not minutes.

The Setup

Everything runs in a self-contained environment, completely isolated from any live network. Real consumer devices connected to isolated infrastructure with its own server backend.

It’s portable. We can set it up anywhere. No connection to live systems, no risk to real data, no need for network connectivity or IT support. Just a power socket and a table.

Total hardware cost is a few hundred quid. Time for someone motivated to build a comparable setup is under 15 minutes. Both of those facts are part of the point.

Who It’s For

Command teams, operational planning units, digital investigation teams, frontline supervisors, detectives  and patrol officers . Anyone involved in planning or executing operations where digital evidence matters.

Everything is presented in practical, operational language. No assumptions about technical knowledge. It works best when the people in the room are the ones making tactical decisions about live jobs.

Format

Half-day session, delivered at your location. Full demonstration across all threat vectors with time for discussion throughout. We provide a written summary of the key findings afterwards.

If you want to take it further, the demonstration can form the basis of a wider training programme, delivered in person or developed as online learning for rollout across the force.

Get in Touch

Contact us to arrange a demonstration for your teams or to talk through how smart device threats might be affecting your operations.