Business is beginning to look a lot more Le Carré than corporate these days. Kidnapping multinational executives is a mainstay of income and a political wedge for guerrilla armies. Corporate espionage drains billions of dollars from American industry every year. And trusted employees turn out to be highly placed spies scouring the contents of company hard drives. Which explains why business executives are increasingly well represented among the clientele of spy shops these days, bumping elbows with gruff law enforcement types from the CIA and FBI.
Cutting Edge
Corporate security starts with personal safety. For an executive based in Bogota, the $499 OSS Submariner Razor Knife Watch is the perfect accessory—it's such a popular item at the Spy Tech Agency that there's a waiting list to get one. A slightly more refined option is the company's $499 Garote Watch, also called the Silent Death. Turn the bezel to unwind a superthin steel cable for rendering your enemies . . . speechless. And it keeps perfect time.
Nonlethal self-defense products are also available, including the $250 AL-22 Security Blanket from the Counter Spy Shop. It looks like a jumbo plastic flashlight, but when you point it at an attacker and press the button, a blinding flash of light—110,000 lumens strong—will disorient and temporarily blind him. His sight will return—but not until you're gone.
The Air Taser Self Defense System is also a seemingly harmless device—unless you're on the receiving end. The $250 Air Taser is effective from up to 15 feet away; it shoots two needle-tipped probes that penetrate clothing and deliver 50,000 volts of electronic signals (T-Waves, if your would-be assailant is curious) that jam the nervous system of your attacker, incapacitating him. The Air Taser is available from the Counter Spy Shop.
