Chinese law requires Chinese businesses and citizens, including in academia, to “take actions related to the collection, transmission and storage of data that runs counter to principles of U.S. and international law and policy,” DHS said in a press release.
The department urged U.S. firms to “minimize the amount of at-risk data being stored and used” in China, or in places accessible to Chinese authorities. more
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The Bug is a nano-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) weighing 196g – similar to the weight of a smartphone – with 40 minute battery life and a 2km range.
It boasts a stealthy low visual profile and the ability to fly even in strong winds of more than 50mph...
The teams are now working on the next developments on the nano-UAV, exploring sensing equipment and capabilities which could be added, as well as how the Bug could be integrated with other military equipment. more
Australia - There's something unsettling about the idea of being watched while you and your loved ones kick back on holidays. If you've searched online to find whether holiday rental landlords spy on their guests, there's plenty to feed your paranoia...
Still, if something feels off or you want to sweep the house, there are some steps you can take. Although without professionals and high-tech gear involved, it can't be 100 per cent accurate...
Julian Claxton, a counter-espionage specialist, recommended a hidden camera detector — small devices that project a light that will reflect off the lens of a covert camera... "The reality is, that's how a lot of these cameras can be found — through anomalies. Things that just don't look right within an environment," he explained.
Also, consider taking a one-hour, on-line, video Spycam Detection Training course.
via Rob Acker...
Today, the manufacturing industry promotes innovation, productivity
and trade to capitalize on opportunities created by changing demand and
technological advancements. However, the move towards connected
manufacturing has introduced sophisticated threats to data, intellectual
property (IP) and operations.
Industrial Espionage and IP Theft
Manufacturing organizations invest heavily in IP development. It’s
often an organization’s most valuable asset and its theft is among the
most damaging of manufacturing cyber-threats. Recently, manufacturing executives cited IP protection as their primary concern...
Roger Faligot, an investigative journalist who specializes in studying intelligence agencies, first published Chinese spies in French. It proved so successful that he recently had a significantly expanded version translated into English - Chinese spies: from Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping.
Faligot’s ambitious book spans a century of Chinese espionage, from the beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party to the Xi Jinping era...
Faligot’s ground-breaking book is essential reading for both
intelligence professionals and generalists seeking to understand the
reach of China’s hidden hand. Given rapid technological developments,
one can only hope that Faligot is working on a follow-up volume. more
The 44-year-old opposition leader posed as a senior official from Russia’s National Security Council demanding an urgent debriefing about why the poisoning in August failed, according to a recording shared with CNN.
In a sting where he used a number disguised to look like it was from
the headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSS), Navalny
tricked Konstantin Kudryavtsev into revealing key details about how he
had been poisoned with Novichok in August, CNN said. more
Named AIR-FI, the technique is the work of Mordechai Guri, the head of R&D at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel.
Over the last half-decade, Guri has led tens of research projects that investigated stealing data through unconventional methods from air-gapped systems.
These types of techniques are what security researchers call "covert data exfiltration channels." They are not techniques to break into computers, but techniques that can be used to steal data in ways defenders aren't expecting. more
via Sundance...
This fascinating and visually stimulating documentary examines simulation theory—the idea that this world we live in might not be entirely real. The theory is as old as Plato's Republic and as current as Elon Musk's Twitter feed and A Glitch in the Matrix traces its genesis over the years, from philosophical engagements by the ancient Greeks to modern explorations by Philip K. Dick, the Wachowskis, and game theorists.
A new trailer for the upcoming documentary A Glitch in the Matrix gives a haunting look at the theory that we are all living in a giant simulation. The title alludes to the Wachowskis’ popular Matrix franchise, which is perhaps the most significant cultural exploration of the trippy thought experiment.
A Glitch in the Matrix will premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight Section line-up. After Sundance, A Glitch in the Matrix will be in theaters and on demand on February 5, 2021.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is aware of compromises of U.S. government agencies, critical infrastructure entities, and private sector organizations by an advanced persistent threat (APT) actor beginning in at least March 2020. This APT actor has demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex tradecraft in these intrusions. CISA expects that removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations...
CISA has determined that this threat poses a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations. CISA advises stakeholders to read this Alert and review the enclosed indicators. more
Note: In addition to cybersecurity, a quality TSCM program is required to protect against multiple other attack vectors.
The satellite beams down a powerful 9.65 GHz radio signal toward its
target, and then collects and interprets the signal as it bounces back
up into orbit...
Possibilities abound. Train two SAR satellites on the same target and they can actually image targets in three dimensions down to minute differences in height. more
via Justin Harper, Business reporter, BBC News, Singapore
I was the hero in my very own spy story, speeding from one checkpoint to another to foil the bad guys.
The plot came from a running app called Running Stories, which casts you as a secret agent in a story playing out with a heart-thumping soundtrack.
It is one of the latest apps designed to make exercise more entertaining, using real-time data that integrates the plot with your surroundings.
Key events in the storyline are triggered when a runner passes specific GPS markers and landmarks.
From being shot at by snipers to racing to catch a speedboat along the river, the plot kept me engaged and burned plenty of calories. more
World's Smallest
Weighing just 1g, Austrian company AMS has announced they have made the world's smallest camera. The NanEyeC has a footprint of just 1x1mm so is smaller than the size of a pinhead.
The 102,000 pixel camera only shoots in black and white, but is designed to be invisible when mounted in wearable devices, such VR headsets – and will doubtless also become the ultimate spy camera. more
Some are simple small cameras that can be placed somewhere that most people won't notice them, while others are disguised as objects like photo frames or USB chargers.
We've even found a camera that's disguised as a light bulb!
As you might imagine, there are loads of creative options in this area. more
Two weeks ago a school district conducted their own "in-house" TSCM sweep for spycams after an employee was charged with 30 child pornography and voyeurism charges. Big fail. Multiple reasons.
This week...
An Illinois dental practice has been sued by 11 employees after an hygienist allegedly hid two cameras in the work bathroom, new court papers show.
That same day, dental hygienist Armani Alexander, 25, “admitted to placing the camera” in the bathroom and was arrested, the court papers say.
The office assured the workers that they swept the premises and didn’t find any more cameras.
Yet Oct. 26, a second camera was discovered in the same bathroom, court documents allege...
Aspen admitted that a background check for Alexander — who had only been with the company for two months — “was flagged for criminal activity,” the court papers say...
The workers — who are each suing for at least $50,000 — have brought claims of negligent hiring and supervision against the practice. more
Why is all this important?
Emotional pain and embarrassment aside... not conducting a professional emergency sweep will have expensive consequences, and may put this dentist out of business.
I can't wait to see what 2030 brings.
A Russian military aircraft designed to allow the country’s leadership to survive and fight a nuclear war has been crippled, the victim of a particularly brazen burglary. Thieves stole 39 pieces of communications equipment from the Ilyushin Il-80 aircraft, nicknamed “Maxdome” by NATO.
The incident took place at the Beriev Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex, outside the Russian city of Rostov. Inspectors noticed an open hatch leading inside the plane and soon discovered the equipment was missing. more one sing-a-long possibility? (nsfw)
Private spies reportedly infiltrated an Amazon strike... A union is taking legal action.
Amazon could face a court battle with a Spanish workers' union over a report that said private investigators were hired to infiltrate and secretly surveil a strike outside one of its warehouses. According to a 51-page document obtained by the Spanish news site El Diario, private detectives spied on an Amazon workers' strike at a warehouse near Barcelona, Spain... more
Employers Are Spying on Remote Workers in Their Homes
As the Covid-19 pandemic has forced more people to work from home, employers have begun using digital surveillance technology to increase control and maintain productivity. more
Credit Suisse Spy Agency Was More Global, Inept Than Previously Reported
The most amazing thing about Credit Suisse’s CEO-sinking spy scandal isn’t that the bank’s internal KGB existed at all, but how hilariously, spectacularly shitty it was at the job. The most important thing, after all, about a covert operation is not the information it uncovers, but that it remain covert, undetected by those under its watch. Not only were CS’s Keystone Kops unable to achieve this most basic secrecy over and over and over again, they weren’t able to concoct an effective cover-up of their rare successful operations from the world’s most credulous law firm. more
The main culprits are domestic and/or foreign commercial rivals, start-up companies, foreign Intelligence officers (spies), disgruntled employees (insider threat), or organized criminals.
In the case of Texas fracking companies, employees of drilling firms were targeted when they traveled outside the United States with the contents of their company laptops stolen.
Alternatively, individuals were actively placed inside target companies, or disgruntled employees would simply go rogue and begin collecting and selling trade secrets, mainly as an act of defiance to strike back at their employers. more
U.S. and German investigative and intelligence agencies issued grave warnings in recent months that Chinese government-mandated tax software contains malware, which enables backdoor access into the applications that install it.
If the allegations are true, local units of
foreign companies operating in China as well as global financial
institutions will be exposed to the risk. more
A source familiar with the symptoms told NBC News, which was the first to report on the findings from NAS, that the CIA had determined Russian operatives who had worked on microwave weapons were in the same cities as CIA agents at the time they began experiencing the neurological symptoms.
U.S. diplomats in Cuba began experiencing the symptoms in late 2016, reporting they were hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physical sensations before becoming sick. Some of those symptoms disappeared, while others lingered.
Cuba has denied any knowledge of the illnesses. more