Smart Device Eavesdropping: The Santa Clause

Fact,  fiction, or prediction. You decide.
Marketer sparks panic with claims it uses smart devices to eavesdrop on people...

Makers of microphone-equipped electronics sometimes admit to selling voice data to third parties (advertisers). But that's usually voice data accumulated after a user has prompted their device to start listening to them...

But a marketing company called CMG Local Solutions sparked panic recently by alluding that it has access to people's private conversations by tapping into data gathered by the microphones on their phones, TVs, and other personal electronics, as first reported by 404 Media on Thursday. The marketing firm had said it uses these personal conversations for ad targeting.

CMG's Active Listening website starts with a banner promoting an accurate but worrisome statement, "It's true. Your devices are listening to you." more

Recent Spy News

• Iran is saying it has executed an Israeli Mossad spy in the country’s southeast, state TV reported Saturday. The report said the spy was linked to foreign intelligence services, including Mossad, and charged with involvement in releasing classified information. The judiciary body executed the person in a prison in Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan. The report did not identify the person. more

• Amazon is still selling the clothes hook spy cameras it's being sued over. more  antidote

• German Spy Official Goes on Trial Accused of Selling Secrets to Russia. more

• A top-secret Chinese spy satellite just launched on a supersized rocket. more

• UK spy agency releases annual Christmas puzzle challenge for students: Can you solve it? more

• Man Accused Of Being Spy Admits He’s Russian After Years Posing As Academic In Norway, Canada more

• He’s Wanted for Wirecard’s Missing $2 Billion. He’s Now Suspected of Being a Russian Spy. more

• Ukraine weapons treason case throws light on Russian spy threat to Germany. more

• Former FBI spy hunter sentenced to 4 years for taking money from Putin crony in Russia sanctions case. more

• Congress Clashes Over the Future of America’s Global Spy Program more

• Accused Spy for Cuba Lived the American Dream more

Channel 1 - Ultimate Fake News, or Edison Carter Gets Max'ed

The world's first news network entirely generated by artificial intelligence is set to launch next year.
Channel 1 released a promotional video [VERY realistic] explaining how the service will provide personalized news coverage to users from international affairs, finance and entertainment. The outlet said how their team of AI generated reported can offer a global perspective 24/7.

The reporters in the video appear to be human but are actually made from the scan of a real person. With digitally generated voices and zero human emotion, the reporters can tell the news in any language. Users users will be able to access the network through the services Crackle or Tubi. more

For news anchors it gives a whole ne meaning to, "You can be replaced."

Harry Hacking: Payout in Phone-Hacking Case Against Mirror Publisher

Prince Harry has won 15 claims in his case accusing Mirror Group Newspapers of unlawfully gathering information for stories published about him. A judge has ruled in his favour on almost half of the sample of 33 stories used in his claims of phone hacking and other methods.

High Court ruling found evidence of "widespread and habitual" use of phone hacking at the Mirror newspapers... He was awarded £140,600 in damages... more

Mind-reading BrainGPT Converts Thought-of Words into Text

There may be new hope for stroke victims and other "locked-in" people who are unable to communicate by conventional means. It comes in the form of the experimental new BrainGPT system, which is able to read users' thoughts and convert them into readable text...

Currently being developed by a team of scientists at the University of Technology Sydney, it simply requires users to wear an EEG (electroencephalogram) cap that's connected to a computer. No eye-tracking cameras or other additional hardware is required.

The custom DeWave software utilized by BrainGPT was trained by recording and analyzing the electrical signals produced by a total of 29 volunteers' brains as they silently read passages of text.

Putting it simply, DeWave's AI-based algorithms learned which specific EEG signals corresponded to which written words and phrases. more  video

The future of eavesdropping marches on.

Fake Cell Towers Spy On Phones

The risks associated with fake cell towers are manifold. Firstly, there is the threat of unauthorized access to sensitive personal information. This includes passwords, credit card details, and other private data that can be used for identity theft or financial fraud. Furthermore, fake towers can also listen in on phone calls and gather valuable business intelligence, posing a significant risk to corporate espionage...

The fake tower can intercept this IMSI number and collect other data, such as the mobile device’s location, call records, text messages, and even the content of phone calls. This information can then be used for various purposes, including surveillance, identity theft, and corporate espionage. more

Weird Spy News - MI6 Thanks Russian State Television for its “Help”

The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency has thanked Russian state television for its “help” encouraging Russians to spy for the U.K. after it translated and broadcast part of a speech he gave earlier this year in which he called on Russians to “join hands with us.”

Anchor Maria Butina — herself a former Russian spy — included the clip at the top of a program about Richard Moore, the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.

Moore gave the speech in July at the British Embassy in Prague where he openly encouraged Russians faced with “the venality, infighting and sheer callous incompetence of their leaders” to spy for Britain. more

FutureWatch: Ms. Butina mysteriously falls from a 13th Floor window.

Fast-growing Firm Accused of Corporate Espionage in $250M Lawsuit

In the $250 million lawsuit, the California company alleges AscellaHealth used connections inside Nymox in an attempt "to take control of the company's assets by a kick-back scheme."...

Nymox is alleging that AscellaHealth—which Nymox refers to as “a would-be ‘black knight’ competitor”—resorted to “illegal and unlawful corporate espionage” because it couldn’t gain enough support from Nymox shareholders by “legitimate means.”

Nymox is accusing Ascella of using its ties to the ex-Nymox leaders to pass off an investment proposal as a way to learn confidential company information and take control of the company's assets via a kick-back scheme, according to the biotech’s Nov. 9 release. more

Eavesdropping to the Rescue

Low-Frequency Sound Can Reveal That a Tornado Is On Its Way
You can't hear it, but this sound can reveal that a tornado is on its way...

There's another sound, however, that accompanies tornadoes that we can't hear. It is so low in frequency it is beyond the realms of human hearing, but it could offer a way of providing earlier, more accurate warnings of these destructive storms.

With winds that can reach up to 483km/h (300 mph), the storms that produce tornadoes generate low frequency sound waves – or infrasound – that can travel for hundreds of miles.

Eavesdropping on these infrasound signals may not be able to prevent tornadoes from flattening towns and tossing cars into the air like toys, but it could lead to a new type of early warning system that might save lives. more

Controversial Clothes Hook Spy Cameras for Sale on Amazon

Spy cameras disguised as clothes hooks are for sale on Amazon, despite the firm being sued over the gadgets. One clothes hook camera listing seen by the BBC features a picture of the device positioned in a bathroom.

A US judge recently ruled the retail giant must face a case brought by a woman who alleges she was filmed in the bathroom using a clothes hook camera purchased on Amazon.

A privacy expert has said the misuse of such devices may break British laws. Amazon declined to comment on the issue.

The US legal action against the company was brought by a foreign exchange student and aspiring actress... more

Helpful links...
Hidden Camera Detectors – Do They Work?
Spycam Detection Training for Businesses and Individuals (with Spanish, Korean and English closed captions)

Eavesdropping Super Hearing Pucks

Have you ever wanted eavesdropping super hearing powers? Admit it. We all have. Corporate espionage types find it especially useful as well.

There are dozens of ways to bug a room to hear confidential conversations. However, most of these ways requires access to the room to plant the bug. Modern science to the rescue (if you are the bugger). Since about half of corporate espionage is an insider issue this is a big problem for corporate security directors too.

Everyone from the office staff just outside of the boss’s office, to the Machiavellian executive in the adjacent office who wants that promotion, desperately wants to hear behind those closed doors. Now they can. Anybody can. Easily. Covertly. Cheaply... more

Philadelphia Lawyer Advice: Fighting Accusations of Corporate Espionage

Summary of the Spodek Law Group blog post...

Getting accused of corporate espionage can be scary. It can feel like your career or even freedom is on the line. But with the right legal help, you can get through this. In this article, we’ll break down what corporate espionage is, what the consequences can be, and most importantly—your defense options...

What Should You Do if Accused?
First, don’t panic. Just because you’re accused doesn’t mean you’ll be convicted. About half of economic espionage cases end in plea bargains or dismissals. With an experienced legal team, you can avoid the worst outcomes...

• Don’t try to handle this alone. 
• Remain silent. 
• Act quickly.
• Do comply with orders. 
• Watch what you say. 
• Begin gathering evidence.
• Consider independent analysis. 
• Look closely at the motives. 
• Highlight your character. If you have a long career with no prior offenses, that works in your favor. Judges go easier on first-time offenders. more

The Too-Weird-to-Be-Fiction Spy Story

It feels like a script you’d find on the over-piled desk of some harried Hollywood agent: MAGA-style Republican, while toiling for years as a U.S. diplomat and ambassador, secretly leads a double life, allegedly spying for the Cuban government for more than four decades — completely undetected.

Except that if true, the allegations against Victor Manuel Rocha, a career foreign service officer accused of serving as an agent of the Cuban regime since 1981, have real-life — and dangerous — implications. After Rocha was indicted on Monday on espionage charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “This action exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the U.S. government by a foreign agent.” ...

What surprised you the most about this arrest?

It’s really an amplification of what I thought: the Cubans are really good at espionage. Their intelligence agency, which goes by the acronym DGI, is incredibly effective. And they take the long game. more

Gemini (AI) Launched - Spying Will Never be the Same

It has been in the wild one day.
Imagine where it will be in a year.

 "Analyze this satellite photo. What do you see? How is it important? What are the vulnerabilities? How can I get information from that building? Analyze their networks. What are the vulnerabilities? Design an attack plan." ...all in less than a minute.

:( Update... Google’s new Gemini AI model is getting a mixed reception after its big debut yesterday, but users may have less confidence in the company’s tech or integrity after finding out that the most impressive demo of Gemini was pretty much faked. more

Updater's Update... In a social media post made after this article was published, Google DeepMind’s VP of Research Oriol Vinyals showed a bit more of how “Gemini was used to create” the video. “The video illustrates what the multimodal user experiences built with Gemini could look like. We made it to inspire developers.” ... Perhaps I will eat crow when, next week, the AI Studio with Gemini Pro is made available to experiment with.

I'll stick with, "Imagine where it will be in a year."

FutureWatch: Meta Mind Reading

Meta’s mind reader - Meta wants to get to know its users inside and out.

The company filed a patent application for in-ear “spectroscopy” for “cognitive load estimation.” To put it simply, this uses an in-ear device to measure a user’s brain signals to better understand a user’s brain activity...

By understanding a user’s cognitive load, Meta can learn a lot about a user’s mental state, said Jake Maymar, VP of Innovation at The Glimpse Group. It’s essentially a stress tester, he said, indicating how exactly their mind is reacting to the content in front of them.

But with a company like Meta, “it’s all about advertising,” Maymar said. As you use the device, “It gets to know you. Your device starts to really understand you as a person and can customize these experiences for you, so they really appeal to you.” ... these ads will likely target you closer than just being placed in your favorite games, said Maymar. more

The future of surveillance is mind reading. We've been minding it for years.

Clandestine Ops: Mission Permission Submission

Clandestine online operations now require sign-off by senior officials.

Following a controversy over the Pentagon’s use of clandestine information operations, the U.S. military has eliminated dozens of false online personas it created in recent years and has curtailed the use of such operations overseas, according to senior defense officials.

Clandestine online operations now require sign-off by senior Pentagon officials, the CIA and the State Department, according to the officials, who spoke Monday on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. more

Send Your Name to Jupiter’s Moon Europa

NASA's Europa Clipper will investigate Jupiter’s moon Europa to determine whether there are places below Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life. 

The mission’s detailed investigation of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Join the mission and have your name stenciled on a microchip that will be attached to the spacecraft as it travels 1.8 billion miles to explore Europa. Sign up to send your name on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft by Sunday, Dec. 31. HERE

Weirdest Spy Story of 2023?

NY Attorney Accuses Ben Affleck & Matt Damon of Stalking and Bugging Her Home

A New York attorney is suing actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, accusing the besties of stalking her and bugging her home to use private details of her life in their movies.

The attorney is hiding her identity as she moves forward with the bizarre case. The Daily Mail got a hold of court documents that claim the actors also hacked her devices and left the attorney in fear of being kidnapped and raped... She found a bug, saw an owl-shaped camera pointed at her home, woke to find a man in her bedroom and saw a man pointing a telescope at her after an alert that her emails had been hacked, according to the suit.

Also named in the suit are Affleck’s brother, Casey Affleck, his wife, singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, actor Kevin Smith, and disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The suit is also targeting Dimension Films, Disney, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures, who she is accusing of negligence for allowing harassment and plagiarism to take place. more

Court Clerk's Son Charged with Wiretapping

SC - The son of the Colleton County court clerk involved in the Alex Murdaugh case has been charged with wiretapping, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced this week. Former Colleton County information technology director Jeffrey Colton Hill, 34, was charged Tuesday and then booked at the detention center, SLED officials said... Hill is the son of Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca Hill, who was recently accused of jury tampering by convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers. Murdaugh officially filed a motion for a new trial in the murders of his wife and son last month. more

Corporate Espionage: Nvidia Senior Employee Accidentally Reveals Confidential Files

Nvidia sued after senior employee accidentally showed off confidential files taken from previous employer during a video meeting... Nvidia is in hot water after one of its software engineers accidentally let a rival company—and his former employer—in on a secret: that he stole its top-secret research and took it to the trillion-dollar tech giant. more

Recent Spy News

Two Palestinians were murdered in the city of Tulkarm and another was murdered in Jenin in the West Bank on Friday under suspicion of spying for Israel... A Palestinian mob can be seen in the videos abusing the bodies and hanging them on an electric pole as crowds surrounded the area, screaming "You traitors!" N12 reported. more

Ukrainian Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Spying for Russia... was found guilty of providing information to the Russian military and sentenced to 12 years in prison, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a Telegram post. An investigation found the man had sent voice messages to Russian forces in the area with information about the location of Ukrainian military units, equipment, weapons storehouses, military bases and headquarters. more

India... right before he was arrested by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for allegedly spying for Pakistan, Tarapur-based shopkeeper Labhshankar Maheshwari was in conversation with his neighbours. He was telling them that he would be getting his phone back that day, after a nearly three-month investigation, when an ATS vehicle pulled up... Maheshwari was then arrested for “waging war against the Indian state”. more

India... Two former army officers were convicted and sentenced for jail terms over their collaboration with RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and other anti-Pakistan actions, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday. According to details, the sentencing came under the Official Secrets Act 1923 and the Army Act 1952 on charges of sedition, working against the interests of national institutions and spying for a foreign agency, as Adil Farooq Raja – who served as major – and Haider Raza Mehdi – a former captain – faced court martial. more

A U.S. court held an extraordinary hearing on November 16th, where a judge carefully considered a lawsuit against the CIA and former CIA director Mike Pompeo for their alleged role in spying on American attorneys and journalists who visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. more

South Korea says Russian support likely enabled North Korea to successfully launch a spy satellite. more

Poland said Wednesday it had charged 16 foreign individuals with spying for Russia, for allegedly preparing acts of sabotage and gathering information on military equipment deliveries to Ukraine. more

Two suspects have been detained in Istanbul on suspicion of “military and political espionage” for Israeli intelligence. The suspects contacted Palestinian software engineer Omar A. on the pretext of doing business in Turkiye, it was reported on Thursday. more

A man detained in Latvia on suspicion of spying for Russia has died in detention after developing sudden health problems, prison authorities said. more

WIMBLEDON finalist David Nalbandian is being sued by his model ex-girlfriend for sexual harassment and stalking after allegedly installing hidden cameras in the air conditioning. Araceli Torrado, 29, made the complaint against her former partner Nalbandian, 41, accompanying it with a video in which she discovers a camera allegedly set up by the Argentinian... The installation of the camera - which a judge ruled was placed there by Nalbandian - is not a crime as the apartment was shared by the couple. more

North Korea Spy Rocket Explodes

North Korea rocket explodes during spy satellite launch, and meteor hunters caught it on camera... The first stage of a North Korean rocket apparently exploded Tuesday (Nov. 21) during a purported spy satellite launch, a new video suggests. A camera at South Korea's Yonsei University, usually used for tracking meteorsor shooting stars, showed the first stage of the North Korean Chollima-1 rocket appearing to erupt and spread debris, Reuters reported Friday (Nov. 24). more

Previously on the Security Scrapbook.

Baby Monitor or Bug? You decide...

In a recent post on the popular subreddit "Am I the A**hole?" (AITA), one distraught user, u/dumblonde7, sought the community's judgment on a delicate family situation.

The post, titled "AITA for 'snooping' on my baby camera?" details a troubling incident involving the user's mother-in-law and a revelation that unfolded through the lens of a baby monitor.

The author recounts receiving a notification on the baby camera in their child's crib and deciding to check in.

The unexpected discovery was a conversation between the mother-in-law and her husband, during which the mother-in-law was allegedly spreading falsehoods about a previous conversation she had with the author.

The user confronted her mother-in-law about the incident, leading to a heated disagreement with the mother-in-law expressing discontent over the perceived invasion of privacy.

The Redditor wrote: "When I opened [the baby camera], my mother-in-law was talking about me to my husband (he was standing up for me of course). She was lying, to my husband, about a conversation she and I had. I confronted her about what she said, and she is mad I was 'snooping.' AITA?" more

Ford's Anti-Eavesdropping Tech Is Straight Out Of A Spy Movie

As in-car Zoom meetings become a reality, Ford wants to protect occupants from eavesdroppers.

Ford has filed a patent for a new motor vehicle workspace with enhanced privacy, effectively preventing eavesdroppers from listening to calls you take in your car. CarBuzz discovered the patent, filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and while it may sound like some James Bond-like technology, it's simply a way to ensure that your conversations aren't being listened to by passersby and other occupants in the vehicle.

As we move closer to higher levels of autonomous driving, the occupants of a car will need something to pass the time. That's why several new vehicles are equipped with teleconferencing facilities. It may sound silly, but don't forget we now live in a world where a Mercedes-Benz E-Class comes standard with TikTok and a selfie camera. more

Employee Exposed Himself to Espionage by Seeking Sex Parlours

A Canada Border Service Agency employee opened himself up to the threat of exploitation by "hostile intelligence services" after visiting massage parlours in China, Japan and Canada, documents obtained by CBC News reveal.

The case is just one of more than 500 allegations the CBSA deemed "founded" last year and released as part of an access to information request.

According to the redacted file, the employee — who is not named in the document — allegedly engaged in illegal activities "by purchasing sexual services from massage parlours in Japan, China and Canada." more

Update: Court Grants Exec Bail in Industrial Espionage Case

A South Korean court has granted bail to a former executive of Samsung Electronics accused of stealing sensitive information developed by the technology giant, court records showed on Tuesday.

In a case that underscores the country's efforts to crack down on industrial espionage, prosecutors have alleged that the former executive Choi Jinseog, a South Korean chip expert, stole information formulated by the world's top memory chipmaker to help his client set up a chip factory in China. more

BlackBerry - The Best Movie Of 2023?

The True Story Thriller That’s Being Called The Best Movie Of The Year... Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry, managed to make a small but noticeable splash at the box office, resulting in a stunning 98 percent certified fresh critic score from Rotten Tomatoes...

Though the film’s premise may not immediately strike you as rife with thrilling storytelling potential, BlackBerry manages to take the high-intensity world of tech development, corporate espionage, and the true tale of one corporation’s rise and incredible fall to its absolute limits.

Those who lived through the era of BlackBerry phones being the must-have product on the market will look back at the moment in history with a newfound sense of awe after seeing the film, while those too young to recall the ubiquity of the full-keyboard phone will be shocked and appalled by the underhanded business practices which brought mobile internet to the next level. more

ChatGPT Is Apparently a Great Surveillance Tool

This week, Forbes reported that a Russian spyware company called Social Links had begun using ChatGPT to conduct sentiment analysis. The creepy field by which cops and spies collect and analyze social media data to understand how web users feel about stuff, sentiment analysis is one of the sketchier use-cases for the little chatbot to yet emerge.

Social Links, which was previously kicked off Meta’s platforms for alleged surveillance of users, showed off its unconventional use of ChatGPT at a security conference in Paris this week. The company was able to weaponize the chatbot’s ability for text summarization and analysis to troll through large chunks of data, digesting it quickly. 

In a demonstration, the company fed data collected by its own proprietary tool into ChatGPT; the data, which related to online posts about a recent controversy in Spain, was then analyzed by the chatbot, which rated them “as positive, negative or neutral, displaying the results in an interactive graph,” Forbes writes.

Obviously, privacy advocates have found this more than a little disturbing... more

How an Indian Startup Hacked the World

Appin was a leading Indian cyberespionage firm that few people even knew existed. 

A Reuters investigation found that the company grew from an educational startup to a hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians, military officials and wealthy elites around the globe. 

Appin alumni went on to form other firms that are still active...

Chuck Randall was on the verge of unveiling an ambitious real estate deal he hoped would give his small Native American tribe a bigger cut of a potentially lucrative casino project.

A well-timed leak derailed it all.

In July of 2012, printed excerpts from Randall’s private emails were hand-distributed across the Shinnecock Nation’s square-mile reservation, a wooded peninsula hanging off the South Fork of Long Island...  more

Smart Toys Spying on Children

Smart toys are becoming more common, and an increase in concerns about them spying on children has coincided with that, according to a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

In its Trouble in Toyland" report released Thursday, the organization explained that smart toys "can incorporate various technologies, like cameras, microphones and sensors, as well as artificial intelligence capabilities and connectivity through the internet or Bluetooth." It specifically flagged some risks that it said parents and their children could see arise. more
How We Got This Way - The effect of kids being influenced by their spy toys.

Why You Really Need a Technical Information Security Consultant

The non-existence of a trade secret asset: ‘confidential’ information
by R. Mark Halligan 

FisherBroyles LLP

For years, there has been a debate whether “confidential” information is analogous to a “trade secret.” It is not. Information is either protected as a “trade secret” or not protected as a “trade secret.” Any other characterization of “confidential” information undermines the protection of trade secret assets and interferes with lawful and fair business competition.

There is no such thing as non-trade secret “confidential” information.

There is no such thing as “confidential” information that does not rise to the level of a trade secret.

There is no middle ground: Either the information is a “trade secret” (and protectable) or not a trade secret (and not protectable).

A “trade secret” is an intellectual property asset that requires reasonable measures to protect the information as a “trade secret” and proof that such information derives an actual or potential economic advantage from the secrecy of the information. more

Your business is based on information and conversations considered confidential, sensitive, or intellectual property. These create your competitive advantage. No less important than trade secrets, and yet, not protected under trade secret law. 

So, what protection do you have? 

Start by adding a Technical Information Security Consultant to your team. Their proactive surveys can spot espionage issues like electronic eavesdropping, information security risks, and employee compliance with information security policies—before they become losses.

Professor Accused of Wiretapping Other Professors

LA - Officers of the University of Louisiana Monroe Police Department initiated an investigation due to a wiretapping complaint on campus. During the investigation, authorities learned that a professor for the University of Louisiana Monroe, along with his graduate assistant, located two small recording devices around their office doors.

According to the affidavit, the devices were being held in place by a substance. The ULM professor was in his office when one of the devices fell on the floor. The second device was found after the graduate assistant searched the door area of the office.

ULM Police then stationed themselves and conducted surveillance, identifying the suspect as Chad Allen Lewing, who is also a professor at the university. On November 8, 2023, at 5:30 AM, Lewing was detained by authorities while allegedly attempting to remove the devices.

Police learned that Lewing arrived at work two hours early and he was the only person in the building, besides two ULM police officers. Lewing was transported to the university’s police station and refused to talk with authorities...

Officers went on to find two more devices in the office spaces of two other ULM professors. more

This find was based on luck. Surveillance devices rarely just fall on the floor in front of you. Smart businesses and educational institutions hire technical information security consultants to periodically conduct searches for electronic surveillance devices. Learn more about that at counterespionage.com.

AirTags: The New Go-to Tool for Cops

After a viral TikTok trend spurred tens of thousands of car thefts this summer, cops in Washington, DC, started realizing that it was much easier to recover stolen vehicles that could be tracked with Apple AirTags.

Because of this, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) rolled out a pilot program this week, doling out free tracking devices to residents in DC areas where cops are seeing "the greatest increase in vehicle theft," according to a press release from the office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. more

Court: Automakers Can Record & Intercept Owner Text Messages

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to bring back a class action lawsuit alleging four auto manufacturers had violated Washington state’s privacy laws by using vehicles’ on-board infotainment systems to record and intercept customers’ private text messages and mobile phone call logs.

The Seattle-based appellate judge ruled that the practice does not meet the threshold for an illegal privacy violation under state law, handing a big win to automakers Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors, which are defendants in five related class action suits focused on the issue. One of those cases, against Ford, had been dismissed on appeal previously. more

NJ Jury Finds Attorney Illegally Recorded Ex-Son-In-Law

A New Jersey jury on Tuesday found that a law professor illegally wiretapped her ex-son-in-law and invaded his privacy, awarding him $361,000 in damages, but also found that he painted her in a false light in social media posts alleging she framed him for a crime. more

NSA Unveils "Artificial Intelligence Security Center"

The National Security Agency is establishing a new “Artificial Intelligence Security Center” to help spur on the secure development and adoption of AI capabilities, and defend AI advancements from foreign adversaries.

NSA Director and Cyber Command chief Gen. Paul Nakasone broke the news during an event at the National Press Club on Thursday.

“The AI Security Center will become NSA’s focal point for leveraging foreign intelligence insights, contributing to the development of best practices guidelines, principles, evaluation methodology, and risk frameworks for AI security, with an end goal of promoting the secure development, integration, and adoption of AI capabilities within our national security systems and our defense industrial base,” Nakasone said...

The news about the center comes as the NSA also plans to establish a new “innovation pipeline” focused on China. more

Weekend Read: “Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression”

November 1, 2023

by  Jack Devine  (Author)

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars      73 ratings

I am pleased to announce that the paperback edition of my second book “Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression” comes out today.

When the book was first published in the middle of the pandemic in 2021, there was only an emergent acknowledgement of the real threat posed by Russian "active measures" and espionage to Western interests. Though I devoted an entire section to Ukraine called "New Berlin", I could not have foretold how much the world would change only a year later, on 24 February 2022...

I hope that the release of the paperback of "Spymaster's Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression" will give you an opportunity to discover or revisit a thorough accounting of the Russian intelligence services relentless and unending campaign against the West and what we must continue to do to arrest it. Good Hunting! 

The CIA Teaches You How to Speak Like a Spy

Spy Speak Glossary 

You might walk the walk, but can you talk the talk? 

Being a spy is more than just the gadgets and the disguises. To be successful in the field, you need to speak like a spy. 

So, before you head out on your next mission, or write the next great American spy novel, take some time to familiarize yourself with our Spy Speak glossary.

Example: Rolled-up - when an undercover operation goes bad and is raided by opposing forces, resulting in agents or assets being arrested.

Shady Things You Can Do With a Flipper Zero

Since it’s evil week at Lifehacker, let’s take a look at a gadget that can be used for mild evil: the Flipper Zero. Despite its toy-like looks, this pocket-friendly multitool can be used for all kinds of hacking and penetration testing. 

It gives anyone, even newbs, an easy-to-understand way to interact with the invisible waves that surround us, whether they’re RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, wifi, or radio. It’s a like a hacker Swiss army knife that you can buy for less than $200.

You can use a Flipper Zero to control your TV, cheat your Nintendo, replace your work ID, open your hotel room door, and more. I’m sure you could see where the “evil” part could comes in. But on the other hand, it’s just a tool, and its ability to commit crimes is... more

Flipper Zero – Corporate Security Threat

Utah Lawyer Charged with Voyeurism...

...after employees find video of bathroom camera...

A lawyer in Vernal has been charged with stalking and voyeurism after

claims he installed a camera in a bathroom in his law office... Investigators in Uintah County first responded to a report from Judd’s employees who said they discovered printed pornography photos and a memory cards in a folder in office personnel files, according to court documents. Documents state an employee viewed the files on one of the SD cards and found a video of Judd placing a camera inside an employee bathroom ceiling vent.

There were also recordings of women employed by Judd using the bathroom. When the recordings were recovered, employees examined the vent in the video but found the camera had been removed, according to documents...

The same employee said that one duty she performed at work was to order items for Judd on an Amazon account they both had access to. “The account history showed that several small spy cameras had been ordered beginning February 2021, and continuing through that year,” documents state. more

Is This a Bug?

This question comes from Reddit, where someone answered correctly.

We have a collection of many other "Is This a Bug?" photos and explanations.

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World Spy News Roundup

PA - A Pittsburgh police commander previously placed on leave while officials investigated allegations he spied on colleagues has retired. Matthew Lackner, who had previously overseen the police bureau’s Zone 2 station in the Hill District, retired Tuesday, according to spokeswoman Cara Cruz. Mr. Lackner was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this month. A police source familiar with the incident said the commander was accused of putting a body-worn camera in an officer’s patrol vehicle to spy on the officer. more

Australia - Robot vacuums don’t just collect dust — they can also collect data of their surroundings, sending it back to external servers, experts at The Australian Information Security Association (AISA) warned on Tuesday. more

China - China restricts foreign travel by bankers, state workers to curb spying... According to two analysts who spoke to the media, the moves reflect President Xi Jinping’s attention to national security in the midst of tense relations with the West. more

CA - The Five Eyes countries' intelligence chiefs came together on Tuesday to accuse China of intellectual property theft and using artificial intelligence for hacking and spying against the nations, in a rare joint statement by the allies. more

TX - It seems everything truly is bigger here in Texas, including the drama of partner snooping and infidelity! Recent data has exposed Texas as one of the leading states where the lines between privacy and suspicion are blurrier than ever. Relationship and sex expert Beth Darling joins the factor to talk about the data. more

USA - Ethical hacker helps prevent a potential espionage disaster for CIA. A glitch on X, formerly known as Twitter, could have opened a can of worms for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had an ethical hacker on the microblogging website not sprung to action. more

Donald Trump is suing a private investigations firm over "shocking and scandalous" claims that he engaged in "perverted sexual acts" in Russia. The former US president is taking legal action against Orbis Business Intelligence, a London-based company co-founded by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, over a dossier containing rumours about him that caused a storm before his 2017 presidential inauguration. more

Survey - 53% of employees in the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa region fear spying from drones... Corporate spies and hackers use drones to get trade secrets, confidential information, and other sensitive data from corporations and data centers. A drone can carry a device for hacking into corporate networks – for instance, a smartphone, a compact computer (e.g., Raspberry Pi), or a signal interceptor (e.g., Wi-Fi Pineapple [1]), and hackers use these devices to access corporate data and disrupt communications. All wireless communication (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, etc.) is vulnerable to drone attacks. more

Finland - Dead man's estate and firm fined €5m in shipyard espionage case. A man who worked for the Meyer Turku shipyard copied files from the shipyard and a shipping company onto a hard drive and transferred them to his own consulting firm – but then died while the investigation was underway. more

VA - It could be years before Appian, a software company, sees a dollar of the $2 billion judgment it was awarded last year in a corporate espionage case against rival Pegasystems. more

IN - Parents Attack Little League Umpire after children say he was taking photos of them in bathroom. A Little League umpire is facing charges for allegedly taking photos of children in the bathroom... Deputies in Warrick County said they were called to an area baseball field because of reports that parents were fighting an umpire. Authorities said the parents told them the brawl started because their children came running out of the bathroom screaming that Custer had taken photos of them. more

Yet Another USB Cautionary Tale

Duped with a malicious USB...

Mr Burgess (ASIO Director General Mike Burgess) referenced an unnamed Australian company that found global success making a product "similar to a motion detector" before their sales suddenly dropped.

"A little while later, their product started being returned to the factory because they were broken," he said.

"When they opened their branded products, they discovered they weren't their branded products, because the components were inferior, they were exact knock-offs."

The problem was eventually traced to an international conference, where someone had offered to share information with one of the company's employees by plugging a USB into their laptop.

"That USB downloaded malware onto that laptop, which later on, when they were connected back to their corporate network, was used to steal their intellectual property," he said.

"That intellectual property was passed from the intelligence services to state-owned enterprise that mass-produced the goods and sold them on the market that undercut them." more

More USB Security Information...

 • USB – Hacked Charging Cables

• USB – Malicious Spy Cable Detector Instructions

• USB – General Memory Stick Warning

• USB – Malicious Cables

• USB – NSA Type Cable Bug – $6.74

Extra USB Spy News - Government entities in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are the target of a long-running cyber espionage campaign dubbed TetrisPhantom. "The attacker covertly spied on and harvested sensitive data from APAC government entities by exploiting a particular type of secure USB drive, protected by hardware encryption to ensure the secure storage and transfer of data between computer systems," Kaspersky said in its APT trends report for Q3 2023. more