Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Singapore Sting: How spies Listened in on German General

Brigadier General Frank Gräfe has a work call to dial into with his boss - the commander of the German air force...What none of the call's participants know is that they're being eavesdropped on - and their conversation is being recorded. Two weeks after the call took place, the audio tape was leaked by Russia's state-run RT channel...Their man in Singapore had, according to the German government, sprung "a data leak".

But how were spies able to eavesdrop?

The answer we've been given so far boils down to a case of human error. According to German authorities, the "data leak" was down to just one participant dialing in on an insecure line, either via his mobile or the hotel wi-fi. more

Questions for executives... 
  • Are the numbers and passcodes for your conference calls distributed via email? 
  • Do you or your assistants post these at their desks? 
  • Are the numbers and passcodes ever changed? 
Observations from our TSCM inspections over the years... Yes. Yes. No. Take a hint from this cautionary tale. ~Kevin