Point One for the Chinese Cyber Spies

An investigation by a US federal advisory board into a sweeping digital espionage campaign, allegedly by Chinese cyber spies, has been shelved before it really got underway.

Members of the Cyber Safety Review Board are getting the boot as part of an early move by the Trump administration to dismiss participants in Department of Homeland Security advisory committees, according to multiple news reports and a person familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. more

Amazing AI - Imagine Alternate Espionage Uses

via The Neuron...

AI generated image to video sizzle reel. And, more...

Want to see hear what the future sounds like? Check out these 10 examples:

Camera bot: Dr. Bobby Gomez-Reino engineered a voice controlled tour of his virtual data center, where he changes camera angles by chatting with his bot.  Browser whisperer: Sawyer Hood built a voice-controlled web browser. “Google, show me cat videos" just got a whole lot easier.  Speech to Picasso: Jordan Singer splashed together a voice-controlled painting app.  PDF mind reader: Marcus Schiesser created a voice chat for documents. “Hey term paper, what's your main argument?” Yes, please. 5-minute assistant: Pietro Schirano whipped up a voice assistant with Claude in “one shot.”  Interview prep pal: Kenn Ejima prepared an AI interviewer to conduct a 2 minute mock interview, quizzing you on your resume experience.  Smart voice agent: LangChain, an AI agent developer, crafted a voice assistant that can use tools like a calculator (code).  Website dialogue: Nicolas Camara made it possible to chat with anywebsite (like get the latest headlines from Hacker News, for example).  Stock tracking assistant: Willy Douhard made a voice assistant that can chart the price movements of multiple stocks with only your voice.  Real time animated friend: Bryan Pratte shared how to combine OpenAI’s voice AI with ExpressionEngine to bring his animated characters to life.

How to Boost an Auction - Mention the Word Spy

The holder of Jeffrey Epstein's "little black book" believes it could hold the answer to suspicions that the late sex offender was a foreign spy. 

Eager for the cryptic scribbles and numbers to be investigated, the anonymous owner is putting the book up for online public auction on Aug. 16, with the goal of selling it to somebody capable of tracking down those named in it. more

The Devil Wears Prada - So Do Spies

Former Government Official Arrested For Acting As Unregistered Agent Of South Korean Government

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA and White House employee, subverted foreign agent registration laws in order to provide South Korean intelligence officers with access, information, and advocacy. 

Terry allegedly sold out her positions and influence to the South Korean government in return for luxury handbags, expensive meals, and thousands of dollars of funding for her public policy program. 

 The charges brought should send a clear message to those in public policy who may be tempted to sell their expertise to a foreign government to think twice and ensure you are in accordance with the law.” more

Chinese Drone Photographer Charged Under US Espionage Act

While on leave from his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, Fengyun Shi flew to Virginia on January 5, 2024. While in Virginia, he rented a car and drove to a shipyard where United States military personnel build nuclear submarines. 

An affidavit filed later in January by FBI special agent Sara Shalowitz claims that a shipyard security officer saw Shi and told the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Shalowitz alleges that on January 6, Shi was flying his drone in poor conditions, and it got stuck in a tree on a neighboring property.

Shi approached the property owner, requesting help retrieving his drone...The unnamed individual captured images of Shi, his rental car’s license plate, and Shi’s identification. They then called the police.

When law enforcement arrived on the scene, Shi was understandably “very nervous,” and failed to provide a reasonable explanation for why he was there and flying a drone. The police explained to Shi that the fire department would need to retrieve the drone and that Shi should stay there until they arrived. Instead, Shi left the area entirely, abandoning his drone in the process. more

An investigation by the US Congress into Chinese-built cargo cranes has found suspicious technology that could potentially be used to disrupt or spy on American commercial activities, according to a report.

The House Homeland Security Committee said that it has discovered cellular modems that were installed in cranes and which can be remotely accessed by hostile powers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The committee’s discovery has fueled concerns in the Biden administration that cranes built by a Chinese firm, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), could potentially be used to spy on US ports. more

Download a Free 2024 Chinese Espionage Calendar

Looking for that perfect addition for your office? 

A year long reminder of the threat? 

Download and print a 2024 Chinese Espionage Calendar for that special counterintelligence or insider threat specialist. 

Complementary. (No info requested.)

Provided by Shinobi Enterprises, LLC.

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

Eavesdropping on the Sounds of Your Typing

New acoustic attack steals data from keystrokes with 95% accuracy

(a little background music, please)

A team of researchers from British universities has trained a deep learning model that can steal data from keyboard keystrokes recorded using a microphone with an accuracy of 95%.

When Zoom was used for training the sound classification algorithm, the prediction accuracy dropped to 93%, which is still dangerously high, and a record for that medium.

Such an attack severely affects the target's data security, as it could leak people's passwords, discussions, messages, or other sensitive information to malicious third parties. more

Britain's Intelligence Chief Invites Russians Opposed to War to Spy for MI6

Britain's intelligence chief has made a proposal to Russians opposed to Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine: share any secrets about Moscow, and you'll be kept safe.

During a rare public speech on Wednesday, Richard Moore, chief of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6), drew parallels between present-day Ukraine and the 1968 "Prague Spring," a period of political liberalization and freedom movements that was ultimately crushed by a Soviet Union invasion — triggering defectors to the West. more

US Spies Issue Warnings Over Risks of Doing Business in China

US intelligence officials renewed warnings for American companies doing business in China, citing an update to a counterespionage law that’s due to take effect (today, July 1, 2023).

A bulletin issued by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center on Friday warns executives that an update to China’s counterespionage law, which comes into effect on July 1, has the “potential to create legal risks or uncertainty” for companies doing business in China.

It adds that the law broadens the scope of China’s espionage law and expands Beijing’s official definition of espionage. “Any documents, data, materials, or items” could be considered relevant to the law due to its “ambiguities,” the bulletin says. more

Cuba to Host Secret Chinese Spy Base Focusing on U.S.

Beijing agrees to pay Havana several billion dollars for eavesdropping facility...

China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for China to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island, in a brash new geopolitical challenge by Beijing to the U.S., according to U.S. officials familiar with highly classified intelligence. 

An eavesdropping facility in Cuba, roughly 100 miles from Florida, would allow Chinese intelligence services to scoop up electronic communications throughout the southeastern U.S., where many military bases are located, and monitor U.S. ship traffic. 

Officials familiar with the matter said that China has agreed to pay cash-strapped Cuba several billion dollars to allow it to build the eavesdropping station, and that the two countries had reached an agreement in principle. more

Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West (book)

Coming, June 6th, 2023

SPIES, by  Calder Walton  (pre-order)

Spies is the history of the secret war that Russia and the West have been waging for a century. Espionage, sabotage, and subversion were the Kremlin’s means to equalize the imbalance of resources between the East and West before, during, and after the Cold War. There was nothing “unprecedented” about Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. It was simply business as usual, new means used for old ends.

The Cold War started long before 1945. But the West fought back after World War II, mounting its own shadow war, using disinformation, vast intelligence networks, and new technologies against the Soviet Union. Spies is an inspiring, engrossing story of the best and worst of mankind: bravery and honor, treachery and betrayal. The narrative shifts across continents and decades, from the freezing streets of St. Petersburg in 1917 to the bloody beaches of Normandy; from coups in faraway lands to present-day Moscow were troll farms, synthetic bots, and weaponized cyber-attacks being launched on the woefully unprepared West. It is about the rise and fall of eastern superpowers: Russia’s past and present and the global ascendance of China.

Mining hitherto secret archives in multiple languages, Calder Walton shows that the Cold War started earlier than commonly assumed, that it continued even after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, and that Britain and America’s clandestine struggle with the Soviet government provides key lessons for countering China today. This fresh reading of history, combined with practical takeaways for our current great power struggles, make Spies a unique and essential addition to the history of the Cold War and the unrolling conflict between the United States and China that will dominate the 21st century. more

Spy News: Qatar Deep Six'es Sub Company & Some Employees

Qatar Shuts Down Submarine Company Dahra After Alleged Espionage

The submarine was shut down by Qatar due to many of its employees being accused of spying for Israel in August 2022. Reports say that 75 employees have been impacted, most of which were former Indian Navy officials, were asked to go home. more

But not all...

Qatar Is Sentencing Eight Officials Of This Submarine Company To Death
The investigation into Dahra Global commenced last August when Qatari intelligence agencies detained eight ex-Indian Navy personnel holding senior positions within the company...Qatari authorities claim to possess electronic evidence supporting their allegations of wrongdoing. more

Companies Doing Business in China Need to be Aware of New Espionage Laws

China's updated law on espionage could be the latest point of concern for foreign companies. The amended anti-espionage law broadens the definition of national security. But it falls short of defining what exactly constitutes "National security". 

China's expansive anti-spying law to take effect July 1

Wider scope of national security puts foreigners at greater risk, analysts say. more

China has widened its already sweeping counter-espionage law. Experts say foreign businesses should be worried. more

China widens ‘already breathtaking’ scope to arrest foreigners for espionage
Authorities can swoop over anything they deem relevant to national security in toughening of law already used against expatriates or Chinese contacts. more

Florida Grounds Drones over Fears of Spying

Police, fire and other government agencies across Florida must ground millions of dollars in aerial drones because of a new state rule banning the agencies from using devices made by China-based DJI. 

The DJI drones are among the most widely used in the world, but Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration said they pose a security threat and did not include them on a list of approved drone manufacturers. more

Spy Bots: Last Month, Balloons - This Month, Trojan Horse Cranes

According to The Wall Street Journal, Pentagon officials are concerned that the ship-to-shore cranes — made by the China-based manufacturer, ZPMC — have emerged as a possible spying tool for the Chinese government. 

The ZPMC cranes, according to the Journal, possess "sophisticated sensors that can register and track the provenance and destination of containers, prompting concerns that China could capture information about material being shipped in or out of the country to support U.S. military operations around the world."

There are also worries of the cranes providing remote access to other parties disrupting the flow of goods in America, the Journal reports. "Cranes can be the new Huawei," said Bill Evanina, a former top U.S. counterintelligence official. more

FBI Lab Will Get to the ‘Guts’ of Chinese Balloon

The US has finished work to recover sunken remnants of the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina and the debris reinforces that it was for spying, officials have said.

The White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, said the wreckage included “electronics and optics” but declined to say what the US had learned from it so far.

“It’s a significant amount [of recovered material], including the payload structure as well as some of the electronics and the optics, and all that’s now at the FBI laboratory in Quantico,” Kirby said. more

Spy History: Life Imitates Art - The Shoe Bug

...The discovery of a “shoe bug” then prompted SY (US State Department - Division of Security) to modify its ACRs (Acoustic Conference Room)...

In 1969, Harry G. Barnes, Jr., Deputy Chief of Mission in Bucharest, Romania, called a classified conference, which met in the “bubble.” SY officer Lou Grob was monitoring the meeting from another room and heard the conversation. He immediately informed the Administration Officer (the RSO’s superior) that there was a bug in the ACR. After searching, they found something resembling Don Adams’s “shoe phone” from the 1960s television series Get Smart!--the bug was located in the heel of Barnes’s shoe. 

Barnes had had the butler take his shoes out to be modified, and someone had installed the bug in the process. After this incident, SY officers covered ACRs with Reynolds plastic wrap to reduce the radiation of low-power devices such as shoe bugs until the proper security modifications could be made. more  "Psst... Wanna buy some spy shoes? Click this."

The 2023 “Chinese Espionage Wall Calendar”

As the U.S. government increasingly focuses on combating Chinese spies, the threat of Chinese Communist Party espionage seems closer to home than ever. But with the turn of the new year, a new calendar aims to bring awareness of the threat even closer.

And the best part is, it’s free.

The 2023 “Chinese Espionage Wall Calendar” is freely available for download here. Each month’s page features a different person found to have been spying on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.

This month, it’s Kevin Malloy, a former CIA officer now in prison for selling classified information that identified U.S. intelligence sources to the Chinese. 

In February, the featured spy will be Fang Fang, a Chinese national who infiltrated several political teams, including the campaign for Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. more