Cool Spycraft at the Tip of Your Finger

Only $3.18.

This is a Near-Field Communications (NFC) chip. Very small. Very thin. NFC is a short-range wireless technology that enables data exchange between two devices within ~4 cm. The chip contains a small amount of memory, a radio antenna, and a controller. It can be operated in one of two modes. 

• Passive: No battery, powered by the electromagnetic field from the reader. 
• Active: Has its own power source and can initiate communication.

How you might want to put your new spy power to work...

1. Covert Information Drops

• Spy embeds NFC tag in a common object (book, card, clothing tag).
• The chip links to a hidden or encrypted file or payload.
• Handler taps the object with a phone to retrieve information without direct contact.

2. Target Tracking
• Spy plants an NFC tag on a person or vehicle.
• The chip contains a unique ID or triggers background logging when scanned by compromised devices.
• Useful in tight surveillance environments.

3. Access Credential Spoofing
• Clone an NFC badge or card to gain unauthorized access.
• With a reader and software, a spy can harvest data and replicate a target’s access card.

4. Payload Delivery
NFC chip programmed to:
• Open malicious URLs.
• Trigger phone actions (e.g., Bluetooth pairing, contact injection).
• Launch scripts on rooted devices or with social engineering.
• Planted in public items (posters, flyers, seats, hotel room items).

5. Dead Drops with Geofencing
• NFC chip triggers a secure drop message only when tapped in a specific location.
• Adds plausible deniability; nothing visible unless in context.

6. Asset Authentication & Deception
• Tag gear or documents with NFC chips claiming authenticity (e.g., fake origin metadata).
• Alternatively, verify real gear during handoff using known chip signatures.

7. Remote Trigger Mechanism
• NFC tag acts as a trigger for another device (e.g., when tapped, it signals a hidden recorder to start transmitting).

FutureWatch: Sophisticated & Smart Surveillance Electronics To Become Smaller and Cheaper

Texas Instruments says it has shrunk the size of the smallest microcontroller unit in its industry with a new MCU the size of a black pepper flake.

The MCU packaging is only 1.38 square millimeters in size... TI says the product is aimed at small products including medical wearables, earbuds, stylus pens and electric toothbrushes. The product includes a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter and has 16KB of flash memory and 1KB of SRAM and runs at 24MHz...

TI says the microcontroller costs 20 cents per unit in quantities of 1,000, which means a company could get an army of robot spiders project started for as little as $200.

Vinay Agarwal, vice president and general manager of MSP Microcontrollers at TI: "With the addition of the world's smallest MCU, our MSPM0 MCU portfolio provides unlimited possibilities to enable smarter, more connected experiences in our day-to-day lives."

William Luk, a consultant and technology expert at Quandary Peak Research, said the MCU shrinkage opens up opportunities in areas where miniature devices weren't previously possible.

"One of the important verticals for micro-devices is in healthcare and surgical: smart pills, embedded sensors, or even surgical devices that can reach places like never before," Luk said. more

Chinese Spy Balloon Packed with American Tech

A Chinese spy balloon that crossed over the United States in 2023 was packed with American technology that could have enabled it to spy on Americans, according to two sources with direct knowledge of a technical analysis conducted by the U.S. military.

The discovery of a satellite communication module, sensors and other tech from at least five American firms underlines the failure of U.S. efforts to restrict exports of technology that could have military uses to main adversary China as well as to countries such as Russia and Iran. It also raises questions over the role of private companies that sell their equipment globally in keeping control over the ultimate users of dual-use technology that can have defense applications as well as civilian uses.

A Chinese patent reviewed by Newsweek describes a communications system for exactly such a balloon as the one that crossed America, based on using a satellite transceiver from a U.S. company that the balloon’s controllers in China would use to communicate with it and that would send data back, and that is easily available online. more

1984 or 2025 - What the Flock?

Flock Safety, a maker of license plate-reading cameras, is said to be valued at $7.5 billion — a 56% increase from a year ago — in a funding round to be led by Andreessen Horowitz. The startup plans to raise $250 million. more

Not everyone is thrilled, and the courts have not weighted in yet. When they do, it will be boom or bust.

An Extra Defense Against Keyless Car Theft

The rising amount of technology in our vehicles makes them increasingly vulnerable to hacking or theft. 

Battery Sleuth bypasses both the wireless communication that key fobs depend on and the standardized onboard communication network in today’s vehicles. Instead, it authenticates drivers by measuring voltage fluctuations in a vehicle’s electrical system. Drivers interact with it through a keypad device plugged into the auxiliary power outlet. Learn more in this video.

“The idea of measuring fluctuations in a car’s electrical system seems simple, but designing one device that can do it accurately on thousands of different vehicle models in varying environmental conditions gets quite complicated,” said Liang He , assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Colorado, Denver and a researcher on the project. “We’re working to design a system that’s smart enough to measure the parameters of the vehicle it’s installed on and then customize itself to work effectively on that vehicle.” more

Russian Spy Hoarded Surveillance Gadgets - Boasted: Like James Bond Q

A Russian spy was living in a "typical seaside hotel" on the English coast crammed full of electronic surveillance equipment, a court has heard.

Orlin Roussev boasted to his controller that he was becoming like the James Bond character "Q" as he prepared his spying "toys" for kidnap and surveillance operations across Europe...

The Old Bailey was told a "vast" amount of technical equipment for "intrusive surveillance" was found at Roussev's address in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, which he described in messages as his "Indiana Jones warehouse"... a "significant amount of IT and surveillance equipment". It was stacked up in two storage rooms and an office used by Roussev, the court was told. more

Split Among U.S. Spy Agencies Over 'Havana syndrome'

The White House said the new findings reflect “a shift in key judgements,” calling for more research into injuries to American diplomats and intelligence officers stationed overseas.

A split has emerged among U.S. intelligence agencies over whether a foreign adversary may have been responsible for unexplained “Havana syndrome” injuries to American diplomats and intelligence officers stationed overseas.

A U.S. intelligence assessment released Friday revealed that two of seven spy agencies now say a foreign actor may have developed or deployed a weapon that caused the mysterious health incidents. Officials declined to reveal which intelligence services had shifted their view of the injuries, which first emerged in Havana, Cuba.

Five of seven intelligence agencies or departments echoed findings from 2023 and concluded that it was “very unlikely” that a foreign actor caused the medical symptoms that include vertigo, hearing loss, intense headaches, pain in the ears and blurred vision. Their conclusions were based in part on “sensitive intelligence reporting continuing to point away from foreign involvement,” according to the assessment. more

How Pigeons, Cats, Whales, Robotic Catfish Acted as Spies

The death of a spy is rarely newsworthy, due to the secrecy surrounding it. But when a white beluga whale suspected of spying for Moscow was found dead in Norwegian waters in September, the animal soon became a minor celebrity....

The US ran similar experiments with animals, some dating back to the 1960s. One of the CIA’s more unusual attempts to use animals as spies was Operation Acoustic Kitty...

The idea was to implant a microphone and antenna into the cat and use it to eavesdrop on potentially interesting conversations. The test of the “prototype” went horribly wrong... more

Who Needs TSCM... China’s top court vows to combat eavesdropping, illegal recordings...

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Wednesday released several cases regarding the prosecution of crimes related to the illegal production, sale, and use of eavesdropping and surreptitious recording equipment, showing a clear stance on cracking down on the underground industrial chain behind such activities.

The SPC revealed that some offenders installed eavesdropping and recording devices in hotels, guesthouses, and other locations to spy on unknowing guests and patrons. In some cases, they provided internet links for others to view these recordings in real time or produced images, audio, and videos for sale and distribution, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Others used such devices for illegal activities such as unauthorized investigations, blackmail, and cheating in gambling, seriously infringing upon people's information security and privacy. Additionally, some offenders had illegally manufactured and sold these devices, fueling their proliferation in society and exacerbating the issue of illegal recording, the SPC said. more

Shocking! One wonders if this will stop the exports, and will there be a run on eBay and amazon spy merch.

Research Finds that Cellular Walkie Talkies Put Americans at Risk of Chinese Spying

Haloid Solutions, a leading provider of wireless communications equipment, is warning all business and government agencies about foreign espionage and business disruption risks from China-manufactured cellular two-way radios. These devices were sold in the United States from "pop up companies" that claimed the devices were private.

For the past year, we've researched and investigated the radio over cellular space, also known as Push-to-Talk Over Cellular, or PoC. We've encountered dozens of "pop up" U.S. companies selling China engineered, manufactured, and hosted devices for extremely low prices.

The devices are advertised as encrypted and marketed and sold to businesses and government agencies. 

We estimate millions of these devices are currently in operation. From our research, we've found that many of these companies' claims are misleading or false. For example, one Chinese manufacturer white labels its products under numerous U.S. names, and claims that the servers hosting its radios are on Amazon servers in the U.S. In reality, they are hosted by Alibaba, the Chinese tech conglomerate and are vulnerable to Chinese spying by sending back user data to China. more

New Eavesdropping Technology Reveals Vulnerabilities in Underwater Communications

Researchers from Princeton and MIT have uncovered a method for intercepting underwater communications...

...challenging long-standing assumptions about the security of sonar transmissions. By using radar to detect the tiny surface vibrations caused by underwater acoustic signals, the team has demonstrated how these signals can be decoded from the air, offering significant security implications for sensitive data transmitted underwater.

The team detailed their findings in a paper presented at the ACM MobiCom conference on November 20. According to TechXplore, they explained how their device can pick up vibrations on the water’s surface, allowing it to eavesdrop on underwater messages. This technique could also potentially identify the location of the transmitting underwater device, making it a powerful tool for intelligence gathering or adversarial actions. more

PrivacyLens Can Turn You into a Stick Figure

A new camera could prevent companies from collecting embarrassing and identifiable photos and videos from devices like smart home cameras and robotic vacuums. It’s called PrivacyLens and was made by University of Michigan engineers.

PrivacyLens uses both a standard video camera and a heat-sensing camera to spot people in images from their body temperature. The person’s likeness is then completely replaced by a generic stick figure, whose movements mirror those of the person it stands in for. The accurately animated stick figure allows a device relying on the camera to continue to function without revealing the identity of the person in view of the camera.

That extra anonymity could prevent private moments from leaking onto the internet, which is increasingly common in today’s world. more

FutureWatch: Electronic Dog Noses are Evolving

Generative AI has proven it can spit out a sound, an image, and written thoughts in mere seconds. But what about smells?

Osmo — a startup founded by a former Google researcher and backed by Google Ventures — thinks that scent is the next frontier for our computers. more

Wait… What do we need this for, other than the obvious applications in the fragrance industry, and medical uses, like detecting cancer. Perhaps the technology could also have electronic eavesdropping detection uses, like sniffing our covert surveillance devices.

Kevin's analysis...
Specially trained dogs have been used to sniff out covert electronic items, like cell phones in prisons, for quite a while now. The secret to detection is the device's electronic circuit boards. They contain these compounds: triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO) and hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HPK). This second compound is also found on CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, the old tech floppy disks.

FutureWatch: Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) professionals have many types of technologies at their disposal for detecting illegal electronic surveillance devices. To name a few... Non-Linear Junction Detection, Infrared Thermography, and Radio-frequency Spectrum Analysis. We are now well on our way to adding EDN to our kit.

FutureWatch: New AI Headphones Have Spy Potential

Appear to be listening to music, while zeroing in on a particular person's conversation...

What if you only want to hear what a single person is saying in a room full of other people? The experts over at the University of Washington have developed an AI-driven kit for headphones that lets you look at a person for three to five seconds as a directional signal*, and the headphones will only allow their voice to pass through. The team calls it "Target Speech Hearing" and it works even if the listener is moving around and no longer sitting directly in front of the speaker.

"In this project, we develop AI to modify the auditory perception of anyone wearing headphones, given their preferences. With our devices you can now hear a single speaker clearly even if you are in a noisy environment with lots of other people talking," says Professor Shyam Gollakota from the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. more

* This could easily be adjusted so looking at the person is not necessary. Looking forward could signal AI to focus in on the person behind you, or any angle. ~Kevin

Subsea Espionage

In the depths of the world’s oceans, a murky game of espionage unfolds, with nations accusing each other of exploiting submarine cables for intelligence gathering and geopolitical maneuvering. The latest accusation comes from China.

“Submarine cables have in recent years become a tool for some countries to steal intelligence information and even seek geopolitical interests,” stated China’s Ministry of State Security. Although no country was explicitly named, the implication was clear: China was pointing the finger at the United States...

However, the United States has been no stranger to leveling similar accusations at China. In May 2024, the Biden administration reportedly warned Silicon Valley giants such as Meta and Google, who have invested in submarine cables, about the potential threat posed by Chinese cable repair ships.

US officials are concerned that China could sabotage or tap undersea communications cables, which carry 95 percent of the world’s online traffic, to siphon information, from personal data to intellectual property and classified military intelligence. more

Havana Syndrome Update - March 2024

CNN Update: Journalists tie Russian assassination unit to Havana Syndrome more

CBS 60 Minutes Update: Havana syndrome, which now goes by another name. 
5-year Havana Syndrome investigation finds new evidence of who might be responsible. more

Previously on Security Scrapbook

Havana Syndrome: All in Your Mind?

A new study found no evidence of brain injuries among U.S. diplomats and government employees experiencing mysterious health problems known as Havana syndrome. The symptoms, which include headaches, balance problems and cognitive difficulties, were first reported in Cuba in 2016. Havana syndrome participants also reported higher levels of fatigue, posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression.

An array of advanced tests found no brain injuries or degeneration among U.S. diplomats and other government employees who suffer mysterious health problems once dubbed "Havana syndrome, " researchers reported Monday.

The National Institutes of Health’s nearly five-year study offers no explanation for symptoms including headaches, balance problems and difficulties with thinking and sleep that were first reported in Cuba in 2016 and later by hundreds of American personnel in multiple countries. more previously in the Scrapbook

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

'Big brother' Satellite Set to Launch in 2025

'Big brother' satellite capable of zooming in on ANYONE, anywhere from space is set to launch in 2025 - and privacy experts say 'we should definitely be worried'

Privacy experts are sounding the alarm on a new satellite capable of spying on your every move that is set to launch in 2025.

The satellite, created by startup company Albedo, is so high quality it can zoom in on people or license plates from space, raising concerns among expert that it will create a 'big brother is always watching' scenario.

Albedo claims the satellite won't have facial recognition software but doesn't mention that it will refrain from imaging people or protecting people's privacy. more

AI Wi-Fi CCTV - Spooky

Scientists Are Getting Eerily Good at Using WiFi to 'See' People Through Walls in Detail
The signals from WiFi can be used to map a human body, according to a new paper.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed a method for detecting the three dimensional shape and movements of human bodies in a room, using only WiFi routers.

To do this, they used DensePose, a system for mapping all of the pixels on the surface of a human body in a photo. DensePose was developed by London-based researchers and Facebook’s AI researchers. From there, according to their recently-uploaded preprint paper published on arXiv, they developed a deep neural network that maps WiFi signals’ phase and amplitude sent and received by routers to coordinates on human bodies...

The Carnegie Mellon researchers wrote that they believe WiFi signals “can serve as a ubiquitous substitute” for normal RGB cameras, when it comes to “sensing” people in a room. Using WiFi, they wrote, overcomes obstacles like poor lighting and occlusion that regular camera lenses face. more  Interesting, but no need for the average person to worry.