Flight Attendant Allegedly iPhone's Minors in Plane Restrooms

NBC Boston identified the suspect as 37-year-old Estes Carter Thompson III in its report Thursday, noting authorities launched an investigation after a 14-year-old girl said she found an iPhone taped to a toilet seat lid on a flight from Boston to Charlotte...

The minor told her parents about the incident and they reported that information to other crew members. In addition, the father confronted the suspect who reentered the restroom...

Police met the suspect when the plane landed in Boston and it appeared the suspect’s phone had been reset to factory settings. However, officials reportedly found stickers similar to those allegedly seen in the restroom tucked inside his suitcase.

Thompson’s iCloud account also revealed he allegedly had recordings of victims who were 7, 9, 11, and 14 years old, along with photos of an unaccompanied minor.

Not all spy cameras are this easy to detect. SpyCam detection training is a good idea.

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.

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."

Balloon Incident Reveals More Than Spying

There is nothing new about superpowers spying on one another, even from balloons. But for pure gall, there was something different this time...

It may be months before American intelligence agencies can compare the audacious flight of a Chinese surveillance balloon across the country to other intrusions on America’s national security systems, to determine how it ranks.

After all, there is plenty of competition.

There was the theft of the designs of the F-35 about 15 years ago, enabling the Chinese air force to develop its own look-alike stealth fighter, with Chinese characteristics. There was the case of China’s premier hacking team lifting the security clearance files for 22 million Americans from the barely secured computers of the Office of Personnel Management in 2015. That, combined with stolen medical files from Anthem and travel records from Marriott hotels, has presumably helped the Chinese create a detailed blueprint of America’s national security infrastructure...

Not surprisingly, now it is coveted by military and intelligence officials who desperately want to reverse-engineer whatever remains the Coast Guard and the Navy can recover. more

Extra Credit: Spy vs Spy: A brief history of balloon spying & Thaddeus S. C. Lowe

Just Because You are Paranoid... Device Found in CEO's Car

Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter, has doubled down on the claim that he stumbled upon a highly sophisticated tracking device under the driver’s seat of his Volvo...

This comes after details were provided to press in October about a circuit board, described as an “NSA-level device”, that De Ruyter found while cleaning his car.

Articles cited a preliminary report prepared by former police commissioner George Fivaz who claimed the device isn’t commercially available, and is typically used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies...

Journalists were provided photos of the circuit board, which they duly published....

Security researcher Daniel Cuthbert was willing to comment on the record.

He explained that, based on the evidence, the device was likely nothing more than a remote of some kind.

Such a remote button could be a gate or garage opener, a panic button, or a way to arm and disarm a home alarm.

MyBroadband’s in-house researcher and electronic engineer Wikus Steyn agreed.

“There is no GPS chip or antenna, so no tracking that way. I see no mic onboard, although there is what seems to be a 2-pin input at the top, but that is most likely for a push button,” Steyn stated. He also said the quality of soldering suggests cheap mass production. more

Our take... I agree with Dan and Wikus. (but be sure to read the last paragraph) If the TI IC info in the photo is correct TI lists the chip's applications as:

1.2 Applications

• Low-Power, High-Performance, Wireless Systems With Data Rate Up to 1250 kbps
• ISM/SRD Bands: 169, 433, 868, 915, and 920 MHz
• Possible Support for Additional Frequency Bands: 137 to 158.3 MHz, 205 to 237.5 MHz, and 274 to 316.6 MHz
• Smart Metering (AMR/AMI)
• Home and Building Automation
• Wireless Alarm and Security Systems
• Industrial Monitoring and Control
• Wireless Healthcare Applications
• Wireless Sensor Networks and Active RFID
• IEEE 802.15.4g Applications
• Wireless M-Bus, All Modes

Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter, may have misidentified this item, but it definitely doesn't mean he is not being surveilled. Thoughts of tracking and bugging are not normal. Something has made him suspicious. Trust your instincts, André. Get some professional TSCM help, and don't make it a public issue.

GSM Eavesdropping Bugs: A Recent Find in a Corporate Office

While on lockdown, businesses and individuals must think about their unoccupied premises and possessions. Now that we are coming out of this lockdown and going back to work, Gurpreet Thathy and Mike Moran give their thoughts and go through a recent case with a client last week...

Mike and his team conducted a ‘sweep’ of the offices in conjunction with our Cyber Audit. We identified a GSM eavesdropping device planted within a boardroom during the critical areas’ in-depth physical and electronic search. This device was cunningly disguised as a 3-way extension adapter which was fully operational.

A closer examination of the adapter revealed a SIM card and a microphone connected. The client was immediately informed, and as per our standard operating procedure (SOPs), the device was isolated from the infrastructure, bagged, tagged, and handed over to our internal forensic team to investigate.

The forensic investigation of the SIM card revealed dialled and received calls. more

What is a GSM Bug?  When was the last time your organization conducted an inspection for one?

Sir Frederick Barclay's Nephew 'Caught with Bugging Device' at Ritz Hotel

The footage is at the centre of a bitter legal row between the families of the billionaire Barclay twins.

Sir Frederick, 85, and his daughter Amanda are suing three of Sir David Barclay's sons for invasion of privacy.

They claim the surveillance gave the men commercial advantage and they sold the Ritz for half its market value.

The Barclay brothers' businesses include the Telegraph Media Group, the online retailer Very Group, the delivery business Yodel, and - at the time of the bugging - the Ritz hotel in London.

Sir Frederick, the elder twin by 10 minutes, and his daughter Amanda are suing Sir David Barclay's sons - Alistair, Aidan and Howard, Aidan's son Andrew, and Philip Peters, a board director of the Barclay group for invasion of privacy, breach of confidence and data protection laws.

The claim stems from a falling out between the children of the famously private twins...


The CCTV footage allegedly shows Alistair Barclay handling a bugging device at the Ritz hotel on 13 January this year. The recording shows Mr Barclay inserting a plug adaptor, which is claimed to contain a listening device, into a socket.

In court documents lodged by Sir Frederick and Amanda Barclay, it is claimed the bug - which was placed in the hotel's conservatory where Sir Frederick liked to conduct business meetings and smoke cigars - captured more than 1,000 separate conversations amounting to some 94 hours of recordings.

The pair claim the recordings amount to "commercial espionage on a vast scale"....

Voice Activated Wireless GSM Spy Bug SIM Mains 2 Way Adapter Plug Doubler Surveillance Adaptor

Second bug

It is also claimed a separate Wi-Fi bug was supplied by private investigation firm Quest Global. Its chairman is former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens.

The claimants' documents say that Quest invoiced for 405 hours of listening and transcribing.

The recordings, it is alleged, captured "private, confidential, personal and Sir Frederick's privileged conversations with his lawyers, and with his daughter's trustees, bankers and businesspeople".  more

Oddly, there is no mention of the video bug which recorded the incident. It does however make the nephew eligible for our Darwin Award for capturing himself with his own bug. ~Kevin

"Electronic Device" Found in Mayor's Office

MI - Flint Police are investigating after an electronic surveillance device was found inside Flint City Hall.

The device was found in the mayor's office, Interim Police Chief Phil Hart said.

Hart said he cannot speak as to what the capabilities of the electronic surveillance device are at this time.

No other information has been released because it is still under investigation. more

Former Flint Police Chief Timothy Johnson believed the device could've been in City Hall when Former Mayor Karen Weaver was in office. 

He said she was concerned when she moved into City Hall that it had been bugged with recording devices. So Johnson said they checked her office, even removing ceiling tiles.* But, he explained, Weaver's was the only office they checked. more

* A professional technical surveillance countermeasures inspection is quite a bit more thorough.

LaFollette Councilwoman Indicted - 34 counts of Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance

TN - A LaFollette city councilwoman was indicted Thursday on wiretapping and official misconduct charges after a nearly eight-month investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation...

Campbell County District Attorney Jared Effler requested the TBI investigate after a recording device was found in the LaFollette City Hall Conference Room. Investigators later determined that Thompson was responsible for placing the device in the conference room.

On October 2^nd, the Campbell County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Thompson with 34 counts of Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance and two counts of Official Misconduct.  more

Wiretap Found at Office of Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine

Nazar Kholodnytsky

The Head of the SAPO* claimed a “device similar to a tapping device has been found”, adding that he did not know whom it belonged to...

Ukrainska Pravda wrote that the “bugs” had been planted on the acquiarium (sic) in Kholodnytsky’s office and reminded of rumors regarding the possible voluntary resignation “due to health reasons”.

Ukrainski Novyny, citing sources in the Prosecutor General’s Office, said that Kholodnytsky may be detained and arrested as the result of “the wiretapping case”.

Reacting to the resignation rumors, the SAPO head encouraged “not to count on it.” more

Extra Credit: Ukraine's Security Service denies allegations of wiretapping presidential candidates. more

*Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office

The Steinger, Iscoe & Greene Law Firm Bugging

A fascinating case, still unfolding!
What happened...

While attorney Gary Iscoe — the Iscoe of the decades-old Steinger, Iscoe & Greene personal injury law firm — is gone and two other associates have been fired, the strange goings-on remain shrouded in mystery. “It’s very John Grisham,” said attorney Michael Pike, who is representing the firm in a lawsuit aimed at finding out who the spies were, what they were seeking and why.

Listening devices behind a ceiling tile

When the firm’s finance director found drywall debris on the floor of her office when she came to work on Sept. 10, she asked a maintenance man to pop up a ceiling tile, according to West Palm Beach police who were summoned to investigate two days later. There, hidden in the recesses of the ceiling, the finance director and others discovered wires that were linked to an audio receiver, police said.

...police said they found wires running to cameras, microphones and recording equipment mainly in the firm’s finance, marketing and human resources departments. Some of the wires had been cut and a video recording device was missing.

...it appears whoever installed the devices hurriedly removed the digital recorder once they realized police had been called.

From other authorized cameras at the firm, police said they recovered a video that showed two people, carrying tools and a ladder, entering the office at about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 9. Employees couldn’t identify one of the intruders, police said. The other person caught on camera was identified by employees as Michael Coronel, a 26-year-old former Marine who had worked as an investigator at the firm for about six months... more | analysis

Multiple Audio/Video Eavesdropping Devices Found in Boardroom, Office and Records Room

South Africa - Science and technology minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has filed a complaint with the State Security Agency (SSA) after cameras were found in her office, the Sunday Times reports.

Police found multiple cameras which could record both video and sound, and could be accessed remotely.

The cameras were were reportedly placed within the minister’s boardroom, records room, and office.

According to the report, the cameras were discovered when senior managers confronted junior staff about discussions they had with the minister in her office. more

Note: The devices were only discovered when the eavesdroppers let on that they knew more than they should. Dumb on their part. 

Dumber, however, is they were not found sooner with a routine Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) sweep, a standard practice at many organizations these days.

Spy Rule #629 - Don't Order Bugs Using Company Email

Eavesdropping charges have been filed against a central Illinois schools administrator who allegedly planned to secretly record a closed session of the school board.

The News-Gazette reports Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz alleged Thursday that Samuel Byndom used a device disguised as a pen to record an Oct. 28 closed session of the school board. The 35-year-old Byndom is Urbana District 116's assistant superintendent of learning and instruction.

Click to enlarge.

Rietz said Urbana police have been investigating Byndom since a school district employee found an email order confirmation on a school district computer for a voice-activated recorder pen from a company called "SpyGuy."

Members of the school board members went forward with the closed session after learning about the recording device order, but searched the room before starting. They found the device and removed it. more

Couple Find Spycam in Vacation Rental Unit

A British couple vacationing in Toronto were horrified to discover a spy camera hidden in a digital clock at their rental apartment.

Dougie Hamilton, 34, from Glasgow, realized that the clock was “connected to a wire like a phone charger”.

He now fears whoever planted the camera at the Airbnb may have recorded clandestine footage of him and his girlfriend.

Hamilton told Scotland’s Daily Record that the property’s host had at least half a dozen other properties for lease on Airbnb, accompanied by numerous reviews.

“I just happened to be facing this clock and was staring at it for about 10 minutes. There was just something in my head that made me feel a bit uneasy.”

A recent video he saw on social media about spy cameras made him increasingly concerned. more

Lesson: Trust your instincts. The thought would never have occurred to you if everything were fine. This applies to all electronic surveillance devices: bugs, taps, smartphone and computer spyware, spy cameras, and corporate espionage. ~Kevin

Austria: Bugging Devices Found... and then, a break-in!

The office of Austrian far-right leader and vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was broken into this week, shortly after bugging devices were discovered there, and a criminal inquiry has been launched, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The break-in occurred on Wednesday night while Strache, whose Freedom Party entered the governing coalition after elections in October, was out for dinner, his spokesman said, confirming an earlier report by broadcaster Oe24.

The spokesman said the electronic surveillance devices had been discovered last week behind a mirrored wall by intelligence service specialists. “This was a routine check after moving into a new office,” he said. more

TSCM 101 - When you find one bug, don't stop looking. A post-discovery break-in may indicate the removal of additional, and more sophisticated bugs. Later discovery of these devices might implicate who planted them in the first place.  ~Kevin

Austria - Bugging, break-in at far-right leader's office.

The office of Austrian far-right leader and vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was broken into this week, shortly after bugging devices were discovered there, and a criminal inquiry has been launched, prosecutors said on Thursday...

The spokesman said the electronic surveillance devices had been discovered last week behind a mirrored wall by intelligence service specialists. “This was a routine check after moving into a new office,” he said.  more

Routine checks can pay off big-time.

TSCM History: Wiretapped Phone Found at Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Predecessor

According to the FBI file, a few months before it was abolished, a bug was discovered in the Honolulu offices of the Atomic Energy Commission. The device would not only let someone listen in on phone calls, but any conversations held around the phone - even when it wasn’t in use.

According to the file, the bug was discovered by one Lt. Colonel Harry Tear Jr., assigned to Army counterintelligence at Fort Shafter. While performing a regular electronics sweep in June of 1974, Tear discovered a modification to the phone of Williams Hills, who was the Director for the Atomic Energy Commission’s Pacific Area Support Office, reporting to the Nevada Operations Office.

When it was discovered, the phone wasn’t being used to monitor the room. The file notes, however, that it easily could be. When connected, the phone wouldn’t just transmit the conversation being held, but every conversation in the room that happened to be in range of the phone’s receiver. They were unable to determine when it had been installed or how often it had been used, but noted that the wiring appeared to have been done professionally. They were also able to confirm that the device could pick up conversation in the room in practice, not just in theory...
And now for some good advice if you find an electronic surveillance device...
...Simply knowing what information has gotten out does little good without an idea of who will have it, and it’s next to impossible to judge how information will be used without knowing who has it. This is one of the primary reasons for law enforcement to leave a bug in place. While counterintelligence officers would also be interested in the same information, a clever officer or group of officers would use the bug as a way of feeding the listener specific information and misinformation in order to manipulate them in various ways. more

Video Voyeurism: Carnival Cruise's Botched Investigation

A Florida family was shocked to discover a camera hidden among wires in their Carnival Cruise Line cabin. 

Click to enlarge.

The Pensacola couple, along with their 10-year-old son, found the device while searching undusted areas of the room after the father suffered an allergy attack during the second night of their journey from Mobile, Al., to Mexico, the Miami New Times reported.

According to the father, who was not identified by name, the camera was placed behind a TV in their room. The lens was sticking out a bit, pointing directly at the bed.

The man claimed the device was "warm to the touch" and appeared to have an antenna, which leads him to believe it may have been transmitting information to a third party. more

The couple reported the presence of the camera and transmitter in their cabin to the cruise ship’s security department. One of Carnival’s security personnel arrived in their cabin. He disconnected and removed the camera and transmitter with no gloves on and did not attempt to secure the room. In the video below, you can hear the passenger asking the officer why he was not wearing gloves.


The passenger thereafter communicated with the security staff to obtain an update. According to the passengers, the Carnival security personnel confirmed that the camera and transmitter: (1) were operational; (2) were typically the type of devices used on video drones: and (3) the transmitter was a long range device. To the passenger's knowledge, Carnival did not promptly report the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). more

This is a cautionary tale. Video voyeurism can happen to any business which offers hospitality, restrooms, changing rooms, shower areas, etc., to customers, visitors or employees. 

Handling the situation properly when it arises is important, and easy to do. Visit spycamdetection.training to learn how. Mishandling an incident, or sweeping it under the rug, will likely result in expensive litigation. Litigation you will likely lose.

Spycam Found at Condo Building - Florida Legislators Targeted

FL - For at least three days in the final week of the 2017 legislative session, a covert surveillance camera recorded the comings and goings of legislators and lobbyists living on the sixth floor of the Tennyson condominium near the Capitol.

Click to enlarge.

Weeks later, in a dark parking lot of an Italian restaurant in Tallahassee, Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater, a Republican candidate for governor, was also being spied upon. Grainy photos show him standing and planting a kiss on the cheek, then the mouth, of a female lobbyist on the last night of the Legislature’s special session.

These weren’t routine smartphone photos captured for fun. They were the work of private investigators whose research has fueled an escalating barrage of rumors in the last week about sexual harassment in Tallahassee and infidelity among the state’s elected legislators.

Incoming Senate Democrat Leader Jeff Clemens of Lake Worth abruptly resigned Friday after admitting to an affair with a lobbyist. Politico Florida was the first to report on Tuesday that private investigators had documented at least four separate incidents involving Latvala dining with female lobbyists and that state law enforcement officers investigated the covert camera at the Tennyson. more

TSCM Alert - Keylogger Used to Hack School Grades

Former University of Iowa student Trevor Graves was arrested last week and charged...with hacking into the school's system to change grades.

...Graves allegedly attached a keylogger to several university computers in order to compromise faculty, staff and student information. In January 2017 the scheme was identified when a keylogger was discovered and reported by a staff member...

The school estimated that about 250 people had their HawkID and password stolen.

The court documents state that Graves allegedly used the information taken to escalate his privileges within the school's computer system enabling him to change grades, an ability given only instructors. more

This school was lucky. They discovered the spying device almost by accident. 

Most electronic surveillance and subsequent information loss is never discovered, because... "If you don't look, you don't find."

Typical keystroke logger attached to keyboard cable.

Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) inspections are not just about finding bugs and wiretaps. These exams also discover keyloggers, optical surveillance (spycams) and other methods of information loss.

Periodic TSCM exams are as vital to an organization's health as medical exams are to people. Think about that for a second... both can spot a cancer while it can still be cured.

Need a TSCM exam, or a local referral? Contact me. ~Kevin