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The Bose Knows... legally

According to a recent decision from a federal district court in Illinois, Bose Corp. may monitor and collect information about the music and audio files consumers choose to play through its wireless products and transmit that information to third parties without the consumers’ knowledge. 

Such action does not violate the federal Wiretap Act or the Illinois Eavesdropping Statute.

As such, the Court granted Bose’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s class action claims. more

Shops Using Spy Techniques to Monitor Customers' Facial Expressions

New technology being installed by retailers in Europe and the US, and being trialed in the UK, can spot if a customer cannot find a product, read their reaction to an outfit or spot thieves in a bid to keep up with online retailers. 

Shops are using new spy techniques to monitor customers' facial expressions, heart rate and even pupil dilation while they browse the aisles.

Technology installed by one French bookseller is able to detect shoppers' movements and facial expressions and alert staff that they may require assistance.



The technology could save retailers thousands of pounds by ditching the laborious marketing method of interviewing shoppers and focus groups. more

HOPE Cranks it to Eleven this Summer - Tickets on Sale Now

Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE) holds their 11th gathering July 22-24 in New York City.

Cory Doctorow is on tap to be their first keynote speaker.

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger, and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net), and a contributor to The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, Wired, and many other newspapers, magazines, and websites. (He even wrote an article for 2600 under a different name many years ago!) He is a special consultant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), you know, those superheroes who defend freedom in cyberspace on a daily basis. more

Why "Eleven"? The same reason Tesla auto sound systems peak at Eleven! video

The Official Spybuster sticker is back!

Our beautiful, 4 inch, heavy vinyl Official Spybuster sticker is back! This was a limited edition give-a-way to our clients in 2011. Use it to let everyone know you support privacy.

4 inch, heavy vinyl

The printing experts at Stickermule now have it for sale in their Marketplace.

If spying by the NSA, FBI, CIA, TSA, GCHQ, MI5, MI6, other government spies, your significant other, or your parents concerns you, sticker it to them. 

If you are in Homeland Security, the NSA, FBI, CIA, GCHQ, MI5, MI6 – protecting us against spies (thank you) – sticker it to them. 

Either way, proudly declare, "I'm mad as Hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!"

Looks great on a white coffee cup.

Business Espionage via Crowd Sourcing

Crowd sourcing any part of your secret project can blow your cover and evaporate your competitive advantages. Take your marketing materials for example. Just requesting help on a crowd source web site can alert the competition to your plans.

via frankie.bz...
Two weeks ago I discovered through a crowd sourcing portal for graphic design that a competitor of my client is preparing to launch a whole new product line. They where pitching for a “name” and “logo design” for a range of products.

I informed my client about the pitch and ask them if they knew something about the new product line. They didn’t and neither did the market – a scoop so to say. The information in the pitch was valuable to my client since it contained a very good description about the features of the new product line and when it will be launched. Therefore the client informed its sales force and they are now prepared to answer questions of their clients.

What can we learn from this experience?

• Do not crowd source design of “secret” products – especially if the pitch can be seen without any registration
• Do not describe your product in the project brief – send the description to an interested designer after he has signed a non disclosure agreement
• Do not link directly to your competitors site – I’ve found out about the pitch because I’ve seen hundreds of visitors coming from a non-industry related site
• Do prohibit your employees to blog, twitter, Facebook about a new product
• Use a project code name that does not relate to your industry or product
• Do not use Cloud-Services for your product development - unless you are sure that none of the information can be made available to the public

How can you use crowd sourcing and the internet for spying on your competitors?

• Visit crowd sourcing portals on a regular basis and search for projects related to your industry and competitors
• Use Google Alerts not only to monitor the web activity of your firm and brands, but also of your competitors
• Use crowd sourcing traditionally by letting the crowd search through social networks, forums and the web for information about your competitors
• Sign up and monitor the support forums of your main competitors (if they have one). If they don’t have one try to open a user-to-user support forum for your competitors products – and see what happens.

Beijing Bans All* Hidden Surveillance Equipment

Beijing authorities have initiated a ban on all secret surveillance equipment in the city amid increasing pressure from the central government to crack down on spying activities.

The decision was issued jointly by the city's Administration for Industry and Commerce, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and Beijing National Security Bureau, which added that purchases of these devices–such as surreptitious cameras installed in glasses or walking sticks to secretly record photos or videos of people in bathrooms and changing rooms–could lead to serious criminal liability...

Chinese media outlets reported that the majority of buyers are private detectives and investigators, debt collectors and lawyers looking to collect evidence for their cases. There have so far been 91 official investigations into illegal surveillance in Beijing this year. (more)

* Except their own, we presume.

When Business Espionage Doesn't Work the Next Step is Sabotage

Real News or Business Sabotage? You decide...

The following "news story" was found in Yahoo News. It is filled with anonymous quotes, no proof, no substance, no follow-up with the side being attacked.

“Apple’s new operating system is making me nauseous and giving me a headache - just like when you try to read in the car,” says one user.

Others complain of “vertigo” when apps “zoom” in and out - and say that using iOS 7 devices has left them feeling ill for days.

Apple’s new iOS 7 operating system has been downloaded 200 million times - and some users are complaining that the animations make them seasick - or worse. (more)

To our clients... In addition to your TSCM bug sweeps and our other business espionage reductions, keep an eye out for business sabotage. Document it. Go after it.

Guess Who Else is Scared of PRISM

Business and the advertising industry!

via... AdAge
Privacy legislation has been brewing in congress for years now, but a combination of public apathy and strong industry opposition has kept it at bay. Could the Prism data surveillance scandal become the watershed moment that propels it forward?

It's too soon to tell how revelations that the U.S. government has been mining web communications and phone logs will impact public opinion, but none of what the government has been implicated in doing would be possible if corporations weren't mining and storing consumer data, often for advertising purposes...

Of course, many in the ad industry hope this government data-gate serves as a foil to commercial data practices, resulting in less focus on how marketers gather and use consumer information. (more)

FutureWatch: Trojan Horse Wi-Fi's and More - In Your Mail

This promotion is legitimate.
But, imagine this small, inexpensive technology as an espionage tool...

Microsoft is putting in real WiFi hardware hotspots inside some copies of the latest issue of Forbes magazine. The unique Office 365 promotion was revealed in a post on the Slickdeals.net message board. The WiFi router, when activated, offers 15 days of free WiFi service via T-Mobile's network on up to five devices at once.


In any case, if you get one of these Forbes magazine ads, keep in mind that the router still needs to be charged; it apparently lasts up to three hours on a single charge. (more)

BTW, for your techie types, it uses a Mediatek chip (RT5350), "The world's smallest wireless router-on-a-chip."

Hiding electronic gadgets in the mail is not a new idea. 

Many years ago, a company hollowed out a book, planted a computer mouse inside, and mailed it to top executives. 

We detected one of these books during a weekend sweep. It was on an executive's desk, in the unopened mail.  

Was it a bug?  
Was it a bomb? 

No, just a insensitive marketing gag. 

Apparently, the company is no longer in business.

FutureWatch: This will happen again, but next time it might be a bug ...or, a bomb. 

Regularly scheduled TSCM inspections can find these things lurking in your office.

Security Consultant Alert - IAPSC Annual Conference in Napa, CA

NOTE: It is not too late to register. Be a hero. Take your significant other to Napa for a few days.

The International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC) Annual Conference is the largest and most exclusive gathering of top security consultants.

Their 2013 conference offers a wide range of topics focused on Security Consulting and Business Profitability, as well as, Technical, Forensic, and IT Security. 

Presenters will discuss security standards, best practices, risk management, promotional uses of media, including webinar development, marketing and communications techniques for consultants, retirement and selling your business, as well as technical and forensic security focused sessions.

Visit the conference website
View the conference program
Download the brochure
Register Now

Not yet an IAPSC Member? 
When you register to attend the conference, ask about special registration offer available exclusively to new members. (more)

I have been attending IAPSC conferences, each year, for about two decades. Every one has been well worth attending. I return to the office with a broader knowledge of security, fresh ideas about improving services to my clients, and recharged mental batteries. If you are on the fence about going, hop off... and into the vineyard. Try it once. You will see what I mean. Be sure to find me and say hello. ~Kevin

The Pepsi Spycam

Enjoy it for the Spycam...

Who Is Tracking You On-Line - Infographic

How do the digital detectives on the net snare you? 
This infographic makes the mysterious, fathomable...
 

See the full graphic here.

Mannequin Spies - Will Dummy Shoppers Revolt?

An Italian firm selling mannequins that secretly monitor the age, race and gender of customers using facial recognition software has come under fire from privacy groups. The information logged by the dummies is then used to implement more effective marketing strategies by stores in the US and Europe.

And the manufacturer now plans to add audio recording to the dummies' capabilities, listening in on customers' discussions about their clients' products.

Click to enlarge

The mannequins, known as "EyeSee" are manufactured by Italian company Almax and retail for £3,200 each.

Privacy campaigners agree, describing the technology as "creepy" and "totally disproportionate."

Emma Carr, deputy director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, told the Daily Mail newspaper: "The use of covert surveillance technology by shops, in order to provide a personalised service, seems totally disproportionate.

"The fact that the cameras are hidden suggests that shops are fully aware that many customers would object to this kind of monitoring. 

"Keeping cameras hidden in a mannequin is nothing short of creepy." (more)

As Seen on Predicted on TV in 1960!

(YouTube)

 

Canada Recruits Spies - via YouTube

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has released a series of recruitment videos onto YouTube, videos that feature testimonials from real-life spies. 

The clips were posted last week, but released without any publicity...

In the clips, each of which lasts a minute or two, CSIS intelligence officers are shown striding purposefully to urgent (but fictional) assignments, as orchestral music plays and time-lapse video speeds up street scenes. (more) (videos)

Put a GPS in a Candy Bar - Sales Skyrocket

The candy company launched the “We Will Find You” campaign in the United Kingdom where GPS tracking devices were placed inside six candy bars.  

Once the winning candy bar wrapper is opened, the tracking device will go off and Nestle officials will be able to find the exact location of the customer.

“This will alert a secret control room who will scramble a crack team of highly trained individuals,” the commercial states. “They will board a helicopter, find the special bar and give the owner 10,000 pounds ($16,145).”

The six tracking devices will be placed in Kit-Kat, Aero and Yorkie bars in the U.K. (more)

What could possibly go wrong? Hummm... The guys in the warehouse borrow the guard's metal detector and scan pallet-loads of product. 

Seriously, if they have their act together, the bars are not going through the usual distribution chain. They are being placed on the shelf at the very last minute and the camera crew is waiting in the stock room. Brilliant promotion, however.

Create Your Own Headline For This One...

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Ltd. has issued a report on cybersecurity that includes a pledge never to cooperate with spying in a fresh effort to allay concerns in the United States and elsewhere that threaten to hamper its expansion.

The report, written by a Huawei executive who is a former British official, calls for global efforts to create legal and technical security standards. It makes no recommendations for what standards to adopt but says current laws are inconsistent or fail to address important threats.

Huawei, founded by a former Chinese military engineer in 1987, has grown to become the world's second-largest supplier of telecoms network gear after Sweden's LM Ericsson. 

Suspicions that Huawei might be controlled by China's Communist Party or military have slowed its expansion in the United States and it was barred from bidding to take part in an Australian broadband project.

The company denies it is a security threat. (more)

Great Surveillance Camera Clips Go Commercial

Surveillance cameras have migrated their way from security tools to movie plots (Sliver, Look and Surveillance to name a few), and now... commercials! Grab some American champagne and enjoy. ~Kevin

Overlooking the PR effect that male mobs molesting women in Tahrir Square has on tourism...

Egyptian state TV stopped airing controversial anti-spying ads Friday night. 

The ads have been widely condemned as being xenophobic and painting all foreigners in the country as spies. 

Many have voiced fears that the ads would negatively affect tourism. (more)

Google Oggle is in your Face-book

In a move that could make it harder for its users to remain anonymous, Google said it would start combining nearly all the information it has on its users.

This could mean, for instance, that when users search via Google, the company will use their activities on sister sites like Gmail and YouTube to influence those users' search results. Google has not done that before.

Google's move -- which was disclosed in a privacy policy that will take effect on March 1 -- is a sign of the fierce competition between Google and Facebook over personal data. Facebook has amassed an unprecedented amount of data about the lives of its more than 800 million members -- information that is coveted by advertisers. (more)