Meanwhile, at my local restaurant...

GOP primary loser, and loser’s wife charged with secretly recording political rival...

NJ - Two women, including an unsuccessful candidate for Township Committee and the wife of another unsuccessful candidate, were charged Monday in what could be Readington's version of Watergate.

Jacqueline Hindle, 49, who lost in June's hotly contested Republican primary for two Township Committee seats, and Christina Albrecht, 45, the wife of the other unsuccessful candidate, Ben Smith, have been charged by the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office with an alleged scheme to record a private conversation between Mayor Adam Mueller and Deputy Mayor Vincent Panico at The Rail restaurant in Whitehouse Station.

According to a report from Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson, Readington Township Police received notification July 8 that an audio recording device was found on the metal fence surrounding the patio at The Rail at Readington.

The two were charged with violating sections of the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. more

Tracking Devices Stymie Political Sign Thefts

Political candidates have a new campaign expense: Apple AirTags.

The button-size geotracking device has become a popular tool in the rough-and-tumble world of local elections, where lawn signs often end up stolen, vandalized or run over. Candidates who have grown tired of dirty tricks are hiding AirTags in their signs, leading to digital dragnets when they go missing.

Tracking the device’s pings has led to the doorsteps of alleged sign snatchers and, in some cases, candidates’ opponents. The stings have left snatchers dumbfounded. Some have faced charges of theft, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property.

“I just wanted it to stop,” John Dittmore said of why he got an AirTag after several of his campaign signs vanished over three days in May. more

• Councilman arrested for theft after rivals put tracking device on political signs

• Tracking device helps find stolen campaign signs in Brevard County

• Apple AirTag Used To Find Over 100 Stolen Democratic Campaign Signs, Police Say

The US Presidential Race Gets More Interesting

Former CIA clandestine officer and GOP Rep. Will Hurd has announced he is joining the Republican race to be president. The Texan and Donald Trump critic announced he is jumping into the growing GOP field with 14 rivals during an interview with CBS on Thursday morning. 'This is a decision that my wife and I decided to do because we live in complicated times and we need common sense,' he said. more

Khashoggi's Wife's Phone Bugged With Spyware Before Killing

The mobile phone of Hanan Elatr, the wife of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was reportedly bugged by United Arab Emirates agents.  

The cell phone of Hanan Elatr was infected several months before he was killed in 2018. 

Jamal Khashoggi was killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, reported Sputnik citing The Washington Post. The phone of Elatr was reportedly infected when she was questioned by UAE officials.  more

Gouverneur Vetos Protective Video Surveillance for Nursing Home Residents

MI - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer opted not to sign a bill allowing nursing home residents to install surveillance cameras in their own rooms...

In a statement opposing Whitmer’s pocket veto,  Sen. Jim Runestad, the bill's sponsor, mentioned the story of 75-year-old Norman Bledsoe, who was severely beaten in May by a 20-year-old patient receiving COVID-19 treatment. Bledsoe suffered four broken fingers, broken ribs, and a broken jaw after the attack.

“Without the benefit of video, no one would have known the truth of how Mr. Bledsoe was injured,” Runestad said in a statement. “The governor had a chance to sign this bill and help stop the type of abuse we’ve seen in nursing homes for years. Instead she chose to turn a blind eye, and now seniors pay the price.” more

Nicolas Sarkozy Eavesdropping Trial Will Resume Monday

France - Nicolas Sarkozy’s trial for corruption in the “wiretapping” affair will be held well by the end of the year. After a false start last Monday, the court requested the resumption of the hearing next Monday, November 30.

The corruption trial of former President Nicolas Sarkozy in the “eavesdropping” affair will resume next Monday, November 30, the Paris Criminal Court having rejected on Thursday November 26 the request for referral, for health reasons, of one of his co-defendants. more

Snitch Culture Redux, or The Hong Kong So Long

Police in Hong Kong have launched a hotline where residents can report breaches of the national security law imposed by Beijing earlier this year.

The law criminalizes secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces. It has silenced many protesters since it came into force.

Hong Kong residents can send images, audio and video files to the hotline.

Rights groups say they are concerned the service could be used to target those with opposing political views. more

 It is worth remembering that "Citizen Snitch Surveillance" is a tactic of cultures that eventually fail. 

About one in 100 East Germans was an informer for communist East Germany's secret police in 1989, according to a new study. Political ideology was their main motivation, both in East and West Germany.

The Stasi kept detailed files on thousands of East Germans

Around 189,000 people were informers the secret police of the GDR's communist regime, when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 -- that's according to Thuringia's state office for researching East Germany's Stasi... more

 

See the movie...

The Vatican Hack

State-sponsored hackers have reportedly targeted Vatican computer networks in an attempt to give China an advantage in negotiations to renew a provisional deal with the Holy See.

A report, released July 28, said that hackers may have used a counterfeit condolence message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, to gain access to Vatican communications. more

Block TikTok, or Microsoft to the Rescue

U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, claimed that TikTok sends user data to China, exerting pressure on the video-sharing social networking service. Pompeo brought attention to the fact that if personal information flows across a Chinese server, it will eventually end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party which he calls an “Evil Empire”.

TikTok has denied U.S. allegations but a report by cyber experts at ProtonMail says otherwise. The report is more a warning as it states – “Beware, the social media giant not only collects troves of personal data on you, but also cooperates with the CCP, extending China’s surveillance and censorship reach beyond its borders.” more

In other news...
Microsoft said Sunday it will continue talks to buy short-form video app, TikTok after its chief executive spoke with President Trump, following a weekend of uncertainty clouding the future of the Chinese-owned app. more

Connect the Dots...
When Microsoft bought Skype, Wired Magazine noted, "The Skype client itself is written almost as if it were a piece of malware, using complex obfuscation and anti-reverse engineering techniques, and it would be disquieting for Microsoft to release something that behaved in such a shady way; at the very least, the client would surely have to be rewritten to avoid the obfuscation and outright hostility to managed networks that Skype currently has... Ultimately, it's hard to see how the Skype purchase is worthwhile from a technology or user-access perspective. The technology isn't good enough and the users aren't lucrative enough or plentiful enough to justify it. more

Pure Conjecture Disguised as Analysis...
Microsoft already had Windows Live Messenger. Did it really need Skype? Skype you might recall was a predominately Estonian-based encrypted platform. It was giving governments fits worldwide. Then, in 2011, Microsoft bought it. Guess what happened.

TikTok, it appears, is also giving government fits. Who ya gonna call?

Foreign Spies are Exploiting the Instability

Intelligence officials among US allies are deeply concerned that the political instability triggered by more than a week of occasionally violent clashes between police and protesters across the United States has opened a new front for hostile foreign intelligence collection.
..The situation will make it that much easier to determine potential targets for recruitment as much of these conflicts are playing out in the open. Social media is an excellent source for finding people who are disgruntled, disillusioned, or potentially ideologically suitable to recruit. more

And, The Number One Spy Job Nobody Would Want Is...

North Korea has axed its spy chief as well as the long-running head of Kim Jong Un’s security — signs of a major shakeup during the ongoing mystery over the dictator’s status.

Jang Kil Song was ousted as head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the North’s military intelligence agency, according to the Korea Herald, citing a report by South Korea’s Unification Ministry.

The RGB is behind the Hermit Kingdom’s most high-profile attacks as well as spy missions, including those against the US, the report says...

(Surprise) No reason was given for the switch. more

China May Be Tapped Out

The Trump administration is continuing with actions that cut telecom ties with China, including a new filing from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that recommends that the Federal Communications Commission revoke China Telecom’s ability to carry international voice traffic between the U.S. and other countries...

China Telecom was authorized in 2007 to operate in the U.S. and it provides a suite of services that include voice, data television and business network services. It also operates a mobile virtual network operator, CTExcel, that targets Chinese Americans and Chinese tourists and students, according to the filing—but times and risks have changed, NTIA has concluded. 

It also said that 80% of the DoJ’s economic espionage cases where a foreign entity or government would benefit, have involved China. more

Rare World War II Footage Released - British Spy Center

A silent film shows MI6 staff members at a site linked to the code-breaking facility Bletchley Park during World War II.

Like a home movie reel, the silent footage shows young people at candid moments: playing soccer and cricket, sunbathing, smiling and making faces at the camera...

But they were not ordinary office colleagues: They were off-duty secret British communications staffers, linked to code-breakers who decrypted German ciphers and helped the Allies win World War II.

The newly revealed footage features staff members of the MI6 Section VIII — the British spy agency’s communications staff — filmed at a site associated with the famous code-breaking facility Bletchley Park. more

Book: Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer

Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer
 
Chinese espionage hinges on a sophisticated network of spies focused on state-sponsored tech theft, according to a new book that dispels outdated theories of how Beijing collects intelligence around the world.

Why it matters: Old tropes cast all ethnic Chinese as potential amateur spies, a belief which has led to racial profiling. In reality, China's intelligence agencies employ highly trained professionals who operate much like spies from any other country.
 
Details: Published late last year by the Naval Institute Press, doubles as an explainer of how Chinese espionage works and as a brief encyclopedia of key figures.

• The book's authors are Peter Mattis, a former CIA counterintelligence analyst, and Matthew Brazil, a former US Army officer and diplomat.
• Their main message: That Chinese espionage is neither mysterious nor totally different than that practiced by other nations. more

Spies in the Skys

SPY ONE
From 1957, when he first started working on the project, until 2011 when it was declassified, Dave McDowell was sworn to secrecy.

But now, the results of this once top-secret Kodak program is on full display at the Strasenburg Planetarium.

“Awe” is how McDowell described what he felt standing in front of the exhibit. “It’s something we designed and built in Rochester, and this one didn’t fly in space, but 48 others exactly like it did.”

The top-secret project was the optical system for Gambit-1, a national reconnaissance satellite. Kodak engineers designed and built what was essentially a large camera encased in a capsule. It was a revolutionary technology at that time, and it played a significant role in U.S. national security in the Cold War era. more

SPY TWO

On January 20, something rather strange happened in orbit. A Russian satellite suddenly maneuvered itself so that it was closely shadowing a US spy satellite.

The pair are now less than 186 miles (300 kilometers) apart—a short distance when it comes to space. While we don’t know for sure what’s going on, the Russian satellite’s actions strongly suggest it is there to spy on the US one—and there is very little the US can do about it. more

"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.

Venezuela's Ex-spy Chief Disappears on Eve of Extradition to U.S. (shocking, just shocking)

Hugo Carvajal, nicknamed "El Pollo," or "The Chicken," was the military-intelligence chief for Presidents Hugo Chavez and Nicholas Maduro, and some experts have said he could be a source of incriminating intelligence on Maduro and his regime...

In written answers to questions by The Associated Press, Carvajal said he wanted to share secret information on drug trafficking and corruption. more | sing-a-long

Espionage Concerns Change Hiring Policy

The recent resignation of a compliance director at GitLab Inc. illustrates anxiety in the tech industry about foreign espionage...

GitLab’s vice president of engineering, Eric Johnson, said in GitLab’s public discussion forum in October that the firm would no longer hire people living in Russia and China—countries that U.S. authorities have linked to major data security breaches—for some roles where they would be handling sensitive customer data...

The decision was prompted by “the expressed concern of several enterprise customers,” Mr. Johnson wrote on the forum... more

Toga! Toga! Toga! ...SCIF Fight!

SCIF fight shows lawmakers can be their own biggest cybersecurity vulnerability.

About two dozen House Republicans enter a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) where a closed session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees took place.

A group of House Republicans could have created a field day for Russian and Chinese intelligence agencies when they stormed into a secure Capitol Hill room where their colleagues were taking impeachment testimony yesterday with their cellphones in tow. more

"You're all worthless and weak!" ~Doug Neidermeyer

CNN - In 1999 a listening device was planted inside the State Department...

After a suspicious rise in Russian diplomats visiting the State Department in 1999, the FBI worked with the Diplomatic Security Service to follow mysterious radio frequencies. For more, watch "Declassified" Sunday at 11 p.m. ET/PT. more

Thanks to our Blue Blase Irregular at Big T for spotting this one for us.