FutureWatch: Bug Your Life with a Butterfleye (It aint' your dad's surveillance CCTV)

Surveillance cameras aren’t what they used to be. Butterfleye aims to be not just a surveillance camera, but a home monitoring camera – and that means more than just security concerns. Butterfleye wants to record your life, too.

In the same vein as Dropcam, Butterfleye is a camera you can set up to monitor your home, allowing you to check on the stream as long as you have an Internet connection. The camera itself takes 1920 x 1080 resolution video using a wide-angle 3 MP lens. 


Interestingly, Butterfleye can also operate wirelessly – it pulls off this trick by having a smart camera system that shuts down when no activity is detected. Using sensors, video analysis software, and learning algorithms, the camera will know to start recording if someone comes into a room, which will save some battery life. 

Butterfleye will also be able to pick up audio, and use that as a cue to start recording. There’s actually two-way audio here, so you can use Butterfleye in a pinch as a speakerphone to talk to someone at home while you’re away. 

That’s just the surveillance part, though... (more)

Smartphone kill-switch could save consumers $2.6 billion per year...

...and why you will probably never see it.
Technology that remotely makes a stolen smartphone useless could save American consumers up to $2.6 billion per year if it is implemented widely and leads to a reduction in theft of phones, according to a new report...

Americans currently spend around $580 million replacing stolen phones each year and $4.8 billion paying for handset insurance... (more)

Do you really think phone and insurance companies are going to kill this goose?

Nikola Tesla Redux - Wireless Power Finally Arrives

via one of our top Canadian Blue Blaze irregulars...

TODAY
"We're going to transfer power without any kind of wires," says Dr Hall, now Chief Technology Officer at WiTricity, a startup developing wireless "resonance" technology.

"But, we're not actually putting electricity in the air. What we're doing is putting a magnetic field in the air." ...

In the house of the future, wire-free energy transfer could be as easy as wireless internet.

If all goes to WiTricity's plans, smartphones will charge in your pocket as you wander around, televisions will flicker with no wires attached, and electric cars will refuel while sitting on the driveway. (more)

YESTERDAY
In 1891, Nikola Tesla gave a lecture for the members of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in New York City, where he made a striking demonstration. In each hand he held a gas discharge tube, an early version of the modern fluorescent bulb. The tubes were not connected to any wires, but nonetheless they glowed brightly during his demonstration. Tesla explained to the awestruck attendees that the electricity was being transmitted through the air by the pair of metal sheets which sandwiched the stage. He went on to speculate how one might increase the scale of this effect to transmit wireless power and information over a broad area, perhaps even the entire Earth. As was often the case, Tesla's audience was engrossed but bewildered. (more)

TOMORROW
No more replacing batteries in wireless bugging devices, voice recorders and spycams! 

Interesting side note... Leon Theremin invented a wireless bugging device that didn't need batteries back in the 1940's. (more)

FCC Frees More Bandwidth - Wireless Eavesdropping Becomes Harder to Detect

The Federal Communications Commission approved measures on Monday that will free up more airwaves for Wi-Fi and wireless broadband...

Unlike the airwaves used for mobile phone traffic, which are licensed to a specific company, unlicensed spectrum can be used by anyone. Previous establishments of unlicensed airwaves led to innovations like garage-door openers, baby monitors, wireless microphones* and Wi-Fi networks. (more)

* Want to hear a Broadway play, live, for free? Park your butt near any Broadway theater at showtime. Bring along a scanning radio receiver and search for the wireless microphones. This trick will work in most other cities as well, as long as the wireless microphones are using frequency modulation (FM). Most still do.

The same trick works near Boardrooms, and hotel conference centers...

"Black" Smartphones Come of Age

The launch of not one, but two, "Black phones" 
this past week may lead people to think that secure cell phones are a hot new item. 

Hot, yes. New, no. Many other secure smartphones, not to mention a plethora of apps, have existed for years. Mostly, these phones have been sold to governments and have commanded high prices. Now, as the demand heats up, prices are dropping. 

Want a government-level secure, encrypted smartphone at a reduced price? (You know you do. Even if only to attract attention.) 

Cryptophone™ today announced. "...special prices on the first two phones of any order placed this week." (more)

Boeing to Launch its Own Black Phone

The world's biggest aerospace company is jumping into the business of making high-security smartphones.

Boeing Co. filed plans this week with the Federal Communications Commission for a smartphone dubbed Boeing Black, which is designed for defense and security customers and won't be available to average consumers. The phone is based on a modified version of Google Inc.'s Android operating system...

Boeing is being stealthy about the project. Without publicly announcing the product, the company posted a description on its website. It said the modular construction of the phone's 5.2-inch-tall body would allow users to attach devices that add such features as advanced location tracking, solar charging, satellite transceivers and biometric sensors.

In Monday's FCC filing, Boeing detailed plans to keep the phone's technology secret, saying it will be sold "in a manner such that low-level technical and operational information about the product will not be provided to the general public."

The filing documents also said the phone, which is about 50% heavier than Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5s and twice as thick, is designed to effectively self-destruct if tampered with: "Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable." (more)

Audio & Video Eavesdropping on NASCAR

NASCAR fans can listen to an uncensored buffet of communication ranging from foul-mouthed rants to finish line screams of victory on FanVision controllers that provide access to live broadcast feeds, onboard cameras, official timing, data, statistics, instant replays and a digital radio scanner. 

At Daytona, the device rents for $59.99 for the weekend. (Or, it may be purchased, plus a per race subscription.) They have to be returned no later than 90 minutes after the race ends. (more)


Other NASCAR eavesdropping options...
• Sportstronics NASCAR Proscan 100 Scanner
• eBay

Just Change 'Baby Monitor' to 'Bug' for High Tech Eavesdropping

Smart Baby Monitor (Bug) in your pocket!
The baby monitor (bug) for the smartphone age. Includes all standard features of a hardware baby monitor (bug) and some surprising extras.

Works at any distance. Dormi can use any available route to connect parent and child units (WiFi, mobile data), and can work even when Internet is not available (WiFi Direct, HotSpot / AP)

Ultimate feature? 
You can connect MULTIPLE devices in parent mode to a single child device simultaneously.

Intelligent audio
You don't need to configure microphone sensitivity - Dormi adjusts to noise levels automatically. Leave the device several meters away from the sleeping baby (target) and it will still be able to detect when it cries (or plans a corporate takeover) and amplify the sound for the parent device as if it were placed right next to the baby (target).

Press and hold the Listen button to hear sound from the child device even while the baby (target) is not crying (or selling stocks). Equally, use the Talk button to talk back to soothe or calm the baby (or spook the hell out of your target).

Convenient info-center
With Dormi you always know what's going on. All important information about the child device is always available while monitoring. If connection with the child device is lost, the parent device will notify you.

Dormi will even notify you about missed calls and new text messages received on the child device, so you will not miss something important while not having direct access to the device.

If the baby (target) starts crying (or talking with the General Counsel) while you are on the phone, you will be notified with vibrations and a gentle beep to your ear - without abruptly disturbing the phone call, yet letting you know.

Of course, Dormi works in the background, even when the device screen is off. Great care has been taken to limit battery usage - you can monitor for many hours on one charge.

Have you got an old Android device sitting in the drawer that you have no use for? Not anymore - try using it as the child device with Dormi. We have made the effort to ensure it runs from Android 2.3 onwards.

Start right away...
All you have to do after install is pair two devices together (our autodiscovery feature makes this a breeze) and start monitoring right away.

Although unlimited monitoring is paid, you will get 4 hours of monitoring for free every month.

If you do decide to make a purchase, you only have to do so on one of the devices participating in the monitoring. (more)

Why do I mention it?
So you will know what you are up against.

Security Director Alert - Toss Away Bugs - Now $21.97 on eBay

Want to know if eavesdropping has occurred in your organization? 
These days, your chances of knowing has skyrocketed. Here's why...

Electronic eavesdropping devices have become:
• so inexpensive, 
• so easily available, 
that they are now throw-away objects. 

Eavesdroppers don't have to risk discovery by replacing batteries or retrieving them. Just toss one behind the bookcase, or into a lighting cove once a week.

Bonus For You - Since many of today's eavesdropping devices are not being serviced or retrieved, the evidence is left there waiting for you (or me) to find it! Knowing you are having your pockets picked is valuable knowledge, and the first step in putting an end to it.

Example of a bug being sold on eBay today... ($21.97 - FREE shipping)

TINY SPY BUG
"With 2 FREE batteries!!  

Each battery should give you around 40 hours of use!
 
This IS the smallest bug on ebay measuring just 22mm diameter (plus a little extra for the protruding microphone and rear) x only 11mm thick and THIS IS WITH A BATTERY INSTALLED!!! This tiny transmitter runs off a small coin cell and the measurements given above include the cell holder!
 
The quality small electret microphone will pick up the smallest of sounds and transmit them to your radio with crystal clear reproduction. Only quality surface mount components have been used on a professionally designed circuit board. The copper of the board has been coated to prevent corrosion - this is NOT a cheap homemade item like others are offering!" (more)

P.S. We have the technology to find these bugs even after the battery is depleted.

Spy ‘Numbers Stations’ Still Baffle, Enthrall

In the early 1990s, at the end of the Cold War, before the onset of the Internet Age, 

Courtesy, SpyArtStudios

you could tune across the shortwave bands and hear the monotonous drone of an automated woman’s voice calling out long strings of numbers in Spanish. “Siete — Quatro — Cinqo — Cinqo — Cinqo,” the voice would say, pause, and then switch to a new set of numbers. The Spanish-language female voice station became known as “Attenćion,” due to its repeated use of that phrase at the beginning of each transmission.

These transmissions, which had started at the end of the Second World War, weren’t always in Spanish, nor were they always female. Other languages were used to broadcast entire strings of numbers, which many believed made up a coded message that could be heard by anyone with a shortwave radio. The consensus view at the time was they were meant for secret agents operating in foreign countries...

Today, with the Internet Age fully mature and the Cold War buried under 20 years of modern history, the numbers are still being transmitted. (more)

10 Most Audacious Eavesdropping Plots

Operation Ivy Bells
At the height of the cold war, the National Security Agency, CIA and the US Navy collaborated to tap into underwater communication lines used by the Soviet Union. 

Operation Stopwatch
This joint operation between the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service was again an attempt to tap into communications by the Soviet Military.

The Cambridge Spies
Rather than relying on modern eavesdropping, this operation used old fashioned infiltration.

Click to enlarge.

The Gunman Project
During 1976, the KGB managed to install miniaturized eavesdropping equipment and transmitters inside 16 IBM Selectric Typewriters used by staff at the US embassy in Moscow and consulate in Leningrad. 

The Bundesnachrichtendienst Trojan Horse Affair
Germany may have been the victim off NSA eavesdropping, but its own Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, has also engaged in such activities.

The MI6 Spy Rock
In a modern version of the dead letter drop, British spies working out of the embassy in Russia used a transmitter concealed in an artificial rock to pass classified data. 

Acoustic Kitty
Acoustic Kitty was a top secret 1960s CIA project attempting to use cats in spy missions, intended to spy on the Kremlin and Soviet embassies. (more)

Moles in Berlin

In 1956, American and British agents tunneled into East German territory in order to tap a telephone line. This allowed them to eavesdrop on important conversations between Red Army leaders and the KGB. A segment of the tunnel can now be visited. (more)

U2
An international diplomatic crisis erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Confronted with the evidence of his nation's espionage, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviets that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. (more)

Animal Spies
A former CIA trainer reveals, the U.S. government deployed nonhuman operatives—ravens, pigeons, even cats—to spy on cold war adversaries. “We never found an animal we could not train.” (more)

Forget the NSA. That Smartphone Snooper May Be Your Spouse

It's not just the National Security Agency spying on smartphones. Many ordinary people are also using sophisticated software to eavesdrop on the wireless communications of their lovers, children and business rivals.

According to a new study that examined the data traffic of mobile devices operating on the Middle Eastern network of a European carrier, hundreds of people had some form of surveillance software installed on their phones.

These aren't malicious apps that the users had been tricked into downloading. They're pieces of commercially available spyware that people with physical access to the devices have installed to secretly log each text message, phone call and contact, and in some cases, eavesdrop on calls in real time. (more)

Spybusters Tip #948 - Android Device Manager Allows Remote Locate, Signal & Erase Security for Android Devices

Access the settings by opening the Google Settings app from your Android app drawer and tapping the option for Android Device Manager.

From there you can choose whether to enable remote location or wiping. This lets you login to the Android Device Manager website and find your phone on a map, cause your device to ring so you can find it if it’s in your other pants pocket or lost in couch cushions, or perform a factory reset if the phone’s been lost or stolen. (more)

Mystery Car Thefts - Solved

Remember this post from June? 
---
The news media is overflowing with reports of "High Tech" car burglars. They appear to be opening locked cars while holding a "black box" which "has police all over the nation stumped as to how it works."

Here, at the Spybusters Countermeasures Compound, we believe the black box is nothing more than a radio signal jammer. 
---

The spybusters tracked down the tool they probably used to pull off the heists...

You can read all about it here.

Where Spy Shops Shop - Know What You Are Up Against

It is amazing just how many spy / eavesdropping gadgets are being sold these days. Some are very clever. Some are very small. All are easily available and affordable. 

For a peek at where Spy Shops shop, visit a Spy Shop Super Distributor. There are many others, but this will give you a good idea of what the average person can buy. 

This is why TSCM (bug sweep) services are so necessary, and worthwhile. ~Kevin

Emergency Wristwatch for Spies... and Maybe Your CEO

Traveling in dangerous places? 
No cell phone service?
You may want one of these...

The Emergency II is equipped with a microtransmitter alternately operating on two separate frequencies over a 24-hour period. It transmits a first digital signal on the 406 MHz frequency intended for satellites and lasting 0.44 seconds every 50 seconds; as well as a second analog signal on the 121.5 MHz homing and rescue frequency, lasting 0.75 seconds every 2.25 seconds.



The development of this dual frequency transmitter specifically designed for the Emergency II was a major technical challenge, essentially due to its dimensions that had to be adapted to the wrist. Conducted in cooperation with an institute specializing in aerospace, defense and industry, it notably involved creating a new circuit exclusively dedicated to this instrument in order to be able to transmit on two frequencies and to do so within an extremely compact volume. 

The result is a record in terms of both miniaturization and guaranteed reliability, which lays down new benchmarks reaching well beyond the sphere of watchmaking. (more)

Price?
About US$18,600.00, if you go for the titanium bracelet instead of a rubber strap.
Hey, how much is your life worth?

FutureWatch - The Latest in TSCM-ware

A Princeton University team has successfully merged electronics and biology to create a functional ear that can “hear” radio frequencies. The tissue and antenna were merged via the use of an “off-the -shelf” 3D printer, and the results have the potential to not only restore but actually enhance human hearing in the future...

 

The ear itself consists of a coiled antenna within a cartilage structure, with two wires leading from the base and winding around the helical “cochlea” – the area of the ear that senses sound. The signal registered by the antenna could be connected to a patient's nerve endings in a similar way to a hearing aid, restoring and improving their ability to hear. (more & more)

Pwn Pad - Use it IT, Before it is used against IT

The folks at security tools company Pwnie Express have built a tablet that can bash the heck out of corporate networks. - Wired Magazine

The Pwn Pad - a commercial grade penetration testing tablet which provides professionals an unprecedented ease of use in evaluating wired and wireless networks.

The sleek form factor of the Pwn Pad makes it an ideal product choice when on the road or conducting a company or agency walk-through. This highspeed, lightweight device, featuring extended battery life and 7” of screen real estate offers pentesters an alternative never known before. (more)

TOOLKIT INCLUDES:
Wireless Tools
Aircrack-ng
Kismet
Wifite-2
Reaver
MDK3
EAPeak
Asleap-2.2
FreeRADIUS-WPE
Hostapd
Bluetooth Tools:
bluez-utils
btscanner
bluelog
Ubertooth tools Web Tools
Nikto
Wa3f Network Tools
NET-SNMP
Nmap
Netcat
Cryptcat
Hping3
Macchanger
Tcpdump
Tshark
Ngrep
Dsniff
Ettercap-ng 7.5.3
SSLstrip v9
Hamster and Ferret
Metasploit 4
SET
Easy-Creds v3.7.3
John (JTR)
Hydra
Medusa 2.1.1
Pyrit
Scapy

If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody hears it...

Trees in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are being fitted with mobile phones in an attempt to tackle illegal logging and deforestation.

Devices smaller than a pack of cards are being attached to the trees in protected areas to alert officials once they are cut down and the logs are transported. 

Location data is sent from sensors once the logs are within 20 miles of a mobile phone network to allow Brazil’s environment agency to stop the sale of illegal timber. The technology, called Invisible Tracck, which is being piloted by Dutch digital security company Gemalto, has a battery life of up to a year and has been designed to withstand the Amazonian climate. (more)

Stingray - Clandestine Cellphone Tracking Tool - Fights On

The FBI calls it a “sensitive investigative technique” that it wants to keep secret. But newly released documents that shed light on the bureau’s use of a controversial cellphone tracking technology called the “Stingray” have prompted fresh questions over the legality of the spy tool.

Functioning as a so-called “cell-site simulator,” the Stingray is a sophisticated portable surveillance device. The equipment is designed to send out a powerful signal that covertly dupes phones within a specific area into hopping onto a fake network. 

The feds say they use them to target specific groups or individuals and help track the movements of suspects in real time, not to intercept communications. But by design Stingrays, sometimes called “IMSI catchers,” collaterally gather data from innocent bystanders’ phones and can interrupt phone users’ service—which critics say violates a federal communications law. The FBI has maintained that its legal footing here is firm. Now, though, internal documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group, reveal the bureau appears well aware its use of the snooping gear is in dubious territory...

It’s likely that in the months ahead, a few more interesting nuggets of information will emerge. The FBI has told EPIC that it holds a mammoth 25,000 pages of documents that relate to Stingray tools, about 6,000 of which are classified. The Feds have been drip-releasing the documents month by month, and so far there have been four batches containing between 27 and 184 pages each. Though most of the contents—even paragraphs showing how the FBI is interpreting the law—have been heavy-handedly redacted, several eyebrow-raising details have made it through the cut. (more) (Stingray explained)