Crime: Cameras Hidden in a Church Bathroom

UPDATE: U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who hid a video camera in a bathroom to capture images of a young girl to 25 years in prison. more

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U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Stephen Nicot, 61, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. to receipt of child pornography...

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, stated that between 2012 and 2014, Nicot hid a camera in the bathroom of a church located in the Western District of New York. 

Nicot positioned the camera so that it would capture video and images of naked individuals using the shower in the church bathroom. He did this knowing some of the individuals would be under the age of 18 and he planned to display the video of the minors. 

...law enforcement executed a warrant at the Nicot’s residence and recovered a memory card and USB drive, which contained videos and images of at least five minor victims using the church bathroom and shower. Two cell phones were also seized, which contained naked images of a minor victim that were recorded by a camera hidden in a bathroom of Nicot’s residence. more

Don't let you or your children become victims. 

Know how to spot hidden spy cameras. 

Take the course.

Yet Another USB Cautionary Tale

Duped with a malicious USB...

Mr Burgess (ASIO Director General Mike Burgess) referenced an unnamed Australian company that found global success making a product "similar to a motion detector" before their sales suddenly dropped.

"A little while later, their product started being returned to the factory because they were broken," he said.

"When they opened their branded products, they discovered they weren't their branded products, because the components were inferior, they were exact knock-offs."

The problem was eventually traced to an international conference, where someone had offered to share information with one of the company's employees by plugging a USB into their laptop.

"That USB downloaded malware onto that laptop, which later on, when they were connected back to their corporate network, was used to steal their intellectual property," he said.

"That intellectual property was passed from the intelligence services to state-owned enterprise that mass-produced the goods and sold them on the market that undercut them." more

More USB Security Information...

 • USB – Hacked Charging Cables

• USB – Malicious Spy Cable Detector Instructions

• USB – General Memory Stick Warning

• USB – Malicious Cables

• USB – NSA Type Cable Bug – $6.74

Extra USB Spy News - Government entities in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are the target of a long-running cyber espionage campaign dubbed TetrisPhantom. "The attacker covertly spied on and harvested sensitive data from APAC government entities by exploiting a particular type of secure USB drive, protected by hardware encryption to ensure the secure storage and transfer of data between computer systems," Kaspersky said in its APT trends report for Q3 2023. more

South Korean Spy Luck, or Pearls of Wisdom

For weeks, counterintelligence officials at South Korea's spy agency struggled to crack a tiny adversary — a locked USB stick that they believed was the key to proving that a South Korean labor activist followed orders from the North to foment unrest in the South...

The solution to this dilemma was randomly discovered by a NIS agent, who stumbled upon a string of gibberish written in the Latin alphabet that read, “rntmfdltjakfdlfkehRnpdjdiqhqoek,” in another data storage device owned by Seok. 

When the NIS agent typed out Korean letters in the same locations on a computer keyboard as these Latin letters in the same order, they spelled out, “Even three sacks of pearls only turn into treasure if you weave them together.”

The Korean proverb proved key to uncovering the cipher officials needed to crack the USB and the word document inside it. more

The Mail Room Guy and the USB Spy Cable

Someone "lost" a USB charging cable. You found it. Lucky you? Maybe not...

USB spy cables look exactly like legitimate ones... exactly. 

In this example, the competition has paid an inside employee (the Mail Room guy) to drop a few cables around certain parts of the corporate headquarters. They didn't tell him why. And, he doesn't care. Why should he? He gets $50 per cable dropped.

Once plugged in, the cable takes control of your device. (cell phone, laptop, desktop, etc.) All your data becomes accessible. Next, pre-loaded penetration tools spring into action.

The connection can be used as a pivot point to attack other computers on the network. This is controlled remotely by the spy/hacker, via Wi-Fi to the internet, or via their nearby smartphone.

Once the hacker has infiltrated your network, more data can be extracted, viruses planted, or a ransomware attack staged. Obviously, this is dangerous in a business environment.

Recommendations:
• Mark your cables so if swapped you'll notice.
• Call us. We test USB cables as part of our debugging sweeps.
• If you use our services, we will give you a free test instrument so you can test new cables yourself.

Journalist Plugs in Unknown USB Drive Mailed to Him

...it exploded in his face

Although these are just a few examples, they should be enough to preclude one from inserting a mysterious, unsolicited USB drive mailed to them into a computer. Unfortunately, one Ecuadorian journalist didn't get the memos. more

In case you missed our memo...

USB Memory Security Recommendations

• Block ports with a mechanical port block lock.
• Place security tape over that.
• Create a “no USB sticks unless pre-approved” rule.
• Warn employees that a gift USB stick could be a Trojan Horse gift.
• Warn employees that one easy espionage tactic involves leaving a few USB sticks scattered in the company parking lot. The opposition knows that someone will pick one up and plug it in. The infection begins the second they plug it in.
• Don’t let visitors stick you. Extend the “no USB sticks unless pre-approved” rule to them as well. Their sticks may be infected.

Trending… IBM Takes The USB Memory Security Lead

“IBM has allegedly issued a worldwide ban against the the use of removable drives, including Flash, USB, and SD cards, to transfer data.

This new policy is being instituted to prevent confidential and sensitive information from being leaked due to misplaced or unsecured storage devices.

According to a report by The Register, IBM’s global chief Information security officer Shamla Naidoo issued an advisory stating that the company “is expanding the practice of prohibiting data transfer to all removable portable storage devices (eg: USB, SD card, flash drive).” This advisory further stated that this policy is already in effect for some departments, but will be further enforced throughout the entire company.” more

Espionage Group Using USB Devices to Hack Targets

USB devices are being used to hack targets in Southeast Asia, according to a new report by cybersecurity firm Mandiant.

The use of USB devices as an initial access vector is unusual as they require some form of physical access — even if it is provided by an unwitting employee — to the target device.

Earlier this year the FBI warned that cybercriminals were sending malicious USB devices to American companies via the U.S. Postal Service with the aim of getting victims to plug them in and unwittingly compromise their networks...

The hackers behind it are concentrating on targets in the Philippines. The researchers assess the group has a China nexus, although it did not formally attribute the cyber espionage operation to a specific state-sponsored group. more

Recently in Spycam News

WA - School Employee charged with over 137 counts of voyeurism after it was found that he put a video camera in the female bathroom of a high school that he was working in, reportedly doing so since 2013. more

Singapore - A 25-year-old man was sentenced to three years and 24 weeks in jail and five strokes of the cane for video voyeurism. He was previously sentenced to three years in jail and three strokes of the cane in November 2018. more

FL - Twice this week there were reports that women were secretly recorded in spaces they thought they had privacy while undressing... "I've watched this issue get worse, and the legislation has responded by getting tougher," Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said. more

FL - Condo Association President, Charged with 4 Counts of Video Voyeurism... a cord led to a charger, which had a USB from which a USB cord connected to something in the plant. It was a tiny surveillance video camera. It had been placed there to spy on the bedroom’s occupants. more

• You don't have to be a victim. Learn how to spot spycams in places where you expect privacy.

The Flower Pot Bug Wins a Darwin Award

A 59-year-old man who was president of a condo association in the Matanzas Shores community faces four felonies for installing a video camera inside a condominium without the owner's permission, focused on the master bedroom, according to a press release from Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly.

Robert Orr turned himself in... Orr was president of Las Brisas Condo Association within the Matanzas Shores community.

FCSO was notified on August 30 by a woman who had a weekend stay at a condo, Staly said. As she was packing up to leave, she discovered a plugged-in USB camera hidden inside of an indoor flower pot located in the master bedroom she was sleeping in.

FCSO's Major Case Unit examined the camera and found that it contained video of two people in various stages of undress inside the condo, including the female who filed the report and a male who was also staying in the condo that weekend, according to Staly. It also contained videos of Orr testing the camera inside his own condo before it was placed in the flower pot (Darwin Award). more

2022 Spycam News... (so far)

 Japan - 'Bar set low for secret filming' The reason police in Japan commit voyeurism... It seems there is no end to police officers being subjected to disciplinary measures for taking sneak footage. As law enforcers who are in a position to crack down on camera voyeurs, why do they partake in such crimes? The Mainichi Shimbun asked an expert... more 

UK - Professional photographer Roy Strutt, 64, installed a USB dongle with a hidden camera in the bedroom of his second home in Walberswick, Suffolk. He later invited a couple - who his wife knew through a friend - to stay at the property to celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary. The couple saw the dongle and unplugged it - with Strutt later telling them to plug it back in because it helped improve the Wi-Fi for the surrounding apartments. more

LA - A Vidalia, Louisiana, man.. has also received additional charges... illicit videos involving a juvenile taken by way of a hidden camera... investigators found evidence of a video voyeurism set up by way of hidden camera, which illegally recorded inappropriate videos of a juvenile. more

Singapore - Domestic helper jailed 17 months for filming elderly man in shower, uploading clips to TikTok, WhatsApp... One video was re-posted by an unknown user on a Facebook page titled SG Dirty Fella where it went viral. more

UK - A senior Metropolitan Police officer who posed as an airline pilot and fake glamour photographer to picture up to 51 naked women has been dismissed from the force. Detective Inspector Neil Corbel, 40, took covert videos of his victims in hotel rooms, flats and Airbnbs... He 'used his anti-terror skills' to secretly film the women with spy cameras hidden in tissue boxes, phone charges, glasses and keys after contacting them under the guise of being an airline pilot named Harrison. more

China - A male doctor live-streamed a patient’s gynecological procedure on a China video-sharing website without her knowledge, raising a wave of questions on medical ethics and privacy violations. more

UK - Scots student warns pervert stepdad will always be danger to kids after dodging jail for spying on her when she was 13... It came after the creep smirked as he was spared prison last week for secretly filming his stepdaughter thr­ough a gap drilled in her wardrobe. The predator also recorded her through the keyhole of a chest and a lens hidden in an alarm clock while on a family holiday in the US. more

WY - A 33-year-old Campbell County man has been charged with nine counts of voyeurism after he allegedly set up a recording device in a bathroom and took pictures of a female getting in and out of the shower and bathtub. more

Canada - Durham Regional Police have charged a man in connection with a voyeurism investigation in Pickering, Ont... police were called to a Walmart store ... after a man was discovered videotaping a female customer as she was using the change rooms. Police said the suspect was confronted by the victim and her family and said he had deleted the photos from his cellphone before fleeing. However, police added there were other photos on his phone of other possible victims and are asking for the public’s help in identifying the man. more  more

LA - A Sulphur man was arrested after a recording device was found in the women’s restroom of a local restaurant Tuesday, according to information from the Sulphur Police Department. The device was found before anyone in the general public was captured on video, according to Sulphur officials. more

CT - A Vernon man is being charged after police say they discovered he put cameras in his home bathroom and secretly recorded his girlfriend and her children... a few years ago, two of the children, who were 13 and 18 years old at the time, discovered a bluetooth speaker in a bathroom that was actually a hidden camera... After the children found it, they secretly swapped out its SD card and delivered the card to a friend’s house for safekeeping, the warrant said. more

 FL - The businessman who filmed two naked women in an adjoining Key West, Florida hotel room has been sentenced to a year in prison for his felonious voyeurism, court records show... charged with sliding a tiny camera under the door separating his room at the DoubleTree Grand Key resort from that of two female vacationers, according to an arrest report... Cops found the spy camera hidden in a chair cushion. more

 WA - Former county fire marshal faces felony voyeurism charges... The charging documents allege Nicholson had hidden a camera in a sleeping area at the station, filming a female firefighter changing before getting into bed. When contacted by the detective, the firefighter that was depicted in the film stated she had not given consent to being filmed. The detective investigated the room and discovered an outlet that matched up with the angle of the video, although there was no recording device present when he inspected the outlet. more

UK - Robert Davies, 32, came to the attention of National Crime Agency investigators in 2019 after he purchased a number of cyber crime tools, including crypters and remote administration tools (RATs)... Davies was infecting his victims’ phones or computers with malicious software by disguising it with the crypters so their anti-virus protection would not detect it. He then used the RATs to gain remote access to their devices and steal any sexual images (mainly of females) they had stored on there. On at least one occasion, he used his illegal access to spy on a teenage girl through her webcam, turning the encounter into a number of indecent images. more  more

General - Laws on surveillance cameras at home can vary by state. As there’s no comprehensive set of regulations that govern residential security cameras or video surveillance, it’s essential to have a broad understanding of the concerns involved with these systems and devices. It’s just as important to know the laws at the state, county, and even local levels. more

The Epoch Times - Video Report: Spy Cameras, Blackmail Rampant in China more  

These stories are presented to raise awareness.

Spycam Facts:

• Only the failed video voyeurs make the news.
• Most spycam attacks go undetected.
• A few are discovered... almost all by accident.
• Only a few of these are reported to the police.
• Only a few of these cases are solved.
• Only few of these make it to my desk.
• I only share just a few of those with you.
• The problem is bigger than you think.
  

Any organization with expectation of privacy areas needs this to protect their employees, visitors and customers ... and themselves, from forseeability law suits.

 

 

Security Director Alert: Wireless Key-Logger Hides in USB-C to Lightning Cable

A USB-C to Lightning cable with a hidden wireless key-logger can enable an attacker to capture everything you type from a distance of up to a mile.

Any tech-literate person knows you should never plug a USB key into any of your devices unless you trust the person giving it to you, but fewer know that the same applies to USB cables...

“We tested this out in downtown Oakland and were able to trigger payloads at over 1 mile,” he added...

...the new cables now have geofencing features, where a user can trigger or block the device’s payloads based on the physical location of the cable.  more

These spy cables come in various configurations, including standard USB charging cables. They look exactly like authentic cables. An electronic test can identify a malicious spy cable easily. In fact, you can do it yourself. Click here for instructions.

“Glowworm” Can Eavesdrop via Devices’ Power LEDs

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have demonstrated a novel way to spy on electronic conversations. A new paper released today outlines a novel passive form of the TEMPEST attack called Glowworm, which converts minute fluctuations in the intensity of power LEDs on speakers and USB hubs back into the audio signals that caused those fluctuations.

The Cyber@BGU team—consisting of Ben Nassi, Yaron Pirutin, Tomer Gator, Boris Zadov, and Professor Yuval Elovici—analyzed a broad array of widely used consumer devices including smart speakers, simple PC speakers, and USB hubs. The team found that the devices' power indicator LEDs were generally influenced perceptibly by audio signals fed through the attached speakers.

Although the fluctuations in LED signal strength generally aren't perceptible to the naked eye, they're strong enough to be read with a photodiode coupled to a simple optical telescope... more 

Check out the other eavesdropping hits that have come out of Ben-Gurion University... here

There’s Almost Certainly a Spy in Your Office

Espionage is a very real threat for businesses.

A recent paper from the US Senate suggests advanced actors now regularly plant individuals in large organizations, with a view to stealing data and research that can be used for economic, scientific or military gain.

China, for example, is said to operate more than 200 different recruitment programs, the most elaborate of which is the Thousand Talents Plan, which is estimated to have recruited 7,000 operatives or more. And China is by no means the only country to engage in these behaviors...

In rare instances, when recruiters fail to gain access to an employee, they have been known to train up an individual specifically for the task. Known as “embeds”, these imposters are much closer to traditional spies and have a full understanding of the ambitions of their handlers.

“Sometimes, these embeds are quiet for a long time, even years. Then all of a sudden they gain access to the information they were recruited to hunt down, before disappearing into thin air. There is another level of tradecraft on display here.” more

Note: Embeds are in the best position to plant eavesdropping devices (disguised voice recorders, Wi-Fi data leaches, USB spy cables, GPS trackers, GSM cellular bugs, etc.) Periodic searches for these devices thwarts their efforts. Sometimes just by them knowing the organization conducts searches. And, of course, by discovering the devices before they can do long-term harm.

A Month of Spycam News

IN - A former Indiana police officer awaiting sentencing for recording young girls in a bathroom died by suicide Monday. more

Ireland - Devout Christian busted for filming men and boys using toilet and setting up secret cameras in B&B more

FL - A Florida youth pastor who was previously accused of hiding a camera in a church bathroom has now been charged with possession of child pornography. more

Canada - A Cold Lake high school teacher was charged by RCMP with making child pornography and voyeurism. Assumption teacher James Neil Morrison allegedly installed a camera in a student changeroom and recorded inappropriate imagery of a 16-year-old. more

FL - Robert Sampson, 52, of Gulf Breeze, Florida, pled guilty today to charges of Video Voyeurism and Disorderly Conduct. Sampson surreptitiously videoed eight fellow Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees using a hidden recording device that he placed in a restroom at the Veterans Affairs Joint Ambulatory Care Center in Pensacola, Florida, on multiple occasions. more

PA - A Pennsylvania florist has been accused of hiding a small camera in a flower arrangement so that he could spy on a woman. According to local reports, this was learned after a relative of the victim found nude images downloaded on the florist’s computer. more

Japan - Police in Tokyo have arrested a 33-year-old elementary school teacher on suspicion of violating the child pornography law and forcible obstruction of business after he allegedly installed a spy camera inside the girl’s toilet. more

UK - A man has been charged with voyeurism offences involving 107 alleged victims over a period of six years. David Glover, 47, of Edelweiss View in Tallington, is accused of installing camera equipment to observe women doing a private act, without their consent, for his own sexual gratification. more

FL - A bartender in Islamorada was arrested after reportedly placing a video camera that captured photos of a woman in a bathroom... The device was disguised as a USB charging adapter, according to deputies. more

Canada - A former maintenance worker at Royal Oaks Country Club who hid a cellphone in a restroom to secretly record a woman using the toilet was sentenced Monday to 30 days on a work crew. more 

CT - A city man accused of recording guests in his Glenbrook condo while they used the bathroom has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of voyeurism. more 

SC - Riviere is named as a defendant in three separate lawsuits in state court that accuse the management of some Aiken short-term rental properties of secretly recording women who paid to stay there. more 

US - A man has claimed he caught his girlfriend of six years cheating on him by using a hidden spy camera secreted away inside a USB plug that he left in their apartment. The anonymous man, from the US, went viral on TikTok earlier this week after he revealed he had bought a plug-in USB brick, which contained secret spyware... The video, which has been hashtagged #CheatersGettingCaught, has been viewed over 2.5million times and amassed over 432,000 likes. more 

LA - Monroe man arrested on four counts of video voyeurism... The victim then stated she found a video of herself getting in and out of the shower at his residence. Fairly stated that he ordered a clock with a hidden camera on Ebay to record the inside of his house. more

CO - Denver Firefighter Paid $100K over Station Bedroom Spycam. The settlement comes after a former lieutenant was convicted last year in connection with setting up a hidden camera and recording a female firefighter changing clothes. more

S. Korea - There has been a public outcry over a recent case in which a male teacher allegedly installed hidden cameras in a restroom for female teachers at the high school where he works. more

New Zealand - A man who repeatedly planted a spy camera in an Auckland gym's changing rooms to film people naked was promoted to chief executive of Crown entity International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) after the offending took place. more 

TN - A former high school nurse has been arrested on child pornography charges for photographing over 40 girl students undressing in the bathroom... The seized photos were all captured through a hidden camera placed in a school bathroom. more  

Japan - A staff member at a social welfare facility in the prefecture resigned after he was accused of illicit filming inside a bathroom, the facility revealed on Monday. The camera, which was hidden inside a pen... “I did it for thrills,” the staff member said in admitting to the allegations. more

UK - Judge James Burbidge QC, sentencing, described how the defendant had hidden a spy camera in an air freshener and had used it to take more than 10,500 photographs. more

You don't have to become a victim. Learn how to detect spy cameras.

New X-Ray Inspection and Analysis Service Detects Eavesdropping Devices Secreted in Everyday Objects

Click to enlarge.

Planting bugs, spy cameras, and other illegal surveillance devices is easy. Most come pre-disguised as fully functional everyday objects. They are being built into wall clocks, power strips, USB chargers, and even desktop calculators, for example.

Competent Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) consultants have a variety of very effective ways to detect electronic surveillance devices. But, when the stakes are high enough—and the opposition is sophisticated enough—a Murray Associates TSCM X-ray deep clean is the logical option. This new service offers the most assurance that room objects are not bugged. 

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Kevin D. Murray, Director, relates an interesting cautionary tale, “There are also times when a TSCM X-ray deep clean is just smart due diligence. The classic example of a lack of due diligence is the KGB bugging of American typewriters during the Cold War.”

Popular Mechanics explains… “The Cold War spy drama that played out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was the source of much ingenious spy technology. One of the most ingenious devices fielded by both sides was a typewriter designed to spy on the user, quietly transmitting its keystrokes to KGB listeners. The technology was an early form of keylogging but done entirely through hardware—not PC software.”

A total of 16 bugged typewriters were used at the U.S. Moscow embassy for over eight years before discovery. Had a TSCM X-ray inspection been conducted before the typewriters were installed, no secrets would have been lost.

Keep the KGB typewriters in mind when bringing in a new phone system, keyboards, mice or other office items. This is the ideal time to sneak a bug in, and for a TSCM X-ray deep clean.

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Murray Associates TSCM can economically inspect all your new arrivals at one time, at your location, or ours. And, discretely security seal your items at no extra charge—before you start using them.

When should a TSCM X-ray inspection be conducted?

• When the stakes are high.
• When the opposition is formidable.
• When the areas being inspected with regular TSCM methods are especially sensitive.
• Whenever you bring new tech into the workplace en masse. New desk phones, new computer equipment, new gifts, for example.
  

How often should an a TSCM X-ray deep clean be conducted?

• Once per year during the quarterly, proactive TSCM inspections. (Quarterly inspections are the norm for most businesses.)
• Whenever there are active suspicions of illegal electronic surveillance.
• Upon the discovery of a listening device or other suspicious object.


Counterespionage Tip: If one bug is discovered, keep searching. Professionals will plant multiple devices, with one being easy to find. Their strategy… to thwart further searching by inexperienced TSCM technicians.

Types of X-ray analysis services offered:

• On-site, when we are conducting a Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) inspection for you.
• On-site, to inspect multiple new items entering your environment, such as new telephones, keyboards, computer mice, etc.
• Objects may also be mailed to the Murray Associates TSCM lab for X-ray analysis. Contact them directly for details.

Full Press Release
 

The Biggest Spies are Now Hiding in Your Car

Cars have undergone a major transformation in recent years.

Traditional models are slowly being replaced by new-age, technology-packed vehicles. Telematics and infotainment that provide convenience, entertainment and security are a driving force behind this revolution.

But they are also turning modern vehicles into one of the biggest threats to personal privacy...

An infotainment system is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides vehicle status information, as well as audio or video entertainment...

In doing so, day after day, these systems generate torrents of data (around 25 gigabytes per hour), a portion of which is transmitted to the manufacturer as well as stored on your car’s storage device. The amount of data recorded is truly impressive and disconcerting, and includes various technical vehicle parameters, GPS location, favorite destinations, speed and so on. 

Once a user connects their smartphone to the console via USB (or wirelessly), the amount of data shared with the car increases even further. By pairing up with the device, the infotainment system downloads (and saves) even more data, adding to its database information that previously existed only on your smartphone. This includes your favorite music, apps, social media, emails, SMS history, voice data and more.

Used cars are even worse. Their data logs contain records of every phone ever connected to them, making them a veritable treasure trove for savvy hackers and government agencies alike. more

World's Smallest & World's Best Spy Cameras of 2020

World's Smallest

Weighing just 1g, Austrian company AMS has announced they have made the world's smallest camera. The NanEyeC has a footprint of just 1x1mm so is smaller than the size of a pinhead.

The 102,000 pixel camera only shoots in black and white, but is designed to be invisible when mounted in wearable devices, such VR headsets – and will doubtless also become the ultimate spy camera. more

 

 

 World's Best Spy Cameras of 2020

We've put together this guide to spy cameras to help you pick out the best one for your home. 

Some are simple small cameras that can be placed somewhere that most people won't notice them, while others are disguised as objects like photo frames or USB chargers. 

We've even found a camera that's disguised as a light bulb! 

As you might imagine, there are loads of creative options in this area. more

 

The Most Underrated Threat to Corporate Information Security

Sharp spike in internet sales of USB spy cables has corporate security and IT directors concerned. Murray Associates researched and developed a solution. 

• Malicious USB cables look exactly like the real thing.
• Some act as eavesdropping bugs.
• Some have GPS tracking capability.
• The worst ones… more  pdf

Apple T2 Security Chip Has Unfixable Flaw

Intel Macs that use Apple's T2 Security Chip are vulnerable to an exploit that could allow a hacker to circumvent disk encryption, firmware passwords and the whole T2 security verification chain, according to team of software jailbreakers.... 

On the plus side, however, it also means the vulnerability isn't persistent, so it requires a "hardware insert or other attached component such as a malicious USB-C cable" to work. more 

Malicious USB cables are the latest, and arguably the most insidious, threats on the corporate information security landscape. Every USB cable on premises, and those being used elsewhere by employees, needs to be vetted for authenticity. Security directors are enlisting the aid of technical counterespionage consultants to perform this task.

How to Detect Malicious USB Cables

A malicious cable is any cable (electrical or optical) which performs an unexpected, and unwanted function. The most common malicious capabilities are found in USB cables. Data exfiltration, GPS tracking, and audio eavesdropping are the primary malicious functions...

The worst malicious cables take control of a user’s cell phone, laptop, or desktop...

We purchased and tested several malicious USB cables. From what was learned during these tests our technical staff developed several new inspection protocols.

 more

Can’t identify the bugged cable?
No worries. You can’t tell just by looking, even we can’t.
That’s why we put a small black mark on it.
It is Cable 3.

This Week in Spycam News

Thailand - A school director has been moved to an inactive post pending an investigation into a video showing him placing a camera in the toilet of a pub in this northeastern province. more

 ID - A federal grand jury has indicted a Rigby man on 17 charges after he was arrested last year for video voyeurism...Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies learned that a woman had discovered videos of a 14-year-old girl in the shower on Boam’s phone. Additionally, the woman stumbled upon a video of herself showering on the phone, according to an affidavit of probable cause. more

Singapore - NTU student caught trying to film hall mate showering. When confronted, suspect allegedly claimed it was his first time and he was just being 'playful and curious'. more

MI - Police were called to the Aqua-Tots after a woman complained she saw a recording device capturing her in a changing stall and reported it to staff. Sakamoto was arrested for allegedly using a hidden camera. They found the memory card to his phone in the toilet in which they suspect he put there. more

TX - A Sevier County man faces a felony charge of video voyeurism for an alleged incident involving a female relative, according to records....a Sevier County woman reported to the Sheriff's Office that her 13-year-old female relative had found nude photos and videos of herself on the suspect's iPad...The girl told police she often got dressed in her closet. She reported that she was bending over to pick up some clothes when she noticed the iPad on a shelf and that it was recording. The girl reported that she stopped the recording and went to the recently deleted videos, where she found a video of herself changing clothes. more

UK - A woman was undressing after finishing her shift when she noticed an LED light shining from a shoe which had been placed in the next cubicle in the mixed gender locker room. She then discovered a small black camera attached to a long cable and yanked it towards her, before it snagged. The horrified supermarket worker found the peeping Tom cowering in a nearby locker and demanded his phone. more

LA - A onetime Assumption Parish political candidate and local business leader has been arrested for a second time in three months on video voyeurism counts. more

AR - Dillon Dooms, 35, is accused of hiding cameras inside his studio and videotaping unsuspected models changing their clothes... While changing clothes, the woman noticed a USB charging port with a small, pin-point-style lens on it. She inspected the device and found that it was a video camera with a micro SD card inside. According to the report, she found three other hidden cameras in the studio. She was only able to retrieve one of the SD cards from the cameras. The woman took the SD card to Fayetteville Police. Dooms was interviewed by investigators a few days later. more

The epidemic continues. Learn how to spot spycams.