Poland - The newly-appointed archbishop of Warsaw resigned on Sunday after admitting he spied for Poland's former communist regime, in a major embarrassment for the Vatican and the powerful Polish Catholic Church.
Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus read out his resignation, which came at the request of Pope Benedict who appointed him just a month ago, at a special mass in Warsaw Cathedral replacing a formal ceremony that was to have sworn him in. (more)
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Taxman to get bugging and phone-tap powers
UK - Tax inspectors are to be given new powers allowing them to tap taxpayers’ telephones and plant bugs inside their homes and offices. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says its inspectors need such covert surveillance to tackle the growing threat from organised and white-collar crime.
However, lawyers and accountants argue that the move could breach human rights and have condemned ministers for “creeping authoritarianism” (more)
However, lawyers and accountants argue that the move could breach human rights and have condemned ministers for “creeping authoritarianism” (more)
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Hollywood private investigator wiretap trial (update)
Tossing a legal hand grenade into an already-contentious case, celebrity sleuth Anthony Pellicano on Friday demanded and won the right to act as his own lawyer in his upcoming trial on wiretapping and racketeering charges.
U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer tried to talk Pellicano out of his plan, but he would not relent. "I urge you to let me appoint counsel for you," Fischer implored in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. "You're very kind, your honor, but no, thank you," Pellicano said. (more)
U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer tried to talk Pellicano out of his plan, but he would not relent. "I urge you to let me appoint counsel for you," Fischer implored in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. "You're very kind, your honor, but no, thank you," Pellicano said. (more)
How (simple) Wiretapping Works
from howstuffworks.com
"If people did want to eavesdrop, they could tap into almost any phone line quite easily.
When you open up a phone, you can see that the technology inside is very simple. The simplicity of design makes the phone system vulnerable to surreptitious eavesdropping. In this article, we'll explore the practice of wiretapping to see just how simple it is. We'll also look at a few different types of wiretaps, find out who taps phone lines and examine the laws that regulate this practice. To learn how wiretapping works, you first have to..." (more)
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How a private individual can detect wiretapping... (more)
How a business or government can detect wiretapping... (more)
"If people did want to eavesdrop, they could tap into almost any phone line quite easily.
When you open up a phone, you can see that the technology inside is very simple. The simplicity of design makes the phone system vulnerable to surreptitious eavesdropping. In this article, we'll explore the practice of wiretapping to see just how simple it is. We'll also look at a few different types of wiretaps, find out who taps phone lines and examine the laws that regulate this practice. To learn how wiretapping works, you first have to..." (more)
---
How a private individual can detect wiretapping... (more)
How a business or government can detect wiretapping... (more)
Calling Major Bowes (update)
WV - The Hinton City Council is still waiting to find out if federal investigators will look into potential wiretapping at Hinton City Hall.
Several letters were sent to federal, state and county prosecutors asking to investigate the claim. A tape was found inside the Hinton Police Department and turned over to the West Virginia State Police.
One letter sent to the FBI office in Beckley says the integrity of the tape may have been compromised. The council unanimously approved an investigation into alleged wiretapping on December 28th, 2006. (more)
Several letters were sent to federal, state and county prosecutors asking to investigate the claim. A tape was found inside the Hinton Police Department and turned over to the West Virginia State Police.
One letter sent to the FBI office in Beckley says the integrity of the tape may have been compromised. The council unanimously approved an investigation into alleged wiretapping on December 28th, 2006. (more)
Hollywood private investigator seeks to represent self at trial
CA - Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano is expected to ask a Los Angeles federal judge tomorrow for permission to represent himself in his upcoming wiretapping trial.
Pellicano has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and wiretapping charges.
Prosecutors contend that Pellicano illegally wiretapped the phones of Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone and bribed police officers to run the names of more than 60 people through government databases. (more)
Pellicano has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and wiretapping charges.
Prosecutors contend that Pellicano illegally wiretapped the phones of Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone and bribed police officers to run the names of more than 60 people through government databases. (more)
3 great tricks for geeks
#3 Create a spycam
Curious to see who’s using your computer when you’re away from your desk? Set up a spycam! All you need is a Web cam; Econ Technologies’ $30 ImageCaster for broadcasting footage to a Web site; and Humongous Elephants and Tigers’ free Dockless, which helps keep your snooping on the down low. (more)
Curious to see who’s using your computer when you’re away from your desk? Set up a spycam! All you need is a Web cam; Econ Technologies’ $30 ImageCaster for broadcasting footage to a Web site; and Humongous Elephants and Tigers’ free Dockless, which helps keep your snooping on the down low. (more)
Spying on Teen in McDonald's Bathroom
MI - ...a 41-year-old Dearborn man has been charged with spying on a teenager in a McDonald's bathroom. Police had been searching for Gary Wayne Carr since Dec. 5 when a 17-year-old girl from W. Bloomfield reported a man used a mirror to look over the top of a bathroom stall at a McDonald's restaurant. Waterford Police say Carr has quite a criminal history. He's been convicted of trespassing and eavesdropping in Bloomfield Twp. and Canton. Oakland County prosecutors have charged him with felony eavesdropping and surveillance in the McDonald's case. (more)
Friday, January 5, 2007
InfoSecurity tops list of executive worries
The compromise of corporate information systems is the number-one worry of business executives, according to a survey of 197 senior executives at corporations with $1 billion or more in annual revenue.
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, revealed that 61 percent of the executives cited data breaches as their biggest worry. (more)
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, revealed that 61 percent of the executives cited data breaches as their biggest worry. (more)
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Art Imitates Life... again.
The Secret Show is a new animated series, commissioned and produced by British media outlets and British animators, scheduled for a North American premiere in late January. Animated in flash with flat, curious characters moving around a frenetically plotted spy-like environment, The Secret Show is an entertaining new program that is quite like what a lot of animation fans are probably in need of: a series you don't have to think about, because it's madcap fun from beginning to end. More or less, this is an animated television program about a couple of spies in a government organization; but the catch however, is that The Secret Show has as much fun with the subject matter as is possible in the medium. This series is about embracing the oft-absurd nature of spy secrecy to the point where everything is a secret and everything is a joke. ... The animation for The Secret Show is slightly unusual... (more)
Japan to set up spy agency
Local media in Japan are reporting the country will set up a new human intelligence unit. The spy service will be the first for any branch of the nation's military.
According to reports, the human intelligence group is expected to have around 70 members. Japan's Ground Self-Defense Forces have a centralized intelligence unit. But the unit has reportedly been unable to use people to gather information, relying instead on satellite images and radio signals. (more) (video)
According to reports, the human intelligence group is expected to have around 70 members. Japan's Ground Self-Defense Forces have a centralized intelligence unit. But the unit has reportedly been unable to use people to gather information, relying instead on satellite images and radio signals. (more) (video)
Shhhh! De Niro’s Spy Flick Keeps It to a Whisper
Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd, from a screenplay by Eric Roth, has been described as “The Godfather of spy movies,” which is reasonably accurate as far as the depiction of violence is concerned, as well as the emphasis on ethnicity, which in The Good Shepherd is mostly multi-generational American ruling-class WASP, while in The Godfather it was mostly the Italian-American (or, more specifically, Sicilian-American) lineage that was on the line. But the differences between the two films are more striking.
...no previous American film has ventured into this still largely unknown territory with such authority and emotional detachment. For this reason alone, The Good Shepherd is must-see viewing. (more)
...no previous American film has ventured into this still largely unknown territory with such authority and emotional detachment. For this reason alone, The Good Shepherd is must-see viewing. (more)
I was spy for Fijians
Australia - After almost crippling Britain's Blair Government with a corruption scandal, Gold Coast conman Peter Foster has gone undercover for the Fijian military to expose alleged vote rigging and corruption.
With a male clutch bag concealing a mini video camera and a microphone taped to his chest, Foster met with senior leaders of Fiji's SDL party which controlled the Government until overthrown in a military coup in December.
At the time, Foster was facing forgery charges and was under house arrest in Suva.
"Why did I do it? There is this perception of me as someone who takes from society and doesn't give anything back. Maybe I am just trying to make amends for my sins of the past by being a good citizen, by going out there and putting my neck on the line and saying you know. I want to be on the side of the good guys for a change," Foster said yesterday.
Countering Foster's claims were allegations yesterday that the Australian conman tried to bankroll the SDL election campaign.
But in carrying out the sting operation, Foster has upset some powerful people in Fiji where he had been working to build an island resort.
Local sources yesterday said it's unlikely he will ever be able to regain credibility on the Pacific island nation. (more)
With a male clutch bag concealing a mini video camera and a microphone taped to his chest, Foster met with senior leaders of Fiji's SDL party which controlled the Government until overthrown in a military coup in December.
At the time, Foster was facing forgery charges and was under house arrest in Suva.
"Why did I do it? There is this perception of me as someone who takes from society and doesn't give anything back. Maybe I am just trying to make amends for my sins of the past by being a good citizen, by going out there and putting my neck on the line and saying you know. I want to be on the side of the good guys for a change," Foster said yesterday.
Countering Foster's claims were allegations yesterday that the Australian conman tried to bankroll the SDL election campaign.
But in carrying out the sting operation, Foster has upset some powerful people in Fiji where he had been working to build an island resort.
Local sources yesterday said it's unlikely he will ever be able to regain credibility on the Pacific island nation. (more)
Foreign spy activity surges to fill technology gap
Several U.S. defense contractors have reported that between October 2005 and January 2006 they found radio-frequency transmitters hidden in Canadian coins that were planted on them after they traveled through Canada, according to the report....
Foreign spies are stepping up efforts to obtain secret U.S. technology through methods ranging from sexual entrapment to Internet hacking (electronic eavesdropping and wiretapping fall in between), with China and other Asian countries leading the targeting of U.S. defense contractors.
"The apparent across-the-board surge in activity from East Asia and Pacific countries will continue in the short term as gaps in technological capability become apparent in their weapons-development processes," the latest annual report by the Defense Security Service counterintelligence office stated.
Other methods included offering marketing services to contractors, spying during visits to U.S. companies and the use of "cultural commonality" to obtain technology.
The report did not identify the 106 countries that are engaged in the collection activity, but other defense officials said the most active technology spies are working for China, Russia and Iran. Other collectors of U.S. technology were identified as agents working secretly for Israel, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Egypt and United Arab Emirates, the officials said. (more)
There is something wrong with this story. It does not make sense - technically or practically. Transmitter... no. RFID tag... maybe. Purpose... ??? More likely, souvenir challenge coins were given as gifts to these contractors and someone joked that they were bugged. ~Kevin
Foreign spies are stepping up efforts to obtain secret U.S. technology through methods ranging from sexual entrapment to Internet hacking (electronic eavesdropping and wiretapping fall in between), with China and other Asian countries leading the targeting of U.S. defense contractors.
"The apparent across-the-board surge in activity from East Asia and Pacific countries will continue in the short term as gaps in technological capability become apparent in their weapons-development processes," the latest annual report by the Defense Security Service counterintelligence office stated.
Other methods included offering marketing services to contractors, spying during visits to U.S. companies and the use of "cultural commonality" to obtain technology.
The report did not identify the 106 countries that are engaged in the collection activity, but other defense officials said the most active technology spies are working for China, Russia and Iran. Other collectors of U.S. technology were identified as agents working secretly for Israel, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Egypt and United Arab Emirates, the officials said. (more)
There is something wrong with this story. It does not make sense - technically or practically. Transmitter... no. RFID tag... maybe. Purpose... ??? More likely, souvenir challenge coins were given as gifts to these contractors and someone joked that they were bugged. ~Kevin
LA: More Free Wi-Fi! And Spy Cameras!
from LAVoice.org...
Los Angeles - "The city's considering spending $165,000 expanding downtown's free-wireless nodes to include Bunker Hill, the financial district, the historic core and Little Tokyo.
The Community Redevelopment Agency wrapped the hardware expense into a larger new appropriation for its "official" ExperienceLA calendar site and, oh, just happened to tack on some money for more wi-fi surveillance cameras ...
The cameras are to be installed at Angels Knoll Interim Park and Little Tokyo for the purpose of feeding your downtown activities (and, of course, those of street criminals) to video monitors inside LAPD.
Make of that what you will." (more)
Los Angeles - "The city's considering spending $165,000 expanding downtown's free-wireless nodes to include Bunker Hill, the financial district, the historic core and Little Tokyo.
The Community Redevelopment Agency wrapped the hardware expense into a larger new appropriation for its "official" ExperienceLA calendar site and, oh, just happened to tack on some money for more wi-fi surveillance cameras ...
The cameras are to be installed at Angels Knoll Interim Park and Little Tokyo for the purpose of feeding your downtown activities (and, of course, those of street criminals) to video monitors inside LAPD.
Make of that what you will." (more)
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