Trojan Horse Trick #742

Security, spy gear disguised as ordinary household items...

Many of his cameras are disguised as ordinary household items - smoke detectors, clock radios and VCRs. They use secure digital video cards, similar to camera memory sticks, that plug into computers and make it easy to find the moment of truth.

And espionage has never been so affordable: Prices on digital video recorders have gone down in the last five years from $1,200 to $499.

So we thought we'd take a look at some of the most covert devices on the market, straight from Q Branch. After all, you only live twice. (more)

Trojan Horse Trick #741

"What a beautiful gift. Thank you!"

BIG mistake. One lamp is equipped with a microphone, attached to an always-on GSM cell phone, which is powered-up as soon as you plug your lamp into a wall outlet.

Doesn't matter where you put them - bedroom or office - the person now eavesdropping on you is just a phone call away ...anywhere in the world!

When was the last time you had your lamps checked? How about all those other items which surround you?

Beware of Geeks bearing gifts. (more)

Govt defends ‘spying’ amidst outrage

Kenya - Politicians and church leaders have expressed outrage over reports that the Government was spying on politicians to gauge their individual strengths on an election year. ...

But two Cabinet ministers Mr Amos Kimunya (Finance) and Mr Njeru Ndwiga (Co-operatives) defended Internal Security Minister Mr John Michuki, whose docket includes the Provincial Administration over the move, saying there was nothing about it that was unbecoming. (more)

Masons hit by bugging

Ireland - Police have launched an investigation into suspicions that meetings at one of Northern Ireland's largest Masonic Halls was bugged, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.

It is understood that the PSNI launched the probe after recordings were received in the post by Masonic officials at the headquarters of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim at Rosemary Street in Belfast.

Police are investigating if the recordings are of secret rituals held in the building which is the main meeting place of freemasons in Co Antrim, one of the largest lodges in Ireland. (more)

Who watches you at work?

New Zealand - You might think that you're entitled to a certain amount of privacy at work, but this isn't always the case. Some employers have gone as far as putting secret cameras in employee changing areas and gotten away with it. Katrine Evans, assistant privacy commissioner, says privacy is governed by several principles and no methods of surveillance is completely banned. (more)

You're just 60 seconds away from being spied on!

SnoopStick is a USB flash drive type device that allows you to monitor what your kids, employees, or anyone [including Y-O-U] using your computer is doing while on the Internet. And, you can monitor them live, in real time, from anywhere in the world.

Simply plug the SnoopStick into the computer you want to monitor. Then run the setup program to install the SnoopStick monitoring components on the computer. The whole process takes less than 60 seconds.

The SnoopStick monitoring components are completely hidden, and there are no telltale signs that the computer is being monitored.

You can then unplug the SnoopStick and take it with you anywhere you go. No bigger than your thumb and less than 1/4" thick, you can carry it in your pocket, purse, or on your keychain.

Any time you want to see what web sites your kids or employees [or Y-O-U] are visiting, who they [or Y-O-U] are chatting with, and what they [or Y-O-U] are chatting about, [they or Y-O-U] simply plug in your SnoopStick to any Windows based computer with an Internet connection and a USB port. SnoopStick will automatically connect to the target computer.

...snoopstick it to them with some of these features...
- Send the user a pop up message alert. A good way to tell them they're busted!
- Turn off/on Internet access with the SnoopStick locally or remotely.
- Set allowable times for Internet access.
- Prevent users from using certain types of Internet programs.
- Block access to specified ports.
- Block access to web sites.
(more)

Picked as a winner, here, on 2/8.

Germany's "The Lives of Others," a searing look at totalitarian powers once wielded by East German secret police, the Stasi, won the Oscar for best foreign language film on Sunday.

The film by first-time filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck won rave reviews for its portrait of a Stasi agent who, while bugging a couple's home, develops an unexpected sympathy for them.

Malaysian state drops plan to spy on unmarried sex

A conservative state in Malaysia has dropped plans to recruit a network of spies to report unmarried couples having sex.

The Chief Minister in the northern state of Terengganu says the plan was scrapped after the Malaysian Prime Minister voiced his opposition to the plan.

The Prime Minister had called the proposed spy network an invasion of privacy, warning that it could also send the wrong message to foreign tourists.

"Do your own homework!"

A female science professor shares her personal spying experience... (more)

All of us know the feeling. It started in Third Grade when they looked over your shoulder. It continues now in the corporate world with co-workers and other corporations stealing your ideas and hard work.

The accompanying comments to her post are interesting, too. No consensus of moral opinion. Scary.

Nothing has changed except smart people now conduct quarterly searches for bugs and wiretaps.

...and you thought they were Sneakers.

Comverse continues to be at the center of an international wiretapping controversy which has serious implications for U.S. security. Interesting investigative report by FOX News, which is now rumored to be classified.

Up the creek...

Mozambique Minister spying on lazy workers...

Mozambique's Labour Minister, Maria Helena Taipo, early this morning surprised her employees, that were supposed to attend the public, by looking into complaints about the Ministry's service. Shocked about the staff's late arrival, she ordered a day's wage cut for all. (more)

Sometimes, surveillance does not require any electronics!

Spouse Spies

From mobile phones that double as transmitters to private eyes in far-away countries, companies are banking on the suspicions of spouses...

Responding to popular demand among wives whose husbands frequently visit China on business, due diligence companies are marketing new mobile phone eavesdropping technology for wives to listen in on their hubbies' phone conversations there. ...

When eavesdropping is not enough, many due diligence companies can ratchet up their services to include paying off Chinese police to follow a cheating Taiwanese husband and catch him, literally, with his pants down, the report added. (more)

On jamming cell phones...

"A client has asked me for information on blocking or jamming cellular phone and R/F signals from his corporate office." (from a well-respected security colleague)

Hi Sir,

Can't blame clients for asking. This is a fairly common request. In the U.S. jamming is illegal, but (more importantly) clients need to consider the civil and criminal lawsuit possibilities.

"I couldn't call 911 from the bathroom where Charlie had his heart attack. I was doing CPR and couldn't leave him to use a regular phone. He died!!!"

Who had this illegal jammer installed?
[enter client's name here]

Who installed it?
[enter electrician's name here]

Who advised them to do it?
[enter security specialist's name here]

Lotz-o-deep-pockets to pick.

Everyone wants a simple, cheap solution. Jamming and shielding are security sirens. They only look attractive, in a Ms. Smith sort of way.

Alternate client solutions...
- Establish a clearly defined 'no cell phone at work' policy.
- Establish consequences for non-compliance.
- Enforce it consistently and equally.
- Install cell phone detectors to alert when a cell phone is in use.
- Forget about shielding out other RF (bug) transmissions.
- Establish a regular TSCM audit schedule to search for bugs.
- Improve perimeter and general information security.
- Periodically, test for leaks.

I am sure all this just echos what you have already told them in different words. This rant, however, may help you to show them that your colleagues back you up.

If the client insists, send him the T-shirt and say "Good-bye."

~Kevin

"This is your Captain... listening."

A Japan Airlines pilot has been arrested on suspicion of planting bugging devices at the house of a flight attendant with whom he once had a romantic relationship, it was learned Friday.

According to police, Masahiro Nomura, 39, installed two radio-transmitting concealed microphones in the woman's house in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, and eavesdropped on her from June 2002 to November.

The relationship between Nomura and the flight attendant, 34, ended in October. She later found the microphones in a plug and an electric socket in her living room. She contacted the police, and they seized a receiver from Nomura's house on Feb. 9. (more)

Pssst... Wanna buy a KGB spy map?

What did the Russians ever do for us?
The spine-chilling fact is that they did more than you think.

Every Soviet leader from Stalin to Gorbachev knew not only where you lived but how to get there by tank. For over 50 years, before, during and after the Cold War, the Soviet military undertook the most comprehensive global survey ever attempted and created detailed, accurate maps of practically every country in the world.

Satellite images, high altitude aerial reconnaissance including spies on the ground were used to collect all possible information. (more) (sample) Ideas... Makes a cool wall hanging, or placemats.