...Use a Ray Gun.Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators, are a line of immensely dangerous yet simple to operate wave oscillation weapons.Meticulously built to the exacting standards and plans of Dr. Grordbort, these weapons, bespangled in fine detail and with various (most likely quite dangerous) moving parts are the perfect addition to a gentleman's study or a deterring centerpiece for a lady's powder room or chiffonier.Ammunition not supplied (Phlogiston and Compressed Aether phials may be ordered through the Doctor's upcoming Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory) (more)
Italian authorities have arrested 12 more people in connection with an investigation into illegal wiretapping by Telecom Italia... Magistrates accuse those arrested of illegally obtaining information through wiretapping and computer hacking. (more)
South Africa - A Vodacom worker's dismissal has raised questions about spying at the company.
The employee, Portia Sithole was dismissed last Friday after attending a union activity while on a doctor-mandated sick leave. ...The company monitored her location using her mobile telephone."The company offers employees a phone as a company benefit. Now they are using it as a tracking device to see where one goes and when. I think it is a total invasion of privacy," said Sithole. (more)
Tektronix, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced that its RSA6100A Series Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers received the Editor's Choice Award in Electronic Engineering Times-China (EE Times-China) Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Awards for the most significant technical solution in the past 12 months. ...
The awards, sponsored by EE Times-China, received 224 entries from 83 companies. The editorial team of EE Times-China reviewed these entries to evaluate their impact on the electronics industry in China. Based on its unique capability and innovative features, the editors of EE-Times China selected Tektronix's RSA6100A real time spectrum analyzer for the Editor's Choice Award.
"The RSA6100A Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer stood out as the most significant technical solution in the last 12 months," said Yorbe Zhang, Editor in Chief of EE Times-China. "The RTSA's ability to visually display the live RF spectrum, showing the spectral activity in real-time, is a stunning engineering accomplishment... (more) (even more awards)
Murray Associates is the only private-sector TSCM firm to own an RSA6100A. A view of it's screen can be seen here.
In short... It lets us see bugs no one else can see.
New York based call recording company 2ReCall just recently launched their initial call recording product last week. The new service lets you record any US domestic outgoing call by first dialing into an 800 number and then number you want to call.
The old fashioned way of recording calls consisted of Spy-vs-Spy type tape recorders and suction mics. VOIP changed that a bit, making it dead simple to grab the conversation as it passes through your phone client, although it leaves you chained to the desk.
2ReCall’s 800 number means you can record an outgoing call on any phone. Over the coming year the service will be able to record inbound calls as well, with the ultimate goal being a completely seamless solution that records all calls on the number. (more) DIY wiretap. (more)
UK - A council is to hide cameras inside baked bean tins and brick walls to catch residents who put rubbish in the wrong bins.
The covert surveillance has been ordered by Ealing council to target 'enviro-criminals' an Evening Standard investigation has found. (more)
UPDATE... EALING council was rubbished' in national and London press this week over its decision to use hidden cameras in bags of rubbish. ... (reply) "We make no apology for taking the toughest action against those few who continue to blight our borough without any thought of the impact on the majority of residents." (more)
Major League Baseball fans might get to eavesdrop on players and managers arguing calls this season as Fox and ESPN put microphones on umpires during telecasts for the first time. (more)
Switzerland - Telecommunications provider Amitelo today launches a new release of its softphone AmiVois that because of excellent features is superior to its competitors. AmiVois comes with a new kind of encryption that makes wiretapping virtually impossible. (more)
Police have thus recorded the calls between Frantisek Kinsky and his lawyer, which are considered inviolable.A Czech court approved the wiretapping. Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil (Civic Democrats, ODS) said that this was in accordance with law. (more)
...meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Tomas Almer, head of the Czech police unit in charge of wiretapping, will not be prosecuted over sending the parliament a secret report saying that police wiretapped some politicians and journalists. (more)
S. Korea - The National Intelligence Service (NIS), the country’s spy agency, is wiretapping more and more fixed-line phones and tracking the e-mail messages of Koreans.
The Ministry of Information and Communication on Tuesday said the NIS traced a total of 8,440 phones or messages last year, up 4.4 percent from 8,082 in 2005. (more)
Nike calls it a "voluntary product return", ...
How could this happen in the dog eat dog world of golf equipment?
They were ratted out by a competitor.
And how would they gain by this bit of corporate espionage?
For whatever reason, even before this golf manufacturing "spy" committed corporate espionage, Nike’s product hasn’t been getting the same respect or publicity as Callaway. Even Tiger Woods doesn't have the new Sumo2 in his bag. How bad is it when your top spokesplayer snubs your product? (more)
Who should know more about security than the National Security Agency? (Hey, it's their middle name!) No one, presumably. Which is why you might want to check out a series of security configuration guides the NSA has posted for Windows XP, 2000, Mac OS X, and Sun Solaris. (more)
Romanian spy chief quits after admitting he misinformed parliament over phone tapping operations.
Claudiu Saftoiu, appointed last September by (Romanian President) Basescu, resigned after earlier telling a parliamentary committee that phone tapping of people suspected of violating national security had been conducted with the approval of the general prosecutor's office.
Later, in a letter, Saftoiu apologised, accepting that such operations could be carried out only with the authorisation of a judge.
"His move is an act of honour. He told us something and later took it back," Crin Antonescu, member of a parliamentary commission investigating opposition allegations of unconstitutional behaviour by Basescu, told Reuters.
IN - Cell phones and other electronic devices have opened new avenues for criminals, but these same technology advances have left Indiana police investigators behind.Hoping to regain lost ground, the Indiana State Police is pushing a bill in the Statehouse that would give it the authority to listen in on cell phone calls and intercept other electronic communications, such as e-mail. Local law enforcement agencies would have the same power, but only with State Police supervision.
..."Not the way I play it, no." ~W.C. Fields
New York City — A jury was chosen Monday to weigh charges against four former A.B. Watley Group Inc. executives accused of paying brokers at securities firms thousands of dollars to let them eavesdrop on share orders by institutional clients. (more)
UPDATE - 3/29/07
A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker (Timothy O'Connell, 42, of Carle Place, New York) was arrested on state gambling charges in New York, postponing his federal trial for selling access to trading information broadcast over his firm's office intercom. ... O'Connell is one of seven defendants on trial for conspiring to trade on information broadcast over internal ``squawk boxes'' at top Wall Street firms. He and brokers at Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. allowed day traders at A.B. Watley Group Inc., an online brokerage, to eavesdrop on large institutional orders, according to prosecutors. (more)
...Use a Ray Gun.
