UK - A private detective firm earned tens of thousands of pounds by hacking into people's computers and bugging telephones, a court has heard. Active Investigation Services (AIS) had a number of "lucrative sidelines" under the title "Hackers Are Us", Southwark Crown Court was told.
These included using "Trojan" viruses to enter computers and hi-tech devices to bug phones, the prosecution claimed. ... Documents found by police during their investigation showed how the firm charged up to £7,000 a month for phone bugging or hacking into a computer, and £2,000 to obtain details about a bank account.
Hi-tech devices used to bug phones were installed by interception specialist Michael Hall, the court was told. Prosecutors said a number of them were fitted to BT's telegraph poles and inside junction boxes, but BT eventually hid a camera in one of the boxes and caught him at work.
Five men associated with the agency deny a total of 15 charges.
One of those accused is American banking heir Matthew Mellon, 43, who the prosecution claim paid AIS to hack into the e-mails of his estranged wife prior to their divorce.
The court was told that Mr. Mellon, a multi-millionaire from Belgravia, central London, asked Hackers Are Us to snoop on spouse Tamara, head of the Jimmy Choo shoe empire. (more)
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
1900 Prediction of 2000 Police X-Ray Vision
How many lives would be saved if firefighters could see right into buildings?Until recently, few but the U.S. military and certain SWAT teams had radar equipment that could locate people through walls. Now an Israeli startup called Camero is marketing a version of the technology to police, fire, and rescue teams.
The saver... Camero's device, the Xaver (pronounced "saver") 800, emits an ultra-wideband signal that travels through plaster, brick, and even reinforced concrete. It then calculates the distance and orientation of everything on the other side--people, furniture, weapons--in real time.
"A rescue worker can locate trapped people in a matter of seconds," says Camero CEO Aharon Aharon. Dense walls reduce Xaver's maximum viewing distance of 26 feet, but Aharon predicts that within five years, new technology will enable the device to see as far as 300 feet into a building.
Camero isn't the only company trying to commercialize X-ray vision. Alabama-based Time Domain sells a $33,000 gadget called RadarVision2 that displays moving objects as radarlike blips. But the Xaver pieces together a full three-dimensional image of each person it locates. (more)
This, and other postcards, predicting the future in the year 2000, were produced by Hildebrands, a leading German chocolate company of the time as a give-a-way item. (more)
Just Coincidence?
Two former Ferrari employees have been sentenced to suspended jail terms after being found guilty of industrial espionage.Mauro Iacconi and Angelo Santini were found to have spied on the Scuderia while working for Toyota - who sacked them before the case was made public.
Suspicions had been raised when Toyota's TF103 car that was used in 2003 showed similarities to Ferrari's F2002. (more)
Everything is bigger in Texas
Senate approves bill expanding wiretapping powers
The Texas Senate approved a broad homeland security bill on Wednesday that expands wiretapping authorities to include cellular telephones and investigations involving kidnapping, human trafficking and money laundering.
The bill also limits the sale of prepaid cell phones and says the companies that provide the phone service must store customers' names and other identifying information. Additionally, the legislation allows police to use photos and videos taken by cameras at toll booths to prosecute any crime. (more)
The Texas Senate approved a broad homeland security bill on Wednesday that expands wiretapping authorities to include cellular telephones and investigations involving kidnapping, human trafficking and money laundering.
The bill also limits the sale of prepaid cell phones and says the companies that provide the phone service must store customers' names and other identifying information. Additionally, the legislation allows police to use photos and videos taken by cameras at toll booths to prosecute any crime. (more)
"Help me if you can, I'm feeling down Louisiana close to New Orleans..."
Marty Baylor works on solving the "cocktail party problem" that keeps electronic devices from picking out individual voices from a group. Her research at CU could change communications systems, her adviser says.Baylor studies mixed signals, unscrambling them with a laser system.
Leaning over a delicate setup on a laboratory table, long braids pulled back in a practical headband, Baylor points out refractive crystals, modulators, mirrors and beam splitters.
She describes the "cocktail party problem" that she and others are trying to solve: Human ears and brains are great at picking out single voices from a group, but getting electronic devices to do the same task has proved vexing.
An easy and quick solution could improve hearing aids, cellphones, and help intelligence agents eavesdrop on enemy communications.
It also would enable scientists to sort out signals from a set of robots sent to a distant planet.
For nonphysicists, Baylor and her colleagues have developed a demonstration - she creates a mix of the Beatles' "Help," and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" on a computer.
At first, it's cacophony.
Then, within seconds, Berry's guitar fades, and only "Help" remains.
"As far as I know, we're the only people in the world who solve the problem this way," Baylor said. (more)
"And then layin' in the Bombay alley next day..."
India - In a month-long sting operation,Tehelka (a local newspaper)
caught Sawla (a local builder)
on a spycam saying Pasricha (the Director General of Properties) was his ‘guardian’ and had been helping soft-pedal the on-going investigation against him.
Tehelka has Sawla’s cellphone records since January 1, 2007, but even this three-month record shows Sawla to have been calling up Pasricha almost every week, sometimes twice a day. ... In 2004, when Pasricha was chief of the Anti-Corruption Bureau he had booked an entire floor of a residential tower being constructed by Sawla under a slum rehabilitation project in the posh Juhu area of Mumbai. (more)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Eavesdropping - The Next Frontier
SETI Researchers Propose Eavesdropping on Alien Civilizations The only way an alien civilization can be found, is if it is already sending us a beacon, hailing us across the great emptiness. A civilization that chooses to stay quiet, as we ourselves do, would never be found by current SETI projects. This, however, is about to change.
In a presentation today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, Washington, Avi Loeb of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) proposed a radically new type search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Instead of looking for a beacon, he suggested, we should rather look for normal (?!?!) electromagnetic signals that are produced by a civilization such as our own.
In our case these would include radio and television broadcasts, as well as military radar signals that are the strongest of all.
According to Loeb it is reasonable to expect that alien civilizations also produce these types of electromagnetic signals, that spill out naturally into space. Most importantly, he argued, we will soon be in a position where we can eavesdrop on them. (more)
...as if "Over 250 Channels and Counting!" on Directv isn't enough.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
"To spy or not to spy?" That is not the question.
Should IT Departments Oversee Spying Operations?
Wal-Mart recently fired two employees for illegally recording conversations with a news reporter, after notifying authorities about the incident. One of the fired employees claims the company maintains an internal surveillance organization, which keeps tabs on company critics, employees and who knows what else. What really caught my attention, was an AP story I read that said the surveillance unit, called the Threat Research and Analysis Group, was a unit of Wal-Mart's Information Systems Division. Other stories from other sources say the group worked on the third floor of Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., technology offices.
The issue of corporate spying aside, I found it interesting that this group is supposedly attached to the IT department. On the one hand, given the role technology can play in monitoring employee computer activity and network access attempts, all fairly normal corporate activities - it's not surprising IT would be involved in corporate surveillance. On the other hand, keeping tabs on critics and competitors, regardless of the technology deployed, would seem to be an activity better suited for the oversight of the legal or corporate security department. (more)
Wal-Mart recently fired two employees for illegally recording conversations with a news reporter, after notifying authorities about the incident. One of the fired employees claims the company maintains an internal surveillance organization, which keeps tabs on company critics, employees and who knows what else. What really caught my attention, was an AP story I read that said the surveillance unit, called the Threat Research and Analysis Group, was a unit of Wal-Mart's Information Systems Division. Other stories from other sources say the group worked on the third floor of Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., technology offices.
The issue of corporate spying aside, I found it interesting that this group is supposedly attached to the IT department. On the one hand, given the role technology can play in monitoring employee computer activity and network access attempts, all fairly normal corporate activities - it's not surprising IT would be involved in corporate surveillance. On the other hand, keeping tabs on critics and competitors, regardless of the technology deployed, would seem to be an activity better suited for the oversight of the legal or corporate security department. (more)
Fired deputy gives 'wishy washy' explanation for bugging neighbor
AR - A Mountain Home police detective says a Baxter County sheriff's deputy (David Paul) who was arrested for allegedly planting a listening device in his neighbor's apartment gave investigators a "wishy washy" explanation for why he bugged the residence. ...
The 35-year-old Paul was fired after the neighbor discovered the microphone and police investigated Sunday. ...
Police say Paul allegedly accessed his neighbor's upstairs apartment by going through his own ceiling. Authorities noted four holes in the ceiling of Paul's apartment, and authorities say Paul admitted to cutting the holes and trying to eavesdrop. The neighbor said he noticed the microphone when he walked across the carpet and felt something underneath. He made a small cut in the carpet and found a computer type microphone. (more)
The 35-year-old Paul was fired after the neighbor discovered the microphone and police investigated Sunday. ...
Police say Paul allegedly accessed his neighbor's upstairs apartment by going through his own ceiling. Authorities noted four holes in the ceiling of Paul's apartment, and authorities say Paul admitted to cutting the holes and trying to eavesdrop. The neighbor said he noticed the microphone when he walked across the carpet and felt something underneath. He made a small cut in the carpet and found a computer type microphone. (more)
As the World Squirms
Sophia had known that Simon was going to be there on that night last September because she had been using the latest gadgets to spy on the love rat. (more)
"How should I handle a colleague who eavesdrops?"
Q. How should I handle a colleague who constantly eavesdrops on my conversations?
N.S., Eugene, Ore.
A. You have three choices: do nothing, confront the eavesdropper immediately, or talk to the eavesdropper at a time other than when the eavesdropping is taking place.
If the eavesdropping is just a minor annoyance, you'll need to decide whether it's really an issue you want to confront the eavesdropper about or whether you can deal with it some other way -- such as suggesting to the person you're talking with, "Jane, let's move to a conference room to continue our conversation."
If you decide the situation warrants action, you could try saying something at the moment the eavesdropping occurs: "Tom, I couldn't help noticing that you're listening to our conversation. Would you mind giving us a little privacy? We'd really appreciate it."
The problem with this approach is that Tom may react badly, in which case your conversation could deteriorate.
The preferred solution is to speak to the eavesdropper later, in private: "Tom, I asked to talk with you because something's happening that's making me uncomfortable. I've noticed that sometimes you seem to be hanging around listening in on my private conversations. Could I ask you to give me some space in these situations, so I can talk without being overheard? Other times, when it's not a private conversation, I'll make every effort to include you. Is that OK with you?" (source)
N.S., Eugene, Ore.
A. You have three choices: do nothing, confront the eavesdropper immediately, or talk to the eavesdropper at a time other than when the eavesdropping is taking place.
If the eavesdropping is just a minor annoyance, you'll need to decide whether it's really an issue you want to confront the eavesdropper about or whether you can deal with it some other way -- such as suggesting to the person you're talking with, "Jane, let's move to a conference room to continue our conversation."
If you decide the situation warrants action, you could try saying something at the moment the eavesdropping occurs: "Tom, I couldn't help noticing that you're listening to our conversation. Would you mind giving us a little privacy? We'd really appreciate it."
The problem with this approach is that Tom may react badly, in which case your conversation could deteriorate.
The preferred solution is to speak to the eavesdropper later, in private: "Tom, I asked to talk with you because something's happening that's making me uncomfortable. I've noticed that sometimes you seem to be hanging around listening in on my private conversations. Could I ask you to give me some space in these situations, so I can talk without being overheard? Other times, when it's not a private conversation, I'll make every effort to include you. Is that OK with you?" (source)
Spouse Detectives - Wales
Wales - The wife of ex-Wales international and Fulham manager Chris Coleman was front-page news this week when she was accused of bugging his Range Rover, suspicious of the time he was spending away from home.
But more shocking is the number of suspicious spouses out there who are keeping tabs on their other halves.
Cigarette-packet cameras, pens that double as microphones, plug-socket bugs and mobiles that receive texts bound for another phone are just some of the hi-tech gizmos snoopers can buy off the internet to spy on their loved ones. Bargain basement bugs can be bought for as little as... (more)
But more shocking is the number of suspicious spouses out there who are keeping tabs on their other halves.
Cigarette-packet cameras, pens that double as microphones, plug-socket bugs and mobiles that receive texts bound for another phone are just some of the hi-tech gizmos snoopers can buy off the internet to spy on their loved ones. Bargain basement bugs can be bought for as little as... (more)
Malaysia jams mobiles to frustrate spies
Malaysia has banned mobile phones and installed electronic jamming devices in key parts of its administrative capital to block spying on official discussions, a newspaper said on Monday.
"The widespread use of these devices, especially handphones with camera facilities, has serious implications on security," the Star newspaper quoted Malaysia's top bureaucrat, Mohamed Sidek Hassan, as saying in a recent message to officials.
Mohamed Sidek also asked department heads to designate areas where official matters are discussed as "information security zones," the paper added.
"The widespread use of these devices, especially handphones with camera facilities, has serious implications on security," the Star newspaper quoted Malaysia's top bureaucrat, Mohamed Sidek Hassan, as saying in a recent message to officials.
Mohamed Sidek also asked department heads to designate areas where official matters are discussed as "information security zones," the paper added.
The Off The Wal-Mart Squash Match Continues
Paranoia strikes deep.
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you're always afraid.
-- Stephen Stills
(from The New York Times) "First we learned that a Wal-Mart employee taped phone calls between Michael Barbaro, a New York Times reporter, and Wal-Mart officials. This came after The Times reported on a Wal-Mart memo that suggested such clever tactics as forcing all shop clerks to spend some time hauling shopping carts in from the parking lot -- the better to weed out unhealthy workers who might submit health insurance claims.
Wal-Mart fired the employee it said was responsible for taping the calls, a man named Bruce Gabbard, and said his actions were unauthorized. Then Mr. Gabbard started talking to The Wall Street Journal, saying the department he worked for had spied on critics. Wal-Mart quickly issued apologies to the critics and got a judge to order Mr. Gabbard to stop talking.
Mr. Gabbard said he told a Wal-Mart lawyer that ''I'm the guy listening to the board of directors when Lee Scott is excused from the room.''
Does that mean that Mr. Scott authorized spying on his own board when it was discussing his performance? If so, it would be a shocking breach of corporate etiquette and governance.
For a few days after that quote appeared, Wal-Mart declined to comment. But eventually a company spokeswoman, Mona Williams, did issue a denial: ''We never would have authorized'' bugging board meetings, she said, and Mr. Scott never listened to any such tapes. (more)
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you're always afraid.
-- Stephen Stills
(from The New York Times) "First we learned that a Wal-Mart employee taped phone calls between Michael Barbaro, a New York Times reporter, and Wal-Mart officials. This came after The Times reported on a Wal-Mart memo that suggested such clever tactics as forcing all shop clerks to spend some time hauling shopping carts in from the parking lot -- the better to weed out unhealthy workers who might submit health insurance claims.
Wal-Mart fired the employee it said was responsible for taping the calls, a man named Bruce Gabbard, and said his actions were unauthorized. Then Mr. Gabbard started talking to The Wall Street Journal, saying the department he worked for had spied on critics. Wal-Mart quickly issued apologies to the critics and got a judge to order Mr. Gabbard to stop talking.
Mr. Gabbard said he told a Wal-Mart lawyer that ''I'm the guy listening to the board of directors when Lee Scott is excused from the room.''
Does that mean that Mr. Scott authorized spying on his own board when it was discussing his performance? If so, it would be a shocking breach of corporate etiquette and governance.
For a few days after that quote appeared, Wal-Mart declined to comment. But eventually a company spokeswoman, Mona Williams, did issue a denial: ''We never would have authorized'' bugging board meetings, she said, and Mr. Scott never listened to any such tapes. (more)
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