The Yin & Yang of Wireless Baby Monitors

Historically, wireless baby monitor transmissions have been notoriously easy to intercept. Plug one in and the whole neighborhood can hear your tyke strike, your wing-nut mutt, not to mention your marital argumentals.

In short, millions have bugged their own homes and then wondered why the neighbors are giving them strange looks.

Burglars have found wireless baby monitors to be as handy as an unlocked door or open window. Hearing that a house is empty is considered risk-management in their line of work. "Tanks fur da help, lady!"

All of this has not been lost on The Great American Entrepreneur... Hey, if we could scare them into buying the first one, we can scare them into buying an eavesdropping-resistant second one!
from the seller's web site...
"Imagine what would happen if someone could listen to conversations going on in your house. What kind of sensitive information could you be talking about? How might a potential thief, kidnapper, or rapist benefit from knowing your daily routine?" ... The WireFree system uses a 900 MHz digitally secure radio link between units to keep your conversations private. Even other WireFree units not programmed for your network can't hear your conversations. (more)

Only $119.97 for a set of two!

But wait!
There's more!
Consider the dark side of this offer...
Hummmm.
Let's see... That's about $60. per voice activated Digital Bug. ...and for a total of $359.91 you get four bugs, a listening post receiver, and a back-up spare bug to keep on the shelf!

Secrets Away

Canadian transportation manufacturer Bombardier declined to comment Wednesday on a report that foreign technicians were caught stealing secrets at one of its Montreal plants last year.

The newspaper report said that Chinese technicians were especially interested in computer files at one of the jet-assembly plants and that Bombardier tried to keep the incident under wraps.

Isabelle Rondeau, a Bombardier spokeswoman, refused to comment on the story and referred calls to the company's aerospace division.

Bombardier Aerospace did not return repeated calls. (more)

You're it!

Philippines - Lacson tags ISAFP in wiretapping of Cory house

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson accused the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) yesterday of tapping the home phone of former President Corazon Aquino.

"I just got information from my mole in ISAFP. It’s them," Lacson, who was Philippine National Police (PNP) chief during the Estrada administration, told reporters.

Military intelligence officers have denied that their agency was the culprit, saying the electronic surveillance was so crude it could not have been their work.

Malacañang also denied it was behind the tapping of Mrs. Aquino’s phone in her house on Times Street in Quezon City.

Lacson said aside from the information he received from his source, he based his conclusion on the kind of wiretapping equipment discovered at a phone junction box near the former president’s residence.

"These are the old equipment we turned over to ISAFP. I am surprised that up to now, they are using them. But when we were using the equipment, we were covered by court orders. We used them only in KFR (kidnap-for-ransom) cases," he said. (more)

"...but, if we did have a reason we wouldn't tell you."

Philippines - Former President Fidel Ramos on Friday said he was also victimized by the illegal wiretapping just like former President Corazon Aquino, whose Quezon City residence was found bugged last Wednesday by still unidentified men.

“It is really saddening to have a former president, even just a former high official of the country, being bugged by somebody,” Ramos said.

He said he should know because he too was a victim of eavesdropping by people he does not know...

The military, which has the capability to wiretap phone lines, has denied involvement in the wiretapping of the Aquino residence.

AFP public information office chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said they have no reason to wiretap the former president. (more)

I got your phone, and I am coming for your computer... maybe.

Trouble ahead for those wanting to monitor Internet-based calls

The telecommunications world was a much simpler place in 1994, when the U.S. Congress passed a landmark wiretapping law. At the time, the statute was meant to take advantage of the new fact that instead of doing wiretaps the old-fashioned way—by walking into a local phone company office with a warrant and some alligator clips—law enforcement officers now could conduct a wiretap centrally on a carrier's network by duplicating a phone call digitally and directing the copy to police headquarters.

Starting on 14 May, the 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), will also apply to some voice over Internet Protocol providers, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked that it eventually be extended to all Internet-based communications. The wiretapping statute was originally designed for traditional telephone companies, which use circuit switching to create a dedicated channel for each phone call. But today, using Internet telephony, almost anyone can be a telecommunications carrier, including Google, Skype, Vonage, and Yahoo, to name just four companies that didn't exist in 1994. (more)

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

WA - Dozens of Gig Harbor High School students demonstrated outside the school Monday to protest an official's decision to show parents surveillance video of their daughter kissing another girl.

The controversy arose after the school's dean of students, Keith Nelson, saw the two kissing and holding hands and found video of it on the surveillance system. He showed it to the parents of one of the girls because they had asked to be kept apprised of her behavior.

The parents moved the girl to a different school district after watching it.

One student reporting the demonstration for the school paper, Amber Critchley, said the protesters believe it was an improper use of the surveillance video, which is primarily a security feature. (more)

Alternative scenario...
• Dean sees inappropriate conduct on school property.
• Parents have asked to be kept apprised of their child's conduct.
• Dean consults with school psychologist to determine the best way to proceed - taking into account the student's feelings as well as the parent's.

A private meeting ensues to discuss the issue. No publicity. No trust-crushing, embarrassing, jack-boot, roll-the-tape surveillance tactics. Some good comes of this for all concerned.

Wisely used, electronic surveillance remains a generally acceptable safety and security tool. Unwisely used, it degenerates into a distrusted and loathsome 1984 power-tool.

Before giving anyone a power-tool wouldn't training on safe and proper usage be appropriate?

Just a thought.

But hey, who's counting?

The number of domestic wiretap applications granted by US state judges rose 20 percent in 2006 to 1,378, while federal judges granted only 461 applications, a drop of 26 percent, according to a new report filed [press release] by the Administrative Office of the US Courts [official website]. The figures released Monday in the 2006 Wiretap Report [PDF, text] did not include national security wiretaps supposed to be cleared through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which were the subject of a separate report [PDF text; JURIST report] sent by the US Department of Justice to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi under the terms of the Patriot Act. (more)

Wiretap discovered near former President Aquino's home

Philippine phone company discovers alleged wiretap near former President Aquino's home...

Repairmen working near the home of former Philippine President Corazon Aquino found a tape recorder and alleged wiretapping device on her line in a telephone switching box, Philippine officials said Thursday.

Aquino, 74, a political icon who restored democracy in the Philippines after leading a 1986 "people power" revolt with mass protests, said she had suspected her phone was bugged "ever since the martial law" period in the 1970s.

"I've been through the worst times before," she told reporters. "All of us in the opposition then were almost sure our phones were bugged. Even when I was president, there was some wiretapping also."

She did not say who she thought might be wiretapping her phone. (more)

Have we gotta phone fur U!

(from gizmodo.com)

The press release says "Controversial Smartphone Spy Software Introduced," and I bit.

It's exactly what you'd imagine: an invisible piece of software, running on Windows Mobile smartphones, picks up the call log and all incoming and outgoing text messages, which it then uploads to an account you can check online. It does it in "total stealth mode," so that the user of the phone can't see it, even if he or she knew where to look.

Suggested uses and more shady details... (more)(more)

Phone taps in Italy spur rush toward encryption

Drumming up business would seem to be an easy task for those who sell encrypted cell phones in Italy. All they have to do is browse the major newspapers for likely customers.

Piero Fassino, national secretary of the country's Democratic Left Party, could have benefited from an encrypted phone before comments he made regarding a delicate bank takeover made the front pages.

Luciano Moggi, the former head of the Juventus soccer club, could have used one too. His phone conversations, intercepted by investigators and then leaked to the media, led to Italy's soccer game-fixing scandal.

And Prince Victor Emmanuel might wish that he had a secure cell phone before his conversations, made public, resulted in his arrest last year on charges that he provided prostitutes and dealt in illegal slot machines.

Not even Nicolo Pollari, the former head of Italy's top spy agency, was immune; transcripts of some of his conversations found their way into the newspapers. (more)

Security Misconceptions & The Jersey Bus Driver

In the secret world of Lou Lamoriello there shall be no leaks.

And to make sure, New Jersey's president, coach and GM (of the Jersey Devils) brought his own security, bus and doctors to Ottawa.

He brought four physicians to Ottawa, along with his own security detail and a bus with a New Jersey bus driver. Usually, the visiting team would bring two doctors that would work with the local doctors should a player be injured. That may prompt Ottawa doctors to talk about various injuries to the home team, however unlikely that may be.

Same goes for the security guard, who will man the bench and dressing room, and is a former FBI agent.

Even more unusual, the Devils sent an empty bus from Jersey in order to shuttle the team back and forth from their hotel so as to avoid spilling secrets to an eavesdropping local bus driver. Wow. (more) (more)

Wow, indeed. DIY brain surgery is a safer bet. How about a security briefing for the team? If they don't discuss business in public places, or around outsiders, there will be nothing to leak! Is a Jersey bus driver really more effective than that? Will anyone check the bus, locker room or hotel rooms for bugs? Probably not. What about a subtle disinformation campaign? And, how/why did a Canadian newspaper learn about The New Jersey team's "security strategy" in the first place??? What the team really needs is professional counterespionage assistance.

...thus, obtaining full control of one's head-quarters.

Iran - The Islamic Republic’s Telecommunications Ministry has been empowered by the ayatollahs to eavesdrop on any and all mobile phone calls in the state’s relentless quest to drive out dissipated utterances, debauched SMS and dissolute video messages. ...

Meanwhile, as an adjunct to the crackdown on SMS and MMS traffic, barbers across Iran have been ordered to stop offering men “Western or other unconventional haircuts” on pain of closure of their business and possible imprisonment. (more)

Wal-Mart Faces More Eavesdropping Allegations

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has used a myriad of tactics, including some that are illegal, to hinder the ability of its workers to form labor unions, a human rights group said in a report to be released on Tuesday.

According to Human Rights Watch, the world's largest retailer has restricted the dissemination and discussion of pro-union views, threatened to withhold benefits from workers who organize, interrogated workers about their union sympathies and sent managers to eavesdrop on employee conversations. ...

Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said the Human Rights Watch report is based on "unsubstantiated allegations"... (more)

From the report...
"Wal-Mart has also used several illegal techniques to gather information about union activity while simultaneously pressuring workers to stop organizing. The company has coercively interrogated workers about their and their co-workers’ union sympathies through direct and often hostile questioning and sent managers to eavesdrop on discussions among employees in a proposed bargaining unit. According to former workers and managers fromWal-Mart’s Kingman, Arizona, store, Wal-Mart has also monitored union security cameras on areas where union organizing is most active.15 These chilling effect on workers’ willingness to organize.

Terry Daly, a former loss prevention worker charged with preventing shoplifting at the Kingman, Mart, who was ambivalent about union formation, explained to Human Rights Watch that drive at his store:

"In loss prevention, we were to monitor any activity that we thought might be organized in certain areas. I was told with the cameras that we had to make shots more available, monitor a better area so we could see any activity going on that might be unusual."

He added that, in particular, they were supposed to focus on union leader Brad Jones. “[We were to] monitor cameras and report back what we saw. We needed to find a reason to fire Brad.” 16

15 See below, “VII. Freedom of Association at Wal-Mart: Anti-Union Tactics Deemed Illegal Under US Law,” subsection “Union Activity Surveillance.” The NLRB never addressed the allegations of camera-based surveillance at the Kingman store, however.

16 Human Rights Watch interview with Terry Daly, former Wal-Mart loss prevention worker, Kingman, Arizona, March 17, 2005.

World's Best Crabcakes (still)

Food Spy Diary

May 2001 - While at the NSA this week I picked up the following bit of intelligence... "Go to a non-descript strip mall in Linthicum, MD. Look for the 'G&M' sign."

I arrived at 10:54 AM. The door was locked. Other people were milling around waiting... waiting for their fix. At precisely 11:00 AM the door was unlocked. Everyone filed in and took seats.

According to the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, I had just entered the home of "the best crab cake platter." ... After barely finishing my baseball-sized crabcakes (you get two), I had to agree. These are The Best! ... P.S. You can order them over the Internet. Delivered FRESH (not frozen) by FedEx.

September 2002 - 'G&M' has baseball-sized crabcakes (you get two). Still 'the best'.

May 2007 - Nothing has changed. The place is still non-descript. The parking lot appears to be full of the same cars. The interior still makes me itch. Cryptonerds still populate the tables, and... 'G&M' is still pumping out "The World's Best Crabcakes". (more)

Repo Men Have Spy Problems Too

"I have a friend who owns a small company in a larger city here in the South. Not long ago, he discovered that someone was going thru his trash bin when he rolled it out the night before pick up. He happens to have his office and lot next to another business that has security cameras, one of which also covers the front of his building and trash bin in it's scope. When he asked to see the video from a certain night, he learned it was a longtime employee of a medium sized company that we both worked for at one time.

Apparently this guy was dumpster diving to get at any records that would show who his clients are, fee schedules, etc. When we worked together for this larger company, it was not uncommon for us to be told to go by competitor's lots and write down tag numbers on the repo's to get the lien holder info. ...

The last thing we should have to worry about is our fellow repossessor, yet unfortunately, we all need to realize that they are our biggest threat of all." ~ David J. Branch