NC - A U.S. Air Force reservist was ordered to spend 90 days in prison Thursday after he was convicted of spying on his adopted daughter with a Web cam and downloading child pornographic videos.
Thomas Edward Anderson, 41, of 501 Goldleaf Drive, was charged with 10 counts each of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of secret peeping. On Thursday, a jury of six women and six men found him guilty on all counts. ...
The case which led to a joint investigation by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and the SBI began in April 2005 when Clara Anderson discovered a Web cam in her bedroom, hidden in a heating and air conditioning vent and connected to a computer.
Sheriff's detectives were called to investigate and the computer was seized. (more)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
U.S. Customs Breaks Privacy Laws
The Department of Homeland Security is breaking privacy laws by failing to tell the public all the ways it uses personal information to target passengers boarding flights entering or leaving the U.S., according to a draft report the Government Accountability Office plans to release tomorrow. (more)
Sing-a-long while you read.
Sing-a-long while you read.
Colombia Admits Illegal Wiretapping Operation
Columbia - An illegal police wiretapping operation against journalists, opposition figures and government members included the man President Alvaro Uribe defeated in the last election, his defense minister acknowledged Tuesday.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos insisted that the Uribe administration was unaware of the police spying operation. "We don't know who ordered these interceptions and the government has never learned what they contain," he said.
Santos refused to reveal all the known victims of the wiretapping...
Political opponents and investigative journalists have complained for years of being harassed and wiretapped by Colombia's security forces, who have received U.S. eavesdropping equipment and training for criminal investigations against drug traffickers and leftist rebels. (more)
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos insisted that the Uribe administration was unaware of the police spying operation. "We don't know who ordered these interceptions and the government has never learned what they contain," he said.
Santos refused to reveal all the known victims of the wiretapping...
Political opponents and investigative journalists have complained for years of being harassed and wiretapped by Colombia's security forces, who have received U.S. eavesdropping equipment and training for criminal investigations against drug traffickers and leftist rebels. (more)
Friday, May 11, 2007
Quote of the Day
"Anything you use on a daily basis that requires research, they're trying to steal," said Ray Morrow, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh division...
America has no friends when it comes to the research that gives its companies, universities and government a competitive edge. Countries all over the world _ including friends and allies _ would like to have that research, and they would love to get it for free. ... While private companies have long been aware of economic espionage, it's largely new territory for universities. (more)
America has no friends when it comes to the research that gives its companies, universities and government a competitive edge. Countries all over the world _ including friends and allies _ would like to have that research, and they would love to get it for free. ... While private companies have long been aware of economic espionage, it's largely new territory for universities. (more)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Quote of the Day
"I know there is technology with which you can eavesdrop and hear a cockroach fart. But from what I saw our agents had watched too many American movies." ~Adam Lusekelo, Daily News columnist in Dar es Salaam humorously describing the Tanzanian Secret Service. (more)
Adam, our agents look the pretty much the same. (more)
Adam, our agents look the pretty much the same. (more)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
A peek under political skirts reveals $$$ for buggers
Philippines - A well-placed officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) warned yesterday that advanced wiretapping capabilities might have already slipped out of the control of law enforcers and into the hands of people tapping the phone lines of politicians running in the midterm elections.
The source said people who seek to acquire the know-how and capability for wiretapping outside of police functions can offer their services for large fees to politicians who want valuable information about their opponents or enemies.
The PNP insider claimed to have training with systems to bug both landline and mobile phones, as well as calls from foreign countries to both types of telephones.
He cited the alleged bugging of the Aquino residence as a warning that indicates the "spilling out" of wiretapping capabilities outside the sphere of police investigative work.
"Wiretapping could even be used to blackmail individuals," the source said. (more)
The source said people who seek to acquire the know-how and capability for wiretapping outside of police functions can offer their services for large fees to politicians who want valuable information about their opponents or enemies.
The PNP insider claimed to have training with systems to bug both landline and mobile phones, as well as calls from foreign countries to both types of telephones.
He cited the alleged bugging of the Aquino residence as a warning that indicates the "spilling out" of wiretapping capabilities outside the sphere of police investigative work.
"Wiretapping could even be used to blackmail individuals," the source said. (more)
SpyCam Story #353
PA - A man admitted secretly recording three teenage girls in his shower and bathroom with a miniature camera mounted in an electrical socket.
Thomas C. Hull, who pleaded guilty Tuesday, "was having a lot of marital problems and psychological strife," said his defense attorney, Robert Davis Gleason. "He should have gone and sought counseling."
The girls were friends of a relative and were recorded by Hull in April 2006, authorities said. His estranged wife found the images when she went to get some belongings and then reported them to police, investigators said. (more)
Thomas C. Hull, who pleaded guilty Tuesday, "was having a lot of marital problems and psychological strife," said his defense attorney, Robert Davis Gleason. "He should have gone and sought counseling."
The girls were friends of a relative and were recorded by Hull in April 2006, authorities said. His estranged wife found the images when she went to get some belongings and then reported them to police, investigators said. (more)
"But, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night."
CA - James Earl Edmiston, the man who fooled judges and attorneys alike when he fraudulently passed himself off as a computer forensics expert, pleaded guilty Friday to federal perjury charges. (more)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
"Now, touch your off button with your finger."
NH - A 48-year-old Chestnut Street man was arrested early this morning for wiretapping for allegedly recording police while they were investigating him for driving while intoxicated.
Police say they were patrolling the downtown area at 2:54 a.m. when they discovered Christopher A. Power of 52 Chestnut St. sitting in the driver's seat of a vehicle with its motor running at the Rochester Common.
After speaking with Power, police began investigating him for driving while intoxicated and arrested him. During the arrest an audio recording device was discovered.
"During a search after the arrest an audio recorder was discovered on the driver's seat cushion," Capt. Paul Callaghan said. "The officer noticed that the recorder was recording."
Power was charged with driving while intoxicated and wiretapping, which is a Class B felony. (more)
Defense #1: How does a voice recorder constitute a wiretap?
Defense #2: "Iwasss jus sittin' here praktesing my kerreeeokee-ookeeeydoookeeeyy?" (hiccup)
Police say they were patrolling the downtown area at 2:54 a.m. when they discovered Christopher A. Power of 52 Chestnut St. sitting in the driver's seat of a vehicle with its motor running at the Rochester Common.
After speaking with Power, police began investigating him for driving while intoxicated and arrested him. During the arrest an audio recording device was discovered.
"During a search after the arrest an audio recorder was discovered on the driver's seat cushion," Capt. Paul Callaghan said. "The officer noticed that the recorder was recording."
Power was charged with driving while intoxicated and wiretapping, which is a Class B felony. (more)
Defense #1: How does a voice recorder constitute a wiretap?
Defense #2: "Iwasss jus sittin' here praktesing my kerreeeokee-ookeeeydoookeeeyy?" (hiccup)
Monday, May 7, 2007
Just wait until they get a Cook Island "video spycam" dollar!
An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind a U.S. Defense Department false espionage warning earlier this year about mysterious coin-like objects with radio frequency transmitters, The Associated Press has learned. The harmless "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors traveling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology," according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained by the AP.
The silver-colored 25-cent piece features the red image of a poppy — Canada's flower of remembrance — inlaid over a maple leaf. The unorthodox quarter is identical to the coins pictured and described as suspicious in the contractors' accounts. (more)
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first television, the Cook Islands issued a 39mm copper-nickel 1 Dollar coin in 2006. Pictured on the coin is a black and white picture of John L. Baird, the first successful inventor of electronic television, and a moving recreation of his first broadcast; a hand moving in front of a puppet. The obverse pictures Queen Elizabeth... (more)
They wouldn't have tried this with Genghis Khan
Mongolia - Legal enforcement agencies have been accused of listening in on telephone conversations, a totally unacceptable encroachment on the privacy of individuals guaranteed by Mongolian laws and democratic norms.
The Niigmiin Toli (“Social Mirror”) published on Monday a list of around 300 mobile telephone subscribers, including individuals and organizations, whose lines are regularly tapped. These included at least two diplomatic missions, two international aid organizations, business companies, some of them foreign-invested, mining companies, and banks. This was followed by a list of 200 names on Tuesday, and again 300 on Wednesday. The lists now have become a virtual Who’s Who in Mongolian politics and business, as well as diplomacy and foreign aid.
The newspaper also claims that certain numbers in the name of the President of Mongolia, N. Enkhbayar, as also of the Prime Minister, M. Enkhbold, are under such surveillance. (more)
The Niigmiin Toli (“Social Mirror”) published on Monday a list of around 300 mobile telephone subscribers, including individuals and organizations, whose lines are regularly tapped. These included at least two diplomatic missions, two international aid organizations, business companies, some of them foreign-invested, mining companies, and banks. This was followed by a list of 200 names on Tuesday, and again 300 on Wednesday. The lists now have become a virtual Who’s Who in Mongolian politics and business, as well as diplomacy and foreign aid.
The newspaper also claims that certain numbers in the name of the President of Mongolia, N. Enkhbayar, as also of the Prime Minister, M. Enkhbold, are under such surveillance. (more)
VoIP eavesdropping rules face mounting challenge
New US rules forcing ISPs and universities to rewire their networks for FBI surveillance of email and Web browsing are being challenged in court.
Telecommunications firms, non-profit organisations and educators are asking the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC to overturn the controversial rules, which dramatically extend the sweep of an 11-year-old surveillance law designed to guarantee police the ability to eavesdrop on telephone calls. (more)
Telecommunications firms, non-profit organisations and educators are asking the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC to overturn the controversial rules, which dramatically extend the sweep of an 11-year-old surveillance law designed to guarantee police the ability to eavesdrop on telephone calls. (more)
Mom's snooping on daughter violated privacy act
WA - In a victory for rebellious teenagers everywhere, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a mother violated Washington's privacy act by eavesdropping on her daughter's phone conversation.
"It's ridiculous! Kids have more rights than parents these days," said Carmen Dixon, 47, of Friday Harbor. "My daughter was out of control, and that was the only way I could get information and keep track of her. I did it all the time."
The Supreme Court ruled that Dixon's testimony against a friend of her daughter's should not have been admitted in court because it was based on the intercepted conversation.
The justices unanimously ordered a new trial for Oliver Christensen, who had been convicted of second-degree robbery partly because of Dixon's testimony.
The case started with a purse snatching that shocked the island town of Friday Harbor, population 2,000. On Oct. 24, 2000, two young men knocked down an elderly woman, breaking her glasses, and stole her purse. Christensen, then 17, was a suspect.
When Christensen called the Dixon house later, Lacey Dixon, then 14, took the cordless phone into her bedroom and shut the door. Carmen Dixon hit the "speakerphone" button on the phone base and took notes on the conversation -- in which Christensen said he knew the whereabouts of the purloined purse.
The ruling will not likely result in parents being prosecuted for snooping, Cumming said. But it forbids courts and law enforcement from using the fruits of such snooping. (more) (more)
"It's ridiculous! Kids have more rights than parents these days," said Carmen Dixon, 47, of Friday Harbor. "My daughter was out of control, and that was the only way I could get information and keep track of her. I did it all the time."
The Supreme Court ruled that Dixon's testimony against a friend of her daughter's should not have been admitted in court because it was based on the intercepted conversation.
The justices unanimously ordered a new trial for Oliver Christensen, who had been convicted of second-degree robbery partly because of Dixon's testimony.
The case started with a purse snatching that shocked the island town of Friday Harbor, population 2,000. On Oct. 24, 2000, two young men knocked down an elderly woman, breaking her glasses, and stole her purse. Christensen, then 17, was a suspect.
When Christensen called the Dixon house later, Lacey Dixon, then 14, took the cordless phone into her bedroom and shut the door. Carmen Dixon hit the "speakerphone" button on the phone base and took notes on the conversation -- in which Christensen said he knew the whereabouts of the purloined purse.
The ruling will not likely result in parents being prosecuted for snooping, Cumming said. But it forbids courts and law enforcement from using the fruits of such snooping. (more) (more)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Philippine Ex-President Wiretapped (update)
Police and telecommunication officials confirmed on Thursday that a bugging device had been discovered attached to the telephone lines of former president Corazon Aquino in Quezon City.
Technicians found the device installed inside a main junction box on Times Street, where telephones in Aquino’s neighborhood are connected. The report said the technicians removed the device from the PLDT box and brought it to their office where they confirmed that it is an electronic listening device.
The back story...
Aquino (who suspects this was an illegal government operation), once one of President Arroyo’s closest allies, became one of the critics of the administration at the height of the "Hello Garci" controversy in July 2005. (more)
The former president had called on Mrs. Arroyo "to make the supreme sacrifice" and turn-over the presidency to Vice-President Noli de Castro at the height of the scandal triggered by taped conversations between the President and then Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano that purportedly showed that they conspired to rig the 2004 presidential election.
Technicians found the device installed inside a main junction box on Times Street, where telephones in Aquino’s neighborhood are connected. The report said the technicians removed the device from the PLDT box and brought it to their office where they confirmed that it is an electronic listening device.
The back story...
Aquino (who suspects this was an illegal government operation), once one of President Arroyo’s closest allies, became one of the critics of the administration at the height of the "Hello Garci" controversy in July 2005. (more)
The former president had called on Mrs. Arroyo "to make the supreme sacrifice" and turn-over the presidency to Vice-President Noli de Castro at the height of the scandal triggered by taped conversations between the President and then Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano that purportedly showed that they conspired to rig the 2004 presidential election.
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