CIA Secret Documents Released
The newly released documents known within the Central Intelligence Agency as the "Family Jewels" give a history of the agency's misdeeds covering several decades. (more)
Me too! Me too!
Russia’s FSB security service, successor to the KGB, has opened its archives on the mass persecution of political 'enemies' during the rule of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, but only relatives of victims will be allowed to see any information. (more)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Rocky & His Friends
Iran - According to IRNA, the official Islamic Republic news agency, the national Police chief has implicitly verified the news about the confiscation of a number of squirrels, equipped with eavesdropping devices, on the Iranian borders.He has declined to give any more details, but, reportedly, when asked about the confiscation of 14 spy squirrels, he stated, “I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information”. IRNA adds, “These squirrels were equipped by foreign intelligence services, but were captured two weeks ago by the Police”.
---
"I tried searching the IRNA site (in English) and wasn’t able to find any articles on “spy squirrels.”
Kamangir: IRNA, and other news sources, do not translate all their news in English. I assure you that I have given a proper translation of the Persian source. Unfortunately, Google does not provide English-Persian translation, yet. (more) (video)
---
& His Friends
Iran has arrested 20 people - including some foreigners - near the border with Iraq and accused them of belonging to a spy network, the state-run news agency reported Monday.
The IRNA news agency did not provide the nationalities of the foreigners. Iran last month claimed to have uncovered spy rings organized by the United States and its Western allies.
IRNA, quoting the head of the intelligence department in the Kerman Shah province, said the 20 were trained by intelligence services "of the enemy" for economic, military, political, cultural and social purposes. (more)
Monday, July 9, 2007
Alleged Ferrari 'spy' flees Italy
Former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney says he has left Italy fearing for his safety after being accused of passing confidential information to McLaren's chief designer.
"There have been high-speed car chases. We've been followed by more than one car, with Italian plates, and when we cornered one of them last Thursday evening the men in it refused to speak," the Observer newspaper quoted him as saying on Monday.
"I don't believe they were journalists," the 47-year-old Briton added.
"There was tracking gear on my car. Someone was going to get hurt. I had no option to get out of Italy."
Stepney was dismissed by Ferrari at the start of the week after Formula One's Italian glamour team took legal action against him for the "theft of technical information". (more)
"There have been high-speed car chases. We've been followed by more than one car, with Italian plates, and when we cornered one of them last Thursday evening the men in it refused to speak," the Observer newspaper quoted him as saying on Monday.
"I don't believe they were journalists," the 47-year-old Briton added.
"There was tracking gear on my car. Someone was going to get hurt. I had no option to get out of Italy."
Stepney was dismissed by Ferrari at the start of the week after Formula One's Italian glamour team took legal action against him for the "theft of technical information". (more)
Eye Loves New York
By the end of this year, police officials say, more than 100 cameras will have begun monitoring cars moving through Lower Manhattan, the beginning phase of a London-style surveillance system that would be the first in the United States.
The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, as the plan is called, will resemble London’s so-called Ring of Steel, an extensive web of cameras and roadblocks designed to detect, track and deter terrorists. British officials said images captured by the cameras helped track suspects after the London subway bombings in 2005 and the car bomb plots last month.
If the program is fully financed, it will include not only license plate readers but also 3,000 public and private security cameras below Canal Street, as well as a center staffed by the police and private security officers, and movable roadblocks. (more)
The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, as the plan is called, will resemble London’s so-called Ring of Steel, an extensive web of cameras and roadblocks designed to detect, track and deter terrorists. British officials said images captured by the cameras helped track suspects after the London subway bombings in 2005 and the car bomb plots last month.
If the program is fully financed, it will include not only license plate readers but also 3,000 public and private security cameras below Canal Street, as well as a center staffed by the police and private security officers, and movable roadblocks. (more)
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Bug the Judge Blowout - One Week Later
ISLAMABAD: Following the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to purge the Supreme Court, residences and offices of the judges of all bugging devices within a week, intelligence agencies remained busy to comply with the unprecedented orders of the apex court.
Sources seeking anonymity told The Frontier Post that the officials at the intelligence agencies spent a busy week ensuring that no bugging device is left at any of the places mentioned above.
Sources said that most of the devices used for bugging are planted in the vicinity of telephone exchanges or at meeting places but private places are exempted.
They informed that a special team was sent to clear those lodges which have been assigned to judges or judicial officers in Islamabad.
Supreme Court has also ordered the Director General Intelligence Bureau (IB) to file a personal affidavit declaring that all the buildings associated with the judges of the superior court are safe and without any bugging device. The affidavit is likely to be submitted on Monday. (more)
Sources seeking anonymity told The Frontier Post that the officials at the intelligence agencies spent a busy week ensuring that no bugging device is left at any of the places mentioned above.
Sources said that most of the devices used for bugging are planted in the vicinity of telephone exchanges or at meeting places but private places are exempted.
They informed that a special team was sent to clear those lodges which have been assigned to judges or judicial officers in Islamabad.
Supreme Court has also ordered the Director General Intelligence Bureau (IB) to file a personal affidavit declaring that all the buildings associated with the judges of the superior court are safe and without any bugging device. The affidavit is likely to be submitted on Monday. (more)
Toys "R" Us - Telephone Bug Kit
Telephone Bug Kitby: Elenco Electronics
"Listen in on telephone conversations in your home with this build it your self telephone bug. Its compact size (about the size of a dime) allows it to fit into most telephone handsets. Easy to install and fun to build. No battery are required. Complete with training course. Soldering is required."
Age: 10 years and up (!?!?)
Note: Gift wrap is not available for this item.
(more)(commentary)(Kid Spy Xmas List)
Next project...
Let's make booster-bags and go to Toys-R-Us!
UPDATE - 7/14/07 - This item has disappeared from the Toys-R-Us web site. (cached here)
Saturday, July 7, 2007
When we last left the Best Buy 'Geek Squad'...
...they were being sued for, "dispatching a technician who allegedly videotaped the client's daughter taking a shower." (more)
The latest claim of 'Geek Sneak Peak' comes from consumerist.com...
"To investigate claims by current and former Geek Squad techies (see "The 10 Page Geek Squad Confession - "Stealing Customers' Nudie Pics Was An Easter Egg Hunt"), we loaded a computer with porn and rigged it to make a video of itself. We captured every cursor movement, every program opened, every file accessed. Everything that the user saw and did, we recorded.
We took it to less than a dozen Best Buy Geek Squads and asked them to perform simple tasks, like installing iTunes. Most places were fine, sometimes doing the job right on the counter, sometimes even for free.
Then we caught one well-seasoned Geek Squad Agent copying personal and pornographic images and video from our computer to his company-issued thumb drive (see video, or the logfiles)."
Moral: USB memory sticks (aka thumb drives) can be dangerous to the health of your computer privacy. Info-theft and compuvoyeurism can occur anytime someone has access to your computer. If you have private file, encrypt them now. ~Kevin
The latest claim of 'Geek Sneak Peak' comes from consumerist.com...
"To investigate claims by current and former Geek Squad techies (see "The 10 Page Geek Squad Confession - "Stealing Customers' Nudie Pics Was An Easter Egg Hunt"), we loaded a computer with porn and rigged it to make a video of itself. We captured every cursor movement, every program opened, every file accessed. Everything that the user saw and did, we recorded.
We took it to less than a dozen Best Buy Geek Squads and asked them to perform simple tasks, like installing iTunes. Most places were fine, sometimes doing the job right on the counter, sometimes even for free.
Then we caught one well-seasoned Geek Squad Agent copying personal and pornographic images and video from our computer to his company-issued thumb drive (see video, or the logfiles)."
Moral: USB memory sticks (aka thumb drives) can be dangerous to the health of your computer privacy. Info-theft and compuvoyeurism can occur anytime someone has access to your computer. If you have private file, encrypt them now. ~Kevin
Friday, July 6, 2007
Lax USB stick security causing havoc
According to a straw poll carried out at Infosecurity Europe last month, 90 per cent of the 12,000 attendees routinely carried portable storage devices. The survey also showed that 80 per cent of visitors believed their company had lost valuable confidential data through the use of these devices.
SmartLine, a developer of network management and end-point security offerings, conducted a short survey on its stand.
"Although these gadgets are designed to be perfectly harmless, it does not take much for them to become a major security headache. It is all too easy to use them to siphon off valuable data.
"Even legitimate users can simply lose the device, or have it stolen. Organisations need to ensure that they have the right security measures in place to protect themselves from this type of data leakage."(more)
Some companies stamp their logos onto USB sticks and use them as give-a-ways. Keep in mind that this may be the perfect Trojan Horse gift - if pre-loaded with spyware, the infection begins the second you plug it in. Don't let visitors stick you either. ~ Kevin
SmartLine, a developer of network management and end-point security offerings, conducted a short survey on its stand.
"Although these gadgets are designed to be perfectly harmless, it does not take much for them to become a major security headache. It is all too easy to use them to siphon off valuable data.
"Even legitimate users can simply lose the device, or have it stolen. Organisations need to ensure that they have the right security measures in place to protect themselves from this type of data leakage."(more)
Some companies stamp their logos onto USB sticks and use them as give-a-ways. Keep in mind that this may be the perfect Trojan Horse gift - if pre-loaded with spyware, the infection begins the second you plug it in. Don't let visitors stick you either. ~ Kevin
Take steps to safeguard sensitive data
Whether it’s the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which addresses healthcare information, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), which addresses financial information, or even the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which addresses education information, chances are good that one of these affects your organization in some way.
Compliance is nothing to fool around with. ... Unauthorized disclosure of such sensitive information could adversely impact your organization with both civil and criminal liabilities. To protect yourself and your company, it’s vital that you implement some extra precautions. (more)(we can assist)
Compliance is nothing to fool around with. ... Unauthorized disclosure of such sensitive information could adversely impact your organization with both civil and criminal liabilities. To protect yourself and your company, it’s vital that you implement some extra precautions. (more)(we can assist)
Eavesdroppping as a Plot Thickener
Sometimes it works, as in The Conversation.
Sometimes it doesn't, as in...
"Here's how bad "License to Wed" is:
Even the outtakes at the end are lame.
And so Ben and Sadie can't have sex before the wedding, which Frank (Robin Williams) monitors by bugging their apartment, then eavesdropping on them in the back of a van with the choir boy in tow, which is just wrong." (more)
Sometimes it doesn't, as in...
"Here's how bad "License to Wed" is:
Even the outtakes at the end are lame.
And so Ben and Sadie can't have sex before the wedding, which Frank (Robin Williams) monitors by bugging their apartment, then eavesdropping on them in the back of a van with the choir boy in tow, which is just wrong." (more)
Britney Spears, Wiretapper?!?!
Spears delivered (a poem and audio CD) along with legal papers, to her mother on June 28 on the set of kid sister, Jamie Lynn’s television show, “Zoey 101.” The two are reportedly also battling over the affections of Jamie Lynn.
The CD reportedly contained recordings of phone conversations between Lynne Spears and Britney's estranged husband, Kevin Federline, in which the two are apparently working in cahoots.
Spears is forbidding her mother from seeing her two sons, and in one conversation, Lynne is said to be arranging to meet K-Fed and the boys, and says, “I have to be careful that Britney doesn’t find out!” The recordings were made by a private investigator, according to the tab(loid, Star Magazine).
In another call, Federline assured Spears’ mother that his court battle with the singer was going well. (more)
The CD reportedly contained recordings of phone conversations between Lynne Spears and Britney's estranged husband, Kevin Federline, in which the two are apparently working in cahoots.
Spears is forbidding her mother from seeing her two sons, and in one conversation, Lynne is said to be arranging to meet K-Fed and the boys, and says, “I have to be careful that Britney doesn’t find out!” The recordings were made by a private investigator, according to the tab(loid, Star Magazine).
In another call, Federline assured Spears’ mother that his court battle with the singer was going well. (more)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The 60's Version of X-Ray Vision
...from kungfurodeo.com
"Did anyone out there ever actually buy this pen or the glasses?
What was their gimmick?"
(Ripping off impressionable kids who turned into spybusters?)
(more)
"Did anyone out there ever actually buy this pen or the glasses?
What was their gimmick?"
(Ripping off impressionable kids who turned into spybusters?)
(more)
Strange Spy Synchronism
Israel spy (spying for)
found dead in Egyptian cell
An Egyptian engineer sentenced to 15 years hard labour for spying for Israel has been found dead in his prison cell, a security source said on Monday. (more)
Israel spy (spying against)
gets six months in prison
A Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge sentenced a nuclear spy to six months in prison for violating conditions of his release. (more)
found dead in Egyptian cell
An Egyptian engineer sentenced to 15 years hard labour for spying for Israel has been found dead in his prison cell, a security source said on Monday. (more)
Israel spy (spying against)
gets six months in prison
A Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge sentenced a nuclear spy to six months in prison for violating conditions of his release. (more)
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