Whispering Wires: The Tragic Tale of an American BootleggerISBN: 9781592992522by Philip Metcalfe
In Whispering Wires, Metcalfe tells the story of Roy Olmstead, one of the principal bootleggers in Prohibition-era Seattle, and the first major federal court case concerning the use of wiretaps.
He writes, "Set into motion then was a constellation of conditions that no one could have foretold. Prohibition had produced a shadow universe governed by an aberrant moral algebra." This historical narrative follows the city officials, Prohibition agents, and rumrunners who chased, evaded, and double-crossed each other during one of Seattle's most thrilling eras. (more)
Cold War jet trains. (more)
The U.S. government — led by two of its most secretive agencies — is increasingly saying, "Yes, they are."Despite the rap that bloggers simply "bloviate" and "don't try to find things out," as conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak once sniffed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have altered policies to indicate they're taking blogs seriously, and a growing number of public offices are actively reaching out to the blogosphere.The CIA recently updated its policies on Freedom of Information Act requests to allow bloggers to qualify for special treatment once reserved for old-school reporters. And last August, the NSA issued a directive to its employees to report leaks of classified information to the media — "including blogs," the order said. (more)
IL - A Carpentersville man was accused of giving the old telephone slogan “reach out and touch someone” a high-tech twist when he bugged a car with a cell phone, police said Wednesday.A 27-year-old woman called police at 8 p.m. Tuesday, saying she found a cell phone lying under the seat of her car with an open line.When police called the number of the last incoming call, a man answered and said he was the woman’s husband, police said. But they said they are unsure of the relationship between the victim and the man.Howard Fabriccio, 30, of 130 Austin Ave., Carpentersville, was charged with eavesdropping and possession of an eavesdropping device, police said.Police said the phone was set to ring silently and automatically answer. The person on the other end could listen to what was happening in the woman’s car after the cell phone number was dialed.When the phone was discovered, police said there was a timer on the phone that had been active for more than an hour. (more)
The carwhisperer project...
Once the connection has been successfully established, the carwhisperer binary starts sending audio to, and recording audio from the headset. This allows attackers to inject audio data into the car. This could be fake traffic announcements or nice words. Attackers are also able to eavesdrop conversations among people sitting in the car.Ideally, the carwhisperer is used with a toooned dongle and a directional antenna that enhances the range of a Bluetooth radio quite a bit. (more)
When you talk over a hands-free Bluetooth device while driving your car, it is possible that some unwanted persons are listening to your conversation without your knowledge. Jim Stickley, ID theft expert and CTO of TraceSecurity, proved that the devices are vulnerable to eavesdropping. Appearing on NBC’s TODAY show, Stickley demonstrated how vulnerable the hands-free car devices are even to the most simple of attacks. During the testing, Stickly followed a car that was equipped with a hands-free Bluetooth device and listened the conversation without the knowledge of the occupants. (more)
This is important. People will sneak into your offices, open your computers and steal your hard drives. How do I know? My client has a CCTV recording of it happening to their top Administrative Assistant's computer just this past weekend.
Debra Littlejohn Shinde says, "Let’s look at what you should be doing to keep your data from walking out the door...
#1: Practice the principle of least privilege
#2: Put policies in writing
#3: Set restrictive permissions and audit access
#4: Use encryption
#5: Implement rights management
#6: Restrict use of removable media
#7: Keep laptops under control
#8: Set up outbound content rules
#9: Control wireless communications
#10: Beware creative data theft methods formats
Remember that your data can walk out in many different formats. A user can print out a document and carry it out in paper form or a thief can steal printed documents from trash cans if the paper hasn’t been shredded. Even if you’ve implemented a technology such as rights management to prevent copying or printing documents, a person could take a digital or film photograph of the content onscreen or even sit and copy the information by hand. Be aware of all the ways your data can leave the premises and take steps to protect against them." (more)
Tracking down the guy who hid a video camera in a Seattle ladies’ room was made a little easier when the suspect allegedly recorded himself setting it up. (doh!)The suspect was booked on suspicion of voyeurism after the manager of the downtown movie theater where the camera was found identified the suspect as one of his employees. (more)
Gillette has launched a campaign site as part of a campaign for its new Fusion Power Stealth range.The site includes a spy mission game, involving streamed briefing videos complete with 3D animations, an interactive game and chance to win a trip to a spy school.The brand has been integrated into the site by challenging the 'spy' users to help recover a stolen razor.As well as the main game mission, the website provides a breakdown of the stolen gadget's features and has a prominent 'tell a friend' mechanic, where you can 'recruit' others.Spies can also keep a track on their fellow 'spooks' via a timed leader board. (more) (site)
Pretend you are John Cleese and read aloud."British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic.But several of the creatures, caught and killed by local farmers, have been identified by experts as honey badgers.The rumours spread because the animals had appeared near the British base at Basra airport.UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area." (more)
Please come back after your BINGO BREAK."To help vendors focus on their obligations here, Jutta Degener and I present Security Problem Excuse Bingo. Usual bingo rules apply, with vendor press releases, news interviews, and legal notices used as source material. Cards can be generated and downloaded from www.crypto.com/bingo/prBecause we follow all industry standard practices, you can rest assured that there are no bugs in this software. We take security very seriously." ~ Matt Blaze
The following clues may indicate your cell phone is bugged...
• Software displays "App Closed: Main" error message frequently.
• Unusual additions in your phone's "Application Manager" menu.
• You see unusual entries in you phone's "Call Duration Log."
• Error messages - "message stuck in outbox" / "no sms credit".
• You hear unexpected 'beeps'.
• The phone's screen backlight switches on for no apparent reason.
• Your phone starts acting sluggish; keypad buttons jam.
• You see error messages more frequently than normal.
• Battery life suddenly drops.
Be aware that some cell phone spyware runs cleaner than others; thus, not having these problems does not mean you are free of spyware. Keep alert.
Things you can do to reduce your vulnerability to spyware...
• Use an inexpensive phone. "Smart" phones get bugged.
• Use a cell service which is not GSM. Most spyware is GSM based.
• Keep your phone turned off when not needed.
• Force spies out. Make fake calls and SMS's as a test.
• Switch phones, carriers and numbers occasionally.
• Consider using pre-paid phones.
• NEVER accept a phone as a gift.
• NEVER loan your phone; not even for a few minutes.
• ALWAYS keep your phone in your complete control.
See how easy it is for the general public to obtain spyware. Click here.
Protecting your business against eavesdropping is also easy. Click here.
~Kevin
On August 5, 2007, President Bush signed the Protect America Act of 2007 into law. The law, an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), extends the government's authority to wiretap without a warrant. In light of the new law, Science Friday (Ira Flatow) consulted wiretap experts Matt Blaze, a technologist and professor of computer and information science at University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia and Susan Landau, Distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems Laboratories about the science of wiretapping.
Matt Blaze explains old-style wiretapping
Susan Landau explains where NSA tapping might take place
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Cell Phone Activated DIY CCTV Camera Blinding Project - from c-h-a-o-s.com
"It’s no secret. A lot of my inspiration comes from movies and for quite some time I have become more and more annoyed by Hollywood's sometimes rather silly solutions for an agent to shut down security cameras in order to remain undetected: e.g. blowing up the nearby power-plant or rigging up gadgets in sewers, where they can be detected by renovation workers and the sorts. If you blow something up or otherwise break it, your counterpart will immediately know it is sabotage and rule out a simple technical malfunction.
Another thing that got me to write this article is the abundant usage of surveillance cameras everywhere which makes me want to burst the bubble about security of surveillance cameras by exposing their weakness. Switching point of view will also often lead to improvement…" (more)
Cut a couple of wires, insert a small, easy-to-make device between them, and you can walk right through all those supposedly card-protected locked office doors.At the Defcon security conference over the weekend, a hacker and Defcon staffer who goes by the name Zac Franken showed off how a small homemade device he calls Gecko can perform a classic man-in-the-middle attack on the type of access card readers used on office doors around the country. What's more, making a Gecko is easy and cheap. Franken says the hardware costs about $10.According to Franken, the hack subverts the Wiegand protocol, commonly used for communication between the card reader and the back-end access control system... (more)
