UK - A man obsessed with a teenage girl gave her a teddy bear with a tiny camera in its eye so he could spy on her.
John Howell also gave her a pen fitted with a camera to relay images to a video machine where he could watch the girl, Lincoln Crown Court heard. His obsession was so great that he also installed a software program on her computer which allowed him to read all her e-mails.
The 43-year-old Inland Revenue worker, was caught after the 13-year-old girl’s father spotted something was wrong with the teddy and called police. Detectives seized Howell’s laptop and briefcase full of surveillance equipment from his home in Market Deeping. (more)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Spybuster's Tip #103 - Spot the Spy
Joe Navarro is an ex-FBI agent. His job was spotting spies. His weapon... he reads body language. These days, Joe writes and teaches poker players how to win.He can help you spot deceit in your business as well.
Joe says...
"Poker players lie all the time. They pretend they are strong when they are weak or weak when they are strong. The truth is they can all be read. You can have a poker face, but I've yet to see someone with a poker body."
"When you are feeling good _ or have a monster hand _ your body will manifest what it feels. You get happy feet. Your feet begin to bounce up and down like a kid going to Disney World.
"If your boss asks at a meeting, `Who is not pulling their weight?', the shoulders will rise on those who are not confident. It's called `The Turtle Effect.' You are trying to hide your head inside your shoulders. On the contrary, a person whose fingertips meet like a church steeple with the thumb pointed up indicates a winning hand."
Want to know more?
Joe's website
A list of common spy personality traits.
Joe teaches at the World Series of Poker Academy
What Every BODY is Saying:
An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People
(due out in April, 2008)
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Judge dismisses police dispatchers' wiretapping suit
IA - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by three Clinton County emergency dispatchers who alleged their private phone conversations made on a work phone line were illegally recorded.
Senior U.S. District Judge Harold Vietor ruled that the federal wiretapping law exempts law enforcement agencies that record phone calls as part of routine police practice. (more)
Senior U.S. District Judge Harold Vietor ruled that the federal wiretapping law exempts law enforcement agencies that record phone calls as part of routine police practice. (more)
Eavesdropping - Sometimes its for data
Hackers stole millions of credit card numbers from discount retailer TJX Cos. by intercepting wireless transfers of customer information at two Miami-area Marshalls stores, according to an eight-month investigation by the Canadian government.
The probe, led by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, faulted TJX for failing to upgrade its data encryption system by the time the electronic eavesdropping began in July 2005. The break-in ultimately gave hackers undetected access to TJX's central databases for a year and a half, exposing at least 45 million credit and debit cards to potential fraud. (more)
Provoked thoughts...
• What wireless technologies is your company dependent upon?
• Are you sure your voice and data are secure from eavesdropping?
• Do you conduct searches for eavesdropping devices?
• How much damage would eavesdropping create before you noticed?
The probe, led by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, faulted TJX for failing to upgrade its data encryption system by the time the electronic eavesdropping began in July 2005. The break-in ultimately gave hackers undetected access to TJX's central databases for a year and a half, exposing at least 45 million credit and debit cards to potential fraud. (more)
Provoked thoughts...
• What wireless technologies is your company dependent upon?
• Are you sure your voice and data are secure from eavesdropping?
• Do you conduct searches for eavesdropping devices?
• How much damage would eavesdropping create before you noticed?
Holiday Gift Idea #101 - Spy Clock
Spy ClockDesigned by Pieter Woudt
A convex glass mirror with sleek metal hands. Only time can sneak up on you now!
One AA-battery (not included).
Size: 12diam. x 2"d Item# 69573
Available at the MoMAstore.
$25.00 / $20.00 for members
Friday, October 19, 2007
Unchecked Eavesdropping Kills Bottom Lines
Rarely do we see an exact corporate dollar figure loss caused by eavesdropping and wiretapping. Vodafone must hold the world's record with $136+ million in fines, not to mention good-will and revenue losses.
Greece's telecoms regulator has fined the Greek unit of Vodafone 19.1 million euros for breaching privacy rules.
The fine is the second imposed over a wiretapping scandal that rocked the country last year. In 2006, Greece revealed that more than 100 people, including the country's prime minister, had their mobile phones tapped around the time of the Athens 2004 Olympics.
In December 2006, Greece's privacy watchdog fined Vodafone Hellas 76 million euros for a "number of infringements attributed to the company", without giving details.
Last month, the privacy watchdog also fined the Greek unit of telecom equipment maker Ericsson more than 7 million euros over the wiretapping affair.
The bugged phones were found to have been tapped mostly before and during the Athens Games by unknown eavesdroppers. (more)
Moral: Ignorance of eavesdropping and wiretapping is no excuse. You need to pro-actively conduct inspections as part of your due diligence.
Greece's telecoms regulator has fined the Greek unit of Vodafone 19.1 million euros for breaching privacy rules.
The fine is the second imposed over a wiretapping scandal that rocked the country last year. In 2006, Greece revealed that more than 100 people, including the country's prime minister, had their mobile phones tapped around the time of the Athens 2004 Olympics.
In December 2006, Greece's privacy watchdog fined Vodafone Hellas 76 million euros for a "number of infringements attributed to the company", without giving details.
Last month, the privacy watchdog also fined the Greek unit of telecom equipment maker Ericsson more than 7 million euros over the wiretapping affair.
The bugged phones were found to have been tapped mostly before and during the Athens Games by unknown eavesdroppers. (more)
Moral: Ignorance of eavesdropping and wiretapping is no excuse. You need to pro-actively conduct inspections as part of your due diligence.
You think the airport security lines are long now?
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has gone to many strange places in its search for ways to identify terrorists before they attack, but perhaps none stranger than this lab on the outskirts of Russia's capital. The institute has for years served as the center of an obscure field of human behavior study -- dubbed psychoecology -- that traces it roots back to Soviet-era mind control research.What's gotten DHS' attention is the institute's work on a system called Semantic Stimuli Response Measurements Technology, or SSRM Tek, a software-based mind reader that supposedly tests a subject's involuntary response to subliminal messages.
The "player" -- a traveler at an airport screening line, for example -- presses a button in response to the images, without consciously registering what he or she is looking at. The terrorist's response to the scrambled image involuntarily differs from the innocent person's, according to the theory.
Gear for testing MindReader 2.0 software hangs on a wall at the Psychotechnology Research Institute in Moscow. Marketed in North America as SSRM Tek, the technology will soon be tested for airport screening by a U.S. company under contract to the Department of Homeland Security. (more)
Free 'Safe Room' Design Guide
Free, 264-page .pdf book, from FEMA...
"...intended to provide guidance for engineers, architects, building officials, and property owners to design shelters and safe rooms in buildings. It presents information about the design and construction of shelters in the work place, home, or community building that will provide protection in response to manmade hazards."
"...will assist in the planning and design of shelters that may be constructed outside or within dwellings or public buildings. These safe rooms will protect occupants from a variety of hazards, including debris impact, accidental or intentional explosive detonation, and the accidental or intentional release of a toxic substance into the air. Safe rooms may also be designed to protect individuals from assaults and attempted kidnapping, which requires design features to resist forced entry and ballistic impact."
Risk Management Series - Design Guidance for Shelters and Safe Rooms (download)
"...intended to provide guidance for engineers, architects, building officials, and property owners to design shelters and safe rooms in buildings. It presents information about the design and construction of shelters in the work place, home, or community building that will provide protection in response to manmade hazards."
"...will assist in the planning and design of shelters that may be constructed outside or within dwellings or public buildings. These safe rooms will protect occupants from a variety of hazards, including debris impact, accidental or intentional explosive detonation, and the accidental or intentional release of a toxic substance into the air. Safe rooms may also be designed to protect individuals from assaults and attempted kidnapping, which requires design features to resist forced entry and ballistic impact."
Risk Management Series - Design Guidance for Shelters and Safe Rooms (download)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
16 SpyCams - Vote for the silliest!
from the oobject.com website..."The progress of technology has overtaken the mystique of the hidden camera such that we have been invaded by a million spy cams embedded in wholesale crap. Vote for the silliest." (vote here)
Cameras hidden in everyday objects may seem silly... until the lens is aiming at you.
Take, for example, the Number 1 voted 'silly' spycam - the Wireless Hairdryer Spycam. Funny, unless you just stepped out of the shower and are holding one - embarrassing.
SpyCams in the office are worse; embarrassing, with expensive consequences.
We are really good at finding spycams. Here is how we do it... (more)
Spybuster's Tip #102 - Technical Security Website
Bookmark Secunia.
They publish technical security vulnerability alerts every day.
The following is an excerpt from an alert earlier today...
Secunia Advisory: SA27234
Release Date: 2007-10-18
Description:
Some vulnerabilities have been reported in various Nortel products, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) and to eavesdrop with affected devices.
...it is possible to send spoofed "Open Audio Stream" messages to an IP phone. This can be exploited to open an audio channel and eavesdrop with the IP phone. (more)
They publish technical security vulnerability alerts every day.
The following is an excerpt from an alert earlier today...
Secunia Advisory: SA27234
Release Date: 2007-10-18
Description:
Some vulnerabilities have been reported in various Nortel products, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) and to eavesdrop with affected devices.
...it is possible to send spoofed "Open Audio Stream" messages to an IP phone. This can be exploited to open an audio channel and eavesdrop with the IP phone. (more)
Find Your Password!
Possibly, the top 10 most common passwords...
• password
• 123456
• qwerty
• abc123
• letmein
• monkey
• myspace1
• password1
• link182
• (your first name)
What? You don't see your password here?!?!
Congratulations.
Source: pcmag.com
• password
• 123456
• qwerty
• abc123
• letmein
• monkey
• myspace1
• password1
• link182
• (your first name)
What? You don't see your password here?!?!
Congratulations.
Source: pcmag.com
iPhone... 'A Perfect Spying Device'
"A rootkit takes on a whole new meaning when the attacker has access to the camera, microphone, contact list, and phone hardware," renowned hacker HD Moore said regarding a security vulnerability in Apple's iPhone. "Couple this with 'always-on' Internet access over EDGE and you have a perfect spying device," he added. (more)HD Moore, one of the developers of the Metasploit pen-testing (and hacking) tool, has posted exploits and detailed instructions on how to attack an iPhone. The information takes hackers -- and the FBI and NSA -- one step closer to being able to remotely and surreptitiously take control of an iPhone and turn it into a surveillance device. (more)
Colleges Take Spying As Serious Threat
OK - High fences. Seven security guards. No, this isn't the look of a low-security prison; it's daily protocol for safeguarding Oklahoma football practice from spies.
Six weeks ago, the New England Patriots made spying a national story, when the NFL punished coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots for spying on the New York Jets.
But long before, college coaches — especially at OU — have taken spying as a serious threat. (more)
Interesting observation...
Business executives (who have much more to lose) don't take spying as seriously as college athletic departments.
Six weeks ago, the New England Patriots made spying a national story, when the NFL punished coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots for spying on the New York Jets.
But long before, college coaches — especially at OU — have taken spying as a serious threat. (more)
Interesting observation...
Business executives (who have much more to lose) don't take spying as seriously as college athletic departments.
Peeping Neighbor Faces Prison Time (update)
OH - A Jackson Township man pleaded guilty today to spying on his neighbors and having child pornography on his computer.
Aaron A. Ridenbaugh, 32, of 4336 Foxhaven Ave. NW, is charged with:
• Three counts of felony interception of wire, oral or electronic communications.
• Three counts of pandering sexual-oriented materials involving a minor.
• A single count of felony illegal use of minors in nudity-oriented material and performance.
Ridenbaugh also is charged with four counts of voyeurism, all misdemeanors.
In May, township police arrested Ridenbaugh for making a secret audio recording of his neighbors’ sexual exploits. He later admitted to making a recording and told investigators about two prior acts of voyeurism at the same apartment complex.
At the time of his arrest, he was an associate at a law firm in Cuyahoga Falls. (more)
Aaron A. Ridenbaugh, 32, of 4336 Foxhaven Ave. NW, is charged with:
• Three counts of felony interception of wire, oral or electronic communications.
• Three counts of pandering sexual-oriented materials involving a minor.
• A single count of felony illegal use of minors in nudity-oriented material and performance.
Ridenbaugh also is charged with four counts of voyeurism, all misdemeanors.
In May, township police arrested Ridenbaugh for making a secret audio recording of his neighbors’ sexual exploits. He later admitted to making a recording and told investigators about two prior acts of voyeurism at the same apartment complex.
At the time of his arrest, he was an associate at a law firm in Cuyahoga Falls. (more)
Apparently, everyone got tired.
PA - Rescue crews freed a woman trapped under a sport utility vehicle.
Police said the woman feared her husband was cheating on her. They said she went to spy on him by crawling under an SUV outside her husband’s alleged girlfriend’s house. She apparently fell asleep under the vehicle and became trapped after someone let the air out of the tires.
Police are trying to determine who let the air out of the tires. So far, no charges have been filed. (more)
Police said the woman feared her husband was cheating on her. They said she went to spy on him by crawling under an SUV outside her husband’s alleged girlfriend’s house. She apparently fell asleep under the vehicle and became trapped after someone let the air out of the tires.
Police are trying to determine who let the air out of the tires. So far, no charges have been filed. (more)
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