"Looking back on the appalling 21st century from our vantage point, 500 years later, it sometimes seems incredible that the human race could have survived such a time of troubles. The moment of greatest danger can now be pinpointed precisely--the year 2010.
Fifty years earlier, the chief threat seemed to be from thermonuclear weapons; however, these could be manufactured only by wealthy nations possessing both vast financial resources and a high level of technology.
Then, suddenly and totally unexpectedly, the situation was transformed by the invention of the Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb. The origin of this terrifying device is unknown: Like most concepts whose time has come, it was probably invented independently in a number of places. However, the first public account appeared in the September 2001 issue of Popular Mechanics under this dramatic headline:E-BOMB: In the blink of an eye, electromagnetic bombs could throw civilization back 200 years. And terrorists can build them for $400." (more)
Hummm... Time to buy a horses and a farm next to a river. You'll need the land for crops, horses for transportation and cultivation and water for power.
Ireland - House buyers are employing private investigators and specialist agencies to investigate their future new neighbours to check everything from whether they have criminal records to whether they are fond of throwing late-night parties. (more)
He had all-American cover: born in Iowa, college in Manhattan, Army buddies with whom he played baseball.George Koval also had a secret. During World War II, he was a top Soviet spy, code named Delmar and trained by Stalin’s ruthless bureau of military intelligence. Atomic spies are old stuff. But historians say Dr. Koval, who died in his 90s last year in Moscow and whose name is just coming to light publicly, was probably one of the most important spies of the 20th century.
On Nov. 2, the Kremlin startled Western scholars by announcing that President Vladimir V. Putin had posthumously given the highest Russian award to a Soviet agent who penetrated the Manhattan Project to build the atom bomb.
The announcement hailed Dr. Koval as “the only Soviet intelligence officer” to infiltrate the project’s secret plants, saying his work “helped speed up considerably the time it took for the Soviet Union to develop an atomic bomb of its own.” (more)
From the web site...
• "Read everything on their mobile phones."
• "Read their SMS, call logs, emails and track their locations."
• "Remote listening. Listen to the phone's surroundings."
• "BUG Meeting rooms and CHECK babysitters."
• "Protect Your Children"
• "Catch Cheating Spouses"
Your first reaction might be, "Wow, this is amazingly cool!"
But, think...
FlexiSPY and other spyphone software like Neo-Call are Internet-available products which can be installed by anyone. The target could easily be you... especially if your phone was given to you.
Employers can use it too. "How?!?!"
Those wonderful folks at FlexiSPY also make FLEXIAnalyzer Enterprise - "Log EVERYTHING that happens on your employees business phones. ...a unique analytical tool for mobile device deployments that offers intelligent knowledge based analysis, in real-time, of all corporate phone activity." In other words, your boss can, "Monitor SMS, MMS, Email and other phone events..."
But wait! (Here comes the cruelest Ginsu knife cut of all...) "If required FlexiANALYZER comes bundled with FlexiSYNC enabling secure archiving and retrieval of all corporate contact lists..." Keep your little black book off your corporate cell phone.
Germany is the land of ideas and innovations. Yet it is not only business competitors who may try to gain secret access to German expertise, it is also foreign intelligence services that are spying on German companies.
Whether it's research results, strategies for development, product information, client data or budget plans -- business secrets of successful companies are increasingly becoming coveted by industrious spies.
Andreas Blume, who is responsible for protecting new scientific findings at the chemicals company Evonik-Degussa, said small and mid-sized companies that are leaders in their field are especially at risk.
...some of the tricks the intelligence services use: supposed document shredders that are actually equipped with internal shredders and UMTS transmitters, beamers that record presentations and USB sticks with so-called Trojan Horse programs that allow hackers to spy on computers. ... A company in Thailand, for instance, offers monitoring of cell phone conversations. (more)
We hear this complaint from corporations in other countries, as well.
There are a growing number of instances in which an employee or visitor in a corporate facility, factory, research and development lab or business exposition has photographed sensitive information, prototype products or processes using a company or personal cellular phone and sent the data instantly elsewhere.
Such actions may be illegal; some are legal; and some corporations have instituted policies and prohibitions on cell phones. This article shows how a chief security officer, working with his or her counsel, can conduct an investigation of a suspected phone. ~ Editor (more)
Salient points...
1. Contact your corporate general counsel or in-house counsel.
2. Use the proper software tools. Device Seizure from Paraben, Secure View from Susteen and the Cell-Dek from Logic Cube are commonly used tools that have been accepted by the legal system.
3. Misuse of camera phones is being addressed by enterprises.
4. An enterprise may choose to just dismiss an employee caught spying... More often visitors, contractors and others may face federal charges. Economic Espionage (18 U.S.C. § 1831)
5. There are more instances of corporate or employee cellular phones lost or stolen. Technology exists to trace missing handsets: CellTrace
We hear from one counter-surveillance "expert"... "This little device is pretty good for the price."
"What do it do?" you ask.
Basically, it attempts to detect radio bugs and wireless video transmitters located in your immediate area.
Claims from the web site...
Privacy Safe Keychain Wireless Video and Tap RF Detector.
- Key chain wireless detector is easy to carry with you so you can feel confident in the office, bedroom or dressing room
- Innovative high technology device keeps you safe from wireless wiretap and video cameras
- Detectable radio frequency width 30MHz - 2.4GHz with a responding distance of 10–15’
- Super-bright blue LED light for emergency or illumination use
- 0.4"Hx2.3"Wx1.2"D
As with most bug detection efforts, you will get what you pay for...
"SurveillanceSaver is an OS X screensaver that shows live images of over 600 network surveillance cameras worldwide - a haunting live soap opera." (more)
Be careful. This is alpha version software. Currently for Mac OS X. A Windows version is being developed.
Renault accused of spying
Barely 24 hours after FIA experts swooped on the McLaren factory for a detailed technical check on the team's 2008 car, the rival Renault team found themselves propelled into the centre of controversy when they were summoned to appear before a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council to answer charges of spying. ...
These accusations come two months after McLaren were fined $100m and lost all their 2007 constructors' world championship points after it was established that they had benefited from illicitly obtained technical data from Ferrari. (more)
(update - 11/10/07)
The Renault formula one team yesterday rejected allegations of espionage after being summoned before the FIA's world motor sport council accused of illegally using McLaren data in the design of this year's car. The French team confirmed that a former McLaren engineer, who joined them in September last year, was suspended when it became clear he had brought confidential information with him to his new job. Renault named the employee as Phil Mackereth and said they had been made aware of the problem on September 6. "None of this information was used to influence design decisions relating to the Renault car," the statement said. (more)
Shortly after he began working for a rival company, Gary Min uploaded some 180 DuPont documents to his new corporate laptop.
A former DuPont scientist who admitted stealing company secrets was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison, fined $30,000, and ordered to pay almost $14,500 in restitution to DuPont.
Gary Min, 44, was sentenced in Wilmington, Del., for stealing DuPont trade secrets, an act he admitted to in November 2006. The maximum sentence for his offense is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Prior to sentencing, Min reportedly asked for leniency because incarceration would be a hardship on his family and because his actions did not result in significant financial loss to DuPont. The estimated value of the documents exceeded $400 million, according to the government. (more)
Key Specifications:
• Hidden LED indicators in pen
• USB flash drive (capacity: 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB)
• MP3 / WMA player
• Digital voice recorder / player
• Built-in rechargeable battery
• Play MP3 for 5+ hours
• Record voice for over 6 hours
• Standby time over 20 days• Color: black or silver
• Size: 150 x 16mm
• Weight: 60g
• and, of course, the pen writes! (more) (more)
Be alert to the possibility of someone covertly recording you.
• Does the pen look funny?
• Watch how they handle and position their pen.
• Do they leave the pen behind when they leave the room?
• Ask to use their pen. What is its center of gravity?
• Watch their reaction.
One on-line seller actively promotes recording meetings.
1. "Bring your digital voice recorder pen to your next meeting."
2. "Start recording your conversation."
3. "Plug your pen recorder into the USB on any computer to listen and save audio recordings." (more)
UK - The boss of one of the UK's largest financial institutions is at the centre of a security scare after a bugging device was found in his home.Charles Thomson, chief executive of Equitable Life, called in police after discovering the listening equipment concealed in his luxury apartment in London.Detectives are investigating how the device came to be in the Barbican flat, which Mr Thomson, 59, uses as a base during the working week.A security sweep has also been carried out at his £1million family home in Ayr, in Scotland, which he returns to most weekends.Yesterday, a source said: "The discovery has caused a lot of concern and distress."Strathclyde Police say they have been handed a tape which is understood to contain a private conversation between Mr Thomson and his partner of five years, Verity Coutts. (more)
Food inspection officials have started to install video surveillance devices in restaurant kitchens in Beijing's Haidian District, in a bid to improve sanitation levels and food security for the public, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Saturday. (more)
Remember SpyCam Story #400?This may be how it happened..."Ever wanted to spy on someone or something when you cannot be present. This program (Q Spycam) turns your mobile into a cool spy cam. All you have to do is run it and place it in the location you wish to monitor. Then just enter the Website address displayed on the mobile using a computer and you will see what your phone can see instantly. You can monitor what is happening from any location in the world!" (more)
Remember our cautionary tale 'Zombie Computers From Planet Earth' from last month? We knew it would move from cautionary tale to documented disaster. But, we never expected this...
"Security Consultant Admits to Hijacking PCs to Use in Crimes"
Los Angeles Times
A Los Angeles man entrusted with making personal computers safer has admitted to hacking into them to create a rogue network of as many as a quarter-million PCs, which he used to steal money and identities.
Federal prosecutors Friday said that John Kenneth Schiefer, a 26-year-old computer security consultant, used an army of hijacked computers, known as a "botnet," to carry out a variety of schemes to rip off unsuspecting consumers and corporations.
Schiefer agreed to plead guilty to four felony charges in connection with the case and faces up to 60 years in prison and a $1.75-million fine, according to court documents filed Friday in federal court in Los Angeles.
Schiefer, who on the Internet went by the handles "acidstorm," "acid" and "storm," is the first person to be accused under federal wiretapping law of operating a botnet, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Krause in Los Angeles.
In all, the federal indictment includes four counts of accessing protected computers to commit fraud, disclosing illegally intercepted electronic communications, wire fraud and bank fraud. Federal authorities said they were still trying to identify victims and the scope of their losses. (more)
Bookmark this directory of real and trusted Security Consultants - IAPSC.org
"Looking back on the appalling 21st century from our vantage point, 500 years later, it sometimes seems incredible that the human race could have survived such a time of troubles. The moment of greatest danger can now be pinpointed precisely--the year 2010. 
