The image of the friendly firefighter helping rescue a wayward kitten from a tree might need updating. If the federal Department of Homeland Security has its way, firefighters across the country will be armed not only with firefighting equipment, but also issued training materials on how to recognize suspect behavior on the part of citizens and what to look for in peoples' homes that might be "suspicious." In other words, firefighters would become domestic spies. In fact, such training already has begun. (more)
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Firefighter Spies
The image of the friendly firefighter helping rescue a wayward kitten from a tree might need updating. If the federal Department of Homeland Security has its way, firefighters across the country will be armed not only with firefighting equipment, but also issued training materials on how to recognize suspect behavior on the part of citizens and what to look for in peoples' homes that might be "suspicious." In other words, firefighters would become domestic spies. In fact, such training already has begun. (more)
Never Believe Your Caller ID Again
...from the website...SPOOFEM.COM offers you the ability to change what someone sees on their call display when they receive a phone call. This is typically referred to as "Caller ID Spoofing" or "Call Display Spoofing".
You can show any phone number you wish on their call display. You can change your voice to male / female, record the conversation, SMS text message and be able to protect your privacy by not showing your number on their caller ID. (more)
There are other spoof options, too.
• Prepaid virtual calling card (free test call)
• SpoofCard Widget (free test call download for Mac OS X)
• Telespoof (free test call)
• Spooftel
While spoofing is currently legal, it may not be in the near future. Laws against it are in the works.
• H.R. 5304 [109th]: Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement Act
• H.R. 251: Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007
If spoofing becomes illegal should you believe your Caller ID again?
No.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sunday isn't only Jets vs. Patriots.It could be Spy vs. Spy.
According to league sources familiar with the situation, the Jets were caught using a videotaping device during a game in Foxborough last season that resulted in the removal of a Jets employee. After Gillette Stadium officials saw him using the recorder early in the game, he was told to stop and leave the area. He had been filming from the mezzanine level between the scoreboard and a decorative lighthouse in an end zone. The camera was not confiscated by the Patriots or stadium security.
Tuesday night the Jets admitted that they did videotape the game and their employee was confronted, but said they had permission from the Patriots to film from that location. (more)
Police Chief Bugging Trial (update)
A former Lafayette Police Chief's trial will not head to court until March... Former chief Randy Hundley was slated for trial Dec 10th. He along with three other officers are facing eavesdropping charges. The four were indicted last year for allegedly hiding a microphone near the desk of Hundley's secretary in 2004. (more)
MD under fire from colleagues for hiring spy
Canada - Three of the largest professional organizations representing plastic surgeons in Canada are filing formal complaints against a Toronto physician who hired a private investigator to spy on a colleague whom she suspected was causing a drop in her business.
The Ontario Society of Plastic Surgery, the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgery and the Canadian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery plan to ask Ontario's medical watchdog to investigate Dr. Behnaz Yazdanfar's decision to send an undercover female investigator to consult with plastic surgeon Dr. Sean Rice and secretly record the conversation. (more)
The Ontario Society of Plastic Surgery, the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgery and the Canadian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery plan to ask Ontario's medical watchdog to investigate Dr. Behnaz Yazdanfar's decision to send an undercover female investigator to consult with plastic surgeon Dr. Sean Rice and secretly record the conversation. (more)
I beg your pardon, how about in your rose garden?
Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is dropping his appeal in the CIA leak case, his attorney said Monday. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction for lying about his conversations with reporters about outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. (more)
Profile: Dr. David Southall
He is viewed as an expert in Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, a condition which means parents deliberately induce or fabricate illnesses in their children to get attention for themselves.
He pioneered the use of covert video surveillance in the late eighties and early nineties, which led to a number of parents and step parents being prosecuted for abuse.
More recently...
He was banned from child protection work for three years. (more)
He pioneered the use of covert video surveillance in the late eighties and early nineties, which led to a number of parents and step parents being prosecuted for abuse.
More recently...
He was banned from child protection work for three years. (more)
Pugnacious Prez Gets Wish
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is under pressure in a new wiretapping scandal after he was recorded threatening to punch a disgraced former advisor in the face for his role in a corruption scandal.
The conversation was taped last year on a line in Uribe's office, where he discusses matters of state and the operations of a government that receives billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic aid.
"I am furious with you and I hope someone is recording this call!" Uribe shouted at Luis Fernando Herrera, a one-time aide accused by a suspected drug lord of asking for $15 million in exchange for pulling strings to help him avoid extradition.
"If I see you I am going to punch you in the face!" Uribe yelled. (more)
The conversation was taped last year on a line in Uribe's office, where he discusses matters of state and the operations of a government that receives billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic aid.
"I am furious with you and I hope someone is recording this call!" Uribe shouted at Luis Fernando Herrera, a one-time aide accused by a suspected drug lord of asking for $15 million in exchange for pulling strings to help him avoid extradition.
"If I see you I am going to punch you in the face!" Uribe yelled. (more)
...and then John McClane told me to say..."
"Lie Die Hard" director John McTiernan was granted bail and released on a $50,000 bond Monday, pending an appeal of his guilty plea for allegedly lying to the FBI about his knowledge of celebrity PI Anthony Pellicano's alleged illegal wiretapping operation.
Tiernan, 56, pleaded guilty in April 2006 to making a false statement to federal investigators. He later recanted his guilty plea, claiming he was jet-lagged and under the influence of alcohol and prescription medications when he made the statements to the FBI.
He also said he was given bad advice by his then-attorney. (more)
Tiernan, 56, pleaded guilty in April 2006 to making a false statement to federal investigators. He later recanted his guilty plea, claiming he was jet-lagged and under the influence of alcohol and prescription medications when he made the statements to the FBI.
He also said he was given bad advice by his then-attorney. (more)
Mata Hari - Ten More Years to the Truth
The exotic and, some say, quixotic Mata Hari has spawned considerable cultural speculation since her mysterious World War I execution. Greta Garbo shot this fame further by playing her in a 1931 film. Kurt Vonnegut had Mother Night's protagonist dedicate his memoirs to her. Even the sexually diffident George Lucas permitted Indiana Jones to lose his virginity to her.We won't know until 2017 -- the year when the case documents will be unsealed and revealed to the public -- if Mata Hari was a spy or not. But in the meantime, Yannick Murphy's third novel
considers the circumstances that galvanized her legend, while ruing upon larger issues of womanhood, the burdens of perception and societal abuse. (more)
Russia successfully launches spy satellite
Moscow - To enhance its military capabilities, Russia on Sunday successfully launched a Kosmos series spy satellite from a cosmodrome leased from Kazakhstan. (more)
Renault guilty of spying (?)
Former world champions Renault escaped punishment yesterday, despite being found guilty in the second major spying controversy to hit Formula One this year. The French team's representatives had been summoned to appear before the governing body in Monaco to answer charges of unauthorized possession of McLaren technical information between September 2006 and last October.
"They were found to be in breach of article 151c but there is no penalty," a spokesman for the International Automobile Federation said after a World Motor Sport Council hearing lasting several hours. (more)
SpyCam Story #415 - Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
MA - A Newton activist who concealed a camera to videotape a Boston University police sergeant was convicted of violating state wiretapping laws. An associate is charged with witness intimidation.
Peter Lowney, 36, was sentenced last week to six months probation and fined $500. A Brighton District Court judge ordered him to stay away from the sergeant and remove footage from the Internet. (more)
Peter Lowney, 36, was sentenced last week to six months probation and fined $500. A Brighton District Court judge ordered him to stay away from the sergeant and remove footage from the Internet. (more)
The Continuing Saga of the Rayney Wiretap
Australia - The husband of murdered Supreme Court Registrar Corryn Rayney appeared in Perth Magistrate’s Court today to face a charge of bugging his wife’s phone prior to her death.
In a brief court appearance, Lloyd Rayney did not address the court and the matter was put forward to late February on the request of the prosecutor Matthew Phillips.
Mr Rayney is charged with intercepting communications passing over a telecommunications system under the Commonwealth Interception and Access Act 1979, the crime for which the penalty can be up to two years in jail. (more)
In a brief court appearance, Lloyd Rayney did not address the court and the matter was put forward to late February on the request of the prosecutor Matthew Phillips.
Mr Rayney is charged with intercepting communications passing over a telecommunications system under the Commonwealth Interception and Access Act 1979, the crime for which the penalty can be up to two years in jail. (more)
SpyCam Story #414 - The PI PP
CA - A bumbling private eye was caught with his pants down - literally - when he broke into Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell's Beverly Hills pad and used his bathroom.
The gumshoe had been hired by Cornell's bitter ex-wife, Susan Silver, to serve the rocker with papers stating that she was suing her ex over the ownership of 15 guitars. But when P.I. Matthew Turner showed up at the house, Cornell wasn't home and he let himself in. Too bad it was all caught on camera.
Now Turner, who works for the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based investigative firm Thomas Dale and Associates, is being charged with aggravated trespassing by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and faces a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 12.
"He broke into their home. He even used the Cornells' bathroom," a source told Page Six. "Chris and his wife, Vicky, had gotten death threats in the past, so they have a state-of-the-art surveillance system which captured all of this on tape." (more)
The gumshoe had been hired by Cornell's bitter ex-wife, Susan Silver, to serve the rocker with papers stating that she was suing her ex over the ownership of 15 guitars. But when P.I. Matthew Turner showed up at the house, Cornell wasn't home and he let himself in. Too bad it was all caught on camera.
Now Turner, who works for the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based investigative firm Thomas Dale and Associates, is being charged with aggravated trespassing by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and faces a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 12.
"He broke into their home. He even used the Cornells' bathroom," a source told Page Six. "Chris and his wife, Vicky, had gotten death threats in the past, so they have a state-of-the-art surveillance system which captured all of this on tape." (more)
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