...and a spy agency somewhere smiles.

Greece - A judge formally ended an investigation into a wiretapping scandal that targeted Greece's prime minister and other top officials during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, judicial officials said Thursday.

Investigating magistrate Panagiotis Petropoulos found no evidence of who was behind the wiretaps that hacked into Greece's Vodafone network. (more)

Hollywood - Make this into a movie. It has all the elements of a great thriller; side stories about impossible "suicides", cover-ups and technical elegance which would bring tears to any hacker's eyes.

Hard Times for Sports Spies

No money for spying in Ghana, says Mulee...

Kenya - While coaches will be spying on rival teams at the African Nations Cup ahead of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Harambee Stars coach, Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee, will remain at home with his local league champions Tusker FC.

When reached for comment, KFF secretary general, Sammy Obingo, admitted the federation could not afford Mulee’s trip to Ghana due to lack of funds... (more)

2008 - Year of the Mute

China will field about 800 athletes for the upcoming Olympics, and right now they are hard to find. Trying to keep distractions to a minimum - and fearful that opponents might be spying - China is shuttering away its top medal contenders. ..."We are now entering a period of silence," said Li Yongbo, coach of the national badminton team. (more)

Bugging Device Found at TV Auditions

UK - Police were called to the audition venue for Britain's Got Talent today after a bugging device was discovered under the judges' table.

The surveillance equipment had been left overnight in the judges' room, where Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan embarked on a second day of filming.

Cowell said afterwards: "This shows the extent to which people will go to to get inside knowledge on what is going on."

A man was allegedly caught using a listening device in his car outside auditions in Manchester.

He was seen lurking backstage on Wednesday and the Palace Theatre room was swept yesterday after crew reports of sound interference.

TV bosses believe there is a possibility that a freelance journalist could have planted the device to find out what was being said in the judges' room. (more) (more)

Our spies tell us...

...anyone can be a spy! Just go to Spy School.

Unlike some spy schools in the US and UK - adventure diversions - this one (now defunct) appears to be real. Igor Seroff, is a former FSB (previously KGB) officer. He just opened a "Spy School" and registrations are now being accepted. The school is located in Russia.

This is serious business, and it makes sense.

The trend...
• Governments now out-source intelligence collection to private consultants.
• Corporations now out-source intelligence collection to private consultants.
• Private consultants also out-source intelligence collection to 'other specialists' (aka Cut-Outs).

Why?
Cut-Outs = Plausible Deniability.

"So, what's a 'cut out'?" I hear you say.

In espionage, a cut-out is a courier or mechanism used to pass information and devices from one spy to another while operating in a "denied area" or a hostile environment. The two forms of cut-outs are the block and chain. A block cut-out is an agent familiar with the entire spy network or cell and those who are in it, while the chain cutout is simply an agent who is aware of only the person providing the information and the spy who is receiving the information. The chain cut-out helps to maintain the compartmentalization of the spy network, which increases security by maintaining everyone's anonymity. The term cut-out may also be used more generally to describe a person or agency used as a pawn by intelligence agencies. (more)

The Paladins return...
And, as we all know, one person's "noble cause" is another person's downfall. Be prepared. They are coming to a corporation near you, soon.

A Classic Eavesdropping

A former North Platte fire captain will face felony charges of assaulting a corrections officer after his preliminary hearing Monday.

Doyle was originally accused of dressing in camouflage clothes and creeping up near this estranged wife’s parents’ home in rural Lincoln County to eavesdrop, the affidavit said. The affidavit said Doyle told his friend that he got close enough to hear a conversation between his wife and her family. (more)

Turned 'off' Cell Phone Calls Owner ...Whoo Hoo, Whoo Hoo Hoo

Ed Ravin reports...
"A friend of mine uses Vonage (VoIP) for her primary phone line. Their VoIP system gave her a nightmarish experience during the wee hours of December 15.

The problem started around midnight - her VoIP phone rang, and caller-ID showed it was a number local to her area, but she didn't recognize it. She answered, but there was no one on the line. Her phone rang again several minutes later - same caller-ID, again no one there. And a few minutes later, the phone rang again, same caller-ID, same nobody there.

Then her cell phone rang. The cell phone's caller-ID showed the same phone number as her VoIP phone did. Again, the line was dead when she answered it. Twice more in short order, the phantom caller rang her cell phone.

Now wide awake and rather disturbed, she went to her computer to look up the phone number of her putative persecutor. Google helpfully provided a reverse directory lookup - to a person with an Arabic-sounding name that she did not recognize. With the help of Mapquest, she found out that this unknown person lived only a few miles from her. Worried and feeling vulnerable, she was unable to get to sleep, thinking that a strange person in the neighborhood was calling both her home phone and cell phone for no apparent reason.

At 3 in the morning, her VoIP phone rings again - this time, the caller-ID says that her own cell phone is making the call! But the cell phone is turned off and is sitting on her nightstand. She finally smells the rat, and at 4 AM calls the Vonage customer support line After a 30 minute wait, a polite but difficult-to-understand person explains that Vonage has been experiencing a problem with "phantom calls" and it should be resolved soon.

My friend had her Vonage account set up so that if her VoIP number was down, it would automatically forward calls to her cell phone. So Vonage's software PBX had her cell phone number on file, and it apparently went haywire and began placing calls to numbers in its database, and using other numbers in its database as the caller-ID.

The biggest risk here is believing what you see on your caller-ID display. Using computerized tools to compound your error and jump to the wrong conclusions is a close second. Then there's the well-known "mission creep" risk, where data supplied for one purpose is (mis) used for another. Even though the misuse was unintentional, it's a stark reminder that phone numbers are a special kind of data with real-world implications, especially when in the hands of buggy software that can make phone calls. ...from Risks-Forum Digest - Volume 25 : Issue 02

Industrial Espionage - Rolls-Royce and Royal Dutch Shell

Rolls-Royce and Royal Dutch Shell have fallen victim to Chinese espionage attacks, The Times has learnt.

Sustained spying assaults on Britains largest engineering company and on the worlds second-biggest oil multinational occurred earlier this year as part of a campaign to obtain confidential commercial information, sources said.

News of the attacks on Rolls-Royce and Shell comes after a warning by Britain's security services that China is sponsoring espionage against vital parts of the British economy, including breaking into big companies computer systems. (more)

Spy Bar - Dead at 10

OH - The once-chic Spy Bar is no more. Since opening in '97, the Warehouse District nightclub established itself as one of Cleveland's swankiest spots and strongest celebrity magnets. Its VIP room hosted A-listers like Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Prince, and even that magician who's married to that hot chick. "David Copperfield was the nicest man," says owner Raj Singh, remembering the glory days. (more) (others)

Spy Barred - Dead at 72

Cuban state media report that former CIA agent Philip Agee, who caused outrage by naming undercover former colleagues, has died in Cuba at the age of 72.

Agee quit the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the late 1960s after 12 years of working mostly in Latin America. He later wrote the book "Inside the Company: CIA Diary," which included the names of certain undercover agents.

The book infuriated U.S. officials who said it put those agents in danger, and the U.S. government revoked Agee's passport. (more)

Listen Up

The TV ad for this electronic amplifier starts of innocently. "Do you sometimes disturb others while you watch TV?"

Then, it turns creepy.

"Listen to a pin drop from across the room. Or, listen into a conversation from across the street."

Headphones would solve the TV problem. And, if you feel the need to hear pins drop from across the room the only electronics you need might be shock therapy.

Several more references to eavesdropping follow. (scene: a health club) "Ever wonder what people are talking about across the room?" (video)

There oughtabealaw!
There is a law. "Manufacture, distribution, possession, and advertising of wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepting devices prohibited" But, if you are a follower of this Security Scrapbook you know that the law is not being enforced.

This item is not much of a threat in corporate and government circles. However, many of the other eavesdropping devices you read about here are being used.

Moral: It is up to you to protect your privacy.
All we can do is help.

Sow, Reap & Weep

Remember these stories?
• "I'm dreaming of a Spy Christmas..."
• Christmas Toys Which Teach (somesorta) Lessons
• More bugs for your kids...
• The Kids Spy Back
If so, you knew this was coming...

"My 9-year-old was given a spying device for Christmas. It has a sensitive microphone so he can eavesdrop, unnoticed, on others' conversations. He can't resist using it even though he gets in trouble when he gets caught. What should we do?"

(answer from Beth Palmer - The Rocky Mountain News)
This toy might be too much temptation for most kids.

If you've been clear about what's inappropriate and he's had consequences when he crosses the line, he isn't ready to have the toy. Take it away. Explain that when he is able to resist the temptation of invading others' privacy, then he can try again.

Do the best thing for your child even though he may protest that it's not fair. Exercise good judgment, especially when your son can't. (more)

Normal looking belt buckle...

(from the seller's website)
...is a high quality Audio Video recorder.

"Our Buckle DVR gives you the ability to perform personal investigation, conduct secret video surveillance or for any ideal covert operation where gathering evidence is important.

Ideal for hidden camera use where wireless camera can be detected easily with a wireless camera detector." (more) (sample video)

Why do I mention it?
So you know what you're up against.

Short Wave Radio to the Rescue

Plot by terrorists to blow up the Eiffel Tower uncovered.
A scrambled short-wave radio conversation exposing the planned attack on the world's most visited monument was picked up by Portuguese air traffic controllers and passed on to French spy chiefs. The threat was uncovered in a "vague and muffled" radio conversation picked up by air traffic controllers in Lisbon on Thursday. (more)

Nato Secrets USB Stick Lost

A Cautionary Tale...
The discovery of a USB memory stick containing classified NATO information in a library in Stockholm has prompted a meeting between the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service and foreign defence officials.

According to Swedish daily Aftonbladet, the stick contained (http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article1563893.ab) material on NATO's ISAF peace-keeping force in Afghanistan, as well as an intelligence report on the attempted assassination of Lebanon's defense minister and the murder of Sri Lanka's foreign minister.

Colonel Bengt Sandström of the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service says this kind of carelessness is intolerable and can result in up to six months in prison. It is unclear how the USB stick ended up in the library.

It isn't the first time the military has lost USB sticks with secret files. In 2006, a memory stick containing files on the Dutch military mission to Afghanistan was lost in a rented car. The documents also included information about the rules of engagement for Dutch troops in Afghanistan and the personal protection of Dutch Defense Minister Henk Kamp.

Also in 2006, the Dutch Defense Ministry reported the loss of another memory stick containing sensitive information about military intelligence agency MIVD. (more)

By this time, you should be convinced that you have to do something immediately about YOUR USB memory stick.
(more USB stories) (IronKey solution) (a great movie ...cheap!)