Quote of the Day

"Anybody can be a spy now."
– Todd Myers, President, Computer Sights

As a private investigator, Jim Bender has tracked everything from straying spouses to strung-out trust-fund babies - sometimes following them for days at a time.

But thanks to an innovative GPS device the size of a matchbox, he can now stake out a cheating husband without leaving his Fort Lauderdale office. Or, as he has done the last few weeks, help a major company figure out who is draining the diesel fuel from its big rigs.

Technological advances have revolutionized the surveillance business, making devices smaller, cheaper and more effective than ever. And not just for professional snoops like Bender, but for everyday people. (more)

"Watch the donut, not the hole."

NY - Police arrested a Kings Park Dunkin' Donuts employee at 10:26 pm last Thursday for allegedly setting up an illegal surveillance camera in the shop's women's bathroom.

Danish Qureshi, 25, of Huntington Station, an employee of the Dunkin' Donuts at 101 Pulaski Road in Kings Park, allegedly installed a wireless pinhole surveillance camera in the women's bathroom, according to police. Qureshi was using his wireless laptop computer to observe occupants of the bathroom while he was sitting in his nearby vehicle, police claim.

An area resident who owns similar surveillance equipment called police after he intercepted the signal and observed the bathroom on his television, Suffolk police reported. (more)

She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy

FB-I said "Be careful his bowtie is really a wi-fi"
Next time you flip open your laptop as you wait for a flight or work at a coffee shop, beware, says the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The person next to you may be stealing your personal bank account information, address book and other files from your computer.

The agency warned earlier this week that the information on your computers may not be protected when using some of the 68,000 Wi-Fi hot spots, or local wireless Internet connections, around the country.

"Odds are there's a hacker nearby, with his own laptop, attempting to 'eavesdrop' on your computer to obtain personal data that will provide access to your money or even to your company's sensitive information," the FBI said in a advisory on its Web site.

Think that's bad, the FBI goes further to warn that if a hacker hooks into your computer, you are also connecting to his computer. That means you could be unknowingly downloading viruses and worms.

Protect yourself:
• Update the security protection on your computer with current versions of operating systems, web browsers, firewalls and antivirus and anti-spyware software.
• When tapped into a Wi-Fi network, don't conduct financial transactions or use e- mail and instant messaging.
• Change the default setting on your laptop so you have to manually select the Wi-Fi network you connect to.
• Turn off your laptop's Wi-Fi capabilities when you're not using them. (more)
Clients... Ask us to demonstrate this during our next eavesdropping detection audit.

FutureWatch - Video Vigilantes

New Zealand - A Christchurch cul-de-sac has thwarted its boy-racer problem with secret video surveillance.

Business owners and the only resident of Dalziel Place in Woolston were fed up with weekly crowds of boy racers converging on their street, doing burnouts, defacing properties and throwing bottles.

Cameras set up by a surveillance company that has its headquarters on the street captured footage of six cars and their drivers breaking the law.

The footage was passed on to police and all six drivers last week had their cars impounded for 28 days. (more)

"World's smallest" GSM bug

from the seller's web site...
The PLM-JNGSMTX08 Micro GSM Listening Device is the pinnacle of GSM listening technology packed into an incredibly small package just 43 x 34 x 17mm. Just insert any SIM card, call the number and you will hear exactly what is going on in your absence.

UK customers can track its location at any time via the internet making it a compact dual purpose surveillance device. Supplied with mains charger and protective carry case. This is the ultimate micro miniature listening device! (more)
Why do I mention it?
So you know what you are up against.

Corporate Spies Killing The CIA

The CIA is having a growing problem with their analysts and spies being recruited away by corporations. One unpleasant, for government intelligence agencies, development of the last few decades has been the growing popularity of "competitive intelligence" (corporate espionage.) It's a really big business, with most large (over a billion dollars of annual sales) corporations having separate intelligence operations. Spending on corporate intel work is over $5 billion a year, and is expected to more than double in the next four years.

The corporate recruiters have a pretty easy time of it, as they can offer higher pay, better working conditions and bonuses. (more)

Spy Hard II

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori on Monday had a minute-long laughing fit during his trial when he heard that his former military aides used to spy on him through the keyhole. (more)

JK Rowling wins privacy case over son's photo

UK - Harry Potter author JK Rowling has won her battle to ban the further publication of a long-lens photograph of her son, in a privacy case her lawyers called a major development in British law.

In a written judgment, a panel of judges upheld the appeal, a ruling which Rowling and husband Neil Murray welcomed.

"We understand and accept that with the success of Harry Potter there will be a measure of legitimate media and public interest in Jo's (Rowling's) professional activities and appearances," the couple said in a statement.

"However, we have striven to give our children a normal family life outside the media spotlight.

"We are immensely grateful to the court for giving our children protection from covert, unauthorised photography; this ruling will make an immediate and material difference to their lives." (more)
...but, if they didn't win, there was always... >Plan B<.

SpyCam Story #445 - More Workplace Voyeurism

Australia - Federal police (AFP) are investigating how women at SBS' headquarters in Sydney were filmed in a changing room two years ago.

The AFP told SBS management about two weeks ago they had found photos of three women on the home computer of a man who works there. It is alleged the photos were taken by a camera installed in the room in 2006.

SBS managing director Shaun Brown says the suspect has been suspended from his job.

"Clearly the AFP had in their possessions the photograph," he said.

"They obviously had the identity of the suspect, they knew where the suspect worked and they appeared to put two and two together and concluded that the offence took place on these premises." (more)
So, why did it take 2-years for the staff to be informed?

Security Directors: FREE Security White Paper - "Surreptitious Workplace Recording ...and what you can do about it."  

Wi-Fi FBI Spy Cry

How do hackers grab your personal data out of thin air? Supervisory Special Agent Donna Peterson of our Cyber Division said one of the most common types of attack is this: a bogus but legitimate-looking Wi-Fi network with a strong signal is strategically set up in a known hot spot...and the hacker waits for nearby laptops to connect to it. At that point, your computer—and all your sensitive information, including user ID, passwords, credit card numbers, etc.—basically belongs to the hacker. The intruder can mine your computer for valuable data, direct you to phony webpages that look like ones you frequent, and record your every keystroke.

“Another thing to remember,” said Agent Peterson, “is that the connection between your laptop and the attacker's laptop runs both ways: while he's taking info from you, you may be unknowingly downloading viruses, worms, and other malware from him.”

What can you do to protect yourself?
Agent’s Peterson’s best advice is, don’t connect to an unknown Wi-Fi network. But if you have to, there are some precautions you can take to decrease the threat:
• Make sure your laptop security is up to date, with current versions of your operating system, web browser, firewalls, and antivirus and anti-spyware software.
• Don't conduct financial transactions or use applications like e-mail and instant messaging.
Change the default setting on your laptop so you have to manually select the Wi-Fi network you’re connecting to.
• Turn off your laptop's Wi-Fi capabilities when you're not using them.
(more) (How to Protect Your Computer)

SpyCam Story #444 - Workplace Voyeurism

Employer Video Monitoring of Bathrooms and Locker Rooms
by The National Workrights Institute
"Electronic monitoring is a rapidly growing phenomenon in American businesses. By recent estimates, 92% of employers were conducting some form of workplace monitoring. This rapid growth in monitoring has virtually destroyed any sense of privacy as we know it in the American workplace. As technology has proliferated in the workplace, it has become ever more penetrating and intrusive... Most invasive of all is video monitoring. Some cameras are appropriate. Security cameras in stairwells and parking garages make us all safer without intruding on privacy. But employers often install cameras in areas that are completely indefensible. Many employers have installed hidden video cameras in locker rooms and bathrooms, sometimes inside the stalls..." (more, with examples)

Security Directors: FREE Security White Paper - "Surreptitious Workplace Recording ...and what you can do about it."   

Who's Watching You at Work?

"Surveillance is now routine business practice among American employers, both large and small, as the cost and ease of introducing have dropped. You leave your rights at the office door every day you go to work. Most surveillance is conducted without any individualized suspicion, and personal as well as business-related information is routinely collected," explained Jeremy Gruber, legal director at the National Workrights Institute.

Two-thirds of the companies included in the "2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey" said they monitor Internet connections. (more)

The Dawn of the VoIP Bug

"...transform the existing power lines in your home or small office into a high-speed network solution. Without running wires, PLC-185S takes advantage of your existing electrical wiring to create or extend a network environment. PLC-185S is also an ideal solution for homes or small offices where concrete walls, floors in multi-storied buildings, or other architectural barriers could inhibit a wireless signal.

Just plug the PLC-185S into an electrical outlet and it can turn every electrical outlet into a possible network connection to connect to any network devices, such as wireless router, network cameras, and video servers." or VoIP bugs :) (more)

Hollywood Wiretap - Is The Pellicano Case New?

Two-bit snoops are a dime a dozen, but Hollywood wiretappers rate a four-bit litereary, literally!
Enough with the alliteration.
Blow 50 cents (not literally) and tap into some deja vu by Brad Lewis. Download Hollywood Wiretap– instantly – from Amazon.com, now.

Lessons in Wiretapping Skills

Los Angeles - The wiretapping trial of Anthony Pellicano, the accused sleuth to the stars and irrepressible eavesdropper, has offered much fodder for celebrity watchers over its two-month run... the trial, which went to the jury last week, offered arguably more for people who enjoy talk of encryption software, code-wiping booby traps or the low-tech secrets of phone company networks.

Here, through various witnesses, are a few of the disclosures:

• Wiretapping is really, really easy. And not just for the government. Anyone sitting in on the Pellicano trial (and staying awake during the telecom testimony) could walk away ready to intercept phone calls after a quick stop at Radio Shack for less than $50 in equipment... For all his wiretapping prowess, however, Mr. Pellicano could not tap cellphones.

• Phone “sweeps” offer false security. There are many companies that offer wiretap detection services. But these services are meant to pick up devices on the premises of the target. If the tap is elsewhere, they are useless...

• The person who programmed Mr. Pellicano’s wiretap software was a college dropout named Kevin Kachikian... His software incorporated an encryption algorithm, Serpent, that the government’s code-breakers have not been able to crack. Serpent, can be downloaded free...

• Mr. Pellicano bragged about his wiretapping ability and vowed that no one on earth would ever learn of it — proving that a code of silence is not too useful if you never stop blabbing about it. (more)