One unintended consequence of India and Pakistan establishing better relations in the last year, is a bunch of lawsuits by former Indian spies against the Indian government.
The former spies are suing to obtain pay for the years they have spent in Pakistani jails. That's because both countries have freed hundreds of men who had been imprisoned for spying, but the agencies that hired these men, often will still not admit it. (more)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Spybusters Shades - Poop on the Paparazzi
Proof of Concept. Very effective. Murray's Prediction: Look for some sharp sunglass manufacturer to put this into production.
"Spy", perhaps?!?!
"Spy", perhaps?!?!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Bugs of Margaritaville
Another employee vs. boss illegal bugging story.But the case gets weirder...
Key West, FL - ...suspended Key West police officer Thomas Neary was fired Wednesday for telling people he was an undercover federal agent investigating corruption in the Police Department and looking into possible terrorist attacks...
The Neary investigation even involved bugging Lt. Kathleen Ream's office to record conversations she had with him. Transcripts from the bugging show some statements that indicate Neary told Ream he and his wife are federal agents...
In a casual conversation before the investigation began, "Officer Neary told [detective Bradley Lariz] that he had [City Commissioner Mark Rossi's] plane and house bugged and that they were watching him. He also told Lariz that he was watching and doing an investigation on Sgt. Robert Allen."
It's not clear what he was inferring with Rossi, but with Allen, he allegedly accused the sergeant of transporting drugs to Cuba in a police boat. (more)
On Taping Your Own Conversations, Legally
IN - A Carmel man who claimed he set up a voice recorder to capture conversations with his wife before their divorce action has been acquitted of criminal wiretapping.A Hamilton Circuit Court jury found the man not guilty of the Class C felony offense of interception of telephonic communications. (more)
Indiana is a one-party consent state, meaning only one person who is being recorded needs to agree to the recording. Some states require all parties to consent. Want to know the law for your state? Check here.
Unified Communications - Beware the Dark Side
Unified Communications refers to an umbrella of technologies that are likely already familiar to corporate users: Instant messaging, that lets users chat with others in real-time using a simple client interface; presence, which allows users to see who is available on IM, but also what is active on the network; and unified messaging, the combination of e-mail, voice, and fax in a single in-box that offers users access at any time from any device.
The products come as hardware and software combinations, stand-alone software, software suites, or as a hosted service. When working together, these tools aim to simplify the lives of professionals... (more) (more)
However...
• UC is a bigger, juicer, easier target for spies and hackers than each system individually.
• Court-ordered electronic surveillance of UC systems is easier and more productive.
• UC system breakdowns / sabotage will mean more $$$ lost than with current devices.
The products come as hardware and software combinations, stand-alone software, software suites, or as a hosted service. When working together, these tools aim to simplify the lives of professionals... (more) (more)
However...
• UC is a bigger, juicer, easier target for spies and hackers than each system individually.
• Court-ordered electronic surveillance of UC systems is easier and more productive.
• UC system breakdowns / sabotage will mean more $$$ lost than with current devices.
Sing-along! "Every single day, Every word you say, I'll be watching you."
Executives who often work on the move or in public places had better be more discreet about their business conversations and documents.
A survey in Britain and the United States, released last week, found that eavesdropping in public places was common.
Information exchanged during supposedly private business conversations were also used by others for their own advantage, according to survey findings.
Conducted by flexible work solutions provider Regus, the survey found that 67 per cent of Britons had listened in on someone else's business conversation while they were in public places.
Americans were also guilty of this act - 59 per cent of those polled did just that.
Besides eavesdropping, the habit of sneaking a peek at other people's business documents in public places, such as while on the train, was also not unheard of.
Nearly two out of five British professionals (35 per cent) and 34 per cent of Americans surveyed said they had caught sight of other people's sensitive company documents.
And the shocking thing was that 13 per cent of Britons and 19 per cent of Americans said they were able to use the information overheard for their own business purposes. (more)
A survey in Britain and the United States, released last week, found that eavesdropping in public places was common.
Information exchanged during supposedly private business conversations were also used by others for their own advantage, according to survey findings.
Conducted by flexible work solutions provider Regus, the survey found that 67 per cent of Britons had listened in on someone else's business conversation while they were in public places.
Americans were also guilty of this act - 59 per cent of those polled did just that.
Besides eavesdropping, the habit of sneaking a peek at other people's business documents in public places, such as while on the train, was also not unheard of.
Nearly two out of five British professionals (35 per cent) and 34 per cent of Americans surveyed said they had caught sight of other people's sensitive company documents.
And the shocking thing was that 13 per cent of Britons and 19 per cent of Americans said they were able to use the information overheard for their own business purposes. (more)
Larry, The IT Guy (No... make that, Spy)
Security Directors, CEOs, Chief Legal Counsels:
Immediately after you read this, make sure you have a clear, concise written policy in place detailing allowable IT behavior.
One in three IT administrators say they or one of their colleagues have used top-level admin passwords to pry into confidential or sensitive information at their workplace, according to a survey by a password-management vendor.
Nearly half also confessed that they have poked around systems for information not relevant to their jobs.
"We asked these questions last year, too," said Adam Bosnian, vice president of product strategy and sales for Cyber-Ark, a Newton, Mass.-based maker of password file security management software. "And we got similar results. So on one hand, the results weren't surprising. What was surprising initially -- and this time around, too -- is that people admit to it." (more)
Immediately after you read this, make sure you have a clear, concise written policy in place detailing allowable IT behavior.
One in three IT administrators say they or one of their colleagues have used top-level admin passwords to pry into confidential or sensitive information at their workplace, according to a survey by a password-management vendor.
Nearly half also confessed that they have poked around systems for information not relevant to their jobs.
"We asked these questions last year, too," said Adam Bosnian, vice president of product strategy and sales for Cyber-Ark, a Newton, Mass.-based maker of password file security management software. "And we got similar results. So on one hand, the results weren't surprising. What was surprising initially -- and this time around, too -- is that people admit to it." (more)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Remind Employees - "Don't sing!"
One in five U.S. workers regularly attends after-work drinks with co-workers, where the most common mishaps range from bad-mouthing another worker to kissing a colleague and drinking too much, according to a study... (survey conducted for CareerBuilder.com) As to what happens when the after-work drinks flow... Five percent said they had shared a secret about the company, and 4 percent confessed to singing karaoke.
Overall, 21 percent of workers attend happy hours with co-workers and, of those, nearly a quarter go at least once a month. (more)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Smart Spy Cameras
UK - Intelligent CCTV cameras are being developed in Britain that not only see trouble but are able to hear it, scientists said.
The technology allows the sounds of breaking glass, someone shouting, or the noise of a crowd gathering to be 'learned' by artificial intelligence software in the cameras.
The technology could slash the speed with which crimes are caught on camera and responded to by police but will again raise a debate about the extent of "surveillance Britain" and the use of such technology.
The three-year project by the University of Portsmouth aims to adapt artificial intelligence software already being developed to identify visual patterns. (more)
The technology allows the sounds of breaking glass, someone shouting, or the noise of a crowd gathering to be 'learned' by artificial intelligence software in the cameras.
The technology could slash the speed with which crimes are caught on camera and responded to by police but will again raise a debate about the extent of "surveillance Britain" and the use of such technology.
The three-year project by the University of Portsmouth aims to adapt artificial intelligence software already being developed to identify visual patterns. (more)
Amazing Spy Gear - PENCAM-15C
Better yet... A. Can you guess how little it costs?
B. Can you guess the recording time?
C. Can you guess her phone number?
Need three or more? Call the source.
Need some counterespionage help?
Call someone who knows this stuff exists, me.
Time to A-ppeal!!!
We work in The Big Apple.We see a lot of weird things;
everything from terrestrial Victorian borescopes to the Naked Cowboy.
Naked Cowboy drives to work each day between 11 and noon, in costume, with his female companion.
'Naked' parks in the same 43rd Street garage we use, jumps out and gets right to work. Doesn't matter whether it is 95 degrees and sunny, or 20 degree with snow. He is there. He makes millions smile. Want a photo with him; just stuff a buck in his boot and click away.Whattaguy! Hard working. A real Robert Lampf 'dare to be different' original.
Here is the outrage...
"A judge said a Times Square entertainer who wears just enough to justify the name the "Naked Cowboy" can continue a lawsuit he brought against a blue M&M.
Federal Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan on Monday stripped Robert Burck of some of his claims that a blue M&M wearing a white cowboy hat, cowboy boots and underpants violates his trademarks.
But the judge left intact one strand of that lawsuit. Mr. Chin said Mr. Burck might be able to prove that Mars Inc., which makes M&Ms, unfairly gave the impression that he had endorsed its advertising campaign.
For its part, Mars says the ad campaign was a parody and is protected by the First Amendment." (source)
I wonder how M&M would take it if Naked Cowboy took Big Blue, x'ed out his eyes, cracked his shell, and propped him up in a 42nd St. doorway with an empty whiskey bottle??? Parody? Art, perhaps?
Naked Cowboy will survive – and ride off into the sunset in a big black Cadillac SUV.
Go Naked.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Spying Spouses
Family law can sometimes involve “good people, behaving badly.”
That’s according to Laura W. Morgan, of Family Law Consulting in Charlottesville, Va., who offers the tale of a hypothetical client named Mary, who thinks her husband, John, is cheating on her and using marital funds to pay for his trysts. Among other tactics, Mary purchased surveillance software, popularly known as “spyware,” and installed it on a shared computer, so she could read John’s password-protected e-mails and see the Web sites he visits. She additionally took the computer to a forensic computer specialist, who made a copy of the hard drive and then found scads of evidence that could be damaging to John in a divorce.
Mary is what Morgan calls a “self-help” spouse, because she has forgone formal electronic discovery — and it was easy and fairly inexpensive for her to do that. The problem is she may have broken a few laws in the process. (more)
That’s according to Laura W. Morgan, of Family Law Consulting in Charlottesville, Va., who offers the tale of a hypothetical client named Mary, who thinks her husband, John, is cheating on her and using marital funds to pay for his trysts. Among other tactics, Mary purchased surveillance software, popularly known as “spyware,” and installed it on a shared computer, so she could read John’s password-protected e-mails and see the Web sites he visits. She additionally took the computer to a forensic computer specialist, who made a copy of the hard drive and then found scads of evidence that could be damaging to John in a divorce.
Mary is what Morgan calls a “self-help” spouse, because she has forgone formal electronic discovery — and it was easy and fairly inexpensive for her to do that. The problem is she may have broken a few laws in the process. (more)
Man Used Cell Phone to Bug Ex-girlfriend
A Swedish man has been given a suspended sentence for converting a cell phone to a bugging device to confirm his suspicions about his ex-girlfriend. A court in Hasselholm in southern Sweden also imposed a fine.
The man hid the phone behind the headboard of his girlfriend's bed, hooking up the charger to a bedside lamp. He set the phone up so, when he called it, the phone allowed him to hear what was being said in her room -- and he learned his ex- had indeed met someone else.
The court found the man's violation of his former girlfriend's privacy was so serious that a fine alone was not enough. (more)
The man hid the phone behind the headboard of his girlfriend's bed, hooking up the charger to a bedside lamp. He set the phone up so, when he called it, the phone allowed him to hear what was being said in her room -- and he learned his ex- had indeed met someone else.
The court found the man's violation of his former girlfriend's privacy was so serious that a fine alone was not enough. (more)
Open Season on Bugging Cellphones
The Geek Chorus welcomes Alan Reiter, President of Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing as he echos our warnings, in his well-written piece 'Open Season on Bugging Cellphones'...
"Silently, but with increasing frequency, government agencies and private individuals around the world are bugging cellular phones. Some of those phones are surreptitiously transmitting copies of their SMS, emails, call histories, and locations to Websites where the data may be viewed by those who have installed the clandestine software.
Most cellular subscribers don't have to worry about this happening to them, at least not yet. But anyone -- suspected criminals, spies, corporate executives, spouses, and even ex-lovers -- could be targeted. Thanks to software you can purchase over the Web, you don't have to be a secret agent to listen to cellular conversations or retrieve data transmissions.
Recently, a Swedish man was found guilty of hiding a cellular phone behind the headboard of his ex-girlfriend’s bed and remotely turning on the phone to listen to conversations..." (more)
"Silently, but with increasing frequency, government agencies and private individuals around the world are bugging cellular phones. Some of those phones are surreptitiously transmitting copies of their SMS, emails, call histories, and locations to Websites where the data may be viewed by those who have installed the clandestine software.
Most cellular subscribers don't have to worry about this happening to them, at least not yet. But anyone -- suspected criminals, spies, corporate executives, spouses, and even ex-lovers -- could be targeted. Thanks to software you can purchase over the Web, you don't have to be a secret agent to listen to cellular conversations or retrieve data transmissions.
Recently, a Swedish man was found guilty of hiding a cellular phone behind the headboard of his ex-girlfriend’s bed and remotely turning on the phone to listen to conversations..." (more)
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