Brazil's president is working to contain a wiretapping scandal after a Brazilian news magazine accused the national intelligence service of tapping the phone of the Supreme Court's chief justice and other top officials.
Opposition politicians are calling for the president's impeachment over this latest scandal. (more)
UPDATE...
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suspended the entire leadership of Brazil’s intelligence agency on Monday after it was accused of spying on the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress. Opposition leaders had demanded an investigation when Veja, a news magazine, reported that the agency had spied on the president of the Supreme Court, Gilmar Mendes, and tapped his telephones. (more) (more)
UPDATE...
Low-ranking Brazilian police and security officials are known to tap the phones of politicians and others in attempts to mount extortion schemes, said David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia. But he said such schemes rarely reach someone as powerful as the head of the Supreme Court. He predicted the scandal would die down if top administration officials can show they weren't involved. "If they determine it was done by freelancers, and not as part of a deliberate policy decision, there will be no real repercussions for Lula," Fleischer said. (more)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A Watergate in Landlocked Macedonia
Macedonia - The Court of Appeal in Skopje judged that journalists involved in the “Big Ear” case have been tapped, Macedonian Vecer newspaper writes. The Court of Appeal decided that the journalists receive MKD 250,000 compensation ($589.85)...
...and, ascertained that the Ministry of Interior and the Telecom disposed of equipment to eavesdrop and tap. (more) (background)
...and, ascertained that the Ministry of Interior and the Telecom disposed of equipment to eavesdrop and tap. (more) (background)
Meanwhile, journalists in Turkey face prison for reporting nationwide eavesdropping...
Turkey - A lawsuit has been filed against journalists Gökçer Tahincioğlu and Kemal Göktaş for making a story about Ankara’s 11th High Criminal Court’s giving permission to the Police Department, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Gendarmerie Head Quarters to monitor others.
Tahincioğlu and Göktaş had received the Media Freedom Award for this story from the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) on the Traditional Journalists Day of July 24. (more)
Tahincioğlu and Göktaş had received the Media Freedom Award for this story from the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) on the Traditional Journalists Day of July 24. (more)
Meanwhile, Macedonia's Neighbor Buys Bugging Gear. Just Coincidence?
Kosovo - Post and Telecom of Kosovo (PTK) has helped buy wiretapping equipment for legal needs of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)...
"This is a major project for the Kosovo Police, and the Kosovar society in general, with the aim of offering a safe legal environment for all our citizens," said Police Colonel Rifat Marmulluku. (more)
"This is a major project for the Kosovo Police, and the Kosovar society in general, with the aim of offering a safe legal environment for all our citizens," said Police Colonel Rifat Marmulluku. (more)
The Return of Shame as a Crime Prevention Tool
Chicago resident and journalist Adrian Holovaty started a site called ChicagoCrime.org in 2005 after persuading city police to share crime data with him... His project is now called Everyblock.com, and covers nine of the largest U.S. cities, including New York, Washington D.C., and Seattle.
Holovaty said he will soon offer the software he's developed for free to municipalities around the country. "It's an experiment in journalism," he said.
Crimereports.com, based in Utah, uses a different model. The firm charges local police departments $99-$199 per month to publish their data on the CrimeReports' Web site. So, far, says founder Greg Whisenant, 260 cities have signed up since the service launched in May of 2007.
"I think CrimeReports is the future," said Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff. "People are really excited about it here." He says about half of Utah cities are already up and running on the site. (more)
More about 'Shame as a Crime Prevention Tool'.
Holovaty said he will soon offer the software he's developed for free to municipalities around the country. "It's an experiment in journalism," he said.
Crimereports.com, based in Utah, uses a different model. The firm charges local police departments $99-$199 per month to publish their data on the CrimeReports' Web site. So, far, says founder Greg Whisenant, 260 cities have signed up since the service launched in May of 2007.
"I think CrimeReports is the future," said Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff. "People are really excited about it here." He says about half of Utah cities are already up and running on the site. (more)
More about 'Shame as a Crime Prevention Tool'.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Idea - A UFO Narrating Elvis
India - Can you build a micro spying gadget that flies and can transmit real time video information?This challenge was thrown to engineering students Saturday by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Commemorating its 50th anniversary, DRDO has invited engineering students to design and develop the prototype of a lightweight, low cost, electronic aerial surveillance system. (more)
Think, before you jump on a cloud.
Cloud Computing: Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook, Flickr, Linkedin and similar business-oriented social networking sites. By some definitions, very useful. By other definitions, "using some service that is out of your control, and storing your information there."
Think, before you jump on a cloud. Do you really want all your information out there, under someone else's control? A little here, a little there, combined it may be your dossier.
Did you know...
Facebook's Terms of Use agreement states: "... The Company may, but is not obligated to, review the Site and may delete or remove (without notice) any Site Content or User Content in its sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, including User Content…"
Yes, Personal Cloud Computing is different than Business Cloud Computing. If Flickr flickers you may loose all the personal photos you stored there. No big deal, you have back-ups. You did back-up didn't you?
Linkedin's User's Agreement states: "...you actually grant by concluding the Agreement, a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, unlimited, assignable, sublicenseable, fully paid up and royalty-free right to us to copy, prepare derivative works of, improve, distribute, publish, remove, retain, add, and use and commercialize, in any way now known or in the future discovered, anything that you submit to us, without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or any third parties." Yikes! Read that again! Is this the wording of a benign B2B service, or are these folks thinking way ahead of you?
Business Cloud Computing?
What information are you putting out there: sales, contact, purchasing, email, medical, financial?
Can you afford to have that co-opted, lost or re-sold?
And, what are the legal ramifications?
What laws have you broken (HIPPA, SOX, etc.)?
What lawsuits might rain on you?
Think, before you jump on a cloud. (more)
~ Kevin
Think, before you jump on a cloud. Do you really want all your information out there, under someone else's control? A little here, a little there, combined it may be your dossier.
Did you know...
Facebook's Terms of Use agreement states: "... The Company may, but is not obligated to, review the Site and may delete or remove (without notice) any Site Content or User Content in its sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, including User Content…"
Yes, Personal Cloud Computing is different than Business Cloud Computing. If Flickr flickers you may loose all the personal photos you stored there. No big deal, you have back-ups. You did back-up didn't you?
Linkedin's User's Agreement states: "...you actually grant by concluding the Agreement, a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, unlimited, assignable, sublicenseable, fully paid up and royalty-free right to us to copy, prepare derivative works of, improve, distribute, publish, remove, retain, add, and use and commercialize, in any way now known or in the future discovered, anything that you submit to us, without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or any third parties." Yikes! Read that again! Is this the wording of a benign B2B service, or are these folks thinking way ahead of you?
Business Cloud Computing?
What information are you putting out there: sales, contact, purchasing, email, medical, financial?
Can you afford to have that co-opted, lost or re-sold?
And, what are the legal ramifications?
What laws have you broken (HIPPA, SOX, etc.)?
What lawsuits might rain on you?
Think, before you jump on a cloud. (more)
~ Kevin
Friday, August 29, 2008
Pellicano & Christensen convicted of wiretap plot
Private investigator Anthony Pellicano and attorney Terry Christensen were convicted today of conspiring to illegally wiretap the ex-wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.
Christensen, who was an attorney for investor and casino mogul Kerkorian, was accused of hiring Pellicano to listen in on the phone conversations of Lisa Bonder Kerkorian during a bitterly fought child support case. The lawyer and investigator were each charged with two felony counts relating to the alleged wiretap. The federal jury verdicts give a green light to a slew of pending civil lawsuits. (more)
Christensen, who was an attorney for investor and casino mogul Kerkorian, was accused of hiring Pellicano to listen in on the phone conversations of Lisa Bonder Kerkorian during a bitterly fought child support case. The lawyer and investigator were each charged with two felony counts relating to the alleged wiretap. The federal jury verdicts give a green light to a slew of pending civil lawsuits. (more)
Cell Phone Security Issues on the Rise
More small companies are allowing employees to use their personal smart phones for work. But that move could lead to big trouble, thanks to a new breed of hackers who are starting to target mobile phones.
Hackers can use spyware to keep an eye on what you type and what messages you receive, possibly gleaning company secrets. They can even can track your device's location, potentially allowing them to figure out your clients or plans by looking at where you go...
Mobile spyware, according to experts, is readily available. Many point to FlexiSPY, a program sold by Thai software company Vervata Co. The company promotes the product as a way for husbands and wives to catch their cheating spouses. Once installed on a person's phone, FlexiSPY tracks the device's whereabouts and monitors incoming and outgoing calls, text messages and emails. The information is then uploaded to a central server and can be viewed by the person who originally installed the software.
Nobody is accusing Vervata of stealing information, but some security experts argue that the software is ripe for abuse. It can be used by anyone to steal personal information and company secrets, they argue. A business might install the software on a rival's phone, for instance, to steal a contact list or monitor email traffic.
Phones that use the Symbian operating system, meanwhile, are vulnerable to a program that can capture the keystrokes of the device...
BlackBerrys may also be vulnerable to attack. ...Research In Motion Ltd. says that security policies built into the BlackBerry Enterprise Server software can guard against such spyware. Many small businesses, however, can't afford the BlackBerry server.
Even Apple Inc.'s iPhone may be vulnerable... While the iPhone offers password protection, it lacks other capabilities such as data encryption... The iPhone does offer the ability to create a secure virtual-private-network connection to company headquarters... But small businesses often lack VPN capabilities. (more)
One Solution for You...
Secure Mobile Systems (SMobile), designs security applications for mobile devices. They offer a comprehensive product suite that protects users of mobile devices from viruses, data compromise, the effects of device theft, and unauthorized data access.
Hackers can use spyware to keep an eye on what you type and what messages you receive, possibly gleaning company secrets. They can even can track your device's location, potentially allowing them to figure out your clients or plans by looking at where you go...
Mobile spyware, according to experts, is readily available. Many point to FlexiSPY, a program sold by Thai software company Vervata Co. The company promotes the product as a way for husbands and wives to catch their cheating spouses. Once installed on a person's phone, FlexiSPY tracks the device's whereabouts and monitors incoming and outgoing calls, text messages and emails. The information is then uploaded to a central server and can be viewed by the person who originally installed the software.
Nobody is accusing Vervata of stealing information, but some security experts argue that the software is ripe for abuse. It can be used by anyone to steal personal information and company secrets, they argue. A business might install the software on a rival's phone, for instance, to steal a contact list or monitor email traffic.
Phones that use the Symbian operating system, meanwhile, are vulnerable to a program that can capture the keystrokes of the device...
BlackBerrys may also be vulnerable to attack. ...Research In Motion Ltd. says that security policies built into the BlackBerry Enterprise Server software can guard against such spyware. Many small businesses, however, can't afford the BlackBerry server.
Even Apple Inc.'s iPhone may be vulnerable... While the iPhone offers password protection, it lacks other capabilities such as data encryption... The iPhone does offer the ability to create a secure virtual-private-network connection to company headquarters... But small businesses often lack VPN capabilities. (more)
One Solution for You...
Secure Mobile Systems (SMobile), designs security applications for mobile devices. They offer a comprehensive product suite that protects users of mobile devices from viruses, data compromise, the effects of device theft, and unauthorized data access.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
R ur kiz speken nkod? Du u fee eel <- awt?
Lingo2word is devoted to demistifying the new Internet shorthand language of Text messages, Chat rooms and Emails.
• Online Searchable Shorthand Dictionary.
• Translate to txtmsg lingo.
• Translate from Lingo to plain English.
• Emoticons.
• Txting words.
• Acronyms.
• And a searchable Text Message collection.
• Online Searchable Shorthand Dictionary.
• Translate to txtmsg lingo.
• Translate from Lingo to plain English.
• Emoticons.
• Txting words.
• Acronyms.
• And a searchable Text Message collection.
Interesting cellular surveillance product...
from the seller's web site..."RADAR safeguards your child while using cell phones and immediately alerts you if he or she receives unapproved email, text messages or phone calls.
RADAR provides you complete text messages (sent and received from your child's phone) along with corresponding phone numbers and records them on the website where you can review them at home and print reports for authorities.
RADAR is not spyware...
RADAR notifies the user that they are being monitored, making it impossible to track their usage secretly." (more)
So... how soon will this come with company-supplied cell phones, or be made a requirement of parole?
Declare + "A War On..." = Business Opportunity
reprinted from CRYPTO-GRAM by Bruce Schneier
Homeland Security Cost-Benefit Analysis
"In an excellent paper by Ohio State political science professor John Mueller, "The Quixotic Quest for Invulnerability: Assessing the Costs, Benefits, and Probabilities of Protecting the Homeland," there are some common sense premises and policy implications."
The premises:
1. The number of potential terrorist targets is essentially infinite.
2. The probability that any individual target will be attacked is essentially zero.
3. If one potential target happens to enjoy a degree of protection, the agile terrorist usually can readily move on to another one.
4. Most targets are 'vulnerable' in that it is not very difficult to damage them, but invulnerable in that they can be rebuilt in fairly short order and at tolerable expense.
5. It is essentially impossible to make a very wide variety of potential terrorist targets invulnerable except by completely closing them down."
The policy implications:
1. Any protective policy should be compared to a "null case": do nothing, and use the money saved to rebuild and to compensate any victims.
2. Abandon any effort to imagine a terrorist target list.
3. Consider negative effects of protection measures: not only direct cost, but inconvenience, enhancement of fear, negative economic impacts, reduction of liberties.
4. Consider the opportunity costs, the tradeoffs, of protection measures."
Meanwhile... "The nation's terrorist watch list has hit one million names, according to a tally maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union based upon the government's own reported numbers for the size of the list." (more)
Homeland Security Cost-Benefit Analysis
"In an excellent paper by Ohio State political science professor John Mueller, "The Quixotic Quest for Invulnerability: Assessing the Costs, Benefits, and Probabilities of Protecting the Homeland," there are some common sense premises and policy implications."
The premises:
1. The number of potential terrorist targets is essentially infinite.
2. The probability that any individual target will be attacked is essentially zero.
3. If one potential target happens to enjoy a degree of protection, the agile terrorist usually can readily move on to another one.
4. Most targets are 'vulnerable' in that it is not very difficult to damage them, but invulnerable in that they can be rebuilt in fairly short order and at tolerable expense.
5. It is essentially impossible to make a very wide variety of potential terrorist targets invulnerable except by completely closing them down."
The policy implications:
1. Any protective policy should be compared to a "null case": do nothing, and use the money saved to rebuild and to compensate any victims.
2. Abandon any effort to imagine a terrorist target list.
3. Consider negative effects of protection measures: not only direct cost, but inconvenience, enhancement of fear, negative economic impacts, reduction of liberties.
4. Consider the opportunity costs, the tradeoffs, of protection measures."
Meanwhile... "The nation's terrorist watch list has hit one million names, according to a tally maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union based upon the government's own reported numbers for the size of the list." (more)
Update - The Case of the Blue Mocking Bird
CA - Undersheriff Steve Bolts told County Human Resources officials that he and Sheriff Pat Hedges eavesdropped on former Chief Deputy Gary Hoving because of concerns Hoving was “making fun of” Hedges behind his back and was disloyal, not because of any ongoing criminal investigation.Eavesdropping is considered illegal except in limited circumstances, such as a police officer conducting an investigation. That’s how Hedges has publicly described what he was doing, saying that he was investigating allegations evidence was mishandled in a narcotics division. The transcripts, however, give a different account. (more)
007's in "License to Bill"
Private contractors account for more than one-quarter of the core workforce at U.S. intelligence agencies, according to newly released government figures that underscore how much of the nation's spying work has been outsourced since the Sept. 11 attacks. The CIA and other spy agencies employ about 36,000 contractors in espionage-related jobs, in addition to approximately 100,000 full-time government workers, said Ronald Sanders, head of personnel for the U.S. intelligence community...
The total budget for the nation's spy agencies is roughly $43 billion. (more)
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