How your cell phone evolved into a personal panopticon...
A recent article in the London Review of Books revealed that a number of private companies now sell off-the-shelf data-mining solutions to government spies interested in analyzing mobile-phone calling records and real-time location information. These companies include ThorpeGlen, VASTech, Kommlabs, and Aqsacom--all of which sell "passive probing" data-mining services to governments around the world.
...while it may be impossible for the NSA to legally obtain large-scale, real-time customer location information from Verizon, the spooks at Fort Meade can simply go to the company that owns and operates the wireless towers that Verizon uses for its network and get accurate information on anyone using those towers--or go to other entities connecting the wireless network to the landline network. The wiretapping laws, at least in this situation, simply don't apply. (more) (webinar pdf)
CA - The county has agreed to pay $660,000 to settle a federal civil lawsuit against Sheriff Pat Hedges in regards to an investigation of a secret recording of an October 2006 meeting.The suit, filed by former Chief Deputy Gary Hoving in regards to the meeting between himself and Sgt. Jay Donovan, alleged Hedges and Undersheriff Steve Bolts had violated Hoving’s civil rights and liberties while illegally using taxpayers’ money to record the meeting. (more)Why this is important to you in the corporate world...Post facto discovery of electronic eavesdropping is expensive!
Costs include:
• the investigation,
• the lawyers fees,
• lost employee time,
• and this subsequent civil settlement
Proactive inspections for bugs, wiretaps, wi-fi system loopholes and other info-leak pressure points – cheap insurance.
Fury as sheriff spares toilet spycam lawyer from jail
Scotland - A pervert lawyer who filmed female colleagues on the loo was spared jail yesterday after a controversial sheriff branded his actions "clumsy". Peter Fitzpatrick used a video camera hidden in a pile of cardboard boxes to spy on the ladies toilet. But Stirling sheriff Margaret Gimblett told Fitzpatrick his offence sounded like "a cry for help".
The dad-of-two grinned as he was sentenced. His punishment provoked fury from Mid-Scotland & Fife Tory MSP Liz Smith.
Ms. Smith said: "This man has committed a reprehensible offence and the public will be astonished by the suggestion that his victims were somehow at fault for not being more aware of the circumstances around them.
"How is that an excuse for his actions?" (more)
from the seller's web site...
"Calculator spy camera, video and audio recorder.
When you want to record interviews, meetings, and office discussions without intimidating anyone, then the CVSD-627 wireless calculator video camera is the perfect answer. This working calculator has a subtle camera on the side for quietly viewing and recording all your important conversations.
The color video is recorded with audio in digital format by the included receiver so that you can view on the portable recorders LCD screen or connect to your computer for easier viewing and management of all your recordings. The wireless recorder is small enough to fit into a pocket if needed for use on the road." (more)
Why do we mention it?
So you know what you are up against.
Only $193.75, from Chinavasion.
China. Invasion. Chinavasion.
Get it? (ugh)
Numbers stations are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin. They generally broadcast artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters (sometimes using a spelling alphabet), tunes or Morse code. They are in a wide variety of languages and the voices are usually women's, though sometimes men's or children's voices are used.
Evidence supports popular assumptions that the broadcasts are used to send messages to spies. This usage has not been publicly acknowledged by any government that may operate a numbers station, but in one case, Cuban numbers station espionage has been publicly prosecuted in a United States federal court.
from Simon Mason..."Here you can access the book "Secret Signals, The Euronumbers Mystery" which was written in 1991 and is now out of print. Thanks to the publisher "Tiare Publications " of Lake Geneva U.S.A. and Gerry Dexter its owner, I am able to reproduce the book..." (more) (audio clip 1) (audio clip 2) (extra credit)
President Álvaro Colom of Guatemala fired his security chief on Thursday after the discovery of seven unauthorized listening devices and video cameras in the presidential office and residence.
He said he did not know who was responsible for the breach of security, but added, "One of the possibilities is organized crime." He said "a lot of people" had access to the palace and his office.The president said that the discovery of the microphones and cameras explain, to him, some strange experiences he's had recently. (more)another version...
The head of presidential security in Guatemala resigned on Thursday after President Alvaro Colom said he found cameras and voice recorders hidden in his offices and home.Colom said the devices could have been used for espionage but did not specify who he thought had planted them or why.Colom, a social democrat who took office in January, said he suspected a plot when information from his private conversations appeared in newspapers. (more)
Brazil‘s security chief told a congressional panel Tuesday that the country‘s intelligence agency was not behind the alleged wiretapping of several top officials, but that rogue elements within the organization may be to blame. (more)
WA - Bechtel National has taken disciplinary action against four managers at the Hanford vitrification plant for reportedly eavesdropping on a meeting between safety representatives and the Department of Energy.An investigation was begun by Bechtel 12 days ago after an anonymous call was made to an employee concerns program...
During the meeting, one of the safety representatives' managers called a worker's cell phone to find out where he was. The worker's cell phone was inadvertently left on after the call was answered, said Bechtel spokesman Drew Slaton.
That manager and three others then listened to at least a portion of the conversation without the knowledge of the safety representatives or Olinger, according to Bechtel.
Bechtel declined to say what disciplinary action was taken because it was a personnel issue. Disciplinary actions varied for the different managers involved and none was fired... Bechtel also did not release the names or positions of the managers involved. (more)
Was not reporting the crime another protection afforded the managers?
Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.030: All parties generally must consent to the interception or recording of any private communication, whether conducted by telephone, telegraph, radio or face-to-face, to comply with state law. Any violation of the statute is a misdemeanor. Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.080. Civil liability is expressly authorized for actual damages, including mental pain and suffering, or $100 per day of violation — but no more than $1,000 total based on this daily calculation. Attorney fees and litigation costs also can be recovered. Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.060.
Just asking.
Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales told investigators that he could not recall whether he took home notes regarding the government's most sensitive national security program and that he did not know they contained classified information, despite his own markings that they were "top secret -- eyes only," according to a Justice Department report released yesterday.Gonzales improperly carried notes about the warrantless wiretapping program in an unlocked briefcase and failed to keep them in a safe at his Northern Virginia home three years ago because he "could not remember the combination," the department's inspector general reported.
A National Security Agency official who reviewed the notes said they contained references to operational aspects of the wiretapping initiative, including a top-secret code word for the program, information that had been "zealously protected" by the agency and was "not a close call" in terms of its sensitivity, the report said. (more)
Now, before you snicker...
How well are you safeguarding your company's top secret information?
UPDATE...
One answer I received came with this office photo. Apparently, others have experienced not being able to remember a safe combination.
The answer in this case was, not leaving the door open, but rather writing the combination on a post-it note!
In days gone by, we didn't have as many gadget operational directions to remember and remembering a safe combination was easy and important. Now, there are too many directions, passwords, etc. to remember, and all of them are important. Time for a better way. Send me your ideas, please."
NY - Two Hofstra University students moving into an apartment discovered that the landlord had hidden spy cameras in smoke detectors to wirelessly transmit video of their bedrooms to his personal computer, Nassau police said.The landlord, Michael Muratore, 44, who lives on the first floor of the house, was arrested Monday at the home and charged with unlawful surveillance.Muratore, a married financial adviser, told police he had installed the cameras to protect his property, "to make sure there was no damage being done to the apartments," said Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a police spokesman.The secret installation plan began to unravel when the students asked a friend to check the detectors to make sure they were working properly. The friend tested the devices and realized they were not functioning, police said.The friend brought one of the detectors to a local firehouse, where a volunteer firefighter realized "the guts were removed from that smoke detector and in its place was a digital video camera and some sort of a transmitter," Repalone said. (more)
Most IT staff would steal sensitive company information, including CEO's passwords and customer details, if they were laid off, according to a new survey from Cyber-Ark.• 88 percent of IT administrators admitted they would take corporate secrets, if they were suddenly made redundant. The target information included CEO passwords, customer database, research and development plans, financial reports, M&A plans and the company's list of privileged passwords.• ...a third would take the privilege password list to gain access to valuable documents such as financial reports, accounts, salaries and other privileged information.
• 35 percent admitted to sending highly confidential information via email or couriers.
• ...one third of IT staff admitted to snooping around the network, looking at highly confidential information, such as salary details and people's personal emails.
• A quarter of companies surveyed admitted to suffering from internal sabotage and/or cases of IT security fraud.
• One third of companies believe that industrial espionage and data leakage is rife, with data being leaked out of their companies and going to their competitors or criminals, usually via high gigabyte mobile devices such as USB sticks, iPods, Blackberry's and laptops or even sent over email. (more)
If someone asks to borrow your cell phone, or you leave it unattended, beware!
Unless you actually watch them use it, they may be secretly grabbing every piece of your information on the device, even deleted messages. If you leave your phone sitting on your desk, or in the center console of your car while the valet parks it, then you and everyone in your contacts list may be at risk, to say nothing of confidential e-mails, spread sheets, or other information. And of course, if you do not want your spouse to see who you are chatting with on your phone, you might want to use extra caution.Paraben's CSI Stick can be used to make a copy of all data on a cell phone.
...a new electronic capture device that has been developed primarily for law enforcement, surveillance, and intelligence operations that is also available to the public. It is called the Cellular Seizure Investigation Stick, or CSI Stick as a clever acronym. It is manufactured by a company called Paraben, and is a self-contained module about the size of a BIC lighter. It plugs directly into most Motorola and Samsung cell phones to capture all data that they contain. More phones will be added to the list, including many from Nokia, RIM, LG and others, in the next generation, to be released shortly. (more)
CA - County Sheriff Pat Hedges punished himself for secretly taping a chief deputy in his office and docked his (own) wages for a day... (more)
Meanwhile in Pennsylvania... Linda Majer-Davis, a school board technician who admitted she had secretly recorded a department meeting with the superintendent because she was concerned about waste and mismanagement... could face one to seven years in prison. (more)
OUT-freakin-rageous!!!
There aughtabe a law!
No, wait.
...while it may be impossible for the NSA to legally obtain large-scale, real-time customer location information from Verizon, the spooks at Fort Meade can simply go to the company that owns and operates the wireless towers that Verizon uses for its network and get accurate information on anyone using those towers--or go to other entities connecting the wireless network to the landline network. The wiretapping laws, at least in this situation, simply don't apply. (more) (webinar pdf)
