via Wired...
Arizona company Retina-X Studios has released the latest version of Mobile Spy, a monitoring software for smartphones.
The software allows users to spy on SMS text and call details in real time online. The program runs in total stealth mode and no entries are shown inside a phone's task manager, says the company...
The details can be then checked online without any further access to the phone.
The software is available for Windows Mobile and Symbian OS smartphones and a version for the iPhone is in development for a December release, says the company. Currently it is priced at $50 for three months use and $100 for a year.
This may be legal in some circumstances but it raises privacy questions.
• In what circumstances is it okay to use this phone?
• Can spying on kids really help create a better relationship with them?
• Or, to what extent can taking away employees' privacy be justified in the name of protecting the secrets of a corporation? (more)
Note: "Mobile Spy" does not allow audio eavesdropping, which explains how it circumvents current U.S. privacy laws.
Skype's president has acknowledged that users in China have had instant messages both blocked and copied to servers owned by TOM Online, Skype's partner in the country.According to Skype president Tom Silverman, Skype knew when it partnered with TOM that TOM would censor instant-messages containing certain keywords, according to rules set down by the Chinese government. Although Skype provides the underlying software code, TOM is considered to be the majority partner in China.In his blog post, Silverman reminded Skype's customers that the company had no intention of spying on customers that used the official version of Skype outside of China...As Reuters noted, however, the TOM-Skype version of the Skype software is the only version that can be accessed inside the company."It's important to remind everybody that the issues highlighted in yesterday's Information Warfare Monitor / ONI Asia report refer only to communications in which one or more parties are using TOM software to conduct instant messaging," Silverman added. "It does not affect communications where all parties are using standard Skype software. Skype-to-Skype communications are, and always have been, completely secure and private." (maybe not) (more)
A SpyCam World's Record?
PA - The Norristown landlord who allegedly concealed cameras throughout his tenants' apartments for two decades...
Thomas C. Daley hiked his light-blue denim shirt up over his face... on his way into district court. There, the 45-year-old Phoenixville resident was arraigned on more than 2,000 charges by Magisterial District Judge Francis Lawrence Jr....Prosecutors withdrew the two criminal complaints filed last month against Daley, replacing them with one document that added offenses related to 25 additional victims. That brings the total of victims identified in the complaint to 34 - all of whom "feel completely violated," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman...Ferman said authorities believe the real number of victims is substantially higher than 34. She said that police found 32 cameras, 14 of which had audio capability, and that Daley admitted spying on his female tenants - and their guests - for 20 years.The statute of limitations for Daley's crimes allows prosecutors to file charges dating back three years...Surrounded by piles of Daley's electronic equipment, Ferman detailed the "incredibly sophisticated scheme" he employed to catch his female tenants, most aged 20 to 30, in "compromising positions."In some instances, the screws holding doorbells, towel rods, and ceiling fans were hollowed out to create "pinholes" linked to hidden cameras, she said. Daley ran lines into the basements of his apartment buildings, connecting them to DVRs; those were then connected to the Internet so he could access the footage from home, Ferman said...The judge scheduled a formal arraignment date of Dec. 3 for and set bail at $1 million; Daley, again covering his face with his shirt, was returned to the Montgomery County jail. (more) (history)
Among China’s community of dissidents and activists, there’s a commonly held belief that, while e-mail and regular phone conversations may be subject to surveillance, Skype is safe from such interference.Not so, according to a new report, which has uncovered a far-reaching web of surveillance of text messages sent through Tom-Skype, a Chinese joint venture between Ebay, which owns Skype, and Tom Online, the Chinese Internet subsidiary of Tom Group, a Hong Kong-based company controlled by billionaire Li Ka-Shing...The full report is available here. Key findings are summarized...–Full text chat messages of Tom-Skype users are regularly scanned for sensitive keywords. If the keywords are found, the messages are uploaded and stored on Tom-Skype’s servers in China.–The text messages and other records containing personal information are stored on publicly accessible Web servers along with the encryption key that allows the data to be decrypted.–Keyword scanning looks for terms relating to sensitive topics such as Taiwanese independence, banned religious sect Falun Gong, and opposition to the Communist Party.–The surveillance may not be solely keyword-driven, as a number of stored messages contained only common words. The report suggests that “that there may be criteria, such as specific usernames, that determine whether messages are captured by the system.”–The report focuses on text messages, but it says that information on voice calls is also being stored. Logs dating from August 2007 contain records of the IP addresses and usernames of all participants in voice calls (including the username and/or phone number of the recipient). (more)
One of the worst privacy invaders the world has ever seen is the Internet. When you surf, Web sites can find out where you've been and can gather other information about you. Trojan horses and spyware can snoop on you. Key loggers can capture your keystrokes as you type. Eavesdroppers can steal your passwords.It doesn't have to be that way. These free products can save you from malicious software and eavesdroppers. Don't leave your PC exposed and vulnerable. (more)
UK - Police are investigating the sale of a digital camera said to contain MI6 images of terror suspects, the Foreign Office has said. The camera was bought for £17 on auction website eBay by a 28-year-old from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. The pictures were also said to include rocket launchers and missiles. ...refused to comment on the report that the camera was sold by an MI6 agent. (more)
Singapore - A brain might well be added to those all-seeing eyes along streets, train stations and shopping centres.
The Home Affairs Ministry wants those surveillance cameras put to more pro-active use, with new technology that can detect a face in a crowd, for example.
Last month, it made public two 'request for information' (RFI) documents asking about two similar types of technology: one that can recognise suspects by their facial features and another that can pick out objects of interest - from video footage
. (more) (spoof video)
FutureWatch - Although facial recognition and tracking didn't catch on the first go-around (the Tampa, Florida experiment), it is ripe for a come-back. 5 years from now, this will be commonplace – along with automatic license plate readers and motion-intention evaluators.
Flashback - August 23, 2003
It is with sadness we note the demise of our favorite city motto... Tampa - "You're only a stranger here once."
August 2003 - Tampa police have scrapped their controversial security camera system that scanned city streets for criminals, citing its failure over two years to recognize anyone wanted by authorities.
History...
July 2001 - The Tampa City Council took a fully-informed look at Ybor City's controversial high-tech face-scanning software. When the dust settled, the council split down the middle with a 3-3 vote on whether or not to do away with the face-scanning software.
http://www.spybusters.com/SS018.html (search word: Ybor)
Sweden's ruling four-party coalition added a series of amendments on Thursday to a law for monitoring cross-border internet and telephone traffic, bowing to pressure from privacy advocates and worried legislators.Under the revised bill, the military National Defence Radio Establishment will be allowed to monitor Swedes' internet usage as well as content from e-mails, phone calls and mobile text messages, but only after getting court approval. (more)
Grenada's former spy chief, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Anthony De Gale has finally been questioned in connection with reports of missing files from the department. De Gale was questioned on Tuesday by members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at their location on Hillsborough Street, St. George's. The Spy Master was sent on his 120 days accumulated leave by newly installed Police Commissioner, James Clarkson after it was discovered that at the files at Special Branch were destroyed immediately after the July 8 General Elections which brought the then opposition National Democratic Congress of Tillman Thomas to power. (more)
Former India coach Greg Chappell on Saturday laughed off speculation that he was passing on secret information about the Indian team to Australia. Chappell, who quit as India coach last year after the team's first-round exit at the World Cup, is now touring with the Australian team as their assistant coach. (more)
And... they fire back!
A former MI5 chief, Dame Stella Rimington, has criticised the government's plans to extend the period under which suspects can be held without charge.
In comments cited by the Guardian newspaper, the ex-intelligence supremo said the 42-day detention plans were excessive.
Dame Rimington was speaking at the Crime Scene festival where she was lau
nching her espionage thriller, Dead Line
. (more)
Bonus points:
Guess who is who.
--------------------------------
Update - The winner is my very knowledgeable conterespionage colleague from Australia, who writes...
"Dame Stella Rimington was the former head of the domestic counter intelligence agency 'The Security Service' (aka MI5) whereas Dame Judy Dench plays the role of M (head of the Foreign Intelligence Service 'The Secret Service' aka MI6) in the James Bond Series.
So they don't represent the same agency... small point I know :)"
And I thought the casting department was being clever. Never underestimate the vast knowledge of the Security Scrapbook readership!
Have a spy question? Send it in. If I don't know the answer, I am sure one of our readers knows.
May 1988: On behalf of the U.S. Surgical Corp., Mary McFate begins monitoring an animal rights group protesting the company's use of dogs in surgical training at its Connecticut headquarters. As an undercover agent, McFate meets activist Fran Trutt at a rally and records her making threats to kill company president Leon C. Hirsch. McFate reports the threat to Hirsch and begins extensively monitoring Trutt.
From here the story gets weirder... (more)
August 2008: After reports of connections to the NRA, gun safety advocates try contacting McFate. Unable to do so, they expel her.
Put us on our team before you corporation has to deal with espionage issues like these.
Conversations between astronauts aboard the International Space Station and flight controllers on the ground now are available for the public to hear live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week on NASA's Web site. The streaming audio of space-to-ground communications includes NASA commentary during specific station mission events and regularly scheduled space station commentary on NASA Television Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. Central time. NASA already provides this space-to-ground communication with commentary during space shuttle missions. The streaming station and shuttle mission audio is available on the following NASA sites: - Under the NASA TV (Live) tab at: http://www.nasa.gov- Under the left navigation at: http://www.nasa.gov/station and http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle- In the list of channels at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
New Zealand - Suspicious spouses who use spy software to track phone calls and text messages on their cheating partner's cellphone may be breaking the law.One website to offer the spyware service, Flexispy, allows people to download the software to a suspected adulterer's internet-capable phone for a fee. The virtually undetectable software tracks every text and phone call made from the phone and a summary can be viewed online. But New Zealand Institute of Professional Investigators president Trevor Morley says use of the software would amount to phone-tapping, which is illegal in this country."Even if it was not an offence under the... Crimes Act provisions to use that software, we suggest that its use would definitely be a breach of various provisions of the Privacy Act.Assistant privacy commissioner Katrine Evans said there were cases where spying or surveillance by a parent of a child or within a couple did not breach privacy laws. (more)
The same is generally true in the United States of America.
OH - A Strongsville chiropractor was convicted Friday of spying on female patients as they undressed in his offices.James Starek, 38, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of voyeurism and obstruction of justice. Berea Municipal Judge Mark Comstock found him guilty. A sentencing date was not immediately set.Mary Ann Suchan said she quit working for Starek after her daughter Stephanie raised concerns about unusual behavior by the doctor and a suspicious mirror in a room where she undressed.Stephanie Suchan said she suspected the mirror was actually two-sided. Her mother later removed the roughly 8-by-10 mirror while Starek was away and found a large hole in the wall, she said. The women took photos of the hole and shared them with Strongsville police and reporters. (more)
A former University of Vermont student is admitting he used cameras to spy on people.Jordan Yarosh, 18, pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to three counts of voyeurism. Yarosh placed hidden cameras, disguised as clock radios, in various bathrooms. (more)
via Wired...
