Eight Charged With Illegal Wiretapping

Before
Peru's attorney general presented criminal charges Friday against eight people, including a recently demoted rear admiral, accused of making illegal wiretap recordings...

Attorney General Gladys Echaiz said six suspects run a private security company, Business Track SAC, that allegedly tapped the phone lines of as many as 30 people. Two others worked for a subcontractor. (more)

After

70% Spy On Their Partner Online

UK - More than 70 percent of people spy on their partners online activity, many at least once a month, it has been found.

The worried spouses are not only spying on internet histories to see if adult websites have been viewed, but also monitoring each others social networking. 68 percent of Brits also admitted they would check their partner's private emails if they knew the password.

Steffen Ruehl, of yasni which commissioned the study said: "There really is nowhere to hide on the web anymore; especially now that people are so active online, with social networking sites and forums." (more)

Quote of the day - Grapes of Wrath

"I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything."
--John Steinbeck

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You Need A Smart Information / Data Attorney

I am at Princeton University yesterday, giving a counterespionage presentation to InfraGuard.
Surprise!
I left with more than I brought:
- Recommended Data Security Best Practices -- a lucid and 'doable' White Paper.
- And, a valuable business card...

One of my fellow presenters turned out to be "data legalities" guru, Scott S. Christie, a Partner at McCarter & English (160 years old, 400 lawyers, excellent reputation). He concentrates his practice in the areas of Information Technology, Intellectual Property, White-Collar Criminal Defense and Complex Commercial Litigation.

Scott provides counseling to companies on protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of their proprietary business information and computer networks and on complying with information security and electronic privacy laws and regulations.

He really knows his stuff!

Additionally, he assists companies in developing computer network incident response plans, provides guidance after network security breaches, conducts internal investigations and litigates against those responsible for network intrusions.

Proactively, Mr. Christie instructs companies on protecting information and provides guidance concerning their obligations when responding to breaches of security.

You want Scott on your side... before it all hits the fan.
He knows where the switch is. Call him. Say hello.

Would you like a copy of Scott's Best Practices, too?
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~Kevin

An Industry Leader Speaks Out on Espionage

You have seen the "Employees Steal Company Secrets" stories here, and in WhiteRock's newsletter, WhiteSparks. Here is what a top insider thinks... (via WhiteSparks)

In response to WhiteSparks article ‘Enemy Within: 60% of Employees Happy to Steal Company Secrets’ (Issue 1, 7 January 2009), we recently received an email from a senior figure in the industry. He provides a compelling reason for why employees are willing to steal company secrets:

"You know, there would be less of this going on if companies did not actively recruit staff with the intention of taking client lists with them..... It's like drugs - if there is no market, there is no point in being the supplier...."

Stories in the media about the theft of trade secrets tend to focus on individual employees who are caught red-handed, but here we are invited to consider the wider issue – that of corporate demand for proprietary information.

If you enjoy Kevin's Security Scrapbook you will also want to receive WhiteSparks. Contact WhiteRock's Managing Director, Rali Maripuu, for your free subscription.

Top actress’ cell phone cloned to eavesdrop

Korea’s top actress Jun Ji-hyun’s cell phone has been illegally cloned to allow eavesdropping by her management company whose contract with her expires next month, police say. The company denied the allegation.

Police had earlier questioned three people from a private detective agency, including a 42-year-old man identified only by the surname Kim, and two Sidus HQ officials about the alleged phone duplication.

The private agency was hired by Jun’s company exclusively for the job, police say. (more)

In 2000, an intimate videotape of a singer taped by her manager was leaked. There was a feeling that the formation of huge entertainment agencies in recent years has meant less intrusion into stars' privacy, but some managers say discreet "monitoring" of the private life of stars still goes on and is considered necessary supervision. (more)

UPDATE ...a representative from the police department revealed that the two Sidus HQ employees under investigation have admitted to the illegal eavesdropping of Jeon Ji Hyun’s mobile. (more)

UPDATE II ...Prosecutors cleared the chief of Sidus HQ, a major entertainment agency, of replicating a cell phone of top actress Jeon Ji-hyun, 27, to track her phone calls and text messages... The outside expert, who was hired to help copy and rig Jeon's handset, was given a one-year jail sentence last month. (more)

World's Biggest Data Breach

Credit card payment processor Heartland Payment Systems may be the victim of the largest breach to date.

The Princeton, N.J.-based firm said Tuesday that it discovered malicious software in its systems that compromised the security of the data traversing its network.

It's unclear what data may have been tampered with or stolen, but Heartland said no merchant data, cardholder Social Security numbers, unencrypted PIN numbers, addresses or telephone numbers "were involved in the breach."

The company also advised consumers to examine their monthly statements closely.

Heartland told The Washington Post that it processes 100 million credit and debit card transactions per month. This volume led analysts to surmise that the company's breach could be the world's biggest to date. (more)

SpyCam Story #511 - $29.90 Mini SpyCam

...from the seller's web site.
"The Eyecam all-in-one color video (and audio) camera is one of the world's smallest color video cameras with built in transmitter available. ...at a low low price, you can have the coolest spy gadget in the world! Amazing!" (more)
Why do we mention it.
So you will know what you are up against.

VoIP Hackers Strike (as predicted)

Australia - A hacker recently obtained unauthorised access to the IP telephony (VoIP) system of a Perth business, making 11,000 calls costing over $120,000, according to the Western Australian police.

The calls were made over a period of 46 hours, the police said, and the business only became aware of the imposition when it received an invoice from its service provider. (more)

Pet Eye View Digital Camera

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FutureWatch...
Wireless Color Real-Time Video with Sound.
No, wait...
that's the next story.

"And now for something completely different."

Like cheese?
Like it with a nice drink?
Find your skoal-mate at cheesecupid.com
Very cool site. ~Kevin

Job Fears Make Offices All Ears

via The Wall Street Journal...
Human-Resources Officials Say Rise in Employee Eavesdropping Fans Rumors

While workplace eavesdropping has been going on for ages, fears about layoffs and corporate restructuring have left employees more attentive to what's going on around them. And as employees resort to eavesdropping, human-resources professionals say they are encountering cases of rumor-spreading in the workplace more frequently.

After mass layoff announcements this fall, Society for Human Resource Management found that 23% of human-resource professionals surveyed have encountered significantly more cases of eavesdropping in the workplace over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, 54% reported a sharp increase in gossip and rumors about downsizing and layoffs in their workplaces.

Companies are now taking measures to curtail the eavesdropping problem. (more)

The Spirit of TELEX Returns

TELEX was a slow and trusted messaging service; since replaced by fast and iffy e-mail. One company wants you to have the best of both - fast and trusted. Their pitch is a firm punch in the nose...

"Your eMails are being intercepted by criminals, governments and even your competitors! What can you do about it?"

iTelex is the world's leading fully encrypted, email service. Our state-of-the-art technology keeps our users' online communications private. Free and easy to use, iTelex works similarly to other Web-based email providers, except iTelex offers the security of 2,048-bit encryption between iTelex users. With iTelex, users can access their address from any computer that has an internet connection and a web browser. (more)

Benefits of the old Telex and new i-Telex:
- Guaranteed Delivery
- Reliability
- Privacy/Security
- Instant Messaging
- Live Messaging
- Legally Binding Messaging
- Encrypted Attachments

"Oh, We're Not Gonna Take It" I

Demonstration against wiretapping law in Helsinki on Feb 5, 2009
Meeting near the Central Railway Station at 14:30, demonstration to begin outside the Parliament at 15:00.

“Lex Nokia” is a loophole plagued law proposal which, if passed, would allow network owners to spy on header information (from/to fields) in electronic communications in order to stop very loosely defined “misuse”. Eavesdropping on “parts” of unencrypted electronic communication protocols is as much of a bad joke as pretending to be reading only the address part of a non-enveloped postcard. (more) (sing-a-long)