Eavesdropping on Bus-ted

Maryland's acting transportation chief, citing concerns about privacy, has pulled back an internal proposal to use listening devices on its buses and trains for recording conversations of passengers and employees.

The Maryland Transit Administration had been considering adopting a system that would allow it to conduct audio surveillance similar to that in several other large U.S. cities (San Francisco, for one.)...

The MTA asked the attorney general to clarify whether Maryland's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act would require the MTA to obtain the consent of passengers before recording their conversations.

If consent is required, the MTA asked whether posting a sign informing riders they were under audio surveillance would be sufficient notice. (more) (video)

Mighty Mouse, Atom Ant, Secret Squirrel...

The movie "G-Force" stars a squad of U.S. government-trained guinea pig spies on a mission to thwart an evil billionaire from taking over the world.

While the plot is pure Hollywood, nature is full of critters great and small that humanity has harnessed for espionage, protection and moral support.
• Dolphins
• Sea Lions
• Fish
• Sharks
• Dogs
• Penguin
• Insects
• Robot Chicken (just kidding)
(more)
P.S. - Could "G-Force" be based on a real rodent spy case? (Click here.)

SpyCam Story #542 - PottyCams, BullyCams...

• In South London, the newly refurbished Stockwell Park High School has nearly 100 CCTV cameras on the premises, with another 100 due to be installed. Not only are the general areas monitored but classrooms also have cameras... the school plans to use the cameras to resolve disputes about bullying or if claims are made against teachers.

• A primary school in the UK is using closed circuit television in toilets in a bid to catch vandals... "The pupils of the school saw that there was available space on the security system operating in the school and asked whether TV cameras could be installed just to cover the sink areas in order to prevent further vandalism to the toilets," said Principal, Len Holman. (more)

The Future of TSCM - Mind Reading

... Why is it so hard to know other people's minds?
Or, better yet, why is it so easy?

MIT neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe is trying to reconcile these two questions. She is studying the part of our brain called the right temporoprietal junction that is almost entirely specialized to think about and judge other people's thoughts.

Between age 3 and 5 children learn that people can have false beliefs, but only by age 7 have they developed the ability to apply moral judgments to other people's thoughts. It takes a while for the TPJ to develop, but by adulthood it lights up brightly in brain scanners when moral judgments run hot.

But Saxe's lab, using a machine called a transcranial magnetic stimulator, which applies an electromagnetic pulse to a targeted point in the brain, can temporarily disable the function in the TPJ and change what people think about someone else's actions.

Think of the possibilities for trial lawyers, spymasters and advertisers. The Pentagon has called Saxe, but she is not taking its calls. (more)

Security Direct Alert - National Critical Infrastructure

If your job involves protecting any part of the National Critical Infrastructure you will do well to engage the services of John Sullivant, CSC, CHS-III, CPP as your consultant.
Not quite ready for that yet?
Just want to pick his brain?
Here you go...

Strategies for Protecting National Critical Infrastructure Assets: A Focus on Problem-Solvingeases the research burden, develops investigative protocols, and pulls together data into a comprehensive and practical guide, to help the serious reader understand advanced concepts and techniques of risk assessment with an emphasis on meeting the security needs of the critical national infrastructure.

• Helps the reader to understand advanced concepts and techniques of risk assessment
• Provides a quick, reliable, and practical "briefcase" reference to use in the office as well as on the road
• Introduces the elements of the risk assessment process by defining its purpose and objectives, describing the behavioural and physical sciences, the techniques employed in the process, and the measurement and evaluation tools and standards used to perform an objective risk assessment.

Hardcover: 648 pages
Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1st edition (September 26, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471799262
ISBN-13: 978-0471799269

Contact:
John Sullivant, CSC, CHS-III, CPP - Founder Owner and President
S3E - Sisters Three Entrepreneurs Security Consultants Company
7733 Hampton Ave. Suite 1 - West Hollywood, CA 90046
W: 323-850-6920 Direct: 310-703-4317
www.S3EConsultants.com

China - Bribery is Espionage

China’s detention of Rio Tinto Group executives amid allegations of espionage and bribery should serve as a reminder to foreign companies that they may also risk prosecution by U.S. enforcement agencies...

By treating information from state-owned companies as secrets, China affirmed the broad definition of public officials under the U.S. legislation, said Shanghai-based lawyer Lesli Ligorner. (more)

SpyCam Alert - From Head to Toe

From the Omejo Web site... This is a hidden top hat, but inside built in a ultra-small digital spy camera recorder DVR, it looks like an ordinary small top hat, but it has a powerful feature that can record cover real time videos, its a normal mini top hat that most of interesting part is that it internally hides in a small ultra-shaped camera DVR, it does not need any external plug-in card, built in 4GB memory, can work up to 6-7 hours. There is time and date for the recorded video, you can get the most authentic evidence by this wonderful spy device. Ideal for CIA agents, police, detector, and spy agency. (more)

The World's the most powerful audio video 2.4 GHz wireless with Hidden Shoes camera, super crisp real time audio video recording with date time stamping. Specially designed for Law enforcement agencies for their hidden investigation. This amazing device is ideal for covert or spy operations. (more)

Why do I mention it?
So you will know what you're up against.

SpyCam Story #541 - Erin Andrews

As millions of Internet users continue scouring the Web for videos of Erin Andrews, the ESPN sportscaster who was surreptitiously filmed naked in a hotel room, amateur and professional sleuths looking for a culprit now contend that there are actually multiple clips which appear to have been filmed in at least two different locations....

The grainy images shot through what appears to be a makeshift hole in a wall, show Andrews undressing and appearing nude in an unknown hotel room, apparently unaware that she is being filmed...

The Web site TMZ.com has viewed several pieces of footage and surmised there are six separate clips circulating online, four filmed at one hotel and two from a second.

According to the site, the first set of videos was filmed through a round hole, and the second set filmed through a jagged hole. There is reportedly different furniture in each of the rooms.

TMZ speculates that the alleged peeping tom was someone -- possibly an ESPN employee -- who had knowledge of Andrews' schedule. (more)

Security Directors: FREE Security White Paper - "Surreptitious Workplace Recording ...and what you can do about it."   

Missing iPhone Leads to Suicide

Police in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen are investigating the suicide of an employee of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which assembles the popular iPhone for Apple Inc....

Sun Danyong, a recent engineering graduate, jumped out of the window of his apartment last Thursday. The reports said Sun, who had been tasked with sending iPhone prototypes to Apple, had been under suspicion for stealing after one of the handsets went missing. Some publications reported that, in the days prior to his suicide, Sun had been detained and beaten by a senior official in the security department of the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant.

Hon Hai also said it suspended a security official who had questioned Mr. Sun before his death. The security official couldn't be reached for comment...

Apple is known for requiring suppliers to sign contracts that impose hefty financial penalties if they are found to have leaked sensitive information. (more) (more)

The Berry Patch

UAE - The battery-sapping "performance patch" that Etisalat sent to its BlackBerry subscribers over the last few days was designed to give the UAE operator the ability to read its customers emails and text messages, a Qatar-based software expert told CommsMEA yesterday.

Last week, Etisalat told its 100,000 BlackBerry subscribers that a "performance enhancement patch" would be sent to them to "provide the best BlackBerry service and ultimate experience". But users who downloaded the software complained of dramatically reduced battery life and slower than usual performance of their devices.

Nigel Gourlay, a Doha-based Sun-certified Java programmer who has been developing open source software for 15 years, analysed the patch after it was posted on BlackBerry’s community support forum and he said that once installed, it potentially gives Etisalat the power to view all emails and text messages sent from the BlackBerry. (more)

FutureWatch - Governments may make the manufacturer or carrier pre-load this capability as a condition of doing business in that country.

What CEOs Don't Know About Cybersecurity

A new study hints at how often cyberthreats aren't communicated to the boss.

Being the chief executive has its privileges. And one of them may be a blissful ignorance of your company's data breach risks.

According to a study to be released Tuesday by the privacy-focused Ponemon Institute, companies' chief executives tend to value cybersecurity just as--if not more--highly than their executive colleagues. But compared to lower-level execs, CEOs also tend to underestimate the frequency of cyberthreats their organization faces. (more)

Having observed the scene for over 30 years, these findings may be extended to include any technical threat to information security.

Quote of the Day -- "We don't know how much filtering of bad news happens that keeps CEOs from hearing some of the darker secrets." ~ Dr. Larry Ponemon

ESC Highlights Growing Espionage Threat

Some items from the latest issue of Employee Security Connection...
Corporate Espionage Rising: All told, U.S. businesses lose up to $250 billion in revenue as well as 750,000 jobs annually. To help your employees do their part to fight spying and insider risks, we explain the basic types of threats-both technical and non-technical.

Security Risks R Us: Think your employees know their stuff when it comes to spying? Here we offer a quick quiz for your employees to assess their security savvy.

Foreign Affairs: You'll want your employees to take note of this recent case in which a contractor lost his security clearance and went to jail for failing to report his relationship with a Chinese national.

Be Safe When Traveling Overseas: Whether your employees are packing for a pleasure trip or just hoping to do some sightseeing in conjunction with business travel, we provide some timely tips to help them prepare. (q.v. Staying Safe Abroad)

Security Directors...
Employee Security Connection is a quarterly awareness newsletter, developed by the National Security Institute to help educate employees to the risks and security responsibilities for protecting classified and proprietary information. Four quarterly issues, 8 pages each, in Adobe PDF format. Customized with your logo. One subscription allows organization-wide distribution rights (e-mail, intranet or print). They do all the work. You get all the credit. Easy!

Japanese scientists to build robot insects

Japan - Police release a swarm of robot-moths to sniff out a distant drug stash. Rescue robot-bees dodge through earthquake rubble to find survivors.

These may sound like science-fiction scenarios, but they are the visions of Japanese scientists who hope to understand and then rebuild the brains of insects and program them for specific tasks.

Ryohei Kanzaki, a professor at Tokyo University's Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology, has studied insect brains for three decades and become a pioneer in the field of insect-machine hybrids. (more)

"Moth smoth... let's build a brain!"

Negative feedback, buyer claims he was arrested.

A Chinese national was indicted this week for conspiring to violate U.S. export law, following a nearly three-year investigation into his alleged efforts to acquire sensitive military and NSA-encryption gear from eBay and other internet sources.

Chi Tong Kuok, of Macau, told Defense Department and Customs investigators that he had been “acting at the direction of officials for the People’s Republic of China,” according to a government affidavit in the case. “Kuak indicated he and PRC officials sought the items to figure out ways to listen to or monitor U.S. government and military communications.” (more) (sing-a-long)