In our latest poll, we asked our readership - mainly people with organizational security interests - "How often does your workplace conduct... "Bug Sweeps?"
17% responded that TSCM inspections are being conducted.
The frequency of these inspections are:
8% Monthly
3% Quarterly
3% Biannually
3% Yearly
3% "Don't know how often."
81% said, "They don't check."
No one indicated, "When problems arise," or "Other."
Security Directors: FREE Security White Paper - "Surreptitious Workplace Recording ...and what you can do about it."
Vietnam - Software that allows people to bug private phone calls or text messages is now offered for sale on many websites. A man who sold the software has been recently arrested in HCM City.Where does the spy software come from?According to IT experts, the software orginated in western countries. It is said that there are more than 200 companies trading spy phone software online, called Spy Mobile and Mobile Phone Spy, at a price of US$50-300. The service has become popular and for sale online like any other product...Nguyen Thanh Trung, representative of the Nam Truong Son Company, which supplies anti-virus software in Vietnam, said the company’s software Kaspersky Mobile Security was considered the most effective protection against spy software. “When this anti-tap software is installed, it will prevent unwanted software from being installed in mobile phones.” (more)
The New Hampshire Attorney General's office is planning to review a county investigation report regarding the wiretapping of civilian employees working in the Portsmouth Police Department's records office.In June, Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams sent a letter to Police Chief Michael Magnant indicating his office didn't find sufficient evidence to bring charges against any police employee responsible for installing a microphone recording device. At least one police department employee complained upon learning they were being recorded.The chief noted the device allowing a supervisor to monitor conversations from their computers in other parts of the police headquarters was outdated, and the department has since changed policies to prevent such concerns. (more)
Philippines - Broadcast journalist Cheche Lazaro entered a “not guilty” plea on the wiretapping charges filed against her by a ranking official of the Government Service Insurance System. (more) (background)
It seems the line between paranoia, spying and diplomacy is blurry in New Zealand.
According to Sir Clive Woodward, spying is a fact of rugby life (and he would know) and few understand this better than New Zealand.Hardly a tour goes by without the Kiwi camp escalating tensions with claims of spying - and this year's Tri-Nations seems no exception.New Zealand take their 'game secrets' so seriously that they've a constant security protocol, they have food and nutrition specialists and a truckload of personal security specialists.Ahead of their Bloemfontein game, the All Blacks have allegedly again demanded exclusive use of facilities in Pretoria, where they have set up a 'bug-free' training camp. (more)
T-shirts that can snap photos or carpets that are able to report a buildup of dust may one day be possible, thanks to the creation of a fiber that can detect images. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a polymer fiber that can detect the angle, intensity, phase, and wavelength of light hitting it, information that can be used to re-create a picture of an object without a lens.”Once you have the phase and amplitude of a wave, you can then figure out what the object was that the wave emanated from,” says Yoel Fink, director of MIT’s Photonic Bandgap Fibers and Devices Group. (more) (more) (video profile of Yoel Fink)
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)
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.)
• 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)
... 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)
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-Solving
eases 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 pagesPublisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1st edition (September 26, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0471799262ISBN-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’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)
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.
In our latest poll, we asked our readership - mainly people with organizational security interests - "How often does your workplace conduct... "Bug Sweeps?" 
