Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa announced Saturday he is seeking to definitively shut down a private television station that he accused of "espionage" on his office.
The station Teleamazonas, a private broadcaster that has been critical of Correa and his government, has already been fined multiple times for breaking broadcasting law, notably for reporting opposition charges of voter fraud during April's general elections.
This week the station broadcast a secretly recorded conversation between Correa and a Quito lawmaker...
"They have spied on a meeting in the office of the president -- that's an attack on national security.... We will not accept these things," said Correa. (more)
Update: (computer translation) The Policy Coordinating Minister Ricardo Patino and Legal Secretary of the Presidency, Alexis Mera, presented today at the Attorney General, two complaints against Fernando Balda, Patriotic Society member. Patino said the allegations against Balda are for having disseminated a clandestine recording of a meeting in the Presidency and unjustifiable introduction at police and insulting the President. The secretary of the Prosecutor indicated that he immediately informed the minister will Fiscal Washington heaviness, to arrange for further investigation on this case.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Julia Child's Best Recipe
via examiner.com
Julia McWilliams’ post was with the Office of Strategic Services, or the OSS, which was the predecessor to the CIA. She held several positions, and at one point she and co-workers solved a unique problem for the U.S. Navy: Sharks bumping into underwater explosives were setting them off and warning the German U-boats they were intended to sink. According to Linda McCarthy, curator of the Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage exhibit at the National Women's History Museum, “Julia Child and a few of her male compatriots got together and literally cooked up a shark repellent," to coat the explosives. (more)
Julia McWilliams’ post was with the Office of Strategic Services, or the OSS, which was the predecessor to the CIA. She held several positions, and at one point she and co-workers solved a unique problem for the U.S. Navy: Sharks bumping into underwater explosives were setting them off and warning the German U-boats they were intended to sink. According to Linda McCarthy, curator of the Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage exhibit at the National Women's History Museum, “Julia Child and a few of her male compatriots got together and literally cooked up a shark repellent," to coat the explosives. (more)
Friday, August 28, 2009
SpyCam Story #551 - The Tech Guy Spy
MI - The former technology manager for Citizens Gas Fuel Co. is facing criminal charges for allegedly spying on women inside bathrooms at the company office at 127 N. Main St.Richard Neal Gramling Jr., 54, was arraigned Wednesday in Lenawee County District Court on seven felony counts involving a hidden camera offense and use of a computer to commit a crime. He remains free on personal recognizance pending a Sept. 3 preliminary examination...
“Detroit Edison has done a complete sweep of the building and is confident there are no recording devices left,” said Detective Greg Lanford of the Adrian Police Department. (more)
Recommendation: Add bathroom inspections to your pro-active sweep schedule. If you don't have a pro-active sweep schedule (you should) stop by and see us. We will help you reduce the chances of embarrassing incidents and employer negligence lawsuits.
Robin Squeals on Batman
The son of a disgraced CIA agent convicted of funneling classified information to the Russians has pleaded guilty to charges of helping his imprisoned father collect overdue bills for his dad’s nefarious activities.The 25-year-old son, Nathaniel James Nicholson of Eugene, Oregon, traveled throughout the world using coded e-mail messages to plot meeting locations with the Russians, and received tens of thousands of dollars on behalf of his convicted spy father, Harold James Nicholson, according to a January indictment. (.pdf)
The father, nicknamed “Batman,” is already serving 23 years... FBI affidavit (.pdf). (more)
Skype Scalper Double-Crosses Swiss Patron
The Swiss creator of a Skype Trojan that can intercept calls made using the VoIP program has released the Trojan's source code online in an attempt to allow for its widespread detection.
In a translated interview with gulli.com, Ruben Unteregger says that with the Trojan's publication, "it will get analysed... signature patterns will be created by antivirus companies, the malware will be detected, blocked and deleted, if it tries to infect a system."
Previous reports from the IDG News Service tied the in-development Skype Trojan to the Swiss Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, which reportedly hired Unteregger's company to create the digital wiretap. (more)
In a translated interview with gulli.com, Ruben Unteregger says that with the Trojan's publication, "it will get analysed... signature patterns will be created by antivirus companies, the malware will be detected, blocked and deleted, if it tries to infect a system."
Previous reports from the IDG News Service tied the in-development Skype Trojan to the Swiss Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, which reportedly hired Unteregger's company to create the digital wiretap. (more)
Secret Enclosures Made From Everyday Items
Many years ago, I did some work for an odd company in New Mexico; they specialized in building secret enclosures for the government.
Whatever you could dream up they could make. A desk with a hollow leg for an embassy in Romania - no problem. A toothbrush transmitter for a secret agent - no problem. Need a place to hide some microfilm in a nail file - no problem.
An item like a car could be decked out with 100+ secret compartments for bugs, smuggled manuscripts or a handler's stash of baksheesh.
It was a cool place run by brilliantly deceptive minds. Not open to the public.
You probably don't need that level of deception, but you may need...
A place to: stash some cash, cool your jewels or just hide a spare key.
Visit The International Spy Museum Store.
Here, you can obtain...
• Arizona Iced Tea Diversion Safe
• Peanut Butter Safe
• Dr. Pepper Can Safe
• Suave Can Safe
• Book Safe
...and more secret safes made from everyday items.
Whatever you could dream up they could make. A desk with a hollow leg for an embassy in Romania - no problem. A toothbrush transmitter for a secret agent - no problem. Need a place to hide some microfilm in a nail file - no problem.
An item like a car could be decked out with 100+ secret compartments for bugs, smuggled manuscripts or a handler's stash of baksheesh.
It was a cool place run by brilliantly deceptive minds. Not open to the public.
You probably don't need that level of deception, but you may need...
A place to: stash some cash, cool your jewels or just hide a spare key.
Visit The International Spy Museum Store.Here, you can obtain...
• Arizona Iced Tea Diversion Safe
• Peanut Butter Safe
• Dr. Pepper Can Safe
• Suave Can Safe
• Book Safe
...and more secret safes made from everyday items.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Eight Million-Dollar Businesses You've Never Heard Of
Ever since taking a part-time job manning surveillance equipment for the Dennisport, MA, police department, Kevin D. Murray has been a spy buster. Businesses and governments hire him to suss out hidden bugs and such, which he does using everything from sensitive thermal-imaging equipment (which picks up the heat given off by any hidden * Just a rough guess, of course. We used this figure in conjunction with our recent give-a-way of 100 Trillion dollar bills from Zimbabwe.
If you are a Security Director, CEO, President, Chairman, Chief Legal Counsel, HR director, etc. from a Forbes 1000 company, and would like one of these very rare bank notes (the largest denomination ever printed), just look over our Web site, put us in your Rolodex and let me know. I will make it happen. ~Kevin
Wi-Fi Encryption Cracked in a Minute
Computer scientists in Japan say they've developed a way to break the WPA encryption system used in wireless routers in about one minute. The attack gives hackers a way to read encrypted traffic sent between computers and certain types of routers that use the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption system. The attack was developed by Toshihiro Ohigashi of Hiroshima University and Masakatu Morii of Kobe University, who plan to discuss further details at a technical conference set for Sept. 25 in Hiroshima. (more)
"Is nothing sacred?"
When it comes to security, "Nope nothing."
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
"Who is Number One?"
NV - You might have noticed an unuusal sight if you passed by the Reno-Stead Airport recently. The giant white sphere has generated quite a few calls to our newsroom.So what is it ?
It turns out its a prototype airship being developed by a private company called Sierra Nevada Corporation. Jim McGinley at SNC says the round airship could be used to monitor crowds or border crossings.
McGinley says the airship could be valuable to anyone who desires a persistent surveillance presence in a remote location.Answer: Rover c.1967
(At least when it comes to surveillance balloons.)
Mass Hack Attack - GSM Cell Phone Eavesdropping
Security researcher Karsten Nohl has issued a hacking challenge that could expose T-Mobile and AT&T cell phone users -- including Gphone and iPhone patrons -- to eavesdropping hacks within six months.
Nohl, a computer science Ph.D/ candidate from the University of Virginia, is calling for the global community of hackers to crack the encryption used on GSM phones. He plans to compile this work into a code book that can be used to decipher encrypted conversations and data that gets transmitted to and from GSM phones.
Nohl’s motive: he wants to compel the telecoms to address a security weakness that has been known for years. (more)
Nohl, a computer science Ph.D/ candidate from the University of Virginia, is calling for the global community of hackers to crack the encryption used on GSM phones. He plans to compile this work into a code book that can be used to decipher encrypted conversations and data that gets transmitted to and from GSM phones.
Nohl’s motive: he wants to compel the telecoms to address a security weakness that has been known for years. (more)
"The machines are starting to talk, Master...
...to each other!"
First the superintendent and the handyman checked the oven from top to bottom. Then they tested the electrical outlet that supplied ignition power for the oven. Everything worked. Finally, they gave their verdict to the tenant, Andrei Melnikov.
It was simply not possible, they said, that his oven, a Magic Chef made by Maytag, had turned itself on full blast, as Mr. Melnikov maintained...
“Maybe the ringing cellphone turned it on,” Mr. Melnikov suggested to the two men.
He laid the phone next to the stove. They dialed it. Suddenly, the electronic control on the stovetop beeped. The digital display changed from a clock to the word “high.” As the phone was ringing, the broiler was heating up. (more, with video)
If you have a Maytag Model CGR1425ADW oven, contact Maytag.
First the superintendent and the handyman checked the oven from top to bottom. Then they tested the electrical outlet that supplied ignition power for the oven. Everything worked. Finally, they gave their verdict to the tenant, Andrei Melnikov.
It was simply not possible, they said, that his oven, a Magic Chef made by Maytag, had turned itself on full blast, as Mr. Melnikov maintained...
“Maybe the ringing cellphone turned it on,” Mr. Melnikov suggested to the two men.
He laid the phone next to the stove. They dialed it. Suddenly, the electronic control on the stovetop beeped. The digital display changed from a clock to the word “high.” As the phone was ringing, the broiler was heating up. (more, with video)
If you have a Maytag Model CGR1425ADW oven, contact Maytag.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
SpyCam Story #550 - Take the Poll
Plug "SpyCam" into Google and you get about 2,020,000 hits! 
Not bad for a word that is not even in dictionary.com
Whole Web sites are devoted to selling them.
• spycameras.com
• my-spycam.com
• spycamwarehouse.com
SpyCams are selling... BIGTIME.
• Many Web sites offer "How to spycam" instructions.
• A few offer "How spycams are detected" information.
• Some spycam videos get posted on the Internet. (NSFW)
...and once in while, we read about some inept TVpeepcreep who gets caught and prosecuted.
Given what you now know, what do you think the ratio is between the people who get caught spycam'ing ...and the people who do it but never get caught?
Let us know via our anonymous on-line Poll, in the right column.
If you have ever been the victim of a spycam please tell us about it in the Other: section of the Poll.
Not bad for a word that is not even in dictionary.com
Whole Web sites are devoted to selling them.
• spycameras.com
• my-spycam.com
• spycamwarehouse.com
SpyCams are selling... BIGTIME.
• Many Web sites offer "How to spycam" instructions.
• A few offer "How spycams are detected" information.
• Some spycam videos get posted on the Internet. (NSFW)
...and once in while, we read about some inept TVpeepcreep who gets caught and prosecuted.
Given what you now know, what do you think the ratio is between the people who get caught spycam'ing ...and the people who do it but never get caught?
Let us know via our anonymous on-line Poll, in the right column.
If you have ever been the victim of a spycam please tell us about it in the Other: section of the Poll.
Poll Results - Info at Work
The valuable information I handle at work is...
Not protected. 17%
Somewhat protected. 46%
Adequately protected. 21%
Over protected. 13%
Other 4%
According to this unscientific sampling, the employers of 79% of our respondents could use some help. ~Kevin
New Wireless LAN Vulnerability Identified
AirMagnet Inc., a security, performance and compliance solutions for wireless LANs, today announced that its AirMagnet Intrusion Research Team has uncovered a new wireless vulnerability and potential exploit associated with Cisco wireless LAN infrastructure.
The vulnerability involves Cisco's Over-the-Air-Provisioning (OTAP) feature found in its wireless access points (APs). The potential exploit, dubbed SkyJack by AirMagnet, creates a situation whereby control of a Cisco AP can be obtained, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to gain access to a customer's wireless LAN. (more)
Solution: Disable the OTAP feature until a fix is released. ~Kevin
Extra Credit Reading: Understanding Over-the-Air Provisioning (OTAP)
The vulnerability involves Cisco's Over-the-Air-Provisioning (OTAP) feature found in its wireless access points (APs). The potential exploit, dubbed SkyJack by AirMagnet, creates a situation whereby control of a Cisco AP can be obtained, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to gain access to a customer's wireless LAN. (more)
Solution: Disable the OTAP feature until a fix is released. ~Kevin
Extra Credit Reading: Understanding Over-the-Air Provisioning (OTAP)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)