Hilton Hotels Corporation, the American hotel behemoth, has replaced Ross Klein as global head of luxury and lifestyle brands after a lawsuit brought by Starwood Hotels, his former employer, accused him of looting confidential information...
The news that Mr Klein has left will reignite speculation that Hilton, which is also being sued, is close to agreeing a settlement with its rival aimed at drawing a line under what the writ called "the clearest imaginable case of corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and computer fraud". (more)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Business Espionage - Nintendo
Nintendo fan site Nintendojo has reported it did some eavesdropping on a conference call between Nintendo and some big name retailers, where it confirmed there would be a $50 price cut starting from 27 September. (more)How secure are your conference calls?
Need help? Contact us.
Tune in September 27th to see if they really did eavesdrop.
Merry Christmas, etc.
SpyCam Story #555 - Along Came Jones
eeh, eeh...
MI - A restaurant owner who is also a former Brighton city councilman is accused of spying on a female employee. Police say he used a hidden camera to watch the employee when she was undressed.
Richard Gienapp is the owner of Mexican Jones on Grand River. He faces three felony counts, accused of installing and using a camera to eavesdrop on a female employee at the restaurant. (more)
(sing-a-long) ...I got so bugged I turned it off and turned on another show. But there was the same old shoot-'em-up and the same old rodeo...
(Review) "I have been disappointed few times when eating out and definitely this place tops my list. The Salsa straight out of a Ragu container leaves much to be desired, it was so awful (even the waitress agreed with my wife about the Spaghetti taste) and I do have to agree that she was the only reason why I finished my dinner without walking out." (more)
MI - A restaurant owner who is also a former Brighton city councilman is accused of spying on a female employee. Police say he used a hidden camera to watch the employee when she was undressed.
Richard Gienapp is the owner of Mexican Jones on Grand River. He faces three felony counts, accused of installing and using a camera to eavesdrop on a female employee at the restaurant. (more)
(sing-a-long) ...I got so bugged I turned it off and turned on another show. But there was the same old shoot-'em-up and the same old rodeo...
(Review) "I have been disappointed few times when eating out and definitely this place tops my list. The Salsa straight out of a Ragu container leaves much to be desired, it was so awful (even the waitress agreed with my wife about the Spaghetti taste) and I do have to agree that she was the only reason why I finished my dinner without walking out." (more)
SpyCam Story #554 - Ductman
ND - A man has been ordered to serve 10 days in jail for eavesdropping in Richland County. Authorities say 52-year-old Anthony Siemieniewski put a camera and microphone in a heating duct of a bedroom in a home he owned. Tenants found the camera in February.Assistant State's Attorney Ron McBeth said investigators found no video but found audio recordings.
Siemieniewski indicated he wanted to check on a problem furnace and said the camera never produced video.
Siemieniewski was ordered to jail for 10 days, followed by probation. Judge Richard Grosz also ordered Siemieniewski to pay $500 in fees, and ordered a psychological evaluation. (more)
Privacy Gadget of the Year - Laser Zapper
Ever since Diana, Princess of Wales, was snapped in an amorous clinch with Dodi Fayed in a yacht off the French Riviera, celebrities have been seeking ways to enjoy their holidays while avoiding the glare of the paparazzi...
Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, appears to have come up with a novel solution to protect his privacy.
In a move that could eventually be copied by all discerning billionaires, Abramovich has installed an anti-paparazzi shield on his newest vessel, the world’s biggest and most expensive private yacht.
The high-tech system on Eclipse, a mega-yacht measuring up to 557ft, relies on lasers to block any digital camera lenses nearby...
the boat’s most unusual feature is perhaps the anti-paparazzi “shield”.
Infrared lasers detect the electronic light sensors in nearby cameras, known as charge-coupled devices. When the system detects such a device, it fires a focused beam of light at the camera, disrupting its ability to record a digital image.
The beams can also be activated manually by security guards if they spot a photographer loitering. (more)
Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, appears to have come up with a novel solution to protect his privacy.
In a move that could eventually be copied by all discerning billionaires, Abramovich has installed an anti-paparazzi shield on his newest vessel, the world’s biggest and most expensive private yacht.
The high-tech system on Eclipse, a mega-yacht measuring up to 557ft, relies on lasers to block any digital camera lenses nearby...
the boat’s most unusual feature is perhaps the anti-paparazzi “shield”.Infrared lasers detect the electronic light sensors in nearby cameras, known as charge-coupled devices. When the system detects such a device, it fires a focused beam of light at the camera, disrupting its ability to record a digital image.
The beams can also be activated manually by security guards if they spot a photographer loitering. (more)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Software Protects Computer Displays from Eavesdropping
To minimize amount of displayed information available for eavesdropping, PrivateEye Pro 1.0 uses web camera to determine when user is not looking at display and blurs contents of monitor to point where 
typical text is illegible. In Boss mode, program displays screen capture of user's choice when they are looking away. Eavesdropper Warnings let user see who is behind them and let eavesdroppers see that they have been caught. (more) (video)
Massachusetts - No Warrantless GPS Spying
Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling insists that police obtain a warrant before using GPS devices to spy on motorists.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that police officers need to obtain a warrant before using a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) device to track a motorist. The ruling was handed down in the case of Everett H. Connolly who was convicted of cocaine trafficking after police traced his activities using a GPS device five years ago. (more)
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that police officers need to obtain a warrant before using a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) device to track a motorist. The ruling was handed down in the case of Everett H. Connolly who was convicted of cocaine trafficking after police traced his activities using a GPS device five years ago. (more)
Friday, September 18, 2009
Security Director Hero - The Informant!
Steven Soderbergh's movie, The Informant!, opened in movie theaters today. By all reviews, it is a winner. It is based on a true corporate intrigue story.
If it were fiction it would be a corporate espionage thriller. Because it is a true story, it is a comedy, a farce, a fiasco. Such is real life drama. (I know. I was there.)
Soderbergh has an excellent reputation for portraying realistic organizational espionage, intrigue and electronic surveillance. Remember his Valerie Plame affair series "K Street," on HBO?
If you liked "Barbarians at the Gate" (I was there, too). You'll love "The Informant!"
...one review...
A mid-level executive at a corporation called ADM, Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) works to ensure the continued good sales of the company's popular food additives, but when a mishap in the lab begins to cost the company significant amounts of money and threatens Whitacre's job, the mustachioed quasi-Everyman simply invents, out of thin air, a Japanese corporate blackmailer to whom he assigns the blame.
Enter the FBI, who might easily have caught on to Whitacre's deception had he not, in turn, spun yet another series of lies which propelled him into being the government's key witness and undercover informant in a massive corporate conspiracy case. And like all good con-jobs, Whitacre built his lies upon half-truths.
There was, indeed, a price-fixing scheme in place, but the laughable audacity with which Whitacre lead investigators through the ranks, deflecting attention from his own involvement – and subsequent embezzlement – is worthy of a standing ovation. The Informant is a one-man show, carried completely by the strength of Damon's tremendously effective performance.
Whitacre, for all intents and purposes, should be a hugely unlikeable guy, but Damon lends the character a sense of kamikaze bravado and wide-eyed whimsy that makes it impossible not to feel at least slightly sympathetic toward him. From the paunchy mid-section to the ridiculous hairpiece, Whitacre seems like the kind of guy trying desperately to move up and be taken seriously in the corporate world. (more) (the original story, summarized) (wikipedia) (The Informant - book) ('This American Life' audio version)
Although it may not be clear in the movie, or the book, the only person who identified Whitacre as unstable early on, reported it to management (was ignored), discovered Whitacre's 9 million plus dollar theft from ADM, and recovered the money, was ADM's corporate security director, Mark J. Cheviron. He is the true unsung hero of this story and one of the few top ADM executives to emerge untarnished. The old top management is gone today. Mr. Cheviron remains.
~Kevin (you can have the isle seat)
If it were fiction it would be a corporate espionage thriller. Because it is a true story, it is a comedy, a farce, a fiasco. Such is real life drama. (I know. I was there.)
Soderbergh has an excellent reputation for portraying realistic organizational espionage, intrigue and electronic surveillance. Remember his Valerie Plame affair series "K Street," on HBO?
If you liked "Barbarians at the Gate" (I was there, too). You'll love "The Informant!"
...one review... A mid-level executive at a corporation called ADM, Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) works to ensure the continued good sales of the company's popular food additives, but when a mishap in the lab begins to cost the company significant amounts of money and threatens Whitacre's job, the mustachioed quasi-Everyman simply invents, out of thin air, a Japanese corporate blackmailer to whom he assigns the blame.
Enter the FBI, who might easily have caught on to Whitacre's deception had he not, in turn, spun yet another series of lies which propelled him into being the government's key witness and undercover informant in a massive corporate conspiracy case. And like all good con-jobs, Whitacre built his lies upon half-truths.
There was, indeed, a price-fixing scheme in place, but the laughable audacity with which Whitacre lead investigators through the ranks, deflecting attention from his own involvement – and subsequent embezzlement – is worthy of a standing ovation. The Informant is a one-man show, carried completely by the strength of Damon's tremendously effective performance.
Whitacre, for all intents and purposes, should be a hugely unlikeable guy, but Damon lends the character a sense of kamikaze bravado and wide-eyed whimsy that makes it impossible not to feel at least slightly sympathetic toward him. From the paunchy mid-section to the ridiculous hairpiece, Whitacre seems like the kind of guy trying desperately to move up and be taken seriously in the corporate world. (more) (the original story, summarized) (wikipedia) (The Informant - book) ('This American Life' audio version)
Although it may not be clear in the movie, or the book, the only person who identified Whitacre as unstable early on, reported it to management (was ignored), discovered Whitacre's 9 million plus dollar theft from ADM, and recovered the money, was ADM's corporate security director, Mark J. Cheviron. He is the true unsung hero of this story and one of the few top ADM executives to emerge untarnished. The old top management is gone today. Mr. Cheviron remains.
~Kevin (you can have the isle seat)
Canada's Nest of Spies
via boing boing... Canada is apparently a hive of foreign spies and Ottawa is "crawling with them," according to an Ottawa Citizen article about a new book, titled Nest of Spies: The Startling Truth About Foreign Agents at Work Within Canada's Borders
.The book was written by an investigative journalist and a former intelligence officer with the RCMP Security Service and Canadian Security Intelligence Service. If the article is any indication, this book is just laden with intrigue and scandal. For example, it claims that 1970s/1980s Russian hockey star Vladislav Tretiak was also a spy "talent scout," recruiting new secret agents for the Soviet Union.
From the Ottawa Citizen:
Led by the Chinese but including intelligence officers from at least 20 nations including allies, the book says, the infiltrators are stealing an estimated $20 billion to $30 billion annually worth of cutting-edge research in products and technologies, other scientific, business and military know-how and political secrets. (more)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Security Director Alert - China Trip? - One Time Use Electronics
US Government recommends weighing laptop before and after each visit. Senior executives in US IT companies have been advised by the US Government to follow extremely strict policies for visits to China which extend far beyond standard software protection. The policies encourage them to leave their standard IT equipment at home and to buy separate gear only for use in China. (more)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Business Espionage - Blond Bombshells Phone
NY - It's the society scandal of the year. Two power blondes, each accused of harassing the other, in a jealous catfight turned dangerous. Now, as one is charged with a felony and faces up to four years in jail, could this be the end of both their glittering careers?In January 2008, interior decorator Nina Freudenberger's phone started ringing off the hook.
Freudenberger, a Kirsten Dunst–lookalike with porcelain skin and long blonde hair, was used to being in high demand. Working with the famed architectural firm Costas Kondylis and Partners, she counted A-list designer Zac Posen as a friend and supporter of her work. At the time, she was even plotting to open her own Manhattan furniture boutique.
But the sudden barrage of calls that winter wasn't from friends or interested clients. Six or seven times a day, Freudenberger's phone would ring, and no one would be on the other end. Later, her voicemails would mysteriously disappear.
What's more, Freudenberger's billing statement showed that the anonymous caller was dialing from her own phone number. Confused and scared, she reported the prank calls to the police, who discovered an unlikely stalker: power publicist and social fixture Ali Wise.
Between January 2, 2008, and March 15, 2008, Wise allegedly used a device known as a SpoofCard about 54 times to hack into Freudenberger's voicemail, according to a complaint filed with the Manhattan district attorney's office.
On July 8, 2009, Wise, the head of entertainment PR at Dolce & Gabbana since 2005, was arrested and charged with computer trespass and eavesdropping. (more)
Senate Candidate Accused Of Spying
FL - It's been a short campaign, but one full of negative attack ads on the airwaves. Now, with just days to go in the race to replace the late Jim King in the Florida Senate, one candidate's family is accusing another campaign of videotaping the family house. Dan Quiggle and John Thrasher are two of the Republicans are on the ballot in the race for Florida Senate District 8... (more)
Business Espionage - The Boss Wiretapped
TX - The former general manager for the Bexar Metropolitan Water District pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of wiretapping — admissions that could send him to prison for up to 20 years and force him to testify against the utility's previous public relations consultant.As a condition of the plea agreements, prosecutors aren't challenging Gil Olivares' request for probation. (more)
SpyCam Story #553 - The IP Guy
UK - A primary school computer consultant who set up a camera in the girls' toilets has been jailed for five years. Timothy Walters was found to have more than 26,000 indecent images of children stored on his computer, Leeds Crown Court heard.
The alarm was raised when two pupils at St Peter's School, Birstall, alerted the caretaker that they had seen something flash from the ceiling of the toilets at 12.20pm on March 4 this year. An investigation uncovered a video camera concealed behind a ceiling tile in the toilets, which was connected to a wireless router. There was also a laptop and a hard disk drive. (more)
The alarm was raised when two pupils at St Peter's School, Birstall, alerted the caretaker that they had seen something flash from the ceiling of the toilets at 12.20pm on March 4 this year. An investigation uncovered a video camera concealed behind a ceiling tile in the toilets, which was connected to a wireless router. There was also a laptop and a hard disk drive. (more)
A Short History of Wiretapping and Ramifications
Communications Surveillance: Privacy and Security at Risk
AS THE SOPHISTICATION OF WIRETAPPING TECHNOLOGY GROWS, SO TOO DO THE RISKS IT POSES TO OUR PRIVACY AND SECURITY.
We all know the scene: It is the basement of an apartment building and the lights are dim. The man is wearing a trench coat and a fedora pulled down low to hide his face. Between the hat and the coat we see headphones, and he appears to be listening intently to the output of a set of alligator clips attached to a phone line. He is a detective eavesdropping on a suspect's phone calls. This is wiretapping—as it was in the film noir era of 1930s Hollywood. It doesn't have much to do with modern electronic eavesdropping, which is about bits, packets, switches, and routers.
We start with an overview of the convoluted history of wiretapping, focusing on the United States, and then turn to issues of privacy and security. (more)
AS THE SOPHISTICATION OF WIRETAPPING TECHNOLOGY GROWS, SO TOO DO THE RISKS IT POSES TO OUR PRIVACY AND SECURITY.
We all know the scene: It is the basement of an apartment building and the lights are dim. The man is wearing a trench coat and a fedora pulled down low to hide his face. Between the hat and the coat we see headphones, and he appears to be listening intently to the output of a set of alligator clips attached to a phone line. He is a detective eavesdropping on a suspect's phone calls. This is wiretapping—as it was in the film noir era of 1930s Hollywood. It doesn't have much to do with modern electronic eavesdropping, which is about bits, packets, switches, and routers.
We start with an overview of the convoluted history of wiretapping, focusing on the United States, and then turn to issues of privacy and security. (more)
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