Restricted Document About Preventing Leaks... Leaks

UK - The Ministry of Defence was left embarrassed after its internal guide to preventing leaks appeared on the internet. The Defence Manual of Security sets out tactics for preventing Chinese and Russian intelligence services from using blackmail or hi-tech gadgets to obtain sensitive information... A MoD spokeswoman said: 'The document is marked Restricted as current MoD policy is to keep our security policies and procedures private but the publication of an old version of this document does not raise significant security concerns.' (more) (manual)

Watch CCTV. Report Crime. Win a Prize!

FutureWatch (Coming Nov. 2009)
Watch this trend expand.
Next stop, prison cameras?

UK - Internet Eyes is an online instant event notification system. Viewers (in the EU for now) are able to monitor live video feed from our Customers and notify them; the instant an event is observed.

Typical event notifications include:
Shop lifting
Anti social behaviour
Burglary
Vandalism

Would you like the opportunity to help detect these crimes?
How does a reward of £1000 a month sound?
Internet Eyes is now offering you that chance.

Viewers are anonymously monitoring random video feeds streamed from privately owned establishments. At no time can Viewers designate or control the video feeds they receive and the locations of the feeds are not disclosed.

The instant a Viewer monitors an event, an alert can be sent directly to the owner of that live camera feed. The alert is sent along with a screen grab, identifying the image you have observed. Only the first alert received by the camera owner is accepted. Then... (more)

Job Posting: Senior Security Consultant / TSCM Specialist

SMR Group an international executive search firm whose global practice is focused exclusively on professional and executive level corporate security positions. It’s US based company, Security Management Resources, Inc. is seeking candidates in behalf of their client for the following opportunity:

TITLE: Senior Security Consultant / TSCM Specialist
LOCATION: Either San Francisco Bay or Puget Sound Metro Areas
RELOCATION: Not Offered

SUMMARY
The successful candidate MUST have a strong TSCM background WITH TRAINING CERTIFICATION FROM A GOVERNMENT TRAINING PROGRAM. A MINIMUM OF THREE YEARS EXPERIENCE PERFORMING TSCM INSPECTIONS AND ANALYSIS IS REQUIRED.

Excellent communication and writing skills are essential. The candidate should also possess excellent management skills and experience in security operations. Being able to assist in client relations and marketing would be an added value.

This is a full time, salaried position with a well established consulting firm based in Washington DC with numerous Fortune 500 level clients.

Excellent salary and benefits commensurate with background and experience will be offered.

Interested candidates should submit their resumes via the position posting on the SMR website at: http://www.smrgroup.com/

Business Espionage - The McGraw-Hill Case

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in New York, construction information publisher Reed Construction Data claims that McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge posed as fake customers of RCD in order to access confidential information and trade secrets. According to the filing made in the Southern District Court of New York, Dodge used consultants to subscribe to RCD data under false identities and companies. RCD says in its statement, “Dodge then allegedly manipulated the information to create misleading comparisons between Dodge and RCD’s products and services in an effort to confuse the marketplace.”

The actual court filing names Dodge employee Erick Kubicka as the person appointed as “Director of Competitive Intelligence,” whose job was to penetrate RCD’s databases. In fact, the suit says that Kubicka was commonly referred to by colleagues as “The Spy.” The filing also claims that Kubicka later gave a presentation in 2004 and 2005 to his own sales reps that included a walk-through of RCD’s Reed Connect data product and its competitive weaknesses. The information had been gleaned by a consultant hired by Dodge who posed as a customer and gave Dodge unfettered access to the RCD databases. (more)

Spy Tip: "Director of Competitive Intelligence" is not a subtle enough cover for the job.

Spy probe clears D Bank chiefs

via the Financial Times...
Frankfurt prosecutors on Thursday cleared Deutsche Bank’s top management and supervisory board members of allegations that they were involved in illegal acts when the bank hired detectives to spy on one of their shareholders.

The prosecutors said they had not found evidence of an involvement of top management or supervisory board members in the spying scandal that rocked Germany’s largest bank. (more)

Free Encryption Software

As anyone responsible for data security already knows, most company data is either not stored securely or it is emailed as plain text. Campaigns to secure internal and external communications by using public key infrastructures (PKIs) have so far failed to provide a comprehensive solution.

Sophos Free Encryption can close these security loopholes. It provides encryption that is both easy to integrate and easy to use. It can protect valuable, confidential data on notebooks and PCs, and ensure that the data is sent securely when emailed. (more) (download)

Just Another Eavesdropper Dropped

FL - A Glen Ellyn man has been charged with eavesdropping and criminal usury, which is lending money at exorbitantly high interest rates. Both charges against Steven Cooper, 47, also known as Moustafa Abed Elsalam Elturky, are considered Class 4 felonies and, if he is convicted, could put him behind bars for up to three years... Deputies did not go into detail regarding how the charges developed. (more)

SpyCam Story #559 - Federal & Offensive

A Missouri man has pleaded guilty to eavesdropping on people at Fort Leavenworth with a concealed camera. Andy D. Doty entered his plea to two misdemeanor charges Wednesday in Leavenworth County District Court. Doty reportedly used a camera to view people’s bodies or undergarments in April 2008 at a residence on Fort Leavenworth. (more)

Business Espionage - Starwood Hilton Case

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Hilton Worldwide and several of its former executives should face criminal charges for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of pages of confidential documents from rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts, according to people familiar with the situation.

The grand jury is part of a six-month-old Justice Department probe into allegations that Hilton, which is owned by private-equity firm Blackstone Group, used trade secrets taken by former Starwood executives, who defected to Hilton last year, to develop its own luxury brand to compete with Starwood's successful W chain. (more)

Major Eavesdropping and Industrial Espionage by Private Detectives

Columbia - Felipe Muñoz, director of Colombia's intelligence agency DAS denounced Tuesday the existence of a cartel of private detectives who wiretap telephones and carry out industrial espionage.

The intelligence chief had been called to the House of Representative to talk about the illegal wiretapping of government critics conducted by his own agency that because of this scandal will be dismantled.

Muñoz said that also some private detectives wiretap telephones are carrying out industrial espionage and that it was not just the state agency who did so.

"We are even talking about industrial espionage. The evidence we have shows that none of those activities were conducted with DAS devices," Muñoz said to the representatives.

Muñoz added that telephone eavesdropping is so easy that a cell phone can be wiretapped with a pin anyone can buy at Bogota's downtown. That's why he asked that the mobile phone companies be investigated too.

According to Muñoz the wiretapping cartels operate from Bogota, Medellin, and Cali. (more)

Erin Andrews' Alleged Peephole Video Stalker Arrested

A man accused of secretly taping and trying to sell nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews was arrested late Friday night and appeared in federal court today. After months of FBI investigation, Michael David Barrett, 47, faces federal criminal charges of interstate stalking for allegedly taking nude videos of Andrews, posting them on the Internet and trying to sell them to celebrity Web sites such as TMZ. (more)

As the suburban man accused of secretly recording ESPN reporter Erin Andrews naked in her hotel room awaits trial, security experts warn that surreptitious invasions can happen in what might seem the most private of places.

Their advice: Don't assume someone isn't watching. "A pervert will take advantage of the fact that people in a hotel will act as if they are at home," said Charles Slepian, who consults with hotels on security issues and is founder of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center in New York. (more)

Alert: Low-Cost GSM Bugs Flood Ebay

GSM bugs are simply tiny cell phones without keypads. Insert a SIM card, hide it, call its phone number and eavesdrop from anywhere in the world.

The lowest cost we've seen is 99 cents, plus $21.99 shipping.

This is a major development in illegal electronic surveillance; amazing as it is scary. Anyone can be a high-tech spy for less than $25.00.

In addition to being packaged as tiny self-contained bugs, they are also being sold on Ebay (and many other Internet locations) hidden in every-day office items like power strips.

Search Ebay to see them... (1) (2)

What Murray Associates is doing about this for their clients...
Digital Surveillance Location Analysis™ (DSLA)

With this new capability we pinpoint and solve several of the most serious information security challenges...
• cellular bugs
• GPS/GSM tracking devices
• rogue equipment and access point loopholes

DSLA is a Murray Associates exclusive -- Sample plot map... (enlarge)

Our new graphic triangulation technique may be...
• employed during our regular Eavesdropping Detection Audits,
• monitored by your security/IT staff on a 24/7 basis,
• or, monitored by Murray Associates for you.
The system is Internet compatible; easily monitored from anywhere.

Security Directors at businesses and government agancies (only) are invited contact us for further details.

One Password Will Hurt You

Nearly half of all Brits (and probably everyone else) use the same password to log in to their online banking account as their social networking account, says CPP.

• Two thirds of web users said it's too difficult to remember numerous logins.
• 17 percent said they were concerned they would get locked out of their account if they forgot their password.
• 40 percent of web users admitted that at least one other person knows their passwords, of these two percent confessed an ex partner has access to their social networking and online banking accounts.
• A third of Brits said they believed that these people may have logged in using their details.
• One in ten Brits has had one of their online accounts hacked, with 57 percent of the crimes happening in 2008.
• Of those that saw their online accounts hacked, 18 percent had goods illegally bought in their name, 12 percent had money stolen while five percent also said they'd had their identity stolen.

Sarah Blaney, identity theft expert at CPP, said: "No sensible person would use the same key for their house, car and garage." (more)

It's time for half of us to develop a better password strategy.

Did you know...

..after the Russians were caught tapping the State Department, Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright protested by wearing a pin with a giant bug on it? (more)

From her new book, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box

Spy vs. Spy - Mission Impossible

A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought 15 years ago by a former DEA agent who accused a CIA operative of illegally bugging his home...

The lawsuit, brought by Richard A. Horn, accused the CIA of illegally bugging his residence in Rangoon, Burma, when he was stationed there. He alleged that portions of a private phone call were used as an excuse to oust him from that job. Horn, 63, filed suit in 1994. His case has meandered through the court system since. (more)