Paint Your "See-Through" Walls?

Researchers (University of Tokyo) say they have created a special kind of paint which can block out wireless signals. It means security-conscious wireless users could block their neighbours from being able to access their home network - without having to set up encryption.

The paint contains an aluminium-iron oxide which resonates at the same frequency as wi-fi - or other radio waves - meaning the airborne data is absorbed and blocked.

By coating an entire room, signals can't get in and, crucially, can't get out...

Some security experts remain unconvinced by the paint. "The use of electromagnetic shielding techniques are nothing new," said Mark Jackson, security engineer at Cisco UK. (more)

Mark is correct. This is nothing new. Furthermore, the "blocking" claims are bogus. Radio waves may be attenuated, but they are not blocked. Windows and cracks around doors allow radio waves to pass freely. We've reported on this before. (more)

SpyCam Story #560 - Holiday Inn Outted

Wales - A woman has told a jury how her former partner set up a secret camera system to spy on holidaymakers staying at their rental cottage.

Teresa Crick said David Sturgess, 53, hid four cameras in fake smoke alarms to film guests undressing, showering and having sex.

At Swansea Crown Court he denies 12 charges of voyeurism and three of taking indecent images of children. The jury heard some of those filmed at Llandysul, Ceredigion, were under 18.

Ms Crick 51, told the court that Mr Sturgess, originally from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, would watch a TV monitor showing their naked guests. She reported him to the police after they split up. (more)

UPDATE
David Sturgess, 54, was found guilty of 12 charges of voyeurism and three of taking indecent images of children at a trial last month.

Swansea Crown Court heard Sturgess hid four cameras in fake smoke alarms to film guests undressing, showering and having sex at Llandysul, Ceredigion.

Sturgess was also disqualified from working with children.

Jailing him for 30 months, Judge Keith Thomas said the offences were a gross intrusion into people's privacy and they were rightly devastated. (more with video)

Business Espionage - Hilton (update)

Hilton Worldwide, the American hotel behemoth, could face criminal charges of corporate spying, on top of a civil case brought by its rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

It emerged that a federal grand jury is investigating the company and several of its former executives over claims that they engaged in the “wholesale looting” of confidential documents in order to help it to launch a rival brand to Starwood’s W Hotels. (more)

"What's your counterespionage strategy?"
Find one here.

Address your sympathy card to...

Maj. Gen. Yang Hui, China's most senior military intelligence official, a veteran of spy operations in Europe and cyberspace, recently made a secret visit to the United States and complained to the Pentagon about the press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. (more)

SpyText - Bringing vicarious to new heights

Remember... Watch CCTV. Report Crime. Win a Prize!
No prize, but just as weird...
Everyday Texts,
where you eavesdrop on people's text messages.

Spy Pen... Mighter than the Sword

Ireland - Charles Haughey used Royal Ulster Constabulary surveillance technology in political spying operations at the end of the 1970s, a new book on the undercover anti-terror war claims.

Haughey went on to boast that the use of the bugging equipment, which was meant for anti-terrorist operations in Northern Ireland, "changed the course of Irish political history". According to the book, Border Crossing, by George Clarke, a retired Special Branch officer, the future taoiseach even refused a request to hand back the two pieces of spying equipment.

Clarke says he lent the bugs – one in the shape of a pen, the other disguised as a 13-amp plug adapter, both of which he had bought in a specialist spy shop in London for £90 – to one of his counterparts in the Garda. (more)

Wild West - No SpyCam Law in Colorado

CO - When it was discovered that a man had installed a hidden camera in a Denver Tech Center hotel room to watch the people staying next door, the only legal option for prosecutors was an audio surveillance law.

Because Colorado law has not kept up with technology, video surveillance cases are being prosecuted as eavesdropping, a law intended to outlaw wiretaps and surreptitiously overhead conversations. Prosecutors eventually abandoned the felony eavesdropping charge and instead allowed the suspect to plead to a misdemeanor and avoid jail time. (more)

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)