Hot Kid Spy Gear

This spy-kid toy is getting rave reviews. 

via thingiemajig.com

"The Ultimate Spy Watch is equipped with 8 thrill seeking features. First is the motion sensor with alarm and date stamp to protect your valuables and to alert intruders whenever they might come. Second is the message decoder to read messages from your fellow spies. For sending messages, it can drop message capsules with a spy paper. A night vision light is included to gain an advantage against your enemies during night time covert operations. A crosshair can definitely make a shot hit or miss, making it an indespensable tool for a spy, is built in too. Of course, watch functions are also a must such as world time for some international missions, stopwatch for time critical missions up to the last mili second, and a wake up alarm which can be very handy for some early morning operations or training. As for an added feature, this 10 inch watch is protected by a locking armor for increased durability - a must for tough agents."

Need more Paper for your Capsules? 

Download and Print Spy Messaging Paper Here." 

(more) (instructions)

Blagojevich Wiretaps in PDF

The federal government's case against Rod Blagojevich centers on recorded conversations involving the former Illinois governor and his associates. Prosecutors are also making those recordings available to the public.

The FBI wiretaps are being played in federal court but anyone with an internet connection can also listen (PDF transcipts at this point in time). Prosecution evidence is posted on the U.S. Attorney's website. (more)

Some things just can't be covered-up.

France's convoluted L'Oréal family fraud scandal became even more convoluted and even more gripping yesterday. Tapes of bugged conversations involving the L'Oréal owner, Liliane Bettencourt, 87, implied that President Nicolas Sarkozy had meddled in legal proceedings in which a society photographer is accused of defrauding France's richest woman of almost a billion euros.

The tapes, leaked to a French investigative website, also suggest that the supposedly senile billionairess was involved in elaborate schemes to hide some of her money abroad. There are cryptic references to campaign payments to ensure the "friendship" of two cabinet ministers, including the employment minister, Eric Woerth.

Ms Bettencourt's former butler was arrested yesterday and faces charges of "invasion of privacy", for allegedly bugging conversations between the L'Oréal heiress and her financial adviser. He has not been named. Tapes of the conversations were sent last week to Ms Bettencourt's only daughter, Françoise, who sent them to the police. (more)

SpyCam Story #579 - "Step right this way."

AL - Shocking allegations against the tourism director for the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce. Police say Justin Hasting set up a hidden camera in a public restroom and video taped women.

Police say the crime happened in the employee restroom at the scenic overlook in Daphne.

Investigators say they were tipped off when two women went in to use the restroom, but Hastings stopped them and told them it was out of order and they would have to use the employee restroom...

Hasting is charged with two counts of criminal eavesdropping and installing an eavesdropping device, which is a federal offense. Hasting is a former radio-host. (more)

Bug Building is Back in Style

As seen on TV...
Building homemade bugs is back in style.
YouTube

Why mention it?
So you will know what you're up against.

Keep those TSCM bug sweeps current.

NSFW OSS FUBARs

The OSS Simple Sabotage Field Manual from 1944

 "The purpose of this paper is to characterize simple sabotage, to outline its possible effects, and to present suggestions for inciting and executing it."

Sample Tips

"Fuel lines to gasoline and oil engines frequently pass over the exhaust pipe. When the machine is at rest, you can stab a small hole in the fuel line and plug the hole with wax. As the engine runs and the exhaust tube becomes hot, the wax will be melted; fuel will drip onto the exhaust and a blaze will start."

"Jam paper, bits of wood, hairpins, and anything else that will fit, into the locks of all unguarded entrances to public buildings."

And, every teen's favorite... "'Misunderstand' orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can." (more)

So, who's minding your intellectual property store?

More than half of Fortune 1000 companies lack a full-time chief information security officer, only 38% have a chief security officer, and just 20% have a chief privacy officer. As a result, a majority of companies are failing to adequately assess and manage the risks that information security and privacy issues pose to their business. 

Those findings come from "Governance of Enterprise Security," a new study released yesterday by Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab. The report is based on a survey of 66 board directors or senior executives who work at Fortune 1000 companies. Nearly half of respondents work at critical infrastructure companies. CyLab conducted a similar survey in 2008. (more)

If you business does not have a C-level IP warden in the watchtower, at least engage a good counterespionage consultant. You can find one here, or at one of the several URLs which hosts Kevin's Security Scrapbook.

Employee monitoring: When IT is asked to spy

With staff surveillance on the rise, high-tech types can be put in the awkward position of having to squeal on their fellow workers.

As corporate functions, including voice and video, converge onto IP-based networks, more corporate infractions are happening online. Employees leak intellectual property or trade secrets, either on purpose or inadvertently; violate laws against sexual harassment or child pornography; and waste time while looking like they are hard at work.

In response -- spurred in part by stricter regulatory, legal and compliance requirements -- organizations are not only filtering and blocking Web sites and scanning e-mail. Many are also watching what employees post on social networks and blogs, even if it's done from home using noncompany equipment.

They are collecting and retaining mobile phone calls and text messages. They can even track employees' physical locations using the GPS feature on smartphones. 

 Long story, but here is the bottom line...

It's more common that the IT manager doesn't know how to correctly preserve evidence, and probably doesn't even know what information might be legally relevant, says Jason M. Shinn, an attorney with Lipson, Neilson, Cole, Seltzer & Garin PC who specializes in electronic discovery and technology issues in employment law. (more)

SpyCams Gone Wild

OH - A 24-year veteran of the Mayfield Heights Fire Department could face dozens of charges after police accused him of placing hidden cameras in a Geauga County YMCA and his home in Chardon, where he secretly taped at least two teenage boys, investigators said.

Daniel J. Serge, 51, was charged Monday morning with pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor...

Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland said he expects more charges to come after his deputies and state investigators finish combing through 60 videotapes, which average eight hours, and analyzing Serge's computer...

The investigation into Serge began last Tuesday when a worker at the Munson YMCA found an air freshener with a blinking light in a men's bathroom stall. The worker discovered the freshener contained a camera. Investigators think it had been there less than a day...

They found pinhole cameras, about an ⅛-inch in diameter, hidden in three of the four walls in Serge's bathroom. Wires hidden in the walls connected the cameras to recording equipment in a closet, McClelland said...

Serge worked for about three years with the nonprofit Hunt of a Lifetime Foundation, which organizes hunting trips for children and teenagers who have life-threatening illnesses. (more)

Eavesdropping Gone Wild

MA - The Middlesex District Attorney's office has announced that Shirley Town Administrator Kyle Keady was arrested yesterday in connection with an illegal wire tapping and videotaping scheme.

Keady was charged with illegal recording, illegal possession of a recording device, and video recording a person in a state of nudity...

 

State police went to town hall yesterday and talked to 46-year-old Keady where he allegedly admitted to using a baby monitor to record conversations of town employees.

Keady told police he did it because he didn't trust anyone and first started recording his secretary using a recorder he put in a plant on her desk without her knowledge.

During their interview with Keady, police asked him to empty the contents of his pockets where he had 9 zip drives with recordings and two camera pens wrapped in tape. (Yes, it gets worse.)

Update - Police Chief Bugging Case

MN - The former Gaylord police chief will serve one year probation after he was sentenced in Sibley County yesterday. 61 year old Dale Roiger was found guilty back in April of misconduct of a public officer - a gross misdemeanor - after having a "bug" planted in the Gaylord Chamber of Commerce office. (more)

Secret Agent Jobs - Full-time / Summer-time

The Clandestine Life  
Operations Officers and Collection Management Officers spend a significant portion of their time abroad. Typically, Operations Officers will serve 60% to 70% of their careers overseas, while Collection Management Officers will be overseas for 30% to 40% of their careers. Staff Operations Officers, although based in the Washington, D.C. area, travel overseas on a temporary basis. Language Officers also are primarily based in Washington, though short-term and some long-term foreign travel opportunities are available.

Officers in each of these careers are under cover. By the very nature of this clandestine business, officers can expect limited external recognition for themselves and their families. Instead, the Agency has its own internal promotions, awards and medals, and makes every effort to recognize the accomplishments of its personnel.

In addition to competitive pay, Officers are provided housing and receive overseas allowances and schooling benefits for their children when serving abroad. There are also other benefits, such as language pay incentives, that Officers can receive depending on their skills set and position duties. Collectively, the benefits enable Officers to make significant contributions that impact our national security, and experience a high level of job satisfaction and camaraderie throughout their career. (more) (full-time job openings) (summer jobs)

Smart Phones Smart

...via The Wall Street Journal 

In 2009, security experts identified 30 security flaws in the software and operating systems of smartphones made by companies like Apple, Nokia Corp. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., up from 16 the previous year, according to a review of records in the National Vulnerability Database, a repository created in 2005 by an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Submissions are vetted and rated according to their severity... 

None of the companies contacted would discuss specific vulnerabilities, but all said they take security seriously. (more)

Muffin Maker Miffed as Secrets Walk

Chris Botticella knows the secret to those "nooks and crannies" in Thomas' English Muffins — the way they cradle butter and jam, and after a good toasting, produce just the right crunch.

It's a secret that the muffins' makers have gone to great lengths to protect over 75 years, allowing it to rack up $500 million in sales annually of the toaster treats.

The company says only seven executives know all three parts of its winning formula for making the muffins — including how much dough to use, the right amount of moisture and the proper way to bake them.

So it became alarmed and sued in January when Botticella, one of the trusted seven, decided to bolt and join rival Hostess, maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies.

...lawyers say Botticella hid his new employment deal for months while attending high-level Bimbo meetings and debating strategies for competing with Hostess. They also accuse him of copying a dozen files onto a USB thumb drive in his final days, a charge he denies. (more)

CIA Report Helps You Spot Espionage Before it Happens

Project Slammer, now partially declassified, was based on extensive prison interviews with some 30 former military and intelligence personnel who had been convicted of spying for Russia, China and other hostile powers during the Cold War, from the lowest enlisted men to senior CIA officers like Aldrich Ames. It sought to answer why they had violated the trust their agencies had bestowed on them.

Two of the most important factors in a mole’s decision to steal secrets... emotional distress, and lax security...

...the authors of the highly classified Project Slammer report, delivered to CIA management on April 12, 1990, emphasized that behavioral changes were often associated with acts of espionage. 

“Heavy drinking, drug dependence, signs of depression or stress, extramarital affairs and divorce could be warning signs of a security problem...” (more)

What type of person is pre-disposed to becoming a spy? 

Here's one profile.