More Next Week...

Hi Folks,

I am off to the Espionage Research Institute annual convention in Washington, DC this week and will be speaking on SDR (Software Defined Radio) as it applies to counterespionage and eavesdropping detection.

This is the one time each year when eavesdropping detection specialists from all over the world gather to trade knowledge and socialize. It should be fun and I will report "the latest" next week when I return.

In the meantime, entries into Kevin's Security Scrapbook may be lean. Hang in there. It should be worth the wait. Have a cup of coffee.

Be seeing you,

Kevin

Turkish Sitcom - Fact vs. Sitcom

Turkey - Erzincan’s chief public prosecutor confessed to having wiretapped, albeit accidently, the prime minister on Saturday during the “32. Gün” (32nd Day) debate program aired by private TV station Kanal D.

According to Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, “Had I given the telephone conversations of the prime minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] to the media, the political composition in Turkey would have changed, and heaven and earth would have moved here.” The program’s host, Mehmet Ali Birand, asked whether he “witnessed” the phone conversations of the prime minister. In response, Cihaner said, “Yes, you could say so.”

Cihaner was arrested earlier this year on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. (more) (Turkish Sitcom)

Turkey has more than its share of wiretapping intrigue. I have been to Turkey twice on business and love the country, its people, food and history. I have yet to understand the wiretapping intrigue. But it happens. This is just one more story. P.S. If you would like a copy of Turkish Sitcom I will sell you my copy at half price. If you want your own, click Turkish Sitcom. (Trailer) "Kiss my Kabob."

Hard Time for "Die Hard" Director

"Die Hard" director John McTiernan was sentenced to one year in prison Monday for lying about his association with a private investigator to illegally wiretap a movie producer.

In a stinging rebuke of the 59-year-old McTiernan, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer said he should receive a harsher sentence than the year recommended by prosecutors because he didn't accept responsibility for his actions. "The defendant doesn't think the law applies to him," Fischer said.

Fischer also ordered McTiernan to pay a $100,000 fine and serve three years probation. He will remain free on bond pending an appeal.
 
McTiernan previously pleaded guilty to lying to an FBI agent in 2006 about the investigation of private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Pellicano was convicted in 2008 of wiretapping film producer Charles Roven for McTiernan and of bugging the phones of celebrities and others to get information for clients.

In April 2006, McTiernan told Fischer he hired Pellicano to wiretap Roven. (more)

"Do spy shop gadgets really work?"

Once in a while I can point to a news event which answers the question.

...A former Shirley Town Administrator Kyle Keady, 46... is alleged to have victimized an undetermined amount of people, but largely Town Hall officials and employees. Via secreted pen cameras, digital recorders and a baby monitor, Keady is charged with possessing hundreds, if not thousands, of audio, still images and video images of unwitting town officials and employees. Many images are reportedly of women in various stages of undress. 

Keady led investigators to a baby monitor in the ceiling tiles above Town Accountant Bobbi Jo Coburn's office - the extension cord running to his office where it ran down a wall covered by maps to be plugged into the wall. A Sony digital recorder was discovered in a potted plant on the desk of Administrative Assistant Kathleen Rocco. But, causing the widest-spread grief, battery operated pen cameras were apparently systematically placed in the ceiling vent, aimed downward, above the second stall in the public women's room at Town Hall capturing any number of women, intended or otherwise.

The various digital medium used to warehouse the images were allegedly given up willingly by Keady upon request by State Police while investigators executed a search warrant on the second floor at 7 Keady Way - the Town Hall address on the roadway named in honor of Keady's father Daniel, a longtime town official. Nine thumb drives were found on a single key ring in Keady's pocket that he freely emptied, according to police reports.

Keady also allegedly granted police permission to search his vehicle and home. Nothing was found in his car but loads of pornography and seven boxes of digital recording devices were found at his home, along with another pen camera, several thumb drives and lurid, clandestinely attained Town Hall photos and videos. Keady also reportedly admitted to entering Rocco's home and photographing a drawer full of her undergarments without her knowledge or permission. ...Keady remains free on $2,500 cash bail posted in June. (more)

Eavesdropping Arrest - Spouse v. Spouse

NY - State Police in Watertown arrested Sean M. Walsh, 41 years of age, Fort Drum, NY 13602 (not a soldier) Town of Leray on 1 count of Eavesdropping, a Class E Felony.

Mr. Walsh engaged in 'mechanical' overhearing of privileged conversations between his wife, her family members, and friends while at their residence on Fort Drum during the time period of August/September 2010. (more)

Make Big Bucks at Home... Spying!

A controversial new website (interneteyes.co.uk) allowing citizen spies to plug into the nation's CCTV cameras and snoop from home was launched today. A £1,000 reward will be on offer each month for the video vigilantes who spot the most crimes. But civil liberties campaigners say the scheme is "distasteful" and encourages people to spy on each other. (more)

"Tony! Missile at six o'clock!"

Raytheon engineers show Iron Man suit - The new robotic suit enables the wearer easily to lift 200lb several hundred times without tiring and repeatedly punch through three inches of wood; yet, the suit, which was developed for the U.S. Army, is also agile and graceful enough to let its wearer kick a football, punch a speed bag, or climb stairs and ramps with ease. 

They unveiled the second-generation exoskeleton called XOS 2 at the company’s research facility in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The new robotic suit is lighter, faster, and stronger than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 percent less power. Its enhanced design also means that it is more resistant to the environment. (more)

National Security Aims Risk Shooting Foot

Paul Mah has something important for the FBI, all lawmakers and the rest of us to ponder. 

 "...the implementation of (encryption) backdoors is not a technically feasible idea. ...the presence of backdoors being built into existing software will prove to be completely irresistible to cybercriminals. And we're not even talking about foreign states yet, one of which is suspected to have created the extremely advanced Stuxnet worm. So yes, these backdoors will be cracked eventually, resulting in devastating consequences to U.S. businesses and interests." (more)

FutureWatch Prediction - Not all encryption will have a back door. 

Personal communications like phone calls and e-mail, yes. Government communications, no. A diplomatic pouch, even an electronic one, will remain a diplomatic pouch. Encryption in support of critical system infrastructures (like financial) will be licensed, with the proviso that the government can have the key under due process of law. 

Some things will never change. Governments will still crack. Criminals will still hack. Terrorists will won't care - they still have codes, cyphers and stenography. Businesses which take their counterespionage strategies seriously will fare better than those who do not.

Top Cop Attorney Fired for E-Mail Spying

The Ohio Department of Public Safety's former top attorney has been fired for snooping on emails to his agency from the state inspector general's office and an Ohio newspaper. Joshua Engel, who has been at the center of several high-profile investigations pitting his department against Inspector General Tom Charles in the past year, had intercepted emails since last October, said Public Safety director Tom Stickrath. (more)

SpyCam Story #584 - Intra-Family Abuse

KS - A Saline County man has been arrested after authorities say he videotaped his family without their knowledge. The man has been arrested on two counts of felony sexual exploitation of child and nine counts of eavesdropping.

By Thursday afternoon, sheriff's office personnel had reviewed hours of VHS tape that they had seized from the suspects home in Bridgeport. This all comes after his own step-daughter found a hidden camera in the bathroom and notified officials. (more)

SpyCam Story #583 - Pushed to Suicide

NJ - Rutgers University students wore black on Friday to remember a classmate who committed suicide as a lawmaker proposed stiffer penalties for invasion of privacy - the charge levied against the roommate accused of secretly streaming online video of the victim having sex with a man. (more)

When SpyCam Story #1 was published laws against video voyeurism didn't exist. Although many states now have laws, more has to done. I hate posting tawdry SpyCam stories, but do so to raise awareness. The victims deserve the support.

BlackBerry Responds to Government Monitoring

RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has no objections if companies that make use of its secure BlackBerry smartphones want to hand over their encryption keys to government officials. However, RIM itself has no way of providing the unencrypted content of the emails that passes through its network operating center (NOC), since it doesn't have the keys in the first place.

This was the most direct answer to date given by RIM in response to government sanctioned wiretapping, a topic that was brought to the front even as countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India have threatened to ban the BlackBerry service unless RIM accede to their demands to a backdoor into its encryption system. Other countries such as Lebanon, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia were reportedly considering similar steps. (more)

Are governments going to accept this explanation, or say with finger poking their lips, "You will change your NOC, Mr. Berry. Un-zip it." 
Stayed tuned.

FutureWatch - The Privacy Party is Over

Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.

Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages. 

The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally. (more)

It will.

Corporate Espionage in India

India - Corporate espionage is on the rise in the country, with the digital medium offering an extremely fertile ground for its perpetuation.
An increasing number of companies are also hiring private detectives to keep tabs on both their employees and business partners. Detective agencies says they are flooded with strange requests from companies to plant spies in rival firms, to fish for confidential data, engineering designs, software codes or to manipulate rate contracts to favour their clients.

"An entire gamut of corporate espionage is happening around us and it is a huge industry by itself," says cyber law expert and supreme court advocate Pavan Duggal. On an average, detective agencies get 5 to 10 requests a day for such services. The fee could range from Rs 30,000 to a few lakh of rupees, depending on the complexity of the job.

"Such things are rampant and we get a lot of requests, though we do not entertain it as a matter of policy," says Ravi Kapoor, chairman of ACE Detectives. He says that usually a person is hired for the job who has access to passwords and other information. It could be a data entry operator, security personnel or even a driver.

"Hiring spies is prevalent in IT firms, especially where big tenders are underway ," confirms Manpreet Sidhu, head of Top Secret Detective Agency. (more)

Eavesdropping Suit Settled During Secret Phone Call

CA - After meeting in closed session by teleconference with attorney Susan Trager, Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency directors announced Tuesday night that litigation had been settled in an unlawful eavesdropping case brought by former director Maryan Barkley. The amount of the settlement was not made public. (more) 

What most people settle for... video.