The Dregs of the Data Mine - Reality TV?

"300" writer Michael Gordon has sold a spooky surveillance project to NBC. The idea was spawned by the controversial U.S electronic eavesdropping apparatus ECHELON, a program that supposedly captures virtually all data signals for analysis at a central hub in West Virginia.

These millions of video, audio and data files are then disseminated to various federal and local law enforcement agencies for further investigation.

Now here's the twist from the show's logline: "There is, however, less than 1% of the data that nobody wants to touch. These are the classified video files that seem to have captured the unexplainable."

The show will center on a fictional team called G.H.O.S.T. (Global Hierarchical Observation Strategy Taskforce) whose assignment it is to investigate this paranormal data. (more)

Business Espionage - Selling Out

An Akamai Technologies Inc. employee was arrested and charged Wednesday with allegedly providing confidential business information over an 18-month period to a person he believed to be an agent of a foreign government.

Elliot Doxer, 42 years old, was charged in a complaint with one count of wire fraud, according to the Justice Department. The complaint alleges that on June 22, 2006, Mr. Doxer, of Brookline, Mass., sent an email to a foreign country's consulate in Boston stating that he was willing to provide any information that he had access to that might help the country.

It is alleged that in later communications, Mr. Doxer said his chief desire "was to help our homeland and our war against our enemies." He also allegedly asked for $3,000 in light of the risks he was taking.

The unnamed foreign government cooperated with the U.S. in the investigation. A Justice Department spokeswoman wasn't immediately available to comment. (more)

Business Espionage in Tasmania?

Tasmania, Australia - An overnight break-in in which burglars ransacked Aurora Energy's Hobart head office has puzzled police and company chiefs.

Only the second-floor commercial section of Aurora was targeted by the thieves, who cracked a secret safe and stole a small sum of cash.

Computers were accessed and documents strewn across the office...

Police have not ruled out corporate espionage as a possible reason for the break-in, which occurred either late on Monday night or in the early hours of yesterday...

Professor John McFarlane, from the Australian National University's Centre for Excellence in Policing and Security, said yesterday industrial espionage was not uncommon in the business world. "There have been very few prosecutions in Australia for this sort of activity, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening," Prof McFarlane said. (more)

Spy Rule-Book Update

The US Army updated its 17-year-old rule book on espionage to specifically require that troops alert authorities if they suspect classified leaks to the media.

The revision seems aimed at the service’s WikiLeaks debacle. Earlier this year, an Army intelligence analyst was charged with providing a classified video to WikiLeaks, an anti-war organisation that describes itself as a government whistleblower. (more)

Bugs in the Coffin

Canada - At the time of his kidnapping by the FLQ, Pierre Laporte was being monitored by the police as part of a probe into the Montreal Mafia that went as far as planting a microphone in his coffin after his murder, according to stunning revelations by a retired Sûreté du Québec wiretapping expert.

Claude Lavallée, who pioneered wiretapping techniques in Quebec in the late 1960s, said in a book to be released Wednesday (Révélations d’un espion de la SQ / Revelations of an SQ Spy - ISBN 13: 9782761927048) that the murder of the Liberal minister in October 1970 by the Front de Libération du Québec put an end to the investigation.

The author even claims that wiretaps caught a leading organized crime figure offering the Mafia’s help in finding Mr. Laporte before he was killed. (more)

Note to D.R.: Please start your book.

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)