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Bodyguard News – The last 30 days

• A bodyguard for one of Japan's most senior opposition politicians has been arrested after trying to peep on a woman washing in her bathroom. (more)

• A Pakistani politician who stood up against the country's tough anti-blasphemy laws has been gunned down by one of his own bodyguards in a brazen daylight attack in the capital Islamabad. (more)

• Is Kate Gosselin's bodyguard selling her photos to the paparazzi? (more)

• As Michael Jackson’s lifeless body lay on a bed in his mansion, a bodyguard obeyed a frantic doctor’s instructions to bag up medicine bottles and intravenous bags and shield the Jackson children from seeing their father — all before being told to call 911, court testimony revealed yesterday. (more)

• ...an overzealous bodyguard of Fuji musician, Malaika decided to take the law into the hands by landing a thunderous slap on the face of a fan who momentarily went unconscious after kissing the canvas. (more)

• President Jacob Zuma's wife Nompumelelo MaNtuli Zuma was not concerned over reports that she had a relationship with a bodyguard. (more)

• Bodyguard business is booming... 'The more uneasy the country is, the more work we tend to have,' says an organizer of an industry event in San Diego this month. (more)

Vodafone lacks Vote-a-confidence

Australia - Vodafone has ordered an immediate investigation into alleged breaches of its internet site, which has reportedly been revealing the personal details of millions of customers... criminal groups are paying for the private information of some customers including home addresses and credit card details. Others have also obtained logins to check their spouses' communications.

The details are reportedly accessible from any computer because they are kept on an internet site rather than Vodafone's internal system.

Mobile phone dealers have also admitted that anyone with full access to the system can look up a customer's bills and make changes to accounts. (more)

One Day - Three Great Spy Headlines

France accused of being Europe’s worst industrial spy (more)

France is named as Europe’s worst industrial spy in the latest releases this week based on documents from the Web site Wikileaks... Technology stolen by the French is hurting Germany’s economy even worse than spying done by some of the world’s worst industrial spying operations in Russia and China...

Suspicions fall on China in Renault spying case (more)

Nicolas Sarkozy orders intelligence services to find out whether Beijing was involved in stealing electric car secrets...

France needs tough law on industrial spying (more)
France needs tough laws against industrial espionage to defend itself in a "war" for new technology...

I can't make up news this weird. 

The spies are running the asylum!

~Kevin

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Business Espionage: Renault's Short Circuit

A case of corporate espionage in electric vehicles at Renault SA, which has led to the suspension of three managers, was serious enough to "threaten strategic assets," the carmaker said Thursday...

The high-level suspensions at Renault highlight how seriously carmakers are taking the risks of corporate espionage, especially as they engage in a high-stakes race to develop technology that is different from traditional internal combustion engines. 

The case carries other business risks for Renault. A Nissan executive said he was angry that Renault had leaked information, especially as Nissan is the source of much of the technology for the lithium-ion batteries that are being developed for electric vehicles at the Renault-Nissan alliance. (more)

VW with leaky battery technology.

Hannah Montana Hacker Jacked

The 21-year-old hacker who boasted about breaking into Miley Cyrus' Gmail account and posting racy photographs of the teenage star has been arrested in Tennessee on fraud charges.

Joshua Holly, known by his hacker alias TrainReq, got a lot of attention after posting private photos of Cyrus, then just 15. In one photo, Cyrus poses in her underwear and in another she poses, clothed, in the shower. 

In subsequent interviews Holly said that he downloaded the photos from Cyrus' Gmail account. He told Wired that he accessed the Gmail account by tricking a MySpace employee into giving him access to the company's administrative control panel, which included users' passwords. (more)

Sienna Miller's Eavesdropper Dropped

Britain's News of the World tabloid has suspended a high-ranking journalist for eavesdropping on the voicemail messages of movie star Sienna Miller, media reports said. (more)

Kevin's FREE Counterespionage Consulting Day

Let's solve some common counterespionage problems...

1. "How can I stop shoulder surfers from reading my computer screen? The polarized screen thing makes me look like a paranoid dork."

Kevin says... Funny you should ask. I recently purchased some computer screen security software for testing, PrivateEyes from Oculis Labs. It works eerily well. All you need is a computer screen with a video camera and Windows. 

During the simple setup, the software learns who you are by looking at your face. From that point on, the screen automatically blurs unless you are looking directly at it. Turn to answer a phone call, or talk to someone nearby – BLURRR goes the screen. 

"What if someone sneaks up behind me?" I hear you say. No problem. When it sees an extra set of eyes – BLURRR.

Pro: The BLURRR effect changes quickly.

Con: Doesn't work as well in a high contrast environment.

PrivateEyes would also make an awesome IT guy gag. "I don't know. Your computer screen looks sharp and clear to me. Maybe you should get your eyes checked."

FREE 30-day trial.

2. "How can I document the identity of who enters my sensitive secure areas like: the executive suite, computer center, phone closets, elevators and boardroom? Card keys and pin codes don't do this. Biometric and CCTV solutions are not always cost-effective."

Kevin says... Consider installing a high-sensitivity digital surveillance camera that can capture high-resolution color images in low light conditions when motion is detected within its field of view. Images are stored on a removable memory card for easy viewing on your computer. The camera can also be started by a door opening or other trigger, and it can be configured to capture images on a time-lapse basis.

'Set and forget’ operation... Most cameras of this type can store up to 65,000 images and will optionally overwrite the oldest images when the memory card is full. (Example)
 

2. "Our corporate aircraft flies internationally and parks unattended for long periods of time. How can I tell if foreign nationals have boarded the plane to plant bugging devices? Murray Associates inspects the plane for us upon return, of course, but can't more can be done?"

Kevin says... Yes. Consider installing a covert digital surveillance camera – similar to the above camera's specs – in the cockpit, and at either end of the passenger compartment. Raw board cameras are small, battery powered (6-9 months!) and can be place covertly behind panels or within normally seen objects. Easy and cost-effective! (Example)

3. We have some remote locations we need to keep an eye on but it is not cost-effective to send a guard unless there is a problem. What can we do?

Kevin says... Send pictures to the guard on his cell phone! Digital surveillance cameras come in a variety of styles including outdoor mounting and solar-powered. Photos may be sent time lapse, upon being triggered by movement or an alarm, or upon demand. The guard is alerted immediately, and only when necessary. (Example)


Full Disclosure: I do not sell security hardware, or accept commissions when a purchase is made. My income comes solely from my clients when they hire me for independent consulting. My recommendations usually come with several security hardware choices. Clients do not need to "mention my name" when they make a purchase.

Bonus... 

Clients know my recommendations are based solely upon their needs. ~Kevin

My thanks to Barry Bouyer, of Moreton Bay Systems Pty Ltd. for the use of his photos.

"I'm infested. You know what I mean. I can't nibble on my secretary's ear without everyone knowing. Send them exterminator guys over."

Italy - Rome prosecutors on Monday opened an investigation into the alleged bugging of the home and offices of Northern League leader Umberto Bossi. 

Bossi, who is minister for reforms in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government, revealed Monday that bugs had been found in his house and his office at the ministry "a couple of months ago".

The bugs were discovered, he said, by a private firm "we called in when my secretary got suspicious because too many people knew what I'd said to her alone".

The minister, Berlusconi's longtime key ally, said he then called his party colleague, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, "to send a few guys over" to remove the devices. (more)

"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell.

Back in 2001, European leaders accused the United States government of operating a vast industrial espionage network that was eavesdropping on European businesses and giving trade secrets to American companies.

According to the latest WikiLeaks cable release, they should have been looking internally.

France is the country that conducts the most industrial espionage on other European countries, even ahead of China and Russia, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, reported in a translation by Agence France Presse of Norwegian daily Aftenposten's reporting.

"French espionage is so widespread that the damages (it causes) the German economy are larger as a whole than those caused by China or Russia," an undated note from the U.S. embassy in Berlin said. (more) (sing-a-long)

"Go cheap on the sweep so we can party."

IL - The cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools spent more than $800,000 on items ranging from bug sweeps to alcohol for parties, an inspector general said.

Inspector General James M. Sullivan released a report containing a list of questionable spending under two former board presidents that included $3,000 to sweep offices for eavesdropping devices and $12,624 for holiday parties, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

A source familiar with the sweep said it occurred in July 2009, the same month that the board and board president were subpoenaed as part of a federal probe into admissions at elite Chicago public schools. (more)

Polar Bear TSCM vs. BBC SpyCams

via engadget.com...

Iceberg Cam, Snowball Cam, Blizzard Cam and Drift Cam were the arctic photographer's best friends -- high-tech spy robot cameras designed to resist cold and traverse sub-zero terrain. Then they got crushed to death by giant polar bears while attempting to make friends. Seriously, that's the basic gist of Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice, a new BBC documentary which began airing last week, and which just so happens to be narrated by David Tennant. (more) (video) (video)

Next out of the lab... DNA stealing mosquitos!

A vulture tagged by scientists at Tel Aviv University has strayed into Saudi Arabian territory, where it was promptly arrested on suspicion of being a Mossad spy, Israeli and Saudi media reported Tuesday.

The bird was found in a rural area of the country wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet bearing the words "Tel Aviv University", according to the reports, which surfaced first in the Israeli daily Ma'ariv.

Although these tags indicate that the bird was part of a long-term research project into migration patters, residents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia's Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a "Zionist plot."

The accusations went viral, with hundreds of posts on Arabic-language websites and forums claiming that the "Zionists" had trained these birds for espionage.

The Sinai regional governor last month suggested that a shark that killed and maimed tourists on its Red Sea port may have been intentionally released by Israeli agents in order to sabotage the country's tourist industry. (more)

Keeping the nation safe ...ish.

Canada’s National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA) has a team of competently incompetent agents trying to keep the country safe and (accidentally) succeeding. Fortunately, this is all a fictional premise for the new action-comedy series, InSecurity, bowing tonight on CBC.

InSecurity is mix of 24 without Jack Bauer; CSI minus the science; and James Bond — if James Bond were Mr. Bean.

It’s a comedy relevant to our post-9/11 world of high alerts, terrorist plots and attacks, controversial airport-security measures and overall anxiety. (more) (video about their spy gadgets)

FutureWatch - Somewhere in the United States another TV comedy is in gestation. Terminal Security Service Airpatrol (TSSA). Oh, oh. Red flag. When the grounds of public opinion shift, the results first materialize as satire. Time to review the mission plans? 

Just A Modest Proposal to Dr. Strangelove. ~Kevin

Early SpyCam

http://www.archive.org/details/EarlyCandidCamera