Private Sector Spy Interviewed

UK - Ejector seats, super magnetic watches, guns you can make from a cigarette case and a cuff link - sadly none of these exist in the lives of real spies but Pocket-lint spoke to surveillance expert and ex-SAS member, Dave Thomas to find out what does.

“All the gadgets are mostly about collecting intelligence,” he tells us. “That’s the core of the job.

“There are bugging devices like this one,” he says as he opens up his briefcase full of wires and connectors to clutch a microphone no bigger than a pin head between his thumb and forefinger.

“This little thing is sensitive enough to pick up all the audio from a whole room in all directions. All you need is a battery and transmitter and you can hide this thing just about anywhere - in the light, under the table, in the plant pot but then you might have to worry about someone watering it.”

Spotting a niche in the market, Thomas set up a business 17 years ago providing surveillance services for blue chip companies and has been using the same techniques as those he learned on the governmental side of the trade.

“We’ve followed everyone from terrorists to footballers to journalist, corporate fraudsters, movie stars and all to find out what they’re doing, what they’re up to, where they’re going, who they’re meeting, who they’re getting their drugs from, where they’re getting their weapons from and whatever else there is to know.” (more)

The Faceless at Facebook Who Spy

via pcworld.com...

The war between security firm HBGary and Anonymous reveals a new tactic: using fake social network profiles to gather information.

Is that new friend really your friend, or just someone pretending to be your friend so he can spy on you? No, I'm not just being more paranoid than usual. This really does happen - especially if you're a member of an anonymous collective determined to do battle with the forces of corporate evil (not to mention Tom Cruise, Soulja Boy, and your mom).

The ongoing battle between Anonymous and the security wonks who are trying to take it down has revealed a new weapon: Creating fake profiles on social networks to trace out the connections between you and your comrades. (more)

"Every step you take, I'll be watching you"

Applause also to American Express security department. The Amex Sting private event at Newark's Prudential Center last night was covered perfectly. Thanks, for the memories.

SpyCam Story # 601 - Janitor in a Tank

An Ottawa, Kansas, school employee is under arrest for allegedly trying to spy on a high school girl's lockerroom, police say. Marshall Dean Silve, 53, faces misdemeanor attempted eavesdropping charges after a camera was found in the girl's lockerroom at Ottawa High School... 

...it was discovered on Monday by two Ottawa High sophomores. The girls say that when they walked into their locker room, they saw something out of the ordinary.

"We saw a dust mop, and usually there's a janitor where there's a dustmop, so she lifted the dust mop and there was a camera underneath there," said Ottawa High student Erika Doty, who says at first they thought the camera was left there by accident. (more)

Baby Monitor as Eavesdropping Device

 In case you have just exited cryogenic suspension, this just in from KTVX-TV...

UT - Someone could be eavesdropping on you using something as simple as a $99 baby monitor.

In just three hours wandering the streets of Herriman, we picked up 15 video and audio signals. We used just two brands of monitors. (more)

"All right. Which one of you muttered, 'What about indirectly?'"

Canada - Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay is denying being directly involved in spying on the city's own financial watchdog, the auditor general.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Pierre Reid, the city's controller-general, was spying on the auditor general's e-mails....

On Tuesday, Auditor General Jacques Bergeron sent to all city councillors, informing them city bureaucrats were snooping in his email account, and had been reading all correspondence, including private messages sent to and from his lawyers. (more)

FBI Seeks Über Light Switch

Rapid advances in communications are eroding police departments' abilities to conduct wiretaps, and Congress needs to take steps to ensure that new telephone, computer and wireless systems are designed to allow lawful police access, FBI and police officials told Congress Thursday.

But other witnesses cautioned that any such move could stifle innovation, place U.S. technology companies at a competitive disadvantage and unintentionally create systems vulnerable to hackers, criminals and terrorists.

At issue is the diminished capability of law enforcement agencies to conduct quick wiretaps in an age of Twitter accounts, Facebook and MySpace pages, BlackBerrys, Androids, iPhones and iPads. The Justice Department calls the phenomenon "going dark." (more)

Similar to Iceland's Recent 'Extra Computer' Find

A computer found hidden at Jönköping Airport in central Sweden in a case of suspected industrial espionage has been found to have been part of routine cooperation between the IT department and an airline.

The computer was discovered three weeks ago by a member of staff connected to the airport's intranet. Both the airport management and the police suspected a case of industrial espionage and launched an investigation.

The computer, which was connected to Jönköping Airport's internal network, was discovered by a member of staff a couple of weeks ago and it was feared that sensitive information had been transferred to a third party. (more)

Truth, or the public version of the story? You decide.

(Iceland's story)

Hummingbirds Drone... and Spy

A pocket-size drone dubbed the Nano Hummingbird for the way it flaps its tiny robotic wings has been developed for the Pentagon by a Monrovia company as a mini-spy plane capable of maneuvering on the battlefield and in urban areas...

Equipped with a camera, the drone can fly at speeds of up to 11 miles per hour, AeroVironment said. It can hover and fly sideways, backward and forward, as well as go clockwise and counterclockwise, by remote control for about eight minutes.

The quick flight meets the goals set forth by the government to build a flying "hummingbird-like" aircraft. It also demonstrates the promise of fielding mini-spy planes. Industry insiders see the technology eventually being capable of flying through open windows or sitting on power lines, capturing audio and video while enemies would be none the wiser. (more)

Can Apple Make Security Sexy?

via pcworld.com...

Security has never been sexy. It just isn't. Unless you are fond of men in uniforms. Some people are. Most are not. Security is a shadowy world of white hats and black hats and Anonymous and known. Security is a fact of life that no one likes. Security, like back-up, is a problem everyone has and no one wants to understand.

Security must be sexy
Apple's next step will be to make security sexy. It must. Because the future connected-planet needs security to be over 100 percent before it is born. The company has already begun. Last month it appointed former National Security Agency analyst and author David Rice as its global director of security. Security is the biggest challenge Apple faces as it moves to define the future of technology in modern living. Security is the new frontier. (more)

Business Espionage: Quote of the Week

Kommersant, a leading financial newspaper in Russia, interviewed Raili Maripuu, WhiteRock’s Managing Director for this week’s major business trend analysis. The article is dedicated to the growing threat of industrial espionage from China and following the trade secrets theft scandal surrounding the French car producer Renault. 

Miss Maripuu explains that: "Any successful company with a value is a likely target to its competitors. Information gatherers do not necessarily choose a particular sector to attack - espionage happens across the board." (more)

Business Espionage: Ratan Tata Lashes Out Over Leaks

In an interview, Indian industrialist Ratan Tata lashed out at the government for allowing media outlets to get hold of wiretap recordings of his lobbyist's phone calls, and said strong privacy protection is needed to prevent similar episodes in the future. (more)

Library PC Bugging Scam

In-line Keyboard Cable Logger

UK - Police are investigating the discovery of snooping devices attached to public computers in two Cheshire libraries. Staff found the keyloggers, USB devices which record keyboard activity, in the back of two PCs at Wilmslow Library and one at Handforth Library. (more)

Tip: Don't use public computers, but if you must, don't type in any confidential information, but if you must, don't use public computers. 

In-line USB Keystroke Logger

A physical search may turn up a keystroke logger, but cannot be relied upon to declare a computer is clean. Keystroke loggers are also sold embedded inside keyboards and as spyware (software), some of which instantly transmits the keystrokes to a remote location. 

Two types of physical hardware loggers are shown. ~Kevin

Business Espionage: Target - Global Energy Companies

A China-based man named Song Zhiyue has provided cheap U.S. computer servers for hackers who used everyday tools to infiltrate five multinational energy companies for as many as four years, according to a report issued by McAfee. Song, based in the Shandong Province's Heze City, in eastern China, is one of an undetermined number of other hacking specialists working normal business hours in Beijing to infiltrate the computer systems of energy companies in four countries -- the United States, Taiwan, Greece and Kazakhstan. McAfee did not identify the companies but said that Song's operation and that of the hackers has not been shut down.

Artist's conception.

The attacks are a sign of the increasing difficulty and high stakes involved in oil and gas exploration, and the extent to which some companies and countries are willing to go to get access to the fields. The purpose of the octopus-like hacking was a system that mined financial and exploration data on oil- and gas-fields that was critical to bidding for the fields, McAfee said. The attacks suggest that officials or companies in China were attempting to understand fields that were or going to be under bid; the financial and other plans of rivals that might bid on the same fields; and the equipment already at the fields or that might be used to explore or produce there. (more)

Tip: Computer hacking is supplemental to other espionage techniques, like electronic eavesdropping. Spies also want information before it gets put into the computer and the information which never gets put into a computer. Check your networks, but check your offices and phones first. ~Kevin

This week in Spy News

UK - An MP's assistant accused of spying for Russia is on course to follow in the footsteps of Anna Chapman after being offered a job at the Kremlin's English-language TV news propaganda channel.(more)

A Taiwanese general detained in what could be the island's worst espionage case in 50 years was lured by sex and money offered by a female Chinese agent, media reported Thursday. (more)

Alleged spying at French car maker Renault may have targeted the costs involved in making electric cars, its chief executive said in an interview published Friday. (more)

A court in Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region has sentenced a Moldovan man to 14 years in jail after convicting him of espionage. (more)

India - A senior home ministry official accused of leaking sensitive information in return for sexual favours moved his bail application in a court here Friday. (more)

Italy's sex scandal mired prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has likened Italy's prosecutors, its left-leaning newspapers and TV talkshows to spies from the former communist East Germany. (more)

Pakistan - Militants killed three, including two Khasadar tribal force members, accusing them of spying, sources said. (more)

Iran - Two Americans accused of spying appeared in a closed-door Iranian court session Sunday to begin trial after an 18-month detention that has brought impassioned family appeals, a stunning bail deal to free their companion and backdoor diplomatic outreach by Washington through an Arab ally in the Gulf. (more)

German federal prosecutors have charged a 43-year-old Moroccan with spying on exiled opposition activists for his country's intelligence service. (more)

Pakistani authorities have decided to indict US diplomat Raymond Davis on espionage charge, saying he had been conducting surveillance of the Pakistan Army’s bunkers on the Eastern border with India. (more)

Two retired marines have been held captive for more than eight weeks in the Horn of Africa after a gun battle while they were escorting a merchant ship through waters threatened by pirates... they are accused of spying after being arrested by a naval vessel from Eritrea as they guarded the ship in the Indian Ocean. A dispute about their paperwork escalated and threats were followed by shots being exchanged. Two guards tried to escape in a skiff but were seized after a chase. They were, it is claimed, kept on an offshore island without food or water for more than a day before being taken back to a port city on the mainland for incarceration. (more)

OR - A student at St. Paul High School has been caught spying on the girls' basketball team by hiding his cell phone in their locker room. (more) 

Mark J. Hulkower, prosecutor in Aldrich Ames spy case, dies at 53. (more)