The Pink Panther Drives Again

France - A top Renault SA official said the French auto maker is no longer certain that its electric-car development efforts were the target of corporate espionage, throwing doubts on a high-profile case that cost three executives their jobs and led the Chinese Foreign Ministry to issue an angry denial of any involvement.

Patrick Pélata, the auto maker's chief operating officer, made the admission in comments that were published Thursday evening on a French newspaper's website. He said the auto maker could have been "tricked" into bringing allegations against three senior managers. His comments added to the mystery of a case that was never fully fleshed out. (more)

The easiest way out? Just... A Shot in the Dark.

Beware the Long Arm of Social Notworking

Tip - Police and prosecutors are quickly learning that online postings can offer useful clues to a suspect's location, motives and acquaintances. (more)

Fark - On-line framing.

Cell Phone + Satellite Phone = TerreStar Genus

Click to enlarge.

Security Directors -  Please be aware that on the AT&T press release the coverage area is left to your imagination.

"it’s now easier and more convenient than ever before to have mobile coverage in remote locations"

"The access to the TerreStar™ satellite network enables wireless communications coverage in remote areas for government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users, as well as backup satellite communications capabilities for public safety agencies, first responders and disaster recovery groups."

(My imagination... Satellite=Worldwide, Wrongo.)

According to TerreStar...
"Provides coverage for the Continental United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska" Their graphic is accurate. But you have to visit TerreStar to find it out.

A U.S. satellite phone is here — they send a signal directly to a satellite from anywhere with a clear view of the sky without need of a cell tower. But with per-minute fees of $1 or more (sometimes a lot more), you’ll still need a regular mobile phone for everyday use. That means you need two phones. Just what you want when hiking — two weighty pieces of hardware to tote.

But now there is a hybrid mobile-satellite phone, a single device that can connect to either network. Called the TerreStar Genus, this phone is available through AT&T for $1,070 ($800 for small business and government customers).
 
The phone isn’t a brick-sized ruggedized monster, but it’s not exactly svelte either. At 4.7 by 2.5 by 0.8 inches and almost 5 ounces, it’s stolid form and qwerty keyboard will remind you of an overweight BlackBerry. (more)

Business Security Information - Security Tips for Business

Sean McCreary, is a security consultant and researcher. He runs Business Security Information and his blog provides small and medium-sized businesses with relevant security information and resources. "We do the research so you don't have to!" Very cool!

His background includes:

• Approximately 20 years security experience including positions in the government and both the public and private sector.
• Close to 12 years experience dealing with small and medium-sized business security issues.
• Experience and background in both physical and computer security.
• Certified Protection Professional (CPP) through ASIS International.
• Associate in Risk Management (ARM) through Insurance Institute of America.
• Degrees in security, loss prevention, and information system security.

The information on the site is gathered from websites and other public sources of security information. Being a continuous learner, Sean set up the blog to share some of that knowledge with you. 

If you can't afford a full-time security director, or a part-time security consultant, you need to carve out a few minutes each week to visit Sean. (more)

5 Ways to Tell if the Person on the Phone is Lying

via landlinephoneservice.net...

1. Listen for the patterns in their speech. 
   Is their speech erratic sounding? Do they repeat what they’ve already said to cover up something else?  Do they pause for a second or two before answering you? Many liars if confronted with a potential lie they told or if they are about to lie, need a second to gather together their facts.
2. Do they often try to change the subject?
   Feeling backed in a corner, they may even end the call. Many times a liar will do anything to avoid the topic or change topics manically if you keep bringing the conversation back to the topic they want to avoid.
3. Liars often get defensive.
   Getting defensive is a common tactic for liars. By getting angry or emotional, it helps the accused liar diffuse the topic and an effective way to get them “off the hook.” When talking to someone you think may be lying, make sure to stay at ease and calmly keep the conversation going.
4. A liar will often create confusion in their comments.
   Do they repeat information several times? Do they go back and forth with their answers, giving inconsistent comments to the questions you asked?
5. Do they find a way to abruptly get off the phone?
   If they don’t redirect the conversation to another topic, a liar will classically tell you they have to go, or find any other excuse to leave. Try to keep them on the phone by offering conversation of another topic and before hanging up, you can readdress your question. See if you get a consistent answer from the last time they answered it.
   (more)

Tips for a Malware-Free Smartphone (Android)

via PCworld.com...

The number of free Android apps that may be infected with malware this week has increased to more than 50.

• Research the publisher of the app. 

• Read online reviews.
• Check app permissions. If it asks for more than what it needs, skip it.

• Avoid directly installing Android Package files (APKs). 

• Put a malware and antivirus scanner on your phone. (Many of them are free.)

(more)

Kevin's Security Scrapbook - The Fine Print

Kevin's Security Scrapbook is a component of Spybusters, LLC, written and edited by Kevin D. Murray. This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. Mr. Murray writes for his own purposes and may be influenced by his background, occupation and experience. 

The blog contains excerpts from other sources, the original of which is clearly linked by the word (more) at the end of each entry. Personal comments and opinions are usually indicated in red type for clarity.

The owner of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. We will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement, however, this may not be relied upon as paid professional advice. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Business Espionage: The Devine Apple Caper

Former Apple Employee Pleads Guilty to Selling Company Secrets 

Last August a man by the name of Paul Devine, 37 years old, was arrested following an FBI and IRS investigation. Apparently Mr. Devine was taking information on "product forecasts, roadmaps, pricing targets, product specifications, and data obtained from Apple's business partners" and passing it along to Apple's suppliers.

Why would suppliers want this info? Well typically they compete for Apple contracts and this info could give them an edge in the process. It could also afford them an advantage in negotiations on price/etc. once they had won the contract. Additionally, the information could be passed along to rival firms as some suppliers, like China's Foxconn, work with many companies.

The sell-out netted Mr. Devine over $10,000 in cash transferred from banks in the U.S. and overseas. And it cost Apple, by the company's estimates, over $2.4M USD. (more)

 

Imagine what Apple would lose if they didn't have a corporate counterespionage strategy? Got a strategy? Get one here.

India’s government has reiterated to BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion, and other companies providing encryption in their products, that they will have to be open to internal security and intelligence services if they wish to continue operating in the region.

Under this premise, Google and Skype could also be forced to shut down in the country if it cannot provide keys to its services...

To explain the difficulty of allowing a government to access Skype’s communications, one of the worlds leading intelligence organizations, the US National Security Agency, is still offering ‘billions’ for a solution to their eavesdropping needs on the peer-to-peer voice network. (more)

FutureWatch "...corporate parent eBay, having had to write down $1.4bn already following its $2.6bn purchase of Skype back in the bubble-2.0 days of 2005, might see an opportunity here. A billion or two from the NSA for a backdoor into Skype might make the acquisition seem like a sensible idea." (more)

Business Espionage: Ex-NYPD Detective SciSpy?

John Cook, writing for The New York Observer, has a very interesting piece today that alleges John Connolly – a former NYPD detective turned journalist, who has written for Vanity Fair, Gawker, and The Daily Beast – is a paid informant for the Church of Scientology.

The claims come from two previously high ranking members (they both defected) of the church: Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder. Supposedly Connolly has been using his reporter credentials to pump other media members for information on anything they were going to write regarding Scientology. (more)

"No one likes a tattletale, Danny... except of course, me."

"Caddyshack" producer Rusty Lemorande claims an A&E documentary about the making of the movie was a "heartless fiction" that portrayed him as a "drug snitch" against the cast and crew, "a 'spy' on the set who secretly informed on everyone to the person who helped him get the job." Lemorande sued Pangolin Pictures and A&E Television Networks, which broadcast the documentary "Caddyshack: the Inside Story" on its "Biography" channel. Pangolin produced the show. (more)

Earbud SpyCam - For the Proletariat Press in Emerging Democracies?

from the seller's website...

"Nothing like this has ever been offered before!

The smallest earphone camera in the world!

In one of the earphones is a hidden video camera can use to capture and record video. You will fit right into the crowd and no one will have any ides what you are actually doing." (more)

Did You Know Uncle (ant farm) Milton Died

He did die, we're sad, and nature abhors a vacuum... (digital ant farm)

Uncle Milton's (the company) is still alive and well, however... unlike the ants in your old ant farm. 

His new ant farms are now high tech; filled with green gel instead of sand, LED back-lighting, fancy frame, etc. In fact, these ant farms are no longer called farms. Too bucolic. They have been up-scaled. Call them colonies now. Fortunately, the gated community concept survives. But...

Some people worry about leaving ants too close to the microwave, radon in the soil or cosmic rays (from the ants being delivered via air mail). 

One can't be too careful. I saw some Milty Mutants at the Atlanta airport. 

What does this have to do with spying?

Nothing. Just keep your knees loose, your eyes open and take good care of your ants. ~Kevin

Business Espionage: GlobeRanger - Seduced and Mocked

TX - A lawsuit filed in state court Friday reads like a Hollywood script: It includes sex, deception and espionage in an alleged conspiracy to rob a Richardson company of its livelihood.

GlobeRanger Corp. makes radio-frequency tags that help track inventory, a technology often called RFID, short for radio frequency identification. It says it poured millions of dollars and 10 years into an effort to sell its technology to the U.S. Navy.

Then came a woman named Kim Gray, who works for an Alaska-based software company called Naniq Systems LLC. According to GlobeRanger, Gray had an affair with Robert Bacon, the program director for the Navy's RFID efforts. The suit also alleges that Gray was also in a relationship with German company Software AG.

That's the company that, despite not having any experience with RFID in the application GlobeRanger had been developing, swooped in and won a contract with the Navy to do what GlobeRanger had been trying to do for a decade...

The defendants' attitude towards stealing a decade of GlobeRanger's work was not just malicious, it was cavalier: their co-conspirator, on tape, not only admits that they misappropriated the technology, he laughs about it," reads the suit filed in state court in Dallas. (more) (GlobeRanger lawsuit)

GSM Bugs, Prohibited Hi-tech Goods - Cheap

Vietnam - The Dong Kinh Market, the biggest and most bustling market in the border province of Lang Son, is considered the “paradise” of prohibited hi-tech goods, where imitated products are dirt cheap. 

Typical electronics market.

The noteworthy thing in the market is that prohibited goods are displayed openly. The “black technology” products, such as cameras, or key hooks with eavesdropping devices, are available at all electronics kiosks.

GSM bug

Most of these products (GSM bugs) are as small as matchboxes. The products use 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz band of GSM network and they have installed the MiniSIM of mobile phone in order to be used as sound recorders.

In February 2011, according to Buu dien, as the supply is profuse, the devices are selling very cheaply, at 500-650,000 dong ($23.94 - $31.13). The products with more complicated functions which allow to automatically call those, who want to eavesdrop, would be 100,000 dong ($4.79) more expensive.

The currently valid Government’s Decree No. 59 stipulates that all eavesdropping equipments are listed as prohibited goods. However, at Dong Kinh Market and other markets in the border provinces, such as Tan Thanh, Dong Dang in Lang Son province, Coc Leu in Lao Cai, the laws have been “ignored”. In fact, the market management taskforce has turned a blind eye to the products. (more)

• The electronic eavesdropping market is global.

• Laws against illegal eavesdropping devices are not being enforced, globally.

• Electronic eavesdropping is easy and affordable.