Sick of Snooki? Tired of Trump? Fab-a-dab-a-Zap Shutdafacesup!

MAKE video producer Matt Richardson from Brooklyn shows you how to use an Arduino microcontroller to mute your television based on keywords found in the broadcast's closed captioning transcription. You can rest easy knowing that you'll never have to hear about Kim Kardashian—or whoever you're sick of—again! 

"A while ago it was Charlie Sheen. And then it was Sarah Palin. And then it was Donald Trump," said Richardson, who is a video producer for Make Magazine. "And after a while I realized there's sort of always someone who I don't really want to hear about."

Like any good hacker, Richardson decided to come up with a fix: He developed a do-it-yourself TV remote control that will automatically mute the television when certain celebrity names are mentioned.

He plans to debut and explain the hack at the upcoming Maker Faire event in New York. The name of his talk is "Enough Already: Silencing Celebs with Arduino." (more) (Wanna go?)

University Senior Management Bugging Confirmed

South Africa - The offices of senior management at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) had been bugged, acting director-general of the Department of Higher Education and Training Gwebinkundla Qonde confirmed. The bugging was discovered by newly appointed administrator Prof Themba Mosia, Mr Qonde said. (more)

Blackern’ a blacksmith’s apron or Bum Steer?

TX - An emergency city council meeting in Bandera turned into a showdown with the police chief Wednesday night. Council member Maggie Schumacher publicly accused a police lieutenant of bugging the municipal building, an allegation Chief Jim Eigner denies.

"He (Lt. Neil McLean) said, 'we tape everything in this building.' He said this is a public building and we tape everything,'" Schumacher said.

Schumacher was referring to a conversation she had with Lt. McLean earlier today at the police department. A computer tech was there to make a backup of the entire police department computer system and Schumacher says Lt. McLean resisted. She called the Bandera County Sheriff's Office to step in. (more)

You decide.

Libyan spy files detail Gadhafi regime's collapse

As the uprising grew against Moammar Gadhafi, secret reports from his vaunted intelligence service flowed back to Tripoli. Some were mundane — how agents erased anti-regime graffiti. Others were more deadly — a spy volunteered to poison rebel leaders' food and drink.

The reports grew more desperate as the Libyan rebellion veered into civil war: Military leaders in the western mountains were disregarding orders; troops in the city of Misrata ran out of ammunition, turning the situation into "every man for himself."

These reports and hundreds of other intelligence documents seen by The Associated Press in Tripoli trace how the tide shifted in the six-month uprising that ended Gadhafi's 42-year reign. They show how an authoritarian regime using all its means failed to quash an armed rebellion largely fueled by hatred of its tools of control. (more) (sing-a-long CD found in spy HQ)

SpyCam Story #623 - Gumshoe the Cable Guy

Spy Camera Designed to Look Like a Cable TV Box

MI - An Addison Township man said Accident Fund Insurance Company of America had a spy camera placed on his property illegally.

Rob Guzanek said a private investigation firm placed the camera to spy on a his neighbor, Dana Fredericks, who has filed a disability claim at work for a bad back. However, Guzanek said the company illegally installed the battery-operated surveillance camera in a clearing where workers cut into his hedgerow." (more)

The Suite Life of (names withheld due to age and stupidity)

Vanessa Hudgens was left furious when she found out teenage boys had been spying on her sunbathing topless.

The former High School Musical star was laying topless in the garden of her Hollywood home when she heard the dreaded sound of giggly teenage boys.

"Vanessa's yard is very private, except for a small area that apparently affords a bird’s-eye view from the balcony of the house just above her, and that’s where three teen boys were peeking down at her, laughing and whistling," a source said. (more)

Wireless Microphone Eavesdropping at Business Hotel Conference Centers

Wireless presenter's microphones are commonly used in corporate boardrooms, auditoriums, and hotel conference centers. I have even found them being used as desk microphones in "secure" government conference rooms when running wires was not desired. 

Big mistake. The vast majority of wireless microphones use analog frequency modulation (FM) as their method of transmission. Eavesdropping on these transmissions is easy.

I created this video to quickly explain the problem.

There are secondary problems as well...

• Microphones left accidentally left 'on' from previous meetings.

• Just having these microphones around makes them available for eavesdroppers to use as bugs. Even if discovered there is plausible deniability. Who is to say it was not left 'on' accidentally?

Solution.

• The first step is to remove all analog FM wireless microphones from areas where sensitive discussions will be held; make them totally unavailable (sell or trash them).

• Develop a business counterespionage strategy with a security consultant who specializes in electronic eavesdropping detection and business counterespionage consulting. They will be able to provide alternate solutions to using analog FM wireless microphones, and similar security vulnerabilities.

• Incorporate periodic inspections for illegal electronic eavesdropping devices into your security program. These inspections are also know as Technical Surveillance Countermeasures, or TSCM.

(more)

Internal Office Snoops and Spies - 50% of the problem

Marie McIntyre, Ph.D., is an office coach. She has more than 20 years experience as a manager, business owner and the HR director at a Fortune 500 company. Here is an office eavesdropping question she recently fielded...

Question: A co-worker told me that he brings a voice recorder to work to catch people talking behind his back. He will tape it underneath a desk or hide it behind a picture. We used to be friends, but I now seem to be on the list of people that he hates. I’ve started searching my work area every morning to be sure his recorder isn’t there. Although this guy’s weird behavior makes me sick, I’m not sure what to do about it. Should I bring this to the attention of human resources? —Nervous in Indiana

Answer: Yes, you should immediately have a confidential talk with your HR manager. Your colleague’s devious behavior is both appalling and a little frightening.

His suspiciousness, combined with a growing “enemies list,” may indicate paranoid tendencies. If he feels betrayed, he could decide to seek revenge. So when you report his clandestine activities, ask the HR manager not to reveal your name.

If you fear that HR may fail to protect your identity, describe the situation in an anonymous note. Although unsigned complaints are often disregarded, management is unlikely to ignore this one. 

I can add to her answer...  

About 50% of electronic eavesdropping in the business environment is caused by employees. The reasons range from office romance, job insecurity, promotion competition, and on up to conducting espionage for outsiders – either for money, ideology or under pressure from blackmail.

We hope the HR director in this particular case will realize that hiding a recorder for eavesdropping purposes is a criminal offense and takes the proper steps to protect the employee and the employer. A good first step would be contacting a security consultant who specializes in illegal electronic surveillance matters.

Tip: All types of security consultants are listed in the IAPSC.org Security Consultant Directory.

Tips for Securing VoIP Phones in the Cloud

Click to enlarge.

South Africa - ...accepting an unprotected Internet Protocol (IP) connection from your VOIP partner is not the safest tactic. “Besides inviting eavesdropping on your most sensitive business dealings”, says Rob Lith, Director of Connection Telecom, “It also puts you at risk of sponsoring thousands of rands ($) in phone calls made on your account.”

What can be done?
So what can be done to keep your PBX safe from spilling your trade secrets and bleeding out your cash resources? The good news is that both VOIP providers and customers can pitch in. Here are some ways to safeguard your telephony:

Customer-side
· Password generators – Cloud PBX customers should use only securely-generated random passwords. Passwords chosen by humans are often the weakest link in a company’s security posture, so invest in tools that manage and retrieve passwords easily and securely. 1password from AgileBits is a good example.
· Strong access policies – It can be as basic as allowing only known IP address ranges access to the voice platform. But this approach, while highly secure, sacrifices flexibility – for instance the ability to access the voice server while roaming overseas.
· Cloud customers can also load tools that monitor VOIP accounts for repeated failed password attempts, and block the IP address from which the attempts are coming pending administrator investigation. Fail2ban is one such tool.

Provider-side
· Tools like Zabbix monitor unusual call patterns, destinations, numbers of live calls and account balances, and trigger alarms when certain values are exceeded (too many calls, a sharp drop in account balance, unusual international prefixes being dialed etc). Anything out of place is picked up long before too much harm can come to the user enterprise.
· VPN tunneling used in an enterprise VOIP service shields calls from eavesdropping and line-jacking, making it as secure as line encryption. An MPLS network and VPN technology like ViBE are among the applications that enable secure VPN tunnelling.
· Private cloud solutions are shielded from the public Internet by virtue of the customer’s ownership of the hosted domain.

Conclusion
VOIP hacking, while not an everyday occurrence, is very possible. However, with the right tools and a few basic security habits, this form of communication can be highly secure. (more)

Spycam Story #622 - Solved Faster Than A Clapboard Slap

Australia - Queensland Police are investigating how security footage of public sex and bar fights at a Cairns casino made it onto YouTube.

The CCTV footage of patrons was the subject of an investigation last year but were removed from the Reef Hotel Casino and posted on the internet.

Detective Senior Sergeant Ed Kinbacher says the footage appears to have been stolen by a former staff member. (more)

Are Your Passwords Sardonic Humor Fodder? II

After reading the original post about easy to guess passwords, another BB Irregular checked in with this excellent password tip.  

Brilliant, David. 

Thank you!

Via Randall Munroe at xkcd.com. Click to enlarge.

Walter Mitty Goes Shopping... for Spy Gadgets

Australia -  Anyone who has ever fancied themselves as a secret agent, Maxwell Smart style, now has the chance to purchase some nifty spying gadgets locally. The Frankston franchise of OzSpy opened recently and stocks everything from bug detection devices to hidden cameras.

"We get a lot of people who come in because they think their spouse is cheating," he said. "We also have businesses wanting to check up on employees. Some people want to leave listening devices around as evidence if there is something they are concerned about. This is probably the only store of its type in the area." Mr Dodd said there were a few customers who thought of themselves as investigators. The shop definitely has a bit of a secret agent appeal to it."  But he said some people just buy the equipment for fun. (more)

Other fun things you can do, but probably not in Australia...

Hounded by Eavesdropping, Berlusconi Snaps (Can you blame him?)

Italy - Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, under withering scrutiny for his high-profile sex life, was caught on a police wire saying he wanted to flee his "s---y" country.

Berlusconi's shocking remarks were recorded in July as part of an investigation into claims he is being blackmailed about his sex life, according to The Guardian. 

"They can say about me that I s--w. It's the only thing they can say about me. Is that clear?" the frustrated Prime Minister said to one of the men allegedly extorting him. "They can put listening devices where they like. I don't give a f--k."

"In a few months, I'm getting out to mind my own f---ing business, from somewhere else," he continued, "and so I'm leaving this s---y country of which I'm sickened." (more)

Not knowing if you have privacy is universally stressful and personally debilitating. It is especially bad in business and government where there is the added stress of not being able to conduct business in confidence. These are some of the reasons why periodic inspections to detect electronic surveillance are a basic element of most organization's security program.

Greece Won't Let Wiretapping Slip

A Greek prosecutor Friday reopened a probe into wire-tapping of government mobile phones at the time of the Athens 2004 Games, indicating that US embassy staff were involved, a judicial official said.

Without naming specific suspects, Athens prosecutor Dimitris Dassoulas filed an action for "a major case of attempted espionage" after a preliminary investigation identified three suspects working at the US embassy at the time.

The investigation found that calls had been placed to embassy telephones from a mobile phone used in the wire-tapping network, the source said. (more)

Spycam App... "What could possibly go wrong?"

"With iZON, you can stream live video and audio to your iPod, iPhone or iPad, activate motion or noise detection and receive alerts by push notification." 



Keep a loving eye on your your baby, your puppy, your other baby and her lover. Screech!!! What other baby. What lover?!?!

"Enjoy peace of mind on the go with the iZON Remote Room Monitor. This innovative and elegant video camera enables you to view and listen to activity in your home or office from anywhere in the world on your iPod touch, iPhone or iPad."

The Pitch.

FutureWatch.

Remember the old "listen through concrete" ads for bugging devices... "useful for detecting baby sleeping and locating mice in walls?" Welcome to the 21st Century where electronic eavesdropping laws continue to be circumvented by that galactic loophole - "primarily useful for". In this case, it appears that this will be "primarily useful for" spying on those without rights, babies and puppies. Heck, what are the chances that someone will hide one of these things for voyeuristic reasons? 

And, if an app store approves it for sale, it must be legal, right? 

Keep your eye on our SpyCam Story posts to see what happens.