Hacker Targets: Computer, Smartphone, and now... Your Car

A team of top hackers working for Intel Corp's security division toil away in a West Coast garage searching for electronic bugs that could make automobiles vulnerable to lethal computer viruses... 

It's scary business. Security experts say that automakers have so far failed to adequately protect these systems, leaving them vulnerable to hacks by attackers looking to steal cars, eavesdrop on conversations, or even harm passengers by causing vehicles to crash.

"You can definitely kill people," said John Bumgarner, chief technology officer of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a non-profit organization that helps companies analyze the potential for targeted computer attacks on their networks and products. (more)

Another Butt Dialing Lands Man in the Can

PA - A Scranton man faces drug charges after he accidentally dialed 911 while he met with a drug dealer, recording the entire conversation at Lackawanna County dispatch center Wednesday, Scranton police said...

The Lackawanna County Communications Center called Scranton police to say there was an open line to a phone that was recording a conversation inside a vehicle on the 100 block of West Market Street regarding narcotics activity and a man named "Rick," according to the complaint.

Police tracked Mr. Kryzanowski to his apartment, where they found him talking with slow and slurred speech. Police also saw pill bottles and a bottle cap with water in it in plain sight, according to the complaint. (more) (more butt dialing stories)

Secrets for Sale — Premieres Thursday, August 23rd 9p | 12a ET

on CNBC Thursday, August 23rd 9p | 12a ET
“CRIME INC #9 - SECRETS FOR SALE”
 
Spying is an ever-present threat in the workplace.

Kevin D. Murray discusses business espionage prevention with Carl Quintanilla.

From the coworker in the next cubicle to foreign governments, the faces of corporate espionage are all around us. Boeing, Intel and Coca-Cola have all been targets. The losses - estimated by the FBI to be more than 13 billion dollars a year in the United States - can go undetected for years despite sophisticated security. Crime Inc. follows cases where livelihoods are threatened, reputations ruined and trade secrets are bought and sold. (more)

A 20-Year Battery Will Power the Next Generation Bugs

Imagine a battery powered bugging device, voice recorder, or GPS tracker that never needs to have it's battery changed or charged.

Current generation.

City Labs says, "...the company’s team of scientists and engineers has developed batteries with a 20+ year lifetime of continuous power without the requirement for replacement or recharging. The NanoTritium™ battery can energize a broad range of devices where battery replacement is difficult, impractical, or even life-threatening."

The power cell generates electricity using a layer of the radioactive-element tritium, mounted onto a semiconductor. 

Next generation.

The City Labs’ battery produces nanowatts of power; it is not strong enough to power a cell phone or laptop. This is a low-power battery that can run micro-electronics, anywhere that is hard, dangerous or expensive to reach. Applications include implants such as pacemakers as well as devices in industry (sensors on deep-water oil drills) and defense. (more)

Currently, these batteries, "...are used to keep encryption keys alive in SRAM for more than 20 years...". A second generation (coming soon) will be able to do a whole lot more.

Talk Like A Spy with Throw-Away Phone Numbers

Spybusters Tip # 723: The new Burner app for iPhone generates throw-away phone numbers, which can be used for undercover operations or by those who simply prefer a deep layer of privacy.

With Burner, users can create multiple new phone numbers for a day, a week, a month, or longer, and manage all inbound calls, SMS messages, and voicemails for each number. Once you are finished with the number, you can "burn" it by taking it out of service and wiping it from your phone, as if it never existed.

Each number is a separate line within the iPhone, which can be redirected to your main mobile number, or go straight to voicemail, according to the Burner app blog...

Android users may not yet have access to Burner, but they can shield themselves from unwanted calls with the White Pages' new Current Caller ID app, which provides a directory of information about the incoming call.

When your phone rings, it will display details about the caller's recent social updates and check the weather where they are. The feature is also available for SMS texts. Even if you're not interested in the bells and whistles, the app also provides stripped-down caller ID information.

The White Pages app is available for free download in the Google Play store. (more)

Cell Phone Eavesdropping is Back... and inexpensive

A small box, known in the Czech Republic as Agáta, may be listening in on your mobile phone calls at any moment. Agáta, or IMSI Catcher, is essentially an eavesdropping device that, by using relatively simple hardware, can track phone calls and SMS messages coming in and out of mobile phones in a specific radius... 

Former head of the Czech Military Intelligence Agency and a security analyst Andor Šándor underscored the danger of the widespread sale of Agátas:

"It’s been a known fact for a few years now that some companies do sell these devices. But if their use will not be in any way regulated, and access to these devices will not be in any way controlled, then a regular citizen can do absolutely nothing."

...Mr. Šándor claims that the most likely private users of Agátas are security firms or rival businesses, or even companies trying to win high-stakes tenders. (more) (home-brew IMSI Catcher)

Security Quote of the Day

"...we're at a critical moment where we need to find a different approach if we're going to protect intellectual property and the things we have at risk." — Peter G. George, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fidelis Security Systems, Inc. (more) (a different approach)

8th Raleigh Spy Conference August 22-24

Dramatic Revelations: Castro, J. Edgar Hoover, Deep Throat, CIA Secrets From the Deep and the New Profile of Today’s Terrorist Fidel Castro had foreknowledge of the JFK assassination.

Who was the real J Edgar Hoover? Deep Throat's motives were not what the public thought. How did the CIA scoop a satellite 12,000 below the sea? What is the new profile of today's terrorist? These are the topics for the 8th Raleigh Spy Conference August 22-24 at the NC Museum of History, presented by top experts drawing on the latest in declassified information. And the public is invited to learn and ask question and get to know each speaker personally... 

The Raleigh Spy Conference was founded in 2003 by magazine editor and publisher Bernie Reeves to address the increasing flow of declassified information available since the end of the Cold War. The Raleigh Spy Conference is recognized as the top intelligence conference specifically for the lay public by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO). Three of the six conferences have been filmed and aired on C-SPAN. (more) (video)

James Bond turns 50

It’s the big 5-0 for 007 film franchise
One of the most successful film franchises of all time, featured in Friday’s Olympic opening ceremonies, is celebrating its golden anniversary this year. TODAY’s Matt Lauer takes a look back at half a century of Bond, James Bond.

Need to contact the CIA from your cell phone? There's an app for that...

The Central Intelligence Agency has joined the ranks of federal agencies offering mobile applications to the public with the release of a mobile version of CIA.gov.

Using a mobile device, visitors to the CIA website can contact the agency, apply for a job, get a quick overview of the agency and its mission, and access content from the CIA Museum.

Included in the online exhibits are technologies developed for the CIA that eventually led to public benefits. For instance, improvements in battery technology for the agency later were incorporated into medical devices such as pacemakers and consumer products such as digital cameras.

Other items on display demonstrate the role the CIA has played in the evolution of product miniaturization. Those include a 35-mm camera designed to fit inside a pack of cigarettes; a radio receiver that fit into the stem of a pipe and that the user could "hear" through bone conduction from the jaw to the ear canal; the "insectothopter," an insect-shaped micro-drone invented in the 1970s as a proof-of-concept; and a microdot camera.

The mobile version of the CIA Museum includes dozens of images and captions of museum artifacts, articles on topics such as the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and a timeline of events related to the work of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. (more)

This Week on Jersey Shore - "Lemiv da Blimp"

NJ - The Army is testing its $517 million spy blimp in the skies over the New Jersey military base where the German airship Hindenburg crashed in 1937.

The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle spent more than 90 minutes around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Ocean County on Tuesday.

Manufacturer Northrop Grumman says the 302-foot long airship is designed to be a high altitude observation platform.

It can be operated by a crew or by remote control. (more and video) (previous blimp news)

If successful, the blimp will stay in the air for up to three weeks at a time, using 2500 pounds’ worth of “sensors, antennas, data links and signals intelligence equipment” to capture still and video images of civilians and adversaries below and send the pictures to troops’ bases.

Sports World Business Espionage - Saints or Sinners

LA - A report (in April) on ESPN claimed General Manager Mickey Loomis had the ability to listen to opposing coaches during games with an electronic device installed in the team's suite at the Superdome.

Mickey Loomis, before it hit the fans.

Wednesday, Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson confirmed the state's investigation into the eavesdropping claim "has moved within the FBI."

"As far as our case on the eavesdropping portion of it, we've been involved in interviews with the FBI," said Edmonson. "They brought us under their wing. We've been working closely with them. I've looked at it from a state perspective and all our findings have been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office who will be reviewing that along with the FBI."

Edmonson would not say if any of the information gathered and now in the possession of the FBI pointed to alleged wrongdoing by Loomis or the Saints. (more)

The fact that the case is still being investigated, and the FBI has been called in, is not a good sign. - Kevin

Sports World Business Espionage - Gladiator PI

Australia - The South Sydney patriarch George Piggins has accused the Rabbitohs co-owners Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court of sending private investigators to spy on him and search in the garbage bins of those opposed to their takeover of the club - and this is why Piggins now refuses to return to the fold.

In an open letter to South Sydney supporters, penned exclusively for The Sun-Herald, Piggins outlines his reasons for distancing himself from the club he saved from the brink of oblivion. In the letter, he states: ''Crowe and Holmes a Court used the services of Palladino and Sutherland, an American private investigation firm, to come to Australia to investigate us, as well as using other local investigators to secretly search garbage bins of those opposed to the takeover bid, and secretly photograph me, my family and friends.'' (more)

SO this Russian goes to work and finds a bug in his office...

Russia - Alexei Navalny showed up to work in Moscow on Monday to discover he was being bugged. He called the police, like many perhaps would, but not before tweeting photos and video of himself and his colleagues taking the Kremlin’s monitoring devices apart. 

It’s not hard to figure out why Navalny was bugged. He’s one of Russia’s most influential anti-corruption bloggers and is at the center of a protest movement aimed at toppling the regime of President Vladimir Putin. 

Since late July, the 36-year-old lawyer has faced possible arrest, trial and up to 10 years in prison for charges Putin’s prosecutors claim stem from an embezzlement scheme, but which Navalny and his supporters claim is an attempt to silence him. (more)

Bug Found in Ceiling of Jail's Chief of Operations

WV - A bugging device uncovered in an air duct in the office of the Regional Jail Authority's chief of operations has become the target of an FBI investigation, a key legislator disclosed Friday.

The first inkling of the bizarre episode came when Delegate Dave Perry, D-Fayette, as co-chairman of a legislative interims committee, quizzed acting Regional Jail Authority Director Joe DeLong if he was aware of any inquiry - internal or external - involving his agency. DeLong is a Hancock County native.
 

...the device allegedly turned up in John Lopez' office in Charleston...

Perry said he learned that Lopez found the device July 12 after spying some residue from a ceiling tile in the chair of his office.

"It was up overhead, and it had both audio and visual, in an air duct," Perry said...

"Almost like Watergate," Perry added, characterizing the alleged bugging incident, but again emphasized his committee, when meeting Monday, will not pursue it. (more)