Digital Cameras Easily Turned into Spying Devices

Newer cameras increasingly sport built-in Wi-Fi capabilities or allow users to add SD cards to achieve them in order to be able to upload and share photos and videos as soon as they take them.

But, as proven by Daniel Mende and Pascal Turbing, security researchers... these capabilities also have security flaws that can be easily exploited for turning these cameras into spying devices.

Mende and Turbing chose to compromise Canon's EOS-1D X DSLR camera an exploit each of the four ways it can communicate with a network. Not only have they been able to hijack the information sent from the camera, but have also managed to gain complete control of it. ...like uploading porn to the camera, or turning it into a surveillance device. (more) (video presentation - long and boring)

Solution in a nutshell... Before purchasing any Wi-Fi enabled device, make sure it supports encryption.

Range Wars Redux - Animal Welfare Group Drones v. Cattlemen

Australia - Farming bodies have criticized an animal welfare group's plan to use a drone to film farming practices on properties around Australia, with one saying the drone would be shot down.

Animal Liberation has purchased a surveillance drone equipped with a powerful camera. The group says the drone can film from as low as 10 metres above the ground to gather potential evidence of animal abuse.

Click to enlarge

Spokesman Mark Pearson says the practice will not contravene trespass or privacy laws. He says animal welfare is in the public interest...

But the head of the Northern Territory Cattleman's Association, David Warriner, disagrees... Mr Warriner says he expects some farmers would shoot down the drones. (more)

Yo, Warriner! The war already started...
A remote-controlled aircraft owned by an animal rights group was reportedly shot down near Broxton Bridge Plantation Sunday near Ehrhardt, S.C. (more) (much more)

How to Have Safe Specs - Just Say No

Amidst rising concerns about cyber spying and a House Intelligence Committee report last October, Sprint and Softbank have said they will not use any equipment from China-based Huawei Technologies.

The two companies are preparing for a merger, which is being overseen by the US government. The government has asked only to be informed when these two companies buy new equipment and where they buy it.

Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who leads the House Intelligence Committee, has confirmed these two companies have made this pledge.

“I … was assured they would not integrate Huawei into the Sprint network and would take mitigation efforts to replace Huawei equipment in the Clearwire network,” said Rogers in a statement on Thursday. (more)

Putin on the Quits

Russian President Vladimir Putin jokingly told members of the All-Russia People's Front, a political movement he started, that he's stopped eavesdropping since he left the KGB, because it's not a nice thing to do, Russia’s RIA reported on Friday. (more) (rimshot)

Better Eyes for Flying Robots - A Runaway Hit

New systems could improve the vision of micro aerial vehicles.

Aerial robotics research has brought us flapping hummingbirds, seagulls, bumblebees, and dragonflies. But if these robots are to do anything more than bear a passing resemblance to their animal models, there is one thing they’ll definitely need: better vision.


In February, at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, two teams presented new work (PDF) aimed at building better-performing and lower-power vision systems that would help aerial robots navigate and aid them in identifying objects.
 

Dongsuk Jeon, a graduate student working with Zhengya Zhang and IEEE Fellows David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, outlined an approach to drastically lower the power of the very first stage of any vision system—the feature extractor.  (more) (A "Runaway" hit from 1984.) 

FutureWatch: Mosquito-bots custom programmed to deliver injections (stun / drug / poison / etc.) based on recognition algorithms?

FutureWatch Update - Skype Tapping

When we last left Skype...

Was Skype reworked by Microsoft to make it easier to wiretap?

Hey kids, we bought and fixed Skype just for you!

In today's episode... 

Since its acquisition of Skype in May 2011, Microsoft has added a legitimate monitoring technology to Skype, says Maksim Emm, Executive Director of Peak Systems. Now any user can be switched to a special mode in which encryption keys will be generated on a server rather than the user's phone or computer.

Access to the server allows Skype calls or conversations to be tapped. Microsoft has been providing this technology to security services across the world, including Russia.

Group-IB CEO Ilya Sachkov said that the security services have been able to monitor the conversations and location of Skype users for a couple of years now.

"This is exactly why our staff are not allowed to discuss business on Skype," he said. (more)

Security Director Tip of the Month - More Secure Conferencing Calling

Over the years, you have read many posts here about organizations being victimized by eavesdroppers on their conference calls. I am expecting you will see fewer in years to come...

CrowdCall, a specialized conference-calling app available for iOS and Android smartphones and the web. 

Instead of scheduling a dial-in line, e-mailing all parties involved and then hoping everyone calls at the appointed time, CrowdCall's interface lets users choose up to 20 participants from their contacts list and LinkedIn connections and dial them immediately (assuming the contacts have added their phone number to their LinkedIn profiles). When participants answer, they simply push "1" to enter the conference--they don't even need to have the app to participate.

...one feature in particular makes it attractive to small businesses. Because the call originator controls invitations, unauthorized participants can't use dial-in information to access the call, providing a measure of security when discussing sensitive information. (more)

Cell Phone Fingerprinting - GPS Tells WHO You Are

Can you be identified only by where you take your phone? Yes, according to a new study, which finds it's not very hard at all.

While most of us are free to go wherever we want, our daily and weekly movement patterns are pretty predictable. We go to work, to school, to church, to our neighborhood gym, grocery store or coffee shop, and we come home -- all quietly tracked by the GPS in our phone.

Click to enlarge.

And with nothing more than this anonymous location data, someone who wanted to badly enough could easily figure out who you are by tracking your smartphone. Patterns of our movements, when traced on a map, create something akin to a fingerprint that is unique to every person.
 
"Four randomly chosen points are enough to uniquely characterize 95% of the users (ε > .95), whereas two randomly chosen points still uniquely characterize more than 50% of the users (ε > .5). This shows that mobility traces are highly unique, and can therefore be re-identified using little outside information."

Those are the findings of a report by researchers from MIT and elsewhere, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports. (more)

Hello Federal! Give Me No Second Hand

Despite the pervasiveness of law enforcement surveillance of digital communication, the FBI still has a difficult time monitoring Gmail, Google Voice, and Dropbox in real time. 

But that may change soon, because the bureau says it has made gaining more powers to wiretap all forms of Internet conversation and cloud storage a “top priority” this year.

Last week, during a talk for the American Bar Association in Washington, D.C., FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann discussed some of the pressing surveillance and national security issues facing the bureau. He gave a few updates on the FBI’s efforts to address what it calls the “going dark” problem—how the rise in popularity of email and social networks has stifled its ability to monitor communications as they are being transmitted. It’s no secret that under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the feds can easily obtain archive copies of emails. When it comes to spying on emails or Gchat in real time, however, it’s a different story. (more)

Bugged Van, Other Man, "I'll kill him"... "Just kidding."

A 44-year-old Howell man is facing felony charges after allegedly installing an eavesdropping device in his wife's van in an attempt to catch her in an extramarital affair.

Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte said Friday that the case came to police attention when the 48-year-old woman's alleged boyfriend, 21, called to ask if installing such devices is illegal. He told police that he felt his privacy had been violated after learning that the device captured him and the wife being "passionate," the sheriff said.

Bezotte said the defendant allegedly threatened to kill the 21-year-old boyfriend and threatened to "make him lose his coaching position." The sheriff (said) the defendant claimed that he was "mad and kidding" when he made the comments. (more)

Zombie Privacy Bills Struggle to Become Laws

Just two days after new legislative reform on e-mail privacy was re-introduced in Congress, another privacy bill was brought back from years past.

On Thursday, three members of the House (two Republicans and a Democrat) and two bipartisan senators introduced the GPS Act, which would require law enforcement to obtain a probable cause-driven warrant before accessing a suspect’s geolocation information. The bill had originally been introduced nearly two years ago by the same group of legislators. 
  
The new GPS bill as it stands (PDF) contains exceptions for emergencies, including "national security" under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but otherwise requires a warrant for covert government-issued tracking devices. The proposed penalty for violating this new provision could come with fines and/or five years in prison.
(more)

From the Security Scrapbook Archives - 2003

Here is what the Security Scrapbook looked like 10 years ago... (Some links are now dead.)

"They're GR-R-REAT!®"When the CIA's secret gadget-makers invented a listening device for the Asian jungles, they disguised it so the enemy wouldn't be tempted to pick it up and examine it: The device looked like tiger droppings. The guise worked. ... The CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology is celebrating its 40th anniversary by revealing a few dozen of its secrets for a new museum inside its headquarters near Washington. Keith Melton, a leading historian of intelligence, calls it "the finest spy musuem you'll never see." It is accessible only to CIA employees and guests admitted to those closed quarters.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7721
See the e-poop at...
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/index.html#!/artifact/17


 
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Jacko Show
...but not good for the gander-er.Last week, Jackson and his lawyer learned they were secretly videotaped by a camera hidden aboard the plane when Jackson traveled from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara to turn himself in. The discovery triggered an FBI investigation and a lawsuit by Jackson against the charter jet company. (Charter companies might record passenger cabin video to document any damage done by... oh say... rock stars who might party too hearty and cause damage.)
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=22&art

It's Plain View Doctrine, not Plane View Doctrine, Jimmy.A man claiming to be a news and photo agency reporter was arrested after Jackson's security staff found him aboard the entertainer's private plane while Jackson was surrendering to authorities.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20031127-102246-4233r.htm

NSS...Sheriff's officials said several wireless microphones discovered outside their headquarters could be the latest of several attempts by journalists to surreptitiously get information on the Michael Jackson molestation case. The devices were found in a brushy area where Sheriff's Department employees frequently take breaks and where reporters are not normally allowed. Officials did not say when they discovered the microphones.
http://www.local6.com/news/2671587/detail.html

I always feel like
Somebody's watching me
Can I have my privacy (...and Moon Walk stage left)
Michael Jackson thinks authorities may be spying on him in his own home. The Gloved One is said to be so fearful that his Neverland ranch has been bugged, he's even looking at his teddy bears suspiciously. A Jackson insider tells us the singer believes that law-enforcement officers may have planted electronic surveillance devices in his mansion last month when they spent 12 hours searching the grounds for evidence that he molested a 12-year-old boy. "He ordered a sweep of the entire place," said the source. "They're even running the teddy bears through radio-frequency sensors to see if there might be transmitters inside."
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/142156p-125978c.html
http://tinyurl.com/xz1s (Somebody's Watching Me - lyrics)

The plot thickens...COURT TV anchor Diane Dimond, who reported on the first days of the Michael Jackson sex case a decade ago, is the latest to be caught up in a Hollywood phone-bugging scandal. Dimond said yesterday that authorities have informed her that wiretaps on her phone from 1994 are part of evidence seized by the FBI last year from the computer of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano. Dimond was a reporter for "Hard Copy" in 1993 in the first days after the story broke of a youngster accusing Jackson of sexually molesting him. Pellicano worked for Jackson's attorney, Harold Weitzman. (Have a feeling we'll hear more about Mr. Pellicano?)
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/10576.htm


SPECIAL SECTION -- "Teach your children well..."

In the 1960's...Children were influenced by spy movies, TV shows and associated toys in a positive way. The 'spies' rarely spied. They were heros. They fought against evil-doers. They did "good." (Secret Agent / Danger Man, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, James Bond - 007, Mission Impossible, The Prisoner, The Saint, The Avengers...)

By the 1980's...The spies' toys had become the heros. Eavesdropping, snooping and general spying had become "cute."

Some people recognized this and raised editorial warning flags..."In becoming accustomed to such toys and the pleasures they bring, the seeds of an amoral and suspicious adulthood are unwittingly being cultivated." - from the article, You'd Better Watch Out! This is the Year of Spying Kits for Kids, Gary T. Marx, The Los Angeles Times, 1988.
http://www.spybusters.com/The_spying_problem_worsens.html

By the 21st century..."Competitive Intelligence" had become an established job description. Corporate eavesdropping and espionage inspections had become a routine necessity for survival. And Murray Associates (http://www.spybusters.com) celebrated 25 years in business with one specialty - eavesdropping auditing.

Today...Kiddy eavesdropping, snooping and general spying toys are now theme-corporations, e.g. Wild Planet's Spy Gear, Undercover Girl and Girl Tech. Even the venerable "Discovery Channel" offers twelve children's spy toys for sale, including a "Night Spy Dart Launcher" for "ages 5+" !!!

Logical Conclusion...Toys teach.
We reap what we sow.


ODDBALL

Bored?
Call a pay phone on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France and see who answers. +33 (0)1 47 53 75 68
http://www.payphone-project.com/

Really Really Bored?There were two old men, one a retired professor of psychology, and the other a retired professor of history. Their wives had talked them into a two week stay at a hotel in the mountains. They were sitting around on the porch of the hotel watching the sun set. The history professor said to the psychology professor, "Have you read Marx?"
To which the professor of psychology said,
"Yes, I think it's the wicker chairs!"

(more)

World's Smallest Video Cameras

Typical applications are medical endoscopy, dental imaging, surgical robots, guide wire visualization, intubation equipment visualization, disposable equipment ...and some spy applications to be sure. 

(more)

P.S. The one on the coin is a 3-D camera!

Criminals Spy Ops in Mexico

via a Blue Blaze irregular...
"I thought this might interest you. The Mexican drug cartels continue to exploit and develop their SIGINT capabilities. The criminals who specialize in surveillance against the police are called "Hawks" or "Falcons" and generally perform both physical surveillance of patrol units and radio monitoring. This particular group was arrested for monitoring police radio calls and giving gang members early warning of significant movement and potential raids in Veracruz." (more)

More background...
"Years ago I was hearing some RUMINT that a major European communication company (that also supplies the US Military) was selling high tech radio equipment to Mexican drug cartels." (more) (more)

"Hey kids, hack it for your Uncle Sam!"

Bored with classes? 

Carnegie Mellon University and one of the government’s top spy agencies want to interest high school students in a game of computer hacking.

Their goal with “Toaster Wars” is to cultivate the nation’s next generation of cyber warriors in offensive and defensive strategies. The free, online “high school hacking competition” is scheduled to run from April 26 to May 6, and any U.S. student or team in grades six through 12 can apply and participate.

 

David Brumley, professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, said the game is designed to be fun and challenging, but he hopes participants come to see computer security as an excellent career choice. (more)

P.S. Registration is now open!