Firstcall Chair - The New Cone of Silence

‘Firstcall’ chair is designed to keep your personal conversation from escaping out while its doughnut like backrest is inclined in such a way so as to hide your face.


Developed by Dutch designer Ruud van Wier in collaboration with manufacturer Easy NoiseControl, the ‘Firstcall’ chair is made in a recognizable shape of a classic old phone. It has sound-absorbing upholstery to block surrounding noise ensuring you can concentrate despite being surrounded by people.


The design of the First Call phone chair is directed to short calls. It is therefore not chosen an easy chair where you can doze or not to stand out. Suitable locations include offices, waiting rooms, showrooms, shops, and public places such as airports or scholarships.


The chair is available in 32 colors across the Firstcall retails at Easy NoiseControl for €2,900 (or around $3,970). (more) (more)

China is not the Only Country Picking Our Economic Pockets

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that China is far from the only country that uses its intelligence services to steal trade secrets and technologies from U.S. businesses.

“What we have accused the Chinese of doing, stealing American companies’ secrets and technology is not new, nor is it done only by the Chinese. There are probably a dozen or 15 countries that steal our technology” in this manner, Gates said during a moderated conversation with Fareed Zakaria on Wednesday hosted by the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City. 

In fact, according to Gates—who has also served as the director of the CIA—the U.S. is nearly “alone in the world in not using our intelligence services for competitive advantage of our businesses.” (more)

We've been wrestling with this moral dilemma for too long. Even Henry L. Stimson got off his high horse eventually.

Blackphone gets $30 Million in Funding

The smartphone encryption startup Silent Circle announced 
a boost in funding Wednesday, grabbing $30 million in investment capital ahead of the June shipping of its signature Blackphone, which the company says can deflect cybersnooping.

The announcement came a day before the House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would end mass spying by the National Security Agency (NSA)...

Silent Circle’s founder, however, warned that Blackphone still wouldn’t deter the most determined efforts of the National Security Agency to monitor mobile phones. (more)

P.S.

Town Hall Eavesdropping Probe Continues

NH - An investigation into whether town officials illegally wiretapped conversations at the Nelson Town Hall is now with the Cheshire County Attorney’s Office, police said...

...State Police executed a search warrant at the town hall on Nelson Common Road, and, afterward, interviewed residents and town officials about allegations that conversations in and/or around the building were being recorded, said State Police Sgt. Shawn M. Skahan in an interview Thursday.
“There was an investigation into members of the town of Nelson,” he said. “The original complaint was about the possibility of someone recording or eavesdropping on conversations in the town office using an electronic device.”

The alleged eavesdropping could have begun as far back as early 2013, according to police. (more)

Facebook Grows Ears

A new feature in Facebook's mobile app is a timely reminder of the eavesdropping potential of smartphones.

The feature uses the built-in microphones in mobile devices to determine what music a user is listening to or what television show or movie they are watching. The company unveiled the feature Wednesday and said it would be available for Android and iOS users in the United States in coming weeks.

The feature doesn't operate automatically, and the user must turn it on for it to work, said Facebook product manager Aryeh Selekman. But if a user leaves the feature turned on, it will listen as they use the Facebook app to write status updates, upload photos or respond to messages from friends.

However, "no sound is stored and you’ll always get to choose whether you post to your friends," Selekman said in a blog post. (more)

Friends, maybe. But what about hackers, law enforcement and determined enemies? 
I can't imagine how this feature could work without the sound being stored for some amount of time. FutureWatch: You'll be hearing more about this.

What Your Competitors are Being Told to Use... to Spy on You

Knowledge is power and in the internet age, knowledge is easily accessible. There are many tools available to scope out the competition in order to make your business or service the most successful it can be. Below are the top ten websites you can use “spy” on the competition and see what they’re up to.

The quick list...
1. Google Alerts
2. Similar Web
3. SpyFu
4. Moat
5. Compete
6. Flippa
7. Social Searcher
8. SeoBook
9. InfiniGraph
10. iSpionage
 (more)

Judge Dismisses Angelina Jolie Stunt Double's Wiretapping Lawsuit

Eunice Huthart, who worked as a stunt double for Angelina Jolie and claims to have had her voicemails intercepted, won't be able to pursue a wiretapping lawsuit against News Corp. in America.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ruled that England would provide an adequate alternative forum to adjudicate her claims. (more)

Fun Fact: Taiwan Out-taps USA

Taiwanese courts permitted 504,788 cases of eavesdropping from late 2007 to late 2013, while the United States has had only about 1,000 to 2,000 cases per year in the last decade, according to the investigation report. (more)

Taiwan is just a little larger than Maryland.

Woman Wins $1.3M Judgment Against Guard Company in Voyeur Case

FL - A Coral Gables woman has won $1.3 million in damages from the giant security company G4S, formerly known as Wackenhut, after a Miami jury found that one of its guards psychologically harmed her when he videotaped her while she was undressing.

The woman, who was 17 at the time of the incident in her family's Old Cutler Bay home, claims she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The former Wackenhut security guard, who was accused of using an iPhone to take videos of her naked on an August night in 2010, had been convicted of a similar voyeur crime in California. But in its security check of Eric Michael Owens, then 28, Wackenhut failed to catch his criminal record as a convicted Peeping Tom.

The Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury on Thursday found the prominent security company, now owned by London-based G4S, negligent for hiring and retaining Owens, holding the firm responsible for her injuries. (more)

Security Points
• Conduct thorough employee background checks.
• Periodically check expectation of privacy areas in the workplace for hidden spycams.

Home Owners Spook Their Real Estate Agents

Lisa Ramsey, a real estate professional with The Ramsey Group in the United States, told Realtor Mag earlier this week "about the trend of sellers putting [microphones and] cameras in the home”.

"We're talking outside because..."

“I go into every house assuming there’s a recording device in the house. We’re not going to talk money or strategy in the house,” she said.

Andrew Sorensen, an agent at Raine&Horne Charmhaven, believes it’s a similar story in Australia, stating that “absolutely, without doubt” the practice goes on here.

“If I go back to when I first started out 12 years ago, I was actually tape recorded at an open house by the vendor. I could see the digital equalizer on the cassette tape going up and down by his shoulder as I spoke,” Mr Sorensen told Real Estate Business.

With real estate agents once again ranked at the bottom of the most ‘honest and ethical’ professions, Mr Sorensen said it’s little wonder vendors would be trying to do it. (more)

Herbalife Ltd. Claims to have Discovered Bugs in its Los Angeles Headquarters

Charlie Gasparino, Fox News, on reports Herbalife found listening devices at its headquarters in Los Angeles. (video)

Today in Eavesdropping History

1964 - American officials have discovered a network of 40 microphones buried for 11 years deep in the walls of four floors of the U.S. embassy in Moscow, the State Department said today [May 19]. ‘‘It must be assumed that at least some of them were in operating condition when discovered,’’ said a State Department statement. State Department officials described the discovery as the ‘‘worst case’’ of ‘‘bugging’’ found so far in U.S. posts behind the Iron Curtain. They said they were found in the ‘‘eighth, ninth and tenth floors and in apartments below.’’ Ambassador Foy D. Kohler’s office is on the ninth floor of the buff-colored, ten-story structure on Tchaikovsky Street. The offices of the U.S. military attachés are on the tenth floor. (more)

Grand jury indicts deputy director at Hudson County jail on wire-tapping charge

The deputy director of the Hudson County jail was indicted by a grand jury today on charges that he illegally wiretapped fellow employees at the jail, authorities said today.

In January Eady, 46, was charged with using a website between March and July 2012 to place telephone calls to four Hudson County jail employees. The website allowed Eady to conceal the telephone numbers from where the calls originated and also call and record two people simultaneously.

The site also made it appear that those people, and not Eady, originated the call. (more)

Flash: US Grand Jury Charges 5 Chinese Hackers with Economic Espionage, Trade Secret Theft

The U.S. accused Chinese military officials of hacking into several U.S. enterprises, including Westinghouse and U.S. Steel, to steal "significant" amounts of trade secrets and intellectual property in an indictment made public Monday. 

It is the first time the U.S. has charged a state actor in a criminal cyber espionage case.

The Chinese hackers, using military and intelligence resources, downloaded massive amounts of industrial information, including strategic plans, from U.S. businesses, the indictment said. In addition to Westinghouse and U.S. Steel, victims included Solar World, United Steel Workers Union and Alcoa...

Attorney General Eric Holder called it a case of "economic espionage."

The case "represents the first ever charges against a state actor for this type of hacking," Holder said. "The range of trade secrets and other sensitive business information stolen in this case is significant and demands an aggressive response." (more)

Flash: 100+ Arrested in Global Malware Crackdown

The FBI and police in several countries have arrested more than 100 people and conducted hundreds of searches in recent days in a global crackdown on hackers linked to the malicious software called Blackshades, two law enforcement officials told CNN. 

The years-long investigation is targeting one of the most popular tools used by cybercriminals. The malware sells for as little as $40 and can be used to hijack computers remotely and turn on webcams, access hard drives and capture keystrokes to steal passwords without the victim's knowledge, CNN Justice Reporter Evan Perez and CNN Justice Producer Shimon Prokupecz report.
People familiar with the investigation say U.S. prosecutors are expected to announce more details today. (more)