Travel - Should executives expect to be subjected to more traditional means of surveillance...

...such as hidden cameras or microphones, intrusion into hotel rooms, or being followed?

Hidden cameras, microphones or physical surveillance are all reportedly routine in many parts of the world, not just China, for purposes that can include industrial espionage, blackmail and to identify and monitor potential criminal activity. 

Physical security systems, domestic security practices and personal privacy expectations can vary in different areas, but all of the above may be encountered. 

At major facilities catering to foreign business travelers, we expect that plainclothes police and domestic security personnel are nearby at almost all times. 

However, some individuals claiming to be police or facility staff may be scam artist impersonators – you never want to hand over a wallet containing identification, cash and all your payment cards. 

If you travel into the interior on a domestic flight, do not be surprised if your wallet and personal electronic devices are removed to a location out of your view during screening at the security checkpoint. (more)

First a Drone. Now a Helicopter. World Cup Spying Continues.

A helicopter from TV Globo was caught spying on Chile’s practice just outside Belo Horizonte.

Chile coach, Jorge Sampaoli, brought the session to a temporary standstill until the helicopter was ushered away from local side Cruzerio’s training centre at Toca da Raposa. (more)

Leaked: 10 Months Of The Houston Astros' Internal Trade Talks

Two years ago, the Houston Astros constructed "Ground Control"—a built-from-scratch online database for the private use of the Astros front office.

It is by all accounts a marvel, an easy-to-use interface giving executives instant access to player statistics, video, and communications with other front offices around baseball.

All it needs, apparently, is a little better password protection.

Ground Control Failure

Documents purportedly taken from Ground Control and showing 10 months' worth of the Astros' internal trade chatter have been posted online at Anonbin, a site where users can anonymously share hacked or leaked information. (more)

The Banksy Spy Art Saga - Next Stop - The Art Gallery - Maybe

UK - A stop notice could be issued by Cheltenham Borough Council to prevent a Banksy artwork from being removed from the side of a private house. 

Click to enlarge. (worth doing)

A photo has emerged apparently showing a hole has been cut into the wall of the Grade II* listed building, on which the Spy Booth artwork was painted.

On Thursday it was confirmed it was being removed, but the council warned that planning permission may be needed. 

The work, depicting men "snooping" on a telephone box, appeared in April. (more)

Bill Cosby's First TV Series, I Spy, Leads New Shows on DVD

“I Spy: The Complete Series” 
(Timeless/DVD, 1965-68, 18 discs, 82 episodes; 20-page booklet/episode guide).  

The story goes that actor Robert Culp was developing a secret-agent series to cash in on the James Bond craze and the second lead was to be an older white actor. But when producer Sheldon Leonard saw Cosby’s stand-up act, he suggested the character be changed to accommodate him. Cosby was 27, this was his first acting job and over the course of the show he won three Emmys. (more)

Supposed NSA Surveillance Trigger Words Blacklist

The List.

...and the project to which they are linked.

Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE X) Conference - New York City, July 18-20

HOPE X will take place on July 18, 19, and 20, 2014 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. H.O.P.E. stands for Hackers On Planet Earth, one of the most creative and diverse hacker events in the world. It's been happening since 1994.

Three full days and nights of activities, including the provocative and enlightening speakers for which the HOPE conferences are known. In addition, there will be access to a massive amount of space to put together all sorts of hacker projects and assorted fun stuff.

Pre-register for HOPE X! Tickets are on sale at the 2600 store or can be purchased with Bitcoins! (more)

Why Every Newsroom Needs a TSCM Consultant on Call

In the post-Edward Snowden era, newsrooms are increasingly aware of state-sponsored breaches of privacy and the threat they pose to journalists and their sources. 

Some newsrooms have introduced sophisticated anti-surveillance technology, and others have literally reverted to notepad, pen and clandestine meetings in the interests of shielding their sources and avoiding state, and corporate, electronic surveillance. (more)

One solution.

Translation: Make an Artificial Brain That Can Think Like a Spy.... then make us a zillion of them.

A secretive United States intelligence organization has organized a conference to find firms capable of creating computer algorithms that learn in a similar manner to the human brain...

The July 17 conference in College Park, Maryland, gives prospective companies time to deliver presentations and slide shows of their existing research.

IARPA says it is involved in "high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the agencies and disciplines in the intelligence community".

It undertakes research for more than a dozen organizations, including the Pentagon, the CIA and the National Security Agency. (more)

"They are spying on us with Jinns." (Hey, I only pass the stories along.)

An Iranian cleric has accused Israel of using “jinn” to spy on Iran and its allies.

Iranian TV has broadcast a segment where Waliullah Naqi Borfer, an expert in the supernatural jinn of Arab mythology, said that Jews have long experience in manipulating jinn and Israel has tried to use the creatures to perform espionage on Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

The Israelis were unsuccessful in their attempts, however, according to Borfer.

He did not give details. (more) (video)

Air Force One - Gets TEMPEST TSCM Tested

When it's time to make sure that communications from and to the aircraft of the president of the United States are safe from eavesdropping, who do you call? The Air Force's 346th Test Squadron.

Part of the 688th Cyberspace Wing, which itself is part of the 24th Air Force, based at Lackland Air Force base here, the 346th is tasked with making sure that electronic emissions aboard all the service's aircraft are secure. Even Air Force One.

As part of CNET Road Trip 2014, I've come to Lackland, located in this south-central Texas city of 1.3 million, to see just how the Air Force "hardens" its aircraft from unwanted eavesdropping. Though I came to hear technicians talk about their efforts on board any number of the service's planes, I wasn't expecting to hear about their recent work to secure communications on Air Force One. (more)

Smartphone SpyWare Gets Smarter

Android and iOS mobile trojans likely used for surveillance through mobile devices of journalists and politicians, activists and human rights advocates have been discovered circulating in the wild...

The mobile trojans are designed to operate in a discreet manner, for instance monitoring a mobile device’s battery life so as not to ostensibly drain it, arousing suspicion. Then, when a victim is connected to a particular Wi-Fi network or while the device is plugged in to charge, it springs to life, unbeknownst to the user. Kaspersky said that the trojans are capable of performing a variety of surveillance functions, including intercepting phone calls and SMS messages, and chat messages sent from specific applications such as Viber, WhatsApp and Skype. It can also report the target’s location, take photos, copy events from the device’s calendar and more.
These mobile trojans are part of the allegedly ‘legal’ spyware tool, Remote Control System (RCS), aka Galileo. The mapping shows the presence of more than 320 RCS command & control servers in 40+ countries. The majority of the servers were found in the US, Kazakhstan, Ecuador, the UK and Canada. (more)

Business Espionage: Old Spy Tactics Return

Last month it was reported that British intelligence agency MI5 had, in a series of high-level meetings, painted a worrying picture for leading British corporations in which their IT workers may become targets for foreign powers seeking sensitive data.

The idea of an IT department infiltrated with double agents may sound a little fanciful but the threat of a rival nation trying to influence them is far more realistic than many may think according to Uri Rivner, vice-president for cyber strategy at Israeli security company BioCatch.

“Obviously there are cases like this,” says Rivner, who compares the situation to having “someone on the inside” of a bank before committing a robbery. Of the companies or organisations that will be targeted, he says that “whatever a nation is good at, that’s interesting to other nations”.

In the case of the UK, he says this may be the financial sector, while in Scandinavia two industries in particular, telecommunications and mining, “have been targeted”. (more)

Obi-Wan Kenobi Jammin' Cloak

Austrian architecture firm Coop-Himmelblau has designed a Snuggie-like piece of clothing that jams the wearer's phone, effectively rendering him invisible. 

The Jammer Coat shields the phone from wireless signals, so the device becomes undetectable to things like search engines or tracking software, and there's no way for anyone to pull credit card information.

Click to enlarge.

The code is basically a Faraday cage, with metals embedded in the fabric that reflect incoming radio waves, protecting the wearer from unwittingly sharing any information on any device beneath it.

Apparently, one of the cloak's most useful features is its lumpy pattern, which acts as a disguise for would-be phone hackers and thieves.

"The Wave Circle pattern of the fabric gives an illusion of strange multiple body parts, which hides and frees the individual physicality," the product's website states. (more)

The Next Thing in TSCM - Drone Detection

Worried about spying? Maybe you need a personal drone detection system.

Privacy in the drone-filled age is going to be more difficult to protect than ever. Competitors, thieves, or even just your neighbors could be spying on your every move using a remote-controlled flying camera.

That’s the kind of paranoia Domestic Drone Countermeasures (DDC) is hoping to tap into with its new personal drone detection system (PDDS) Kickstarter project – a black box that promises to go beep when a drone flies within 15m of its sensors. (more)