Federal officials announced the arrest of the maker of a popular smartphone app marketed as a tool for catching cheating spouses by eavesdropping on their calls and tracking their locations — a technology critics have dubbed “stalker apps.”
In the first prosecution of its kind, federal officials said that StealthGenie violated the law by offering the ability to secretly monitor phone calls and other communications in almost real time, something typically legal only for law enforcement. The arrest comes as the market for surveillance software has grown so big that Web sites rank such apps on their price, features and even customer service...
The chief executive of the company that makes StealthGenie, Hammad Akbar, 31, of Lahore, Pakistan, was arrested in Los Angeles on Saturday, according to a news release from the Justice Department...
Court filings suggest that Akbar has contended that any legal issues were limited to the users of SmartGenie, not its maker. “When the customer buys the product, they assume all responsibility,” he wrote in a 2011 e-mail, court filings show. “We do not need to describe the legal issues.”
Efforts to reach Akbar’s attorney, based in Los Angeles, were not successful. (more)
FutureWatch - Will he pull the "primarily useful" card from the deck? This is what many audio eavesdropping gadget manufacturers used in the past to evade the law.
"Hey, its a baby monitor."... that can hear through concrete walls.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Thursday, October 2, 2014
The Unpatchable Malware That Infects USBs Is Now on the Loose
...two independent security researchers, who
declined to name their employer, say that publicly releasing the USB
attack code will allow penetration testers to use the technique, all the
better to prove to their clients that USBs are nearly impossible to
secure in their current form. And they also argue that making a working
exploit available is the only way to pressure USB makers to change the
tiny devices’ fundamentally broken security scheme. (more)
Monday, September 22, 2014
Watch Out: Your Innkeeper is Spying on You and Other Confessions of a B&B Owner
Plenty of people dream about quitting their day job, buying that fixer-upper farmhouse, and opening a bed-and-breakfast. Those B&B owners seem so happy. Well, everything isn’t quite as idyllic as it seems. We got one set of innkeepers — “Bob and Emily” — to anonymously spill the beans on what really happens behind those perfectly painted shutters.
This week. Bob and Emliy reveal the sordid side of running an inn. Here are some things you probably don’t want to know the next time you check into that seemingly quaint country B&B. (more)
This week. Bob and Emliy reveal the sordid side of running an inn. Here are some things you probably don’t want to know the next time you check into that seemingly quaint country B&B. (more)
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
FBI Seeks Expansion of Internet Investigation Powers
A Department of Justice proposal to amend Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would make it easier for domestic law enforcement to hack into computers of people attempting to protect their anonymity on the Internet. The DOJ has explicitly stated that the amendment is not meant to give courts the power to issue warrants that authorize searches in foreign countries—but the practical reality of the underlying technology means doing so is almost unavoidable...
As for extraterritorial hacking, the DOJ commentary explicitly states that the proposal does not seek power to extend search authority beyond the United States:
The latter standard seems to be a significant loophole in the DOJ’s own formulation of the approach, particularly given the global nature of the Internet. For instance, over 85% of computers directly connecting to the Tor network are located outside the United States. (more)
As for extraterritorial hacking, the DOJ commentary explicitly states that the proposal does not seek power to extend search authority beyond the United States:
- In light of the presumption against international extraterritorial application, and consistent with the existing language of Rule 41(b)(3), this amendment does not purport to authorize courts to issue warrants that authorize the search of electronic storage media located in a foreign country or countries. AUSA Mythili Raman, Letter to Committee.
The latter standard seems to be a significant loophole in the DOJ’s own formulation of the approach, particularly given the global nature of the Internet. For instance, over 85% of computers directly connecting to the Tor network are located outside the United States. (more)
Beijing Bans All* Hidden Surveillance Equipment
Beijing authorities have initiated a ban on all secret surveillance equipment in the city amid increasing pressure from the central government to crack down on spying activities.
The decision was issued jointly by the city's Administration for Industry and Commerce, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and Beijing National Security Bureau, which added that purchases of these devices–such as surreptitious cameras installed in glasses or walking sticks to secretly record photos or videos of people in bathrooms and changing rooms–could lead to serious criminal liability...
Chinese media outlets reported that the majority of buyers are private detectives and investigators, debt collectors and lawyers looking to collect evidence for their cases. There have so far been 91 official investigations into illegal surveillance in Beijing this year. (more)
* Except their own, we presume.
The decision was issued jointly by the city's Administration for Industry and Commerce, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and Beijing National Security Bureau, which added that purchases of these devices–such as surreptitious cameras installed in glasses or walking sticks to secretly record photos or videos of people in bathrooms and changing rooms–could lead to serious criminal liability...
Chinese media outlets reported that the majority of buyers are private detectives and investigators, debt collectors and lawyers looking to collect evidence for their cases. There have so far been 91 official investigations into illegal surveillance in Beijing this year. (more)* Except their own, we presume.
Middle-School Dropout Codes Clever Chat Program That Foils NSA Spying
The National Security Agency has some of the brightest minds... But a new chat program designed by a middle-school dropout in his spare time may turn out to be one of the best solutions to thwart those efforts...
John Brooks, who is just 22 and a self-taught coder who dropped out of school at 13, was always concerned about privacy and civil liberties. Four years ago he began work on a program for encrypted instant messaging that uses Tor hidden services for the protected transmission of communications. The program, which he dubbed Ricochet, began as a hobby. But by the time he finished, he had a full-fledged desktop client...
“Ricochet is idiot-proof and anonymous.” (more)
“Ricochet is idiot-proof and anonymous.” (more)
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
FutureWatch: Ant-Sized Radio Swarms Will Net Everything
A team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, has created prototype radio-on-a-chip communications devices that are powered by ambient radio waves. Comprising receiving and transmitting antennas and a central processor, the completely self-contained ant-sized devices are very cheap to manufacture, don't require batteries to run and could give the "Internet of Things" (IoT) a serious kick start.
(more)
Let's just call it "Spy Dust".
Let's just call it "Spy Dust".
75% of Android Phones Vulnerable to Web Page Spy Bug
A Metasploit module has been developed to easily exploit a dangerous flaw in 75 percent of Android devices that allows attackers to hijack a users' open websites...
Tod Beardsley, a developer for the Metasploit security toolkit dubbed the "major" flaw a "privacy disaster".
"What this means is any arbitrary website - say, one controlled by a spammer or a spy - can peek into the contents of any other web page," Beardsley said.
"[If] you went to an attackers site while you had your web mail open in another window, the attacker could scrape your email data and see what your browser sees.
"Worse, he could snag a copy of your session cookie and hijack your session completely, and read and write web mail on your behalf." (more)
Solution: Use a Firefox or Chrome browser.
Tod Beardsley, a developer for the Metasploit security toolkit dubbed the "major" flaw a "privacy disaster".
"What this means is any arbitrary website - say, one controlled by a spammer or a spy - can peek into the contents of any other web page," Beardsley said.
"[If] you went to an attackers site while you had your web mail open in another window, the attacker could scrape your email data and see what your browser sees.
"Worse, he could snag a copy of your session cookie and hijack your session completely, and read and write web mail on your behalf." (more)
Solution: Use a Firefox or Chrome browser.
Monday, September 15, 2014
The Top Cyber Espionage Devices You Don't Want to See
... unless you are using them.
The Pwn Plug Academic Edition is the Industry’s First Enterprise Penetration Testing Drop Box
The MiniPwner
The MiniPwner
is described as a penetration testing “drop box”. You (or maybe a
cleaner you’ve bribed) needs to plug it into an Ethernet plug in
the target’s building, and then you can slurp all the data out of
their network via a wifi link.
The penetration tester uses stealth or social engineering techniques to plug the MiniPwner into an available network port. (common locations include conference rooms, unoccupied workstations, the back of IP Telephones, etc.)
Once it is plugged in, the penetration tester can log into the
MiniPwner and begin scanning and attacking the network. The MiniPwner can
simultaneously establish SSH tunnels through the target network,
and also allow the penetration tester to connect to the MiniPwner
via Wifi.
WiFi Pineapple Mark V
Slightly larger than a smartphone the WiFi Pine-apple Mark V is the “ultimate” cyber surveillance device. It uses an “intuitive” web interface to enable hackers to break into a corporate’s IT networks through its wifi connections. It costs $100.
USB Switchblade
The goal of the USB Switchblade is to silently recover information from a target Windows 2000 or higher computer, including password hashes, LSA secrets, IP information, etc.
A gadget that looks like a USB stick has a program that swings into action when it’s inserted into the USB drive and can then begin its naughty work without the user knowing it by exploiting a flaw in USB autorun settings. How about dropping it in the car park of your target’s offices, seeing if someone will pick it up and plug it in to see what’s on it…
USB 8GB Flash Drive Cufflinks
The thing
about these is that the bad guy can carry a load of malware, ready
for use at any time. These go for less than $50. Easy to smuggle
in.
The Rubber Ducky
The Rubber Ducky is becoming the “field-weapon of choice” for
cyber spies. It’s the size of a normal USB stick but when you plug
it in to a PC it pretends to be a keyboard and starts ‘typing’
away, possibly trying to break into systems or maybe stealing
passwords. If you get a few seconds alone with someone’s phone
you can get an adapter to plug it in and maybe hack that too. (The last five items courtesy of Financial News.)
The Pwn Plug Academic Edition is the Industry’s First Enterprise Penetration Testing Drop Box
- Wireless (802.11b/g/n) high gain Bluetooth & USB Ethernet adapters
- Fully-automated NAC/802.1x/Radius bypass
- One-click EvilAP, stealth mode & passive recon
The Pwn
Plug R3 is a next-generation penetration testing
device in a portable, shippable, “Plug-and-Pwn” form factor.
- Onboard high-gain 802.11a/b/g/n wireless
- Onboard Bluetooth
- External 4G/GSM cellular
- Greatly improved performance and reliability
The MiniPwner
The MiniPwner
is described as a penetration testing “drop box”. You (or maybe a
cleaner you’ve bribed) needs to plug it into an Ethernet plug in
the target’s building, and then you can slurp all the data out of
their network via a wifi link.
The penetration tester uses stealth or social engineering techniques to plug the MiniPwner into an available network port. (common locations include conference rooms, unoccupied workstations, the back of IP Telephones, etc.)
Once it is plugged in, the penetration tester can log into the
MiniPwner and begin scanning and attacking the network. The MiniPwner can
simultaneously establish SSH tunnels through the target network,
and also allow the penetration tester to connect to the MiniPwner
via Wifi. WiFi Pineapple Mark V
Slightly larger than a smartphone the WiFi Pine-apple Mark V is the “ultimate” cyber surveillance device. It uses an “intuitive” web interface to enable hackers to break into a corporate’s IT networks through its wifi connections. It costs $100.
USB Switchblade
The goal of the USB Switchblade is to silently recover information from a target Windows 2000 or higher computer, including password hashes, LSA secrets, IP information, etc.
A gadget that looks like a USB stick has a program that swings into action when it’s inserted into the USB drive and can then begin its naughty work without the user knowing it by exploiting a flaw in USB autorun settings. How about dropping it in the car park of your target’s offices, seeing if someone will pick it up and plug it in to see what’s on it…
USB 8GB Flash Drive Cufflinks
The thing
about these is that the bad guy can carry a load of malware, ready
for use at any time. These go for less than $50. Easy to smuggle
in. The Rubber Ducky
The Rubber Ducky is becoming the “field-weapon of choice” for
cyber spies. It’s the size of a normal USB stick but when you plug
it in to a PC it pretends to be a keyboard and starts ‘typing’
away, possibly trying to break into systems or maybe stealing
passwords. If you get a few seconds alone with someone’s phone
you can get an adapter to plug it in and maybe hack that too. (The last five items courtesy of Financial News.)
Yet Another Way Your Smartphone Can Bug You
MEMS gyroscopes found on modern smart phones are sufficiently sensitive to measure acoustic signals in the vicinity of the phone. The resulting signals contain only very low-frequency information (< 200 Hz). Nevertheless we show, using signal processing and machine learning, that this information is sufficient to identify speaker information and even parse speech.
Since iOS and Android require no special permissions to access the gyro, our results show that apps and active web content that cannot access the microphone can nevertheless eavesdrop on speech in the vicinity of the phone. (more)
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Information Security Management - Distance Learning Course
Your information assets have never been more crucial, more valuable, or more at risk. This is why information security is becoming a crucial business priority in many organizations. Moreover, complying with (international) information standards and guidelines (such as the NIST Handbook, ISO 17799, CobiT, and ITIL Security Management) is becoming a hot issue worldwide.
This unique distance learning course provides you with vital information for developing or reviewing your information security management framework. The course will help you determine the levels of risk your organization is facing and the steps you will need to take to provide adequate protection.
The course will be of particular benefit to:
This unique distance learning course provides you with vital information for developing or reviewing your information security management framework. The course will help you determine the levels of risk your organization is facing and the steps you will need to take to provide adequate protection.
The course will be of particular benefit to:
- CIOs, CISOs and anyone who has direct line responsibility for information security
- Business Continuity Planners, Asset Managers, Risk Managers
- Legal Advisors and Corporate Security Consultants
- Company Secretaries, Finance Directors and Auditors (more)
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Weird - Spies Strike
Soldiers from Israel's elite wire-tapping unit are refusing to spy on Palestinians in a rebuke to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
More than 40 former soldiers and current army reservists have signed a letter refusing future service in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military intelligence wing, known as Unit 8200.
Unit 8200 is often compared to the United States National Security Agency. It uses sophisticated technology to monitor the lives of Palestinians, gathering information which is then used by Israel's military. It also carries out surveillance overseas. (more)
More than 40 former soldiers and current army reservists have signed a letter refusing future service in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military intelligence wing, known as Unit 8200.
Unit 8200 is often compared to the United States National Security Agency. It uses sophisticated technology to monitor the lives of Palestinians, gathering information which is then used by Israel's military. It also carries out surveillance overseas. (more)
Taylor Swift - Worried About Wiretaps
In a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone, Taylor Swift gets candid about her love life, her professional feuds and being very cautious about janitors and wiretapping.
1. She's pretty much always worried about privacy
Swift is acutely aware that people are out to invade her privacy. “There's someone whose entire job it is to figure out things that I don't want the world to see,” she told Rolling Stone. She's also paranoid about basically anyone she lets get too close... I have to stop myself from thinking about how many aspects of technology I don't understand.” (more)
Taylor, there are some nice professional privacy consultants who can help you.
1. She's pretty much always worried about privacy
Swift is acutely aware that people are out to invade her privacy. “There's someone whose entire job it is to figure out things that I don't want the world to see,” she told Rolling Stone. She's also paranoid about basically anyone she lets get too close... I have to stop myself from thinking about how many aspects of technology I don't understand.” (more)
Taylor, there are some nice professional privacy consultants who can help you.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Business Espionage - "Morticia, they've kidnapped Thing!"
T-Mobile US sued Huawei for corporate espionage, alleging that the vendor's employees illegally photographed and tried to steal parts of a robot it developed in its labs, called "Tappy," to test cell phones.
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Seattle, claims that two Huawei employees gained illicit access to its lab in Bellevue, Wash., photographed the robotic arm, tried to smuggle parts of it out of the lab, and then tried to sneak back in after they were banned from the facility...
In 2012 and 2013, the suit claims, Huawei employees engaged in the subterfuge. At one point, the suit alleges, a Huawei engineer put one of the robot's simulated fingertips into his laptop bag. Huawei "ultimately admitted that its employees misappropriated parts and information about T-Mobile's robot," the suit says. (more)
 |
| Tappy's Grandfather |
In 2012 and 2013, the suit claims, Huawei employees engaged in the subterfuge. At one point, the suit alleges, a Huawei engineer put one of the robot's simulated fingertips into his laptop bag. Huawei "ultimately admitted that its employees misappropriated parts and information about T-Mobile's robot," the suit says. (more)
Yet Another Landlord Spying on Tenant Story
...also charged with having guns in his home which he's not allowed to have based on his criminal history.
Last year at this time (9/29/13) subject was sentenced to probation for a term of seven years with the condition that he have no contact with minors, and a fine of $2000, for the offense of Corruption of Minors. (more)
Last year at this time (9/29/13) subject was sentenced to probation for a term of seven years with the condition that he have no contact with minors, and a fine of $2000, for the offense of Corruption of Minors. (more)
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