Amazon Mute on Echo Eavesdropping

We may never know if the feds have hijacked Amazon Echo.

Amazon has so far issued two transparency reports since it began declaring how many government data demands and wiretap orders it receives.

Both reports outlined how many subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders the company received to cloud service Amazon Web Services. While its cloud makes up a significant portion of the data that it gathers, the company also collects vast amounts of data from its retail businesses, mobile services, book purchases, and requests made to Echo.

But an Amazon spokesperson wouldn't comment on whether the company will expand its transparency report. more

Kim Kardashian Could Get a Swift Kick for Eavesdropping

Kim Kardashian was apparently bluffing when she said that she has a video of Taylor Swift approving the lyric “I made that bitch famous,” even if the reality star had released a video on Sunday night on her Snapchat.

A legal expert said that the turn of events could lead to a major legal battle between Swift on one hand, and Kanye West and Kim Kardashian on the other hand.

For releasing the recording of West’s conversation with Swift – even minus the alleged approval by Swift of the controversial lyric – because the singer was unaware their conversation was being recorded, West and Kardashian breached California’s law on eavesdropping, noted E! News. more

North Korea Revives Coded Spy Numbers Broadcasts

In an era of sophisticated spycraft, North Korea appears to be returning to the days of shortwave radio.

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The North broadcast a series of seemingly random numbers on Pyongyang Radio twice recently, an eerie reminder of the days when the North encrypted messages to its spies in South Korea.

In the latest episode last Friday, an announcer read what she described as “a mathematics review assignment for investigative agent No. 27,” engaged in a “distance learning” program.

“Turn to Page 459, No. 35; Page 913, No. 55; Page 135, No. 86,” she said, continuing to cite numbers for 14 minutes.Decades ago, it was not unusual for late-night radio listeners in the South to hear mysterious numbers arriving on static-filled signals from the North. more

Survey: Do Swiss Spy?

The survey, conducted by a research company on behalf of comparis.ch, asked more than 1,000 people across Switzerland their views on spying and being spied on. 

Some 22 percent admitted to keeping an eye on their neighbours using binoculars, cameras and cameraphones, or through the spyhole of their front door.

The most popular reason for spying was to check out a neighbour’s plants (28 percent), followed by how they renovate their home (24 percent), and the way in which they behave with their children (18 percent) and partner (13 percent).

Those that do the most spying are in the 15-29 age bracket, while those aged between 60-74 are the least bothered by what their neighbours are up to.

The survey also asked respondents if they felt observed, with 48 percent of young people saying they do, against a national average of 40 percent. more

IT Security Alert - Got Juniper Equipment? Better get the patch.

Juniper Networks patched a crypto bug tied to its public key infrastructure that could have allowed hackers to access the company’s routers, switches and security devices and eavesdrop on sensitive communications. The flaw was tied to Juniper products and platforms running Junos, the Juniper Network Operating System.

The bug (CVE-2016-1280) was reported and patched by Juniper on Wednesday, with public disclosure Friday. Juniper also posted its own information on the security vulnerability, which was found internally.

...The vulnerability allowed attackers to create specially crafted self-signed certificates that can bypass certificate validation within Juniper hardware running the Junos OS. If exploited, the vulnerability could have allowed an attacker in a man-in-the-middle position on the victim’s network to read supposedly secure communications. more

Quote of the Week

"Lord knows how much industrial espionage has gone on." —Bill Curtis, a Fellow of the IEEE more

The Man with the Butterfly Net was a Spy... and then founded the Boy Scouts

Just a few years into his military service, Robert Baden-Powell had served in South Africa and was transferred to Malta, where he began his spy career as an intelligence officer for the director of military intelligence. One of his favorite disguises was that of an entomologist who studied butterflies, a cover that allowed him to move around freely without looking suspicious. He revealed his scientific subterfuge in his book "My Adventures as a Spy."

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"Carrying this book and a colour-box and a butterfly net in my hand, I was above all suspicion to anyone who met me on the lonely mountain side, even in the neighbourhood of the forts," Baden-Powell wrote. And not only did he disguise himself as a butterfly collector; he hid secret information about those forts, as well as other military secrets in drawings of insects and other natural ephemera, which you can see scattered throughout this post.

In Baden-Powell's illustrations, natural patterns are used to transmit messages and information within a drawing; a leaf's pattern could reveal the contours of an area to be invaded, as above. Once a recipient knew how to read the illustrations, it was possible to convey the information easily, without much translation or complex code-breaking needed. more

Business Espionage: FBI's 6-Step Advice

Via REI press release: Corporate Espionage Continues to Grow


Companies should be on guard and take the following steps to protect business related information, as stated on the FBI´s website:

1. Recognize there is an insider and outsider threat to your company.

2. Identify and valuate trade secrets.

3. Implement a proactive plan for safeguarding trade secrets. (call here for assistance)

4. Secure physical and electronic versions of your trade secrets.

5. Confine intellectual knowledge on a “need-to-know” basis.

6. Provide training to employees about your company’s intellectual property plan and security.

PokemonGo - A data-gathering opportunity for spies.

A retired senior Russian intelligence official is warning his colleagues in the spying game to stay away from PokemonGo.

Alexander Mikhailov, a former Major-General in Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB (the successor to the Soviet KGB), says the game poses a serious national security threat in the hands of oblivious government officials or military personnel.

“Imagine, that these ‘animals,’ appear not in a park but in a secret location where the user who is a soldier or a security official takes a photo of it,” he tells RIA Novosti... “It is unlikely that intelligence agencies will pass up the chance to exploit this data-gathering opportunity,” he said...

So far at least four New York City police officers have been filmed catching Pokemon, around the city. more

Privacy Scarf Foils Paparazzi Pics

There's a stylish way to keep paparazzi at bay — the anti-flash scarf.

The ISHU scarf, created by 28-year-old Saif Siddiqui, is made from a special fabric that reflects light.

Siddiqui, who runs the London and Amsterdam-based company, told BuzzFeed that the scarf's purpose is to provide some privacy.

"The main intention is to make people aware of how important privacy actually is," he said. "Everyone has a 'brand' online, and with the ISHU Scarf, people are back in control of their privacy." more

How a YouTube Video Could Infect Your Phone with Spyware

Researchers from Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley say cybercriminals could use hidden voice commands via popular YouTube videos to infect Androids and iPhones with malware.


Micah Sherr, a computer science department professor at Georgetown, says the research was inspired by the proliferation of voice-controlled systems. "Amazon Echo was coming out when we started this work," Sherr notes.

Since then, Google has launched Google Home, a similar always-listening device, and electronic devices lost in a messy bedroom can now be recovered by speaking “Okay Google” or “Hey Siri.”

The new research shows how keeping such devices on always-listen mode could lead to a cyberattack. Sherr says a cybercriminal could attempt to plant malware on the device using a hidden voice command. more

1970's CIA Dragonfly Spy - Ripley's Believe It or Not

In the 1970s, the CIA developed the Insectothopter, an unmanned surveillance drone disguised as a dragonfly.

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• The Insectothopter was the size of a dragonfly
• It was painted to look like a dragonfly
• It was powered by a small gasoline engine made by a watchmaker
• And jets of gas were used to propel it forward
• Because it was too difficult to control in even a slight crosswind, the project was abandoned

Former Basketball Coach / Choir Teacher - Locker Room Spy Pen

A former basketball coach is facing multiple felony counts after authorities say he was caught filming athletes in the shower using a camera disguised as a pen according to the Mankato Free Press.

Zachary Patrick Roberts was employed at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School as the choir teacher for six years before resigning in January...

According to the criminal complaint, an athlete discovered the pen following a game in December when he wanted to write down a play.

Teammates tried to access the files saved on the camera, but were unsuccessful. After the players turned the pen over to school officials, it was given to the police for investigation. more

The Open Microphone Strikes Again

The only thing more embarrassing than having to resign after a political gambit (the Brexit) blew up in your face? Getting caught on a hot mic singing a goofy tune immediately after you resign. Godspeed, David Cameron. more



Moral: Treat microphones like a poisonous snakes. Always know where they are and what they are doing. Always.

P.S. It has happened to him before, and before.

Scientists Create a Real 'Cone of Silence' UPDATE

A while back the original post, Scientists Create a Real 'Cone of Silence', highlighted the advancement in sound mitigation by Steven Cummer, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his colleagues at Duke University.

Jeremy Luscombe, of resonics.co.uk, wrote in to tell me about, "a more comprehensive look at future acoustic and soundproofing technologies."

Great progress is being made on many fronts, and Jeremy has written about seven of them. It is a fascinating read.

My favorite is the "Air Transparent Soundproof Window" (below).



While these technologies are being developed mainly for commercial use, the materials and techniques also have counterespionage potential.