Snapping Up Cheap Spy Tools, Nations ‘Monitoring Everyone’

Governments known to stifle dissent with

imprisonment and beatings or otherwise abuse their power are buying cheap, off-the-shelf surveillance software that can monitor the phone conversations and track the movements of thousands of their citizens, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Such so-called “lawful intercept” software has been available for years to Western police and spy agencies and is now easily obtained by governments that routinely violate basic rights — outside a short blacklist that includes Syria and North Korea. For less than the price of a military helicopter, a country with little technical know-how can buy powerful surveillance gear. more

Spy Bugs Wrong Phones

An Australian spy earned the nickname 'fat fingers' after he incorrectly bugged multiple phones by entering the wrong numbers. 

Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security revealed the anecdote during an address at the Australian Policy Institute on Tuesday night, reported Fairfax Media.

She told the story of the time she asked a senior ASIO officer how wrong numbers had been used in multiple telephone intercepts.

'I said: 'How can this happen? There's a whole series of them here.' And the answer was: 'It's fat fingers.'

 more

The Spy Who Turned... female

When the Chevalier d’Eon left France in 1762, 

it was as a diplomat, a spy in the French king’s service, a Dragoon captain, and a man. When he returned in July 1777, at the age of 49, it was as a celebrity, a writer, an intellectual, and a woman—according to a declaration by the government of France.

What happened? And why? 

The answer to those questions is complex, obscured by layers of bad biography, speculation and rumor, and shifting gender and psychological politics in the years since, as well as d’Eon’s own attempts to re-frame his story in a way that would make sense to his contemporary society. more

Pokemon Go No Go, or What a Great Spy Pretext

The Canadian Armed Forces are warning Pokemon Go players — both in and out of uniform — not to search for Pokemon on military property. 

A spokesperson said military police have reported "Pokemon Go occurrences" at three bases — CFB Borden and 22 Wing North Bay in Ontario, and 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia — within the first week of the game's release.

"In the interests of public safety, Pokemon Go players must refrain from attempting to access defence establishments without authorization for the purpose of searching for Pokemon,"...

"A Pokemon Go player found on a defence installation who is not authorized to be there could face sanctions including a warning, a citation and fine, or arrest and prosecution." more

Who Might Have Copies of Everyone's "Deleted" Emails?

The National Security Agency (NSA) has “all” of Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails and the FBI could gain access to them if they so desired, William Binney, a former highly placed NSA official, declared in a radio interview broadcast on Sunday.

Speaking as an analyst, Binney raised the possibility that the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s server was done not by Russia but by a disgruntled U.S. intelligence worker concerned about Clinton’s compromise of national security secrets via her personal email use.

Binney was an architect of the NSA’s surveillance program. He became a famed whistleblower when he resigned on October 31, 2001, after spending more than 30 years with the agency. more

Remotely Turning Office Equipment into Bugging Devices

You think about securing your laptop, but what about your desk phone, monitor, or printer?

Ang Cui, who heads up Red Balloon Security in New York City, has a particularly innovative way of hacking these devices. Using a piece of malware called “funtenna,” he’s able to make devices transmit data over radio (RF) signals, and then pick them up with an antenna. He’s basically using software to turn this equipment into bugging devices. more
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This is one reason why businesses conduct regularly scheduled bug sweeps (TSCM) of their offices and conference rooms. If you are not plugging these information leaks yet, call me. I'll help you put a protection strategy in place. ~Kevin

Your Weekend Spy Flick—Bourne... again

‘Jason Bourne’: A welcome return for Matt Damon’s spirited spy.

What with all their international adventures through the years, it seems like only a matter of time before Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt cross paths, whether it be in a crowded town square in Greece or a winding boulevard in Paris — or maybe while the two of them happen to be involved in crazy high-speed chases at the same time.

Hey man. What are YOU doing here?

Just as Tom Cruise continues to carry the “Mission: Impossible” action franchise in his 50s, the 45-year-old Matt Damon still kicks butt in serious fashion in his fourth appearance (and first since 2007) as Jason Bourne in the film of the same name. more trailer movie times

The Cartoon You Won't See in Your Paper Today

"Today's strip that did not run in papers.
Seems harmless to me, but I guess these are sensitive times."
Stephan Pastis
@stephanpastis
Syndicated Cartoonist, Creator of Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip, 
Author of Timmy Failure book series

Click to enlarge.

Stormy Weather, or Subterranean Homesick Blues at the National Weather Service

If it’s on Facebook, can it be secret?

Members of the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO) thought they had a secret Facebook page that was available only to them.

But not only did National Weather Service (NWS) management officials know about the page, they accessed it and made scornful comments about the postings, according to the union.

That amounts to “illegal surveillance” of union activities, according to the labor organization’s complaint filed Wednesday with the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

In the past six months, Weather Service officials “engaged in the surveillance of internal union communications about and discussions of protected activities” on the labor organization’s “ ‘secret’ (that is, ‘members only’) Facebook page,” according to the complaint. more sing-a-long

Brand-Name Wireless Keyboards Open to Silent Eavesdropping

Wireless keyboards from popular hardware vendors are wide open to silent interception at long distances, researchers have found, without users being aware that attackers can see everything they type.

Bastille Research said the keyboards transmit keystrokes across unencrypted radio signals in the 2.4 GHz band, unlike high-end and Bluetooth protocol keyboards, which transmit data in an encrypted format, making it more difficult for attackers to intercept the scrambled keystrokes.

It means attackers armed with cheap eavesdropping devices can silently intercept what users type at distances of 50 to 100 metres away.

Such interception could reveal users' passwords, credit card numbers, security question replies and other personally sensitive information, Bastille said. Users would have no indication that the traffic between the keyboard and the host computer was intercepted.

Furthermore, attackers could inject keystrokes of their own into the signals, and type directly onto users' computers. Again, the attack would be unnoticeable to users in most cases.

Bastille tested eight keyboards from well-known vendors... more

Longtime Security Scrapbook readers may remember my warnings about this beginning in 2007...
https://spybusters.blogspot.com/2007/12/wireless-keyboard-interception.html  
https://spybusters.blogspot.com/2007/12/program-discovers-at-risk-wireless.html
https://spybusters.blogspot.com/2009/01/old-news-still-scary-bugged-keyboards.html

The DNC Hack — Worse than Watergate

A foreign government has hacked a political party’s computers—and possibly an election. It has stolen documents and timed their release to explode with maximum damage. It is a strike against our civic infrastructure. And though nobody died—and there was no economic toll exacted—the Russians were aiming for a tender spot, a central node of our democracy...

What’s galling about the WikiLeaks dump is the way in which the organization has blurred the distinction between leaks and hacks. Leaks are an important tool of journalism and accountability. When an insider uncovers malfeasance, he brings information to the public in order to stop the wrongdoing. That’s not what happened here.

The better analogy for these hacks is Watergate. To help win an election, the Russians broke into the virtual headquarters of the Democratic Party. The hackers installed the cyber-version of the bugging equipment that Nixon’s goons used—sitting on the DNC computers for a year, eavesdropping on everything, collecting as many scraps as possible.

This is trespassing, it’s thievery, it’s a breathtaking transgression of privacy. more

Judge Flicks Off Uber and its Phony Private Eye

A strange side-show battle over snooping charges came to an end Monday when a judge in federal court ruled that Uber Technologies and its CEO Travis Kalanick could not use background information it dug up on a passenger who brought a price-fixing suit against Kalanick.

Courtesy of Thinkgeek

Judge Jed Rakoff said Ergo, the Manhattan-based firm Uber hired to conduct the investigation into the plaintiff and his lawyer, "engaged in fraudulent and arguably criminal conduct." Ergo was not licensed to conduct private investigations in New York state and its operative interviewed subjects under phony pretexts. He may also have violated state laws by taping the interviews without subjects' consent.

"It is a sad day," Rakoff began the 31-page opinion, "when, in response to the filing of a commercial lawsuit, a corporate defendant feels compelled to hire unlicensed private investigators to conduct secret personal background investigations of both the plaintiff and his counsel."

Uber declined to comment. more

Tristan Payton: Highly touted wide receiver — and criminal hunter?

That seemed to be the case this week after the Central Florida wide receiver chased down a man accused of filming teenaged girls in a bathroom on campus, CBS Sports reported.

The girls were attending a cheerleading camp Wednesday at UCF's basketball facilities on campus when they saw a phone recording them inside a bathroom stall.

They told their coach and staff members, saw the man with the phone and chased him, with UCF police soon joining the pursuit.

The man, identified as 21-year-old Jonathan J. Hui, evaded police and the staff but was soon caught by Payton, who saw the commotion and joined the chase.

Payton quickly snagged Hui's phone before he could delete any information on it. more

Professor Accused of Spying on Students Found Dead

An NYIT professor accused of spying on students in the bathroom has been found dead days after his arrest.

Law enforcement sources tell News 12 the body of Professor Jackie Conrad was found in his Harlem home last night.

The 39-year-old had been arrested last week after police say a camera was found hidden inside a handicapped stall at the school’s health care center in Old Westbury. more

An autopsy will determine his cause of death, but police suspect he killed himself, according to sources.

Conrad, a professor at New York Institute of Technology, planted a camera disguised as a pen in a handicapped-accessible bathroom at the school’s Old Westbury campus in Nassau County on July 13, according to a criminal complaint. more

The Complete Guide to Facebook Privacy

The Techlicious folks have the tips on how to keep your privacy on Facebook... 

Privacy concerns and privacy controls on Facebook are ever changing. When you post a picture of your kids at a family gathering, which one of your Facebook friends can share it? What private information are those Facebook game apps collecting on you for "third-party uses"? How do you make sure that live video stream is seen only by people you choose? Every action you take on Facebook has privacy and sharing implications that need to be considered before you upload that next selfie.

Fortunately, thanks to vocal demands for transparency from both Facebook users and government regulators around the world, Facebook has been making the process of managing your privacy easier. Below is our step-by-step guide to taking full control of your Facebook privacy settings... more