Landlord Plants Spycams - Watches While Jetsetting

Australia - An accused pervert landlord who has been charged with hiding secret cameras in tenant bathrooms could allegedly spy on renters live from wherever he was jetsetting around the world.

Barbadian-born James Maxwell, who calls himself “Tiger”, allegedly installed tiny secret spy cameras in the male bathrooms and a bedroom of the apartments in Pyrmont, Sydney, which he managed.

When police allegedly uncovered the cameras they also allegedly found an app on Mr Maxwell’s phone which enables accessing video footage from anywhere in the world...

....also alleged that Mr Maxwell had had tiny cameras in his watch and key ring...

News.com.au understands the cameras included a black rectangular digital clock and wall clocks in a bedroom and two bathrooms. more

Your Mobile Device Could Spill Its Guts (and worse) Get You Arrested

Last year, over 29,000 travelers had their devices searched at the US border.

A new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog has concluded that the agency does not always adequately delete data seized as part of a border search of electronic devices, among other concerns.

According to a new 24-page document released Tuesday by DHS’ Office of Inspector General, investigators found that some USB sticks, containing data copied from electronic devices searched at the border, "had not been deleted after the searches were completed."...

Federal authorities do not need a warrant to examine a phone or a computer seized at the border. They rely on what’s known as the "border doctrine"—the legal idea that warrants are not required to conduct a search at the border. This legal theory has been generally recognized by courts... more

Spybuster Tip #841: Device searches occur (even more often) when entering (or leaving) certain foreign countries. If you need to take your mobile device on a trip you should consider doing a data extraction on your device, before you leave... and before they do it for you.

1. To be sure you are not carrying data that you can't afford to loose.
2. To be sure you are not carrying contraband data (porn, propaganda, etc.).
   Remember, even erased data can be exhumed by them.
3. To document the actually data you are taking—to counter false accusations.

Learn more here. Upon returning a spyware detection inspection is also recommended.

A Spycam that Sucks

Blown by theregister.co.uk
Next time you're closing a big drug deal you may want to watch the cleaner. Or more specifically their vacuum cleaner. That's right, because thanks to publicly available federal acquisition records we now know that America's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has planted cameras in cleaners. Canon cameras in Shop-Vacs appear to be the latest tool in the drug war.

To be fair, we don't know it's a Shop-Vac for certain because like the brand "Hoover," "Shop-Vac" has become a generic term for a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner. The DEA could be planting surveillance equipment in a Rigid, a Craftsman or even a Stanley. What we do know for sure is that is a Canon M50B.

And we know that because it lists "custom shop vac concealment with Canon M50B" in the contract, dated November 28.

It's a good choice: The Canon VB-M50B is a network camera so video can be live-streamed - presumably to agents parked in a van nearby – and it has a very large aperture ratio, meaning that you get good color and clarity out of it even in low-light situations. more

FutureWatch: Tooth Bugs

Sonitus Technologies, creators of the Sonitus Sensory Interface Platform, is enabling real-time wireless communications and monitoring of physiological information of users in the most challenging defense, security and commercial environments.

The company’s initial sensory platform-based solution is Molar Mic, a novel personal communications device that snaps-easily to the back teeth of a user and creates an entirely new audio interface.

By creating a new audio path (bone conduction), it eliminates the need for ear pieces, microphones and wires on a user’s head.

Incorporating a miniaturized microphone and receiver into a dime-sized mouthpiece, Molar Mic sustains unbroken two-way voice connectivity in communications networks critical to personal safety and performance across defense, public safety, aerospace, power, oil & gas, and professional applications.

Molar Mic is in its final field testing with the US Air Force. more

Flashback: "Green You're Clean - Red You're Dead"

Detecting landline telephone taps was never as easy as this, but that didn't stop the hucksters and their magazine ads. Over thirty years ago, they preyed on people seeking cheap magic bullets to protect their privacy. Here are some of these bullets.

Most of these devices will tell you if someone picks up an extension phone (assuming basic phone service). Decently constructed wiretaps remain invisible, however.

One of these devices is totally bogus. (I tested and dissected it.)

The Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) hucksters are still out there, these days with "professional looking" websites and even more blinky light gadgets.

Need a reality check, or second opinion, before you buy?
Ask away!

                       

Some of these gadgets date back to the 1970's. Some are still being sold today!

       

Detecting smartphone spyware is another story.

 

Thanks for viewing this collection of anti-eavesdropping mental band-aids.

  

Fob-U-Less Auto Theft on the Rise ...and a solution!

As predicted in 2011, and documented in previous Security Scrapbook posts, it is time to remember where to keep your car key fob overnight... in a closed tin (cost $0.93). ~Kevin

CA - Auto theft on the rise in Toronto area, and a security expert thinks he knows why...
According to Markham automotive security specialist Jeff Bates, owner of Lockdown Security, wireless key fobs have a role to play in many recent car thefts, with thieves intercepting and rerouting their signals — even from inside homes — to open and steal cars.

...many of these thieves are using a method called "relay theft."

Key fobs are constantly broadcasting a signal that communicates with a specific vehicle, he said, and when it comes into a close enough range, the vehicle will open and start.

"The way that the thieves are getting around this is they're essentially amplifying that low power signal coming off of the push start fob," he said.

"They will prey upon the general consensus that most people are leaving their key fobs close to the front door of their home and the vehicle will be in the driveway."

The thief will bring a device close to the home's door, close to where most keys are sitting, to boost the fob's signal.

They leave another device near the vehicle, which receives the signal and opens the car.

Many people don't realize it, Bates said, but the thieves don't need the fob in the car to drive it away. more

Many thanks to our Canadian Blue Blaze Irregular (WM) for this latest alert!

Extortionography: Hilton Facing $100 Million Lawsuit Over Spycam Incident

A Chicago woman says she's traumatized for life because of what happened to her inside an Albany hotel room. That woman is suing the hotel chain for $100 million. 

The alleged incident happened in July 2015, but the alleged victim didn't find out about it until about two months ago. Now, she's scared for her life.

The woman had just graduated from Albany Law School. She was staying in town so that she could take the New York State Bar Exam.

Inside her hotel room, someone allegedly placed a hidden camera in her bathroom that recorded her taking a shower. The video was then posted on numerous X-rated websites.

Later there were blackmail attempts. The emailer wanted thousands of dollars to remove the video from the internet. more

Note to Hilton: A proactive due diligence defense costs about $25.00 per hotel, a price Hilton cannot afford... to pass up.

13 Members Sue Gym Over Ceiling Spycam

MI - Members of a Clinton Township gym have sued the former owner who is accused of spying on members with a hidden camera.

Thirteen members filed the lawsuit in Macomb County Circuit Court earlier this month against Matthew Krakowski, who ran Switch Crossfit gym, alleging he invaded their privacy by filming gym-goers while changing their clothes and possibly using the bathroom in private areas...

Krakowski also faces criminal charges. He initially was charged with one count of surveiling an unclothed person last May after a woman reported seeing a camera in a ceiling tile in April while she changed in a private area. Police sifted through thousands of other images garnered from Krakowski’s computer or devices and found victims to produce 13 more charges. more

Like most of these cases which hit the courts, this camera was found serendipitously, by the victim. 

Businesses involved this way have no defense. In court, the case is viewed as a respondeat superior issue—the business is responsible for the actions of their employees. Defense is costly, as are the financial penalties. 

A proactive due diligence defense costs about $25.00, a price your business cannot afford... to pass up.

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

Global automakers are feeding real-time location information and dozens of other data points from electric vehicles to Chinese government monitoring centers, potentially adding to China’s rich kit of surveillance tools as President Xi Jinping steps up the use of technology to track Chinese citizens.

Generally, it happens without car owners’ knowledge, The Associated Press found.

More than 200 automakers selling electric vehicles in China — including Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Mitsubishi and U.S.-listed start-up NIO — send at least 61 data points to government-backed monitoring platforms, under rules published in 2016. Automakers say they are merely complying with local laws, which apply only to alternative energy vehicles. more

What's Up With Taps?!?!

A First Step Toward Making Counterespionage Actually Work

Pennsylvania High Court Finds Duty to Safeguard Employee Information

In Dittman et al. v. UPMC, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that employers have an affirmative legal responsibility to protect the confidential information of their employees. In reversing two lower court decisions, the justices ruled that by collecting and storing employees' personal information as a pre-condition to employment, employers had the legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect that information from a cyber attack. more

It's a small step, but... My cunning plan to really protect sensitive information may be catching on. The plan is explained in these two posts from about five and a half years ago...

A Cunning Plan to Protect Us from Business Espionage - March 21, 2012

Espionage Outrage Reaches the Boiling Point ...and a solution. - April 5, 2012

Dawn of the Vocal Fingerprint

The vast majority of people in developed countries now carry a smartphone everywhere. And while many of us are already well aware of privacy issues associated with smartphones, like their ability to track our movements or even take surreptitious photos, an increasing number of people are starting to worry that their smartphone is actually listening to everything they say.

There might not be much evidence for this but, it turns out, it isn’t far from the truth. Researchers worldwide have begun developing many types of powerful audio analysis AI algorithms that can extract a lot of information about us from sound alone. While this technology is only just beginning to emerge in the real world, these growing capabilities – coupled with its 24/7 presence – could have serious implications for our personal privacy.

Instead of analyzing every word people say, much of the listening AI that has been developed can actually learn a staggering amount of personal information just from the sound of our speech alone. It can determine everything from who you are and where you come from, your current location, your gender and age and what language you’re speaking – all just from the way your voice sounds when you speak.

If that isn’t creepy enough... more

"A Tough Year for the GRU"

Igor Korobov, head of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, which has been accused of meddling in U.S. elections, has died in Moscow. He was 62.

The Defense Ministry said Thursday in a statement that Korobov, who led the GRU since 2016, died Wednesday of "a lengthy and grave illness," a usual Russian euphemism for cancer. His predecessor had died two years earlier, at 58.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to Korobov's family but did not immediately name his successor...

This has been a tough year for the GRU, which has faced a series of exposures that revealed its inner workings. more

Multiple Audio/Video Eavesdropping Devices Found in Boardroom, Office and Records Room

South Africa - Science and technology minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has filed a complaint with the State Security Agency (SSA) after cameras were found in her office, the Sunday Times reports.

Police found multiple cameras which could record both video and sound, and could be accessed remotely.

The cameras were were reportedly placed within the minister’s boardroom, records room, and office.

According to the report, the cameras were discovered when senior managers confronted junior staff about discussions they had with the minister in her office. more

Note: The devices were only discovered when the eavesdroppers let on that they knew more than they should. Dumb on their part. 

Dumber, however, is they were not found sooner with a routine Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) sweep, a standard practice at many organizations these days.

Can AI be Trusted with Surveillance Tasks?

China's war on jaywalking went to the next level last spring when AI-based facial recognition systems were integrated into some crosswalks, to punish jaywalkers by squirting them with water, sending them texts warning them about legal consequences of jaywalking, and/or publicly shaming them by displaying their pictures and names on large digital billboards.

Last week, this system entered a new and exciting failure mode when a traffic-cam in the port city of Ningbo captured a face displayed on the side of a passing bus, correctly identified it as belonging to Dong Mingzhu, CEO of Chinese AC giant Gree Electric Appliances, and then plastered Ms Dong's face all over a giant billboard, falsely accusing her of jaywalking. more