Monday, December 14, 2020

Exercise Like Your Walter Mitty Secret Agent Life Depended On It

via Justin Harper, Business reporter, BBC News, Singapore

I was the hero in my very own spy story, speeding from one checkpoint to another to foil the bad guys.

The plot came from a running app called Running Stories, which casts you as a secret agent in a story playing out with a heart-thumping soundtrack.

It is one of the latest apps designed to make exercise more entertaining, using real-time data that integrates the plot with your surroundings.

Key events in the storyline are triggered when a runner passes specific GPS markers and landmarks.

From being shot at by snipers to racing to catch a speedboat along the river, the plot kept me engaged and burned plenty of calories. more



John le Carré - RIP


John le Carré, whose exquisitely nuanced, intricately plotted Cold War thrillers elevated the spy novel to high art by presenting both Western and Soviet spies as morally compromised cogs in a rotten system full of treachery, betrayal and personal tragedy, died on Saturday in Cornwall, England. He was 89. (Born David John Moore Cornwell in Poole, Dorset, on Oct. 19, 1931.) more

Saturday, December 12, 2020

World's Smallest & World's Best Spy Cameras of 2020

World's Smallest

Weighing just 1g, Austrian company AMS has announced they have made the world's smallest camera. The NanEyeC has a footprint of just 1x1mm so is smaller than the size of a pinhead.

The 102,000 pixel camera only shoots in black and white, but is designed to be invisible when mounted in wearable devices, such VR headsets – and will doubtless also become the ultimate spy camera. more

 
 World's Best Spy Cameras of 2020

We've put together this guide to spy cameras to help you pick out the best one for your home. 

Some are simple small cameras that can be placed somewhere that most people won't notice them, while others are disguised as objects like photo frames or USB chargers. 

We've even found a camera that's disguised as a light bulb! 

As you might imagine, there are loads of creative options in this area. more


 

Another TSCM Fail - Dentist Sweeps Office - In Situ Spycam Missed

Two weeks ago a school district conducted their own "in-house" TSCM sweep for spycams after an employee was charged with 30 child pornography and voyeurism charges. Big fail. Multiple reasons.

This week...

An Illinois dental practice has been sued by 11 employees after an hygienist allegedly hid two cameras in the work bathroom, new court papers show.


One camera was discovered Oct. 22 in a unisex employees’ bathroom of the national dental chain Aspen Dental in Crestwood, and it was turned over to the police department, according to the lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday.

That same day, dental hygienist Armani Alexander, 25, “admitted to placing the camera” in the bathroom and was arrested, the court papers say.

The office assured the workers that they swept the premises and didn’t find any more cameras.

Yet Oct. 26, a second camera was discovered in the same bathroom, court documents allege...

Aspen admitted that a background check for Alexander — who had only been with the company for two months — “was flagged for criminal activity,” the court papers say...

The workers — who are each suing for at least $50,000 — have brought claims of negligent hiring and supervision against the practice. more

No surprise there. This DIY amateur hour bug sweep was an exercise in negligence. 

Consider these points...
  • The police were given the first camera and had a confession the same day. "Case closed."
  • We don't know if the police conducted a follow-up inspection for additional cameras. If they didn't, they failed. If they did, they failed to find the second camera.
  • The practice knowingly hired a hygienist with known criminal activity ...and didn't investigate further.
  • No mention of an independent Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) specialist being called in to investigate. Big fail.
  • "The office assured the workers that they swept the premises and didn’t find any more cameras." (Visions of Steve Martin.) ..."Yet Oct. 26, a second camera was discovered in the same bathroom."

 Why is all this important?

Emotional pain and embarrassment aside... not conducting a professional emergency sweep will have expensive consequences, and may put this dentist out of business.

  • 11 employees suing for $50,000.00 each = $550,000.00
  • Cost of recruiting, hiring and training new staff = $????.00
  • Loss of business due to the bad publicity = $????.00+
  • Total cost of their DIY "sweep" (rough guess) "a lot!"
  • Cost of a professional TSCM sweep for an average dental office suite ≈ only $4,500 - $6,000.
Want to proactively check for spycams yourself? Learn how to do it first.
If you have an active situation, find a competent TSCM professional.

Friday, December 11, 2020

10 Years Ago This Month - Merry Christmas, kid.

"Mommy has a new toy she would like you to play with."
 
 

 "Find out who's telling the truth—and who's not—by giving your suspect a lie detector test! Attach the sensor to your suspect's finger. Ask tough questions to really make 'em squirm! The indicator lights light up when your suspect isn't telling the truth. Busted!"

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town...
 
SHOCKING 2020 UPDATE...
The latest model lie detector toy for kids electrocutes them if it thinks they are lying.
 
From the sales pitch... 
  • If you tell the truth, no shocking and you can move out your hand safely. But if you tell a lie, you will be shocked by electric. 
  • Toys for your friends, Fool's Day Party, Prank gifts, Halloween Prank, Christmas gift.
  • It would be a great warm-up game at a party. more

I can't wait to see what 2030 brings.

Thieves Steal Radio Equipment from Russian ‘Doomsday Plane’

A Russian military aircraft designed to allow the country’s leadership to survive and fight a nuclear war has been crippled, the victim of a particularly brazen burglary. Thieves stole 39 pieces of communications equipment from the Ilyushin Il-80 aircraft, nicknamed “Maxdome” by NATO.

The incident took place at the Beriev Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex, outside the Russian city of Rostov. Inspectors noticed an open hatch leading inside the plane and soon discovered the equipment was missing. more  one sing-a-long possibility? (nsfw)



Sunday, December 6, 2020

This Week in (the other type of) Corporate Espionage


NLRB Accuses Google of Spying On and Retaliating Against Employees

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) lodged a formal complaint against Google, LLC and Alphabet, Inc. (collectively Google) on Wednesday, contending that the company interfered with workers’ rights to organize and retaliated against certain employees for attempting to unify. According to an article by Ars Technica, and a redacted filing consolidating the cases, the NLRB stepped in after several employees made complaints about their former employer’s restrictive and punitive actions. more  

Private spies reportedly infiltrated an Amazon strike... A union is taking legal action.
Amazon could face a court battle with a Spanish workers' union over a report that said private investigators were hired to infiltrate and secretly surveil a strike outside one of its warehouses. According to a 51-page document obtained by the Spanish news site El Diario, private detectives spied on an Amazon workers' strike at a warehouse near Barcelona, Spain... more

Employers Are Spying on Remote Workers in Their Homes
As the Covid-19 pandemic has forced more people to work from home, employers have begun using digital surveillance technology to increase control and maintain productivity. more

Credit Suisse Spy Agency Was More Global, Inept Than Previously Reported
The most amazing thing about Credit Suisse’s CEO-sinking spy scandal isn’t that the bank’s internal KGB existed at all, but how hilariously, spectacularly shitty it was at the job. The most important thing, after all, about a covert operation is not the information it uncovers, but that it remain covert, undetected by those under its watch. Not only were CS’s Keystone Kops unable to achieve this most basic secrecy over and over and over again, they weren’t able to concoct an effective cover-up of their rare successful operations from the world’s most credulous law firm. more

NJ Whistleblower Allies File Lawsuit Against Carpenters' Union Over Spying
Five former employees of Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters have sued the union for allegedly spying on and then firing them over their support of a whistleblower who sparked a federal corruption investigation of the union. more

Oil & Gas Industry Corporate Espionage, or Those Fracking Spies

According to the FBI, corporate espionage in the global oil and gas industry mostly involves stealing intellectual property, including a company's trade secrets, research, and proprietary information...

The main culprits are domestic and/or foreign commercial rivals, start-up companies, foreign Intelligence officers (spies), disgruntled employees (insider threat), or organized criminals.

In the case of Texas fracking companies, employees of drilling firms were targeted when they traveled outside the United States with the contents of their company laptops stolen.

Alternatively, individuals were actively placed inside target companies, or disgruntled employees would simply go rogue and begin collecting and selling trade secrets, mainly as an act of defiance to strike back at their employers. more

Government-Mandated Tax Software Contains Malware

U.S. and German investigative and intelligence agencies issued grave warnings in recent months that Chinese government-mandated tax software contains malware, which enables backdoor access into the applications that install it.

If the allegations are true, local units of foreign companies operating in China as well as global financial institutions will be exposed to the risk. more

Diplomats Reportedly Zapped with Microwaves

Mysterious neurological symptoms experienced by U.S. diplomats in China and Cuba appear to be caused by directed microwave energy, according to a new report by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) obtained by The Hill...

A source familiar with the symptoms told NBC News, which was the first to report on the findings from NAS, that the CIA had determined Russian operatives who had worked on microwave weapons were in the same cities as CIA agents at the time they began experiencing the neurological symptoms.

U.S. diplomats in Cuba began experiencing the symptoms in late 2016, reporting they were hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physical sensations before becoming sick. Some of those symptoms disappeared, while others lingered.

Cuba has denied any knowledge of the illnesses. more

Sunday, November 29, 2020

School District Sweeps Schools for Recording Devices ... Using Maintenance & IT Staff

Canada - Anglophone East School District sweeps Riverview schools for recording devices. 

Sweep done after a volunteer basketball coach was charged with 30 child pornography and voyeurism charges. 

Anglophone East Superintendent Gregg Ingeroll sent an e-mail to parents... He says the sweep was done by maintenance and IT staff in all Riverview schools, searching for any electronic or recording devices, as well as any areas where recording devices could potentially be hidden.  

"This sweep of all areas resulted in no recording devices being found," Ingersoll wrote.

No surprise there. This amateur hour bug sweep was an exercise in negligence, or a whitewash. 

Consider these points...

  • There is evidence of a crime.
  • There is a suspect.
  • An independent Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) specialist is not called in to investigate.
  • A decision is made to use in-house janitors and the IT guy. Persons with no TSCM training or the required detection instrumentation. And, most importantly, no independent objectivity, and possibly a personal relationship with the suspect.

This Month in Spycam News

FL - A nurse in Florida has been charged with video voyeurism after being accused of planting a hidden camera in a public restroom at the rehab clinic where he worked. more

Canada - The man who recorded people changing and using a staff bathroom at Summerhill Winery was a “raging alcoholic” at the time, according to his lawyer... Leighton's defence counsel Cory Armour said his client had been drinking a 26-ounce bottle of hard liquor and two bottles of wine every day in August 2019, when he hid cameras inside the staff washroom at Summerhill Winery. He was an employee of the winery at the time. more

 FL - A man is facing video voyeurism charges while claiming to be on a job interview. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested Che Cunningham, 27, on the third floor of an unidentified office building... According to the arrest report, Cunningham said he came to the building for a job interview but didn't remember the employer's name or office number. He claimed he had to use the bathroom and accidentally walked into the women's restroom. more

FL - A Village of Chitty Chatty man has entered a plea in a criminal case in which he is accused of using his phone to shoot video of a man in an adjacent bathroom stall. Sumter County sheriff’s deputies had been searching for a man who had gone to Lowe’s Home Improvement ... and attempted to use his phone to video a man using an adjacent stall in a restroom. more

IN - A Jay County man has been charged with voyeurism after failing to convince authorities his actions had been part of an ill-conceived Halloween prank. Sheriff's deputies said Doublin was visiting the home of a female acquaintance when he tried to use his cellphone to record images of the woman's daughter as she entered and emerged from a shower. The young woman had suspected Doublin of such behavior earlier, and placed a camera in a hallway to record his actions on Oct. 31, according to an affidavit. more

Australia - A woman has shared the sneaky way a man was trying to record her getting undressed in a changing room in a bid to help others stay safe... (The) video shows, the man in the stall next to hers had used this gap to try to record her getting undressed, positioning his camera phone between his feet on the floor to point inside her cubicle and film her getting undressed. more

MS - A Mississippi man has been arrested after police reportedly found a camera he installed in his neighbors bedroom wall. On Friday, Oxford police arrested 44-year-old Gary Morris after officers responded to a residence on Christman Drive where a woman found a camera lens protruding through her bedroom wall. more

Canada - A 37-year-old man faces voyeurism-related charges for allegedly filming an Ottawa woman without her consent during consensual sexual encounters over a two-year period. The Almonte man met the victim on a dating app. more

SC - Agents with SLED have confirmed the arrest of a Laurens County Detention Center officer. Warrants say Tollison on multiple occasions invited a victim into his office to change her clothing in private... During these incidents, Tollison set up a web camera in his office and photographed the victim undressing without her knowledge or consent. more

Borneo - The Magistrate’s Court yesterday handed a four-month jail sentence to a 42-year-old cleaner for recording a video of a woman using the female restroom at a government primary school... The court was also informed that he had been employed for a year as a cleaner at the school. more

Singapore - Earlier this year, Lynn Neo started locking the door of her hostel room whenever she took a nap... She and other friends began taking precautions like these immediately after they heard about a 24-year-old male student at NUS who had mounted two spycams in women’s toilets in their college. more

Learn how to detect spy cameras.

Verizon’s 2020 Cyber Espionage Report


Verizon’s 2020 Cyber Espionage Report
, the result of a total of 14 years of research into global data breaches and threat actor activity, has come up with some illuminating observations about long-term patterns of cyber spying. 

Among the major highlights are that criminal organizations and disgruntled former employees play a trivial role in overall attempts, that the public sector is the preferred target of attackers and that desktops and laptops are far more likely to be breached than phones...

Though there is some market for corporate secrets in the criminal underworld, the research shows that these figures make up a small amount of overall cyber espionage incidents: about 4% are from organized crime, and about 2% are from former employees. An overwhelming 85% come from state-affiliated groups, with an additional 8% from nation-states. more

Work From Home (WFH) Risks Assessed


The work-from-home (WFH) arrangement appeared to be the safest way for employees and businesses to continue operating during the pandemic, but it also exposes companies to heightened cyber security risks, studies showed...


There is also a perception that getting home security controls or measures or support from their companies is getting expensive...

The study showed that 43 percent of breach victims were small businesses, and 34 percent of data breached involved internal actors. The same survey showed that 15 percent of companies found millions of files open to every employee. ...The study showed that 71 percent of breaches were financially motivated and 25 percent is due to espionage. more

Concerned about Sony's PS5 spying on you? Here is What You Can Do...

Sony's always-on PS5 DualSense mics are sparking privacy concerns. The PlayStation 5's DualSense controller comes with a built-in mic that's on by default, and it records what you say to help Sony "analyze" key data points. Here's how to change those settings, and what they mean.

Gamers are a bit concerned about privacy on the PS5. 

It was recently confirmed the DualSense's mic auto-records anything you say when unlocking an in-game trophy. This is just the tip of the iceberg, really.

As a PS5 owner you can limit the data that Sony collects. But you can't turn data collection off entirely.

Here's how to adjust your data collection settings:
Settings -> Users and Accounts -> Privacy -> Data You Provide more