Football Team Launches Retaliation Drone

As football rivalries go, the one between Chile and Argentina is up there among the fiercest. So it should come as no surprise that when Chile's national team saw a drone hovering above a training session, it suspected its rival of spying ahead of Thursday's World Cup qualifier.

The team sent up its own drone which swiftly brought down the "spy-cam".

But rather than being a devious Argentine device, the drone turned out to be from a Chilean energy company. more

New X-Ray Inspection and Analysis Service Detects Eavesdropping Devices Secreted in Everyday Objects

Click to enlarge.

Planting bugs, spy cameras, and other illegal surveillance devices is easy. Most come pre-disguised as fully functional everyday objects. They are being built into wall clocks, power strips, USB chargers, and even desktop calculators, for example.

Competent Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) consultants have a variety of very effective ways to detect electronic surveillance devices. But, when the stakes are high enough—and the opposition is sophisticated enough—a Murray Associates TSCM X-ray deep clean is the logical option. This new service offers the most assurance that room objects are not bugged. 

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Kevin D. Murray, Director, relates an interesting cautionary tale, “There are also times when a TSCM X-ray deep clean is just smart due diligence. The classic example of a lack of due diligence is the KGB bugging of American typewriters during the Cold War.”

Popular Mechanics explains… “The Cold War spy drama that played out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was the source of much ingenious spy technology. One of the most ingenious devices fielded by both sides was a typewriter designed to spy on the user, quietly transmitting its keystrokes to KGB listeners. The technology was an early form of keylogging but done entirely through hardware—not PC software.”

A total of 16 bugged typewriters were used at the U.S. Moscow embassy for over eight years before discovery. Had a TSCM X-ray inspection been conducted before the typewriters were installed, no secrets would have been lost.

Keep the KGB typewriters in mind when bringing in a new phone system, keyboards, mice or other office items. This is the ideal time to sneak a bug in, and for a TSCM X-ray deep clean.

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Murray Associates TSCM can economically inspect all your new arrivals at one time, at your location, or ours. And, discretely security seal your items at no extra charge—before you start using them.

When should a TSCM X-ray inspection be conducted?

• When the stakes are high.
• When the opposition is formidable.
• When the areas being inspected with regular TSCM methods are especially sensitive.
• Whenever you bring new tech into the workplace en masse. New desk phones, new computer equipment, new gifts, for example.
  

How often should an a TSCM X-ray deep clean be conducted?

• Once per year during the quarterly, proactive TSCM inspections. (Quarterly inspections are the norm for most businesses.)
• Whenever there are active suspicions of illegal electronic surveillance.
• Upon the discovery of a listening device or other suspicious object.


Counterespionage Tip: If one bug is discovered, keep searching. Professionals will plant multiple devices, with one being easy to find. Their strategy… to thwart further searching by inexperienced TSCM technicians.

Types of X-ray analysis services offered:

• On-site, when we are conducting a Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) inspection for you.
• On-site, to inspect multiple new items entering your environment, such as new telephones, keyboards, computer mice, etc.
• Objects may also be mailed to the Murray Associates TSCM lab for X-ray analysis. Contact them directly for details.

Full Press Release
 

Watergate-style Scandal Rocks Bulgaria Ahead of Election

Bulgaria's National Security and Technical Operations agencies eavesdropped on opposition politicians in the run-up to last month's parliamentary elections, caretaker Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov said on Friday.

Why it matters: Rashkov was echoing echoing claims from a leading opposition politician, who said 32 politicians from three parties had been wiretapped. All three parties are opponents of the long-term ruling party, GERB, and former prime minister Boyko Borissov, who dominated Bulgarian politics for the past decade. more

Mystery Solved: The Govt Manager and the Spy Cam

A porn-addicted Government manager who planted a spy camera in a gym bathroom has had his discharge without conviction and permanent name suppression overturned and can now be identified.

He is Phillip Barnes, the former chief executive of International Accreditation New Zealand - a Crown organisation at the fore of the national Covid-19 pandemic response.

And he has issued a lengthy apology for his offending. more

The Biggest Spies are Now Hiding in Your Car

Cars have undergone a major transformation in recent years.

Traditional models are slowly being replaced by new-age, technology-packed vehicles. Telematics and infotainment that provide convenience, entertainment and security are a driving force behind this revolution.

But they are also turning modern vehicles into one of the biggest threats to personal privacy...

An infotainment system is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides vehicle status information, as well as audio or video entertainment...

In doing so, day after day, these systems generate torrents of data (around 25 gigabytes per hour), a portion of which is transmitted to the manufacturer as well as stored on your car’s storage device. The amount of data recorded is truly impressive and disconcerting, and includes various technical vehicle parameters, GPS location, favorite destinations, speed and so on. 

Once a user connects their smartphone to the console via USB (or wirelessly), the amount of data shared with the car increases even further. By pairing up with the device, the infotainment system downloads (and saves) even more data, adding to its database information that previously existed only on your smartphone. This includes your favorite music, apps, social media, emails, SMS history, voice data and more.

Used cars are even worse. Their data logs contain records of every phone ever connected to them, making them a veritable treasure trove for savvy hackers and government agencies alike. more

Study: Are Smartphones Really Eavesdropping on our Conversations?

It’s a common fear- are smartphones listening and using our private conversations to sell advertising? New research shows many believe this is true.

The study, from Tidio, asked over 1000 people (48.6% males, 49.8% females, and 1.6% declaring as non-binary) about their opinions and experiences, and the results are surprising. more

Seminar in Information Security & Cryptography

Zurich Switzerland, June 14−16, 2021
Lecturers: Prof. David Basin and Prof. Ueli Maurer, ETH Zurich

We are very pleased to announce that the seminar in Information Security and Cryptography on June 14-16 in Zurich Switzerland will take place and we still have a few places free.

We are fortunate that the situation with COVID-19 has improved to the point where we may hold the seminar, under the provisions of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) and their regulations for hotels and restaurants. 

This seminar provides an in-depth coverage of Information Security and Cryptography. Concepts are explained in a way understandable to a wide audience, as well as mathematical, algorithmic, protocol-specific, and system-oriented aspects. The topics covered include cryptography and its foundations, system and network security, PKIs and key management, authentication and access control, privacy and data protection, and advanced topics in cryptography including blockchains and crypto currencies.

The lectures and all course material are in English. A full description of the seminar, including all topics covered, is available at https://www.infsec.ch/seminar2021.html. There are hotel rooms at a special group rate (deadline 24th of May) Please ensure you are allowed to enter Switzerland as every country has different regulations.

FutureWatch: A New TSCM Detection Tool is in Development...

The developers just don't know it yet.
It's an Electronic Dog Nose (EDN).

New sensors developed by Otto Gregory at the University of Rhode Island, and chemical engineering doctoral student Peter Ricci, are so powerful that they can detect threats at the molecular level, whether it's explosive materials, particles from a potentially deadly virus or illegal drugs entering the country.

"This is potentially life-saving technology," said Gregory. "We have detected things at the part-per-quadrillion level. That's really single molecule detection."

Because Gregory's sensors are so small and so powerful, there is a wide range of applications. more

Kevin's analysis...
Specially trained dogs have been used to sniff out covert electronic items, like cell phones in prisons, for quite a while now. The secret to detection is the device's electronic circuit boards. They contain these compounds: triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO) and hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HPK). This second compound is also found on CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, the old tech floppy disks.

FutureWatch: Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) professionals have many types of technologies at their disposal for detecting illegal electronic surveillance devices. To name a few... Non-Linear Junction Detection, Infrared Thermography, and Radio-frequency Spectrum Analysis. We are now well on our way to adding EDN to our kit.

Italy Appoints First Female Spy Chief

Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced his choice of Elisabetta Belloni as head of the Department of Information Security (DIS) on Wednesday.

The department oversees the country's foreign and domestic intelligence services and reports directly to the Italian government.

Ms Belloni, 63, has a long career of firsts. more

Tin Foil Hat Alert: Tiny, Wireless, Injectable Chips Use Ultrasound to Monitor

Columbia Engineers develop the smallest single-chip system that is a complete functioning electronic circuit; implantable chips... that can be injected into the body with a hypodermic needle to monitor medical conditions.

Researchers at Columbia Engineering report that they have built what they say is the world's smallest single-chip system, consuming a total volume of less than 0.1 mm³. The system is as small as a dust mite and visible only under a microscope. In order to achieve this, the team used ultrasound to both power and communicate with the device wirelessly. The study was published online May 7 in Science Advances.

“We wanted to see how far we could push the limits on how small a functioning chip we could make,” said the study’s leader Ken Shepard, Lau Family professor of electrical engineering and professor of biomedical engineering. “This is a new idea of ‘chip as system’—this is a chip that alone, with nothing else, is a complete functioning electronic system. This should be revolutionary for developing wireless, miniaturized implantable medical devices that can sense different things, be used in clinical applications, and eventually approved for human use.” more

Hvaldimir: Seeking Sanctuary for Whale Dubbed a Russian Spy

A mysterious beluga whale was dubbed a spy when he appeared off Norway's coast wearing a Russian harness... The whale seemed to be seeking help... The fisherman put on a survival suit and jumped into the icy water, freed the whale and retrieved the harness. To his surprise it had a camera mount and clips bearing the inscription "Equipment St. Petersburg"... 

Norwegians were captivated by the whale's dramatic rescue. Because of the whale's apparent spy status, he was given a tongue-in-cheek name. In a nod to hval, Norwegian for whale, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the beluga was christened Hvaldimir. more

The Very Long Arm of the Law

UK - A Royal Navy submarine and a bugged Scottish farmhouse were used to try to catch the killers of Stephen Lawrence, it has emerged.

The elaborate surveillance operation was set up in 1999 in an attempt to gather evidence from five men accused of the teenager’s murder, as they enjoyed a two-week break after giving a high-profile TV interview...

But the Daily Mail yesterday revealed how, before they arrived, police had planted hidden microphones in the house, in the Perthshire village of Forteviot. The submarine, which took up position off Dundee, sent the signal back to London...

The Met rigged up the whole venue with hidden listening devices even placing them in golf buggies the suspects rode on in the quaint village of Forteviot.

They relayed their signal to a helicopter circling nearby which passed it onto the sub which in turn fired it down to detectives in Scotland Yard.

Even the friendly minibus driver who showed them the sights during their 15-day Highlands stay was an undercover police officer, reports the Mail.

One source said: “It was pure James Bond. It was run like a big anti-terror operation. The team had every piece of kit you had ever heard of.” more  more

PimEyes: Cool New PI Tool or Privacy Alert - You Decide

You probably haven't seen PimEyes, a mysterious facial-recognition search engine, but it may have spotted you... Anyone can use this powerful facial-recognition tool — and that's a problem.

If you upload a picture of your face to PimEyes' website, it will immediately show you any pictures of yourself that the company has found around the internet. You might recognize all of them, or be surprised (or, perhaps, even horrified) by some; these images may include anything from wedding or vacation snapshots to pornographic images.

PimEyes is open to anyone with internet access. more

Weird GPS Tracking Story: Shark Seems to Leave Sea for a Road Trip

Australia - A bull shark under surveillance left scientists scratching their heads after it seemed to begin traveling down a major roadway in New South Wales.

Marine biologists noticed the predator – or at least its tag – was moving along the Princes Highway between Shellharbour and Wollongong, having apparently quit the sea at Shell Cove on Wednesday morning. more 

I recall a somewhat similar incident involving a bear here in New Jersey... sing-a-long Enjoy the weekend!

Industrial Espionage: A New Disclaimer Seen in Corporate Report's Fine Print

/PRNewswire/ Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2021...

Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events which may not be accurate or realized. Forward- looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Corteva's control...

...(xii) effect of industrial espionage and other disruptions to Corteva's supply chain, information technology or network systems;  more

If your company thinks industrial espionage is beyond their control, call us.