The Hero of Watergate - Security Guard, Frank Wills ...his sad story.

Frank Wills - Security Guard
The Hero of Watergate

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Wills moved to Washington D.C. in 1971. He took an $80. per week job as a security guard with a company called GSS manning the midnight-to-7 a.m. shift at the Watergate office complex.

Wills' claim to fame...
Wills (24 years old) stumbled upon a "third-rate burglary" taking place in an office leased to the Democratic National Committee.

In the early morning of June 17, 1972, while making rounds, he noticed a piece of adhesive tape covering the door latch on a door between the basement stairwell and the parking garage. Wills suspected the cleaning crew (they left earlier) had taped over the door latch to prevent it from locking. He removed the tape and went on with his duties.

Meanwhile… James McCord, the leader of the buglers and a former CIA employee, noticed the tape was missing. Rather than calling off the intrusion, he just re-taped the door.

Wills made his rounds again – at approximately 1:55 am – and saw the tape had been replaced. It was not the cleaning crew! Wills called the police.

If Wills had not performed his security guard duties diligently, there probably would not have been a Watergate scandal.

The result... Eavesdropping alters American history, and a president resigns.

Washington DC police arrested five men wearing surgical gloves and carrying bugging equipment in the sixth-floor offices of the Democratic National Committee.

Recognized...
Wills received recognition for his efforts. He received an awards from the Democratic Party and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (the Martin Luther King Award - its highest honor). He played himself in the movie "All the President's Men" starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman - written by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

For a while, he was sought after by the Washington press corps. Attorney Dorsey Evans was his agent. Reporters were charged as much as $300 for interviews. Some paid. Plans were made for him to lecture, but were abandoned as his 15 minutes of fame waned.

Forgotten...
In 1973 - he left GSS due to their unwillingness to provide paid vacations. He had trouble finding full-time employment after that. In the Washington Post he was quoted as saying... "I don't know if they are being told not to hire me or if they are just afraid to hire me." By the late 70's, he had moved in with his ailing mother.

In 1983 Wills was sentenced to a year in prison for shoplifting – a pair of sneakers.

On the 25th anniversary of the break-in (1997) Wills was bitter. In a Boston Globe interview, he said: "I put my life on the line. If it wasn't for me, Woodward and Bernstein would not have known anything about Watergate. This wasn't finding a dollar under a couch somewhere."

Gone...
Frank Wills died broke on September 27, 2000 at age 52 in a hospital in Augusta, Georgia. Brain tumor.

Bob Woodward said, "He's the only one in Watergate who did his job perfectly."

50 Years Ago Today – Watergate

The full story is here.

Watergate Break-In 50th Anniversary Video

Former Counsel and staff of the Senate Watergate Committee, along with the special prosecutors, lawyers and journalists who played a role in the political scandal, mark the 50th anniversary of the break-in. video

Spend the night at the Watergate

7 Movies to Watch on the 50th Anniversary of Watergate

Just coincidence? 

You decide.

“History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” This observation, attributed to Mark Twain, is particularly apt as the 50th anniversary of the “third rate burglary” at the Democratic National Committee’s Watergate building office that led to the only resignation of a US President, coincides with the 2022 televised hearings of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

50 years of Watergate in pop culture (podcast - 28 minutes)

Watergate related news the Security Scrapbook has followed over the years.

Drone Zapper – 40 in one blow!

Aerial drones are essentially the new improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—they’re relatively cheap and easily weaponized. Weaponized swarms of drones working together on a mission are an asymmetric threat that can quickly turn into an ugly situation...

An arms race of sorts is quietly underway to be able to counter any countermeasures against drones...

The U.S. Air Force deployed Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s first high-energy laser weapon system (HELWS) overseas...

HELWS is a 15-kW-class laser weapon system that fires a silent near-infrared beam of light to shoot down a drone or deliver what’s known as a “hard kill” within the defense realm. It’s capable of taking out at least 40 drones coming at it, and has a fairly long (yet undisclosed) range. more

FutureWatch: An App to Find Wi-Fi Spycams & More

Hidden IoT devices are increasingly being used to snoop on users in hotel rooms or AirBnBs. We envision empowering users entering such unfamiliar environments to identify and locate (e.g., hidden camera behind plants) diverse hidden devices (e.g., cameras, microphones, speakers) using only their personal handhelds.

Imagine a user walking into an unfamiliar environment such as a hotel room or Airbnb. Nowadays, the user has to be wary of wireless Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices being used to spy on them. These devices could be installed by the owner or by a previous guest. This threat is not just hypothetical...

...we want to empower users so that as they enter an unfamiliar space, they can run an app on their personal handheld (e.g., phone or tablet). This app would report a list of detected and identified devices and their corresponding locations. 

“Detect,” here, means knowing that there is some device (i.e., binary notification), “identify” entails knowing what type of device it is (e.g., type=camera), and “localize” entails knowing the device’s location in the physical space (e.g., behind the plants). While cameras in particular are imminent privacy threats, in general we want to detect/identify and localize diverse hidden IoT devices, as these could also be potential threats for tracking users. more

Kids Culture Child Care in Dover, NH Indicted on Wiretapping

An owner of the Kid's Culture childcare center is “vehemently” denying and disputing a state agency's report stating it used excessive disciplinary tactics and did not follow state staffing regulations, among other infractions...

According to the report, staff at first denied there were video cameras and denied the use of timeouts or other punishments of the children during visits by investigators on March 16, March 19 and April 6. When confronted with the videos, the report states, staff then denied the cameras were trained on the bathroom area, which the report states was also proven to be untrue. more

What Can a Private Investigator do for Your Business?

Businesses can go under for several reasons, sometimes they simply aren’t profitable whereas other times something sinister is happening underneath that most business owners aren’t aware of.

Corporate espionage is bigger than you may think and if you have a product or industry secret that your competitors would love to get their hands on then hiring a private detective can help. There are many ways your competitors may use to steal your business data, some of which could be installing malware on your company computers or bugging your office or meeting rooms.

A private detective can be hired to search your business for electronic bugs and get rid of them accordingly. If you think this is a work of fiction and it doesn’t happen you would be mistaken. Bugs are placed in businesses and private residents illegally all of the time. more

Researchers Develop Anti-Eavesdropping Algorithm for Smartphone Mics

At Columbia University, a team of researchers has successfully created a program that can block out audio spying through microphones found in smartphones and connected audio devices that require voice use.

This algorithm works by using predictive voice technology: that is, it can recognize human speech and instinctively generate audible background noise like muffling or whispers in order to camouflage the user’s words.

The technology works in real-time as the algorithm is able to create the obstruction while a person is speaking to a voice-controlled device or conversing with a friend.

But why create such an algorithm in the first place?

The problem stems from advertiser eavesdropping. While this is an issue that has not been proved or disproved, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that backs it up. more

What You Should Know About Trade Secrets

A Webinar Series for Start-ups: Part I & II

Part I - Introductory Session

Partners Melanie Seelig and Mauricio Uribe kicked off a two-part, comprehensive discussion on trade secrets. The presentation served as an introduction to the topic and provided more general information.

View live presentation: Video Link

View on SlideShare: Knobbe Martens Webinar Series for Start-ups: What You Should Know About Trade Secrets - Part I

Part II - Detailed Discussion

Partners Melanie Seelig and Mauricio Uribe continued the two-part, comprehensive discussion on trade secrets. The presentation focused on a more detailed exploration of the topic and strategic implications for various scenarios.

View live presentation: Video Link

View on SlideShare: Knobbe Martens Webinar Series for Start-ups: What You Should Know About Trade Secrets - Part II

View and download the full presentation below. Knobbe Martens Webinar Series for Start-ups: What You Should Know About Trade Secrets - Part I and II

View more webinars on our Vimeo home page: Knobbe Martens on Vimeo

View more Knobbe Martens slide presentations here.

The CIA Shares How to Travel Like a Spy

Staying in a high-rise hotel on vacation this summer? ... The CIA is offering these tips and more to Americans... “Call it travel tradecraft,” the agency said, publishing the new advice on its website. 

“Whether you’re off to a bustling city or a secluded getaway this summer, we hope these CIA ‘travel tips’ help you journey with more confidence and safety.” 

Some of the guidance is standard practice for seasoned travelers... But some of their advice is more spook savvy...

“Don’t look like an easy target,” the guidance reads... “You’ll want to be alert and maintain situational awareness, especially in an unfamiliar country.”

Once you have arrived at your destination, the CIA suggests familiarizing yourself with the emergency escape routes. more  The CIA Tips

Arrested for Gifting Women Make-up Mirrors with Built-in Spycams

A man in China has been arrested after a small vanity mirror he gifted to a female coworker was discovered to have a hidden spycam built into it.

The man, whose surname is Zhang, is the owner of an online hidden camera store, and has reportedly sold over 200 similar spycam devices as the one he had gifted.

The female coworker, surnamed Li, stated that Zhang had told her to keep the mirror on for 24 hours a day, otherwise the circuit board would catch on fire...

A suspicious Li contacted the seller of the make-up mirror, who then told her to check for cameras. When she did, she found four high-definition pinhole cameras and five 32 GB memory cards inside.

“One of the recordings on a memory card was marked ‘2019’ so I realized I was probably not the first victim,” Li wrote... more  more

50 Spy Movies That’ll Keep You On The Edge Of Your Seat

As kids, all of us loved play-pretend games, and though there's a myriad of variations, one theme that was by far the most thrilling of them all - playing spies on a secret mission. 

Such secrecy and importance sure seemed thrilling, and emulating the super cool tricks we saw on the cinema screens felt like the best thing in the world. Naturally, most of us grew out of these play-pretend frolics, but the infatuation with everything spies hasn't gone anywhere. And what's a better way to relive these thrilling fantasies than by watching some of the best spy movies ever made? 

So, here we are with our list that'll cater to even the pickiest spy movie connoisseur and give you some pretty decent choices for your next adventurous viewing... more

I Would be Shocked if I am Not Being Spied On: Elon Musk

On the micro-blogging site Twitter, Musk posted a picture, which reads "Does anyone else feel like they are being watched?".

While replying to that, a user wrote "you are 24/7 on all your devices and online services, including your own Starlink. In your case it is not just mass surveillance. You are a priority target".

"I would be shocked if I am not being spied on haha. My only ask is that anyone spying on me please not affect call quality too much or I cannot hear what is being said!" Musk said in a reply to the user. more

Corporate Espionage is Entering a New Era

Companies need to take it more seriously...

In May a jury awarded Appian, whose headquarters are in McLean, Virginia, a whopping $2bn in damages after it had accused Massachusetts-based Pegasystems of illegally snooping on it to gain a competitive edge.

The trial revealed that Pegasystems executives had referred to a contractor hired to obtain some of the ingredients of Appian’s secret sauce as “our spy” in internal documents, and had dubbed the overall spying effort “Project Crush”...

The episode illustrates how interest in business espionage, and learning how to foil it, has broadened. Snooping is no longer mostly centred on a few “sensitive” industries that have long been vulnerable, such as defence and pharmaceuticals. It is increasingly used to target smaller companies in surprising sectors, including education and agriculture. It has, in short, become more of a general business risk. more

‘American Idol’ Winner Accused of Bugging LSU Student’s Dorm

American Idol winner Laine Hardy has been accused of bugging his ex-girlfriend’s dorm room at Louisiana State University so he could listen in on her conversations, according to a warrant obtained by WBRZ. 

The 21-year-old country singer was arrested Friday on charges of interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communication. Investigators allegedly found several recordings on the device, including some of Hardy’s “very distinguishable” voice. 

In a vague Twitter post, Hardy acknowledged on Thursday that he’d received a warrant over “allegations” and was “cooperating” with the cops. “I humbly ask for privacy at this time,” he wrote. more

The Associated Press reported that Hardy’s ex-girlfriend and her roommate found the alleged listening device, which looked like a phone charger, in their dorm room on April 6. She reported it to LSUPD the next day, and officers noted in a police affidavit acquired by the AP that they found recordings from a 10-day span in February. more

New Countermeasure Against Unwanted Wireless Surveillance

Smart devices are supposed to make our everyday lives easier. At the same time, however, they are a gateway for passive eavesdropping. 

To prevent possible surveillance of the movement profile within one’s home, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy, the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Cologne University of Applied Sciences have developed a novel system for protecting privacy in wireless communication.

Almost all Internet-of-Things devices, such as voice assistants, locks and cameras, rely on wireless connections based on high-frequency radio signals... passive eavesdroppers can still exploit sensitive information from intercepted radio frequency signals... Attackers can perceive such effects from a distance and, by applying simple statistical methods, conclude, for example, that a person is currently moving in the monitored room... this method known as “adversarial wireless sensing”...

With their approach, the researchers are the first in the world to propose IRS as a practical countermeasure against passive wireless eavesdropping attacks. more