Apple AirTag: All Things Technical

Adam Catley has done extensive research into the inner workings of the Apple AirTag. He even has a few things to say about the security of the device...

Privacy Concerns (brief summary below)

While it is possible to use other products similar to AirTag to track people, they cannot benefit from the unmatched global coverage of the FindMy network. This makes the AirTag a more appealing device to people with malicious intent and so privacy features are important.

Let’s look at how reality compares to the claims Apple makes about the AirTag privacy features when the known security issues are considered.

• Sound alerts are infrequent and unlikely
• Speaker can be disabled
• Location can be tracked for the whole day
• Location can be spoofed
• “AirTag Found Moving With You” alert can be avoided
• Location history could be decrypted

more

Spybuster Tip #823 - The Car Thief Cell Phone Trick

Another reason not to leave personal belongings inside your vehicle. Memphis police say car thieves are using their cell phone cameras to look through tinted windows.

During a crime forum in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, Crump station officers said it was a new tool being used by the bad guys looking for items to steal.

They told the group it doesn’t matter how dark the tint is on your windows; when you put a cell phone in camera mode up to the windows, you can see right through them.

We (WREG-TV) put a cell up to a back window; sure enough, you could see everything in the backseat. more

Extra Credit: The reverse of this technique is how spy cameras, hidden behind black plastic, can see you when you can't see them. Learn more.

Video Door Bells Get Their Own TV Show

Wanda Sykes is knocking on the door of syndication with a new series that features videos taken from Ring doorbells.

The comedian is to host Ring Nation, a new twist on the popular clip show genre, from MGM Television, Live PD producer Big Fish Entertainment and Ring.

The series, which will launch on September 26, will feature viral videos shared by people from their video doorbells and smart home cameras.

It’s a television take on a genre that has been increasingly going viral on social media.

The series will feature clips such as neighbors saving neighbors, marriage proposals, military reunions and silly animals. more

David B. Watts - New Book - Shines the Light on a Serious Subject

A Chilling Tale of Child Sex Trafficking in Modern America

As if ripped from today’s headlines, Sex and Souls for Sale is a relevant read. No less a public menace than illegal drugs—nor any other kind of organized crime—child sex trafficking is a fact of life and needs to be discussed and exposed. While difficult to comprehend, it is found right here in modern America.

Private Investigators “Mack” Mackey and Bob Higgins are once again on the case as they thread the needle between law enforcement and a Russian crime family.

Our principal characters are flawed: a corrupt police lieutenant, a conman and extortionist with a chip on his shoulder, and his girlfriend, a reformed drug addict with a mysteriously checkered past. All three dig deep within themselves to rescue the children.

Come along on this perilous trip through the criminal underworld set in the New York/New Jersey Area and learn about this shocking crime: child sex trafficking.
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Author David B. Watts started in life as a young police detective in the turbulent sixties, which launched him into a four-decade career in the private sector as a licensed private investigator. His cases ranged from murder, fraud, and embezzlement to major corporate security issues. David has been active in several investigative professional organizations and is respected among his peers.

Other books by David B. Watts:

• Accidental P.I. – A Private Investigator’s Fifty-year Search for the Facts.

• Loose Ends – Murder in the New Jersey Suburbs.

• The Dementia Conspiracy – Where Crime and Corporate Interests Meet.

David’s books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel. He and his wife, Linda, are celebrating their sixtieth anniversary in 2022. They have lived in rural Hunterdon County, New Jersey for fifty-two years. 

David can be reached at TraffickedUSA@gmail.com

Korean YouTuber Hailed As A Hero For Catching “Spycam Perverts”

...And Turning Them In To The Police... 

The problem of the ‘spycam epidemic’ in Korea is nothing new. For years, it has been debated over by activists and politicians, but it continues to victimize folks whereas perpetrators use the footage to promote to others and even blackmail victims. It has gotten to the purpose the place many lists of tips for vacationers going to Korea typically emphasize vigilance towards spycams, as it’s an uncomfortably frequent prevalence, particularly for ladies.

Now, a Korean YouTuber is taking issues into his personal arms. As reported by Korea-based freelance journalist Raphael Rashid, this native hero has proven he has a knack for locating males who’re illegally filming ladies. He typically catches them after which arms them over to the police, even when the boys beg for mercy. more

BTW, the on-line video course SpyCam Detection Training has Korean subtitles.

Indoor Optical Fiber Eavesdropping Approach and its Avoidance

Eavesdropping exploit found in fibre-optic cables

Researchers in China have created a new technique for long-distance eavesdropping by tapping into fibre-optic cables, which are prominently used in networks across the globe.Abstract: The optical fiber network has become a worldwide infrastructure. In addition to the basic functions in telecommunication, its sensing ability has attracted more and more attention. more

In this paper, we discuss the risk of household fiber being used for eavesdropping and demonstrate its performance in the lab. 

Using a 3-meter tail fiber in front of the household optical modem, voices of normal human speech can be eavesdropped by a laser interferometer and recovered 1.1 km away. 

The detection distance limit and system noise are analyzed quantitatively. We also give some practical ways to prevent eavesdropping through household fiber. more

Eavesdropping via fiber optics is actually far from being new, as anyone who dealt with Mason & Hanger last century could tell you. In fact, we were alerting our clients to fiber optic eavesdropping microphones on our thank you mugs...

"Spy Trick #409 - Fiber Optic Microphone"
1994 - 1999
Number made - 323

Be Careful What You Fish For

The U.S. accused a Chinese MIT professor of spying. Now cleared, he helped discover what may be the ‘best semiconductor material ever found’

A team of researchers has discovered what the Massachusetts Institute of Technology calls the “best semiconductor material ever found,” even better than silicon, the material used in just about every computer chip on earth.

In July, scientists from MIT, the University of Houston, and other institutions announced they had proved that cubic boron arsenide performs better than silicon at conducting heat and electricity, opening up new possibilities for smaller and faster chips. The team includes China-born professor Gang Chen, the former head of MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, who was the subject of a yearlong investigation by the Department of Justice before the agency dropped espionage charges because of lack of evidence. more

Surveillance Documentary: Theo Anthony on All Light, Everywhere

Anthony follows the bliss of two hawkers of cutting-edge surveillance technology. 

In Scottsdale, Arizona, taking corporate assertions of transparency at their word, he is given a PR-guided tour of the headquarters of Axon Enterprise, Inc, formerly known as Taser, manufacturer of electroshock weapons and now runaway leader in the deployment of police body cameras. He tests the tech (and its limits) in a mall, captures the police’s internal rationale for body cameras in a training session, and – with the Axon PR now in overdrive – stages a multi-cam Axon-branded arrest scenario in the desert.

Back home in Baltimore, Anthony also attends to the efforts of Ross McNutt, president of Persistent Surveillance Systems, to sell citizens on his “God’s-eye view” plane-mounted live-feed spy cams – somewhat belatedly, since the tech had previously been deployed in 2016 without disclosure even to the mayor. Now he presents a genial face in community liaison meetings, offering blandishments about providing an “unbiased witness” in “troubled cities”. As Anthony’s voiceover says over an Axon promotional video, “It feels like watching a corporation dream out loud”: the claim is objectivity, the dream is omniscience, the end game is power. One thinks of Jeremy Bentham’s all-seeing panopticon, but also of Naomi Klein’s insights in No Logo into corporate aspirations of weightless, unburdened power. more

Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov Finds a Bed Bug

At home in Lvov, journalist Vitaliy Portnikov, presenter of a program about Espresso and Radio Liberty, found a listening device – a voice recorder with the ability to record for a long time.

About this in facebook Deputy Mykola Kniazhitsky said, reports Ukrinform.

“Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov, presenter of a program on Espresso and Radio Liberty, found a listening device at home in Lviv. This is a voice recorder with the ability to record for a long time. The police were called. They were quickly on the spot. do not know who and what purpose this device has installed: our services, foreign or criminals,” said the politician.

Vitaly Portnikov commented on the incident for “Espresso“: “Today, while cleaning the apartment in which I was located at the end of February, when the war started, I found a recording device under the bed. There was an inventory number on the device. I notified the police of my find so they could investigate the incident.”

Vitaliy Portnikov is a well-known Ukrainian journalist, publicist and political commentator. Works with Radio Liberty and Espresso. more

Wiretap: Listen to What Witness Tampering Sounds Like

...Levy writes in his greivance, “On 6/17/14, my office’s wiretap intercepted a conversation during which Galgano, who was trying a case in Westchester County, gave his Office Manager Stefani Capolongo directions, both in a phone call and via text messages (which he later deleted), describing how a Westchester County prospective juror, known to her, should respond to voir dire questions so as to deceive the DA and court as to her partiality. 

Galgano further directed Capolongo to make sure no one talks to anyone, including the police, a directive that was followed because no one did ultimately cooperate with the police.”

At the time, Galgano was the subject to a wiretap on his phone, for tampering and attempting to bribe a witness in the Putnam County rape case. more

U.S. Government Gets More Aggressive to Curb Espionage at Universities

The U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) thinks the FBI and other agencies are not doing enough to address the espionage threat on U.S. university campuses. 

It issued a report, “Enforcement Agencies Should Better Leverage Information to Target Efforts Involving U.S. Universities” on June 14, 2022, urging the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Commerce to step up their outreach efforts to address the threat. 

Commerce, DHS, and FBI have all concurred with GAO’s recommendations. As a result, U.S. colleges and universities to face yet another organizational risk: an increase in campuses visits by export control and law enforcement agents. more

Facebook May Owe You Money... due to wiretapping laws they transgressed.

Facebook's $90 Million Data Tracking Settlement: Find Out How Much You Could Be Owed

The deadline to find out if you're eligible for a payout is Sept. 22.

Were you on Facebook in 2010 or 2011? 

If so, you may be eligible for part of a class-action settlement from the social media giant stemming from a lawsuit accusing it of tracking users across other websites.

The plaintiffs in the case, Davis v. Facebook, allege the company was aware it violated privacy, communications and wiretap laws -- and its own contract -- by tracking logged-out users.

In 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Facebook profiting from the sale of users' data constituted a breach of privacy that caused economic harm. When the Supreme Court declined to review the case in March 2021, settlement negotiations began. more

Former Twitter Employee Convicted as Saudi Spy, or @jailbird

What does it cost to sell out and hand over the private information of the critics for a despotic regime? 

Apparently $300,000 and a nice watch. 

A former Twitter employee was convicted on six of his original 11 counts of operating as an agent for Saudi Arabia. The verdict came down late Tuesday, and all that’s left is sentencing, which could be up to 20 years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors said that former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. resident born in Egypt who held dual U.S.-Lebanese citizenship, worked as a media partnership manager, helping promote the company while working with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and north Africa. Feds further claimed that while in that job he had been working as a spy on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government from late 2014 to March 2015.

SOS (and more) With the Touch of a Finger

An electronic chip under your fingernail veneer, or anywhere else you care to hide it. 

It seems like spy tech. It is actually just NFC radio-transmission tech; same as when you hold your credit card near the payment terminal instead of swiping or plugging it in. 

The list of practical uses is long. The list of nefarious uses I leave to your imagination.

Virtual Call - Through the IoT Cloud Nail Chip, when you are in an Awkward Situation, you can quickly Schedule a Scheduled Virtual Call through your beautiful Fingertips and customize the reason for leaving. It is the best way to get out. At a critical moment, you can quickly ask for help by touching your mobile phone with your Fingertips, giving yourself more security. 

Information Sharing - Share Various cloud information with friends, such as importing mobile phone electronic business cards, sharing shopping website links, and downloading online disk files. more

FutureWatch: Preventing Microphones from Capturing a Target Speaker’s Voice

Over the decades, there have been many attempts at preventing electronic eavesdropping. The most popular methods employ "white noise" sound masking and ultrasonic jamming. These techniques are aimed at nullifying microphones. While these techniques have their pros and cons, they all share one trait. They target all sounds to all microphones in the area. Not helpful if only one person desires privacy while allowing others to continue communicating using their smartphones, Internet-of Things devices, or hearing aids.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University is working on a solution...

We propose NEC (Neural Enhanced Cancellation), a defense mechanism, which prevents unauthorized microphones from capturing a target speaker’s voice. Compared with the existing scrambling-based audio cancellation approaches, NEC can selectively remove a target speaker’s voice from a mixed speech without causing interference to others. ...The results show that NEC effectively mutes the target speaker at a microphone without interfering with other users’ normal conversations. more