Sports Spying (again)

Sacramento Republic FC plays Orlando City FC in the finals of the U.S. Open Cup, but there is some controversy ahead of the match.

A Republic FC spokesperson tells CBS13 at they filed a complaint with U.S. Soccer claiming that an Orlando City FC employee was caught spying on the Republic during practice just a couple of days ago...

Republic representatives say they asked the employee to leave but he refused. He eventually left after about 45 minutes -- this after taking various notes and making phone calls.

There are no official U.S. Soccer rules against spying on teams ahead of a finals match. more

...and in U.S. football...  Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage

Using SDRs for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)

One of the several technical techniques your TSCM team uses to detect illegal electronic eavesdropping...

Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is an umbrella term for collecting and analyzing information through the monitoring of radio frequency signals. In the era of remote and wireless communications, intercepting radio information is crucial in any application involving the malicious use of the RF spectrum, including military surveillance, homeland security, and monitoring of illegal RF transmissions. In this article, we discuss the basic concepts of SIGINT/COMINT, the requirements for system design, how software-defined radio (SDR) can contribute to the performance, and the various applications of SDR-based SIGINT.

By detecting strange signals in a hostile electromagnetic environment, SIGINT systems can rapidly adapt to emerging threats, locate unknown and/or illegal devices, and counteract against adversarial interference. SIGINT requires a large variety of devices, techniques, and algorithms for RF signal detection, measurement, processing, exploitation, and manipulation.

The most fundamental component in a SIGINT system is the spectrum analyzer. more

Greece Wiretap and Spyware

It has been dubbed the Greek Watergate. What began as a surveillance of a little-known journalist in Greece has evolved into an array of revelations circling around the Greek government.

The story emerged last spring, when Thanasis Koukakis found out his phone had been infected with spyware that can extract data from a device. He also discovered he had been tracked by Greece's EYP National Intelligence Service via more traditional phone-tapping.

It then emerged that an MEP had also had his phone tapped before he became leader of Greece's third-biggest party. more

Tech Aids Chess Cheating and Possibly More

James Stanley — "I have come up with a new way to win at chess: I have connected up a Raspberry Pi Zero in my pocket to some buttons and vibration motors in my shoes, so that I can surreptitiously communicate with a chess engine running on the Pi. The project is called "Sockfish" because it's a way to operate Stockfish with your socks.

The feet are ideal for this sort of thing, because they're the only part of your body that has any sensible degree of dexterity while still being invisible to casual observers."

Now, imagine this innovative use of technology—easily combined with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other radio-frequency modulation—being used during business negations or advance placement testing. Unsettling, to say the least. 

If you employ a Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) team this is another way they can help you. more

Poisonous Spouses — Spycams to the Rescue!

Man Jailed After Wife's Secret Camera Reveals He Was Poisoning Her Coffees...

A man in Macomb Township, Michigan, has been sentenced to 60 days in prison after his wife set up a camera to catch him poisoning her coffee.

Therese Kozlowski grew suspicious of her husband Brian Kozlowski - from whom she was going through a divorce - after she noticed she felt unwell whenever he made her a coffee.

She subsequently set up a secret camera in the kitchen which showed her husband was lacing her drink with what turned out to be an antihistamine.  more

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California Dermatologist Accused Of Trying To Poison Husband With Drano...

A California dermatologist has been accused of trying to poison her husband with Drano, with footage allegedly captured by a covert nanny cam.

Yue “Emily” Yu, 45, was arrested Thursday by Irvine Police after her husband told authorities earlier that day that he'd begun to suspect his wife was poisoning him when he started to feel sick over the course of a month-long period this summer, according a police statement obtained by Oxygen.com.

Yu’s husband, identified in court papers as radiologist Jack Chen, provided police with “video evidence supporting his suspicion.”

In a statement written to secure a restraining order against his wife, Chen described how he set up a secret nanny cam in the family’s kitchen after beginning to feel ill. more

Pegasus Spyware Maker NSO Avoiding a TKO

Will spyware maker NSO Group's struggles reduce use of its eavesdropping tech? Critics doubt it.

Embattled Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group announced a major reorganization Sunday — replacing its longtime CEO and laying off roughly 100 of its 700 employees — but experts who track the growing trade in surveillance technology say that’s unlikely to curtail deployment of the company’s technology designed to secretly monitor its targets...

More broadly, however, NSO may serve as a cautionary tale for the myriad other spyware vendors around the world hawking their wares. “Spyware tech is a risky investment,” Scott-Railton said. “Investors don’t usually line up to get wiped out.” more

In Other Corporate Spy News...

Enterprise giant Oracle is facing a fresh privacy class action claim in the U.S.

The suit, which was filed Friday as a 66-page complaint in the Northern District of California, alleges the tech giant's "worldwide surveillance machine" has amassed detailed dossiers on some five billion people, accusing the company and its adtech and advertising subsidiaries of violating the privacy of the majority of the people on Earth. more

Demise of a Corporate Spy

Shares of Pegasystems have dropped 65% since the start of the year and are unlikely to recover.

(Spoiler Alert... Appian Awarded $2.036 Billion in Damages Against Pegasystems Inc.) 

Appian, for investors who are unfamiliar, is a fellow SaaS vendor that competes in the business process management (BPM) space and also emphasizes low-code software. Appian sued and won a corporate espionage case against Pegasystems. 

In a nutshell, Pegasystems was found guilty of trade secret appropriation: it hired an employee of a government contractor to provide it with access to Appian software. This contractor then passed information (including video recordings of the Appian development environment) to Pegasystems employees. Pegasystems' CEO, Alan Trefler, was also found to have participated in meetings with this contractor present... Appian won a $2.036 billion judgment in its favor. more

Does your company have a Surreptitious Recording in the Workplace policy? If not, read Surreptitious Workplace Recording — and what to do about it.

A Warning Worth Repeating — iPhone's Spying Feature

iPhone’s ‘spying’ feature lets you eavesdrop on conversations without people knowing...

The Apple iPhone is packed full of secret tools and tricks. But one feature is possibly the sneakiest of them all.

The iPhone's 'Live Listen' feature was originally intended to help people with hearing difficulties better manage conversations in noisy environments.

It lets you listen to a live audio feed through your AirPod earphones using the iPhone's microphone from a distance.

However, if used correctly, it means you could listen in on any conversation from outside a room without anybody else knowing. All you'd have to do is hide your iPhone somewhere in the room. more

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