The Mail Room Guy and the USB Spy Cable

Someone "lost" a USB charging cable. You found it. Lucky you? Maybe not...

USB spy cables look exactly like legitimate ones... exactly. 

In this example, the competition has paid an inside employee (the Mail Room guy) to drop a few cables around certain parts of the corporate headquarters. They didn't tell him why. And, he doesn't care. Why should he? He gets $50 per cable dropped.

Once plugged in, the cable takes control of your device. (cell phone, laptop, desktop, etc.) All your data becomes accessible. Next, pre-loaded penetration tools spring into action.

The connection can be used as a pivot point to attack other computers on the network. This is controlled remotely by the spy/hacker, via Wi-Fi to the internet, or via their nearby smartphone.

Once the hacker has infiltrated your network, more data can be extracted, viruses planted, or a ransomware attack staged. Obviously, this is dangerous in a business environment.

Recommendations:
• Mark your cables so if swapped you'll notice.
• Call us. We test USB cables as part of our debugging sweeps.
• If you use our services, we will give you a free test instrument so you can test new cables yourself.

Hackers Can Open Nexx Garage Doors Remotely...

...and there's no fix!

Multiple vulnerabilities discovered Nexx smart devices can be exploited to control garage doors, disable home alarms, or smart plugs.

There are five security issues disclosed publicly, with severity scores ranging from medium to critical that the vendor has yet to acknowledge and fix. more

Doctor Slipped Cleaner into Spouse’s Tea - He Installed Cameras

...now she’s charged.

A Mission Viejo dermatologist is accused of using liquid cleaner to try to poison her husband. Suspicious about the taste of his tea, he installed cameras at home. 

Growing suspicious, Chen secretly installed cameras around his Irvine home where, according to the restraining order request, he captured video of Yu pouring liquid drain cleaner into his cup when he left it unattended... 

According to prosecutors, video showed Yu pouring the chemical into the tea on July 11, 18 and 25. more

Florida Grounds Drones over Fears of Spying

Police, fire and other government agencies across Florida must ground millions of dollars in aerial drones because of a new state rule banning the agencies from using devices made by China-based DJI. 

The DJI drones are among the most widely used in the world, but Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration said they pose a security threat and did not include them on a list of approved drone manufacturers. more

A New Wave of Lawsuits - Wiretapping Litigation for Website Analytics

2022 saw a new wave of class action lawsuits targeting companies that use technology to track consumers’ interfaces on their websites...

Plaintiffs often ground their claims in the electronic interception provisions of federal and state wiretapping laws. Under the Federal Wiretap Act of 1968, a person is prohibited from “intentionally intercept[ing] … any … electronic communication.” 18 U.S.C. § 2511(1)(a) (2022). The FWA and many state statutes define “interception” as “acquiring the contents of that electronic communication.” Id. § 2510(4). “Content” is defined as “any information concerning the substance, purport[] or meaning of that communication.” Id. § 2510(8). 

Under the FWA, a court may require a defendant to pay $10,000 per violation. Id. § 2520(c)(2). Fines under similar state laws range from $1,000 to $50,000 per violation, depending on the state. more

The Most Insane Story In Gaming Makes For A Fantastic Biopic

Tetris (Movie) Review:

Of the many events that have happened across the gaming industry, the story of Tetris is one of the most interesting. This simple puzzle game made in Russia had entire companies funding men to infiltrate the USSR to try and get their rights from their Ministry of Technology. Communist personnel played these capitalists off each other, with politics and corporate rivalry thrown in for good measure...

You wouldn’t think watching a bunch of business meetings would be that interesting but they’re the most exciting part of the movie. ELORG invited all three men to meet them at the same time but kept separate from each other. They move back and forth in a mixture of business and interrogations as different layers of corporate espionage and corrupt under-the-table dealings are peeled back. more

Enjoy the weekend!

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - This Time it's The Tailor

A San Francisco tailor was arrested for filming coworkers with a camera disguised as a clock in the dressing room of a clothing cleaner where they all worked.

Andrew Hong, 31, was booked Saturday night on suspicion of invasion of privacy. But the months-long investigation continues as San Francisco Police Department’s Special Victims Unit asks others to come forward with information about the case.

...a woman came to the Northern Station to report a hidden camera at a Divisadero Street clothing cleaner...

She told officers she found it in the dressing room and that it appeared to be the kind of camera used for home surveillance, police said. more

Why More Businesses Are Not Conducting Periodic TSCM Inspections

IT & Security Pros Pressured to Keep Quiet About Data Breaches

Organizations globally are under tremendous pressure to address evolving threats like ransomware, zero-day vulnerabilities, and espionage, and they face challenges in extending security coverage across multiple environments and dealing with an ongoing skills shortage, according to Bitdefender.

Alarmingly, more than 42% of the total IT/security professionals surveyed said they have been told to keep a breach confidential when they knew it should be reported and 30% said they have kept a breach confidential.

43% of IT/security professionals surveyed said extending capabilities across multiple environments (on-premises, cloud, and hybrid) is the greatest challenge they face which tied with complexity of security solutions also at 43%.

Not having the security skill set to drive full value came in as a strong second at 36%. more

This is an old phenomenon. We call it The Ostrich Effect.

Liz Hurley Left 'Mortified' After Media Bugged Devices, Court Heard

A PRIVATE investigator hired by a national newspaper bugged Ledbury celebrity, Liz Hurley’s home, a high court hearing has heard. 

Ms Hurley is among celebrities like Elton John and Prince Harry who have taken action against Associated Newspapers the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers over years of alleged phone tapping and privacy breaches...

David Sherborne, who was representing Ms Hurley said in the written submission that she was left feeling “shocked and mortified” by the alleged targeting. He said a private investigator, acting on behalf of the Mail on Sunday, hacked their phones, tapped landlines, placed “a sticky window mini-microphone on the exterior of her home window” and bugged Mr (Hugh) Grant’s car to obtain “private communications with Mr Grant, her financial details, her travel arrangements and medicals during her pregnancy and birth of her son”. more

High profile individuals commonly have their homes, vehicles and aircraft swept for bugs.

Arizona Bill to Make Drone Spying a Crime Moves Forward

AZ - State lawmakers are moving to ensure people don’t get too nosy with their new drones.

In a party-line vote on Wednesday, members of the House Commerce Committee approved legislation that would make it a criminal offense to intentionally photograph, tape or otherwise observe someone else in a private place where that person has a “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

The only thing is that there hasn’t been a consensus as to when exactly someone crosses that line. more

Prosecutors: Veteran Deputy was Listening in on Jury Deliberations

NY - An Ontario County Sheriff’s Office veteran, Adam Broadwell, pleaded not guilty on Monday to felony charges of eavesdropping, possession of an eavesdropping device, and official misconduct. 

Broadwell is accused of listening in on a jury deliberation by using a device specifically designed for eavesdropping.

According to Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford, the jury was deliberating a felony case when Broadwell listened in on the conversation. The eavesdropping charges brought against Broadwell relate to his use of a device to enhance the sound of people talking in his area. 

However, Broadwell’s defense attorney, Clark Zimmermann, argued that the device used was a Bluetooth earbud set linked to an Android phone, which does not match the definition of an eavesdropping device. more

Our previous reports on Bluetooth earbud eavesdropping.

Inaudible Ultrasound Attack Can Control Phones and Smart Speakers

American university researchers have developed a novel attack called "Near-Ultrasound Inaudible Trojan" (NUIT) that can launch silent attacks against devices powered by voice assistants, like smartphones, smart speakers, and other IoTs.

The team demonstrated NUIT attacks against modern voice assistants found inside millions of devices, including Apple's Siri, Google's Assistant, Microsoft's Cortana, and Amazon's Alexa, showing the ability to send malicious commands to those devices.

The main principle that makes NUIT effective and dangerous is that microphones in smart devices can respond to near-ultrasound waves that the human ear cannot, thus performing the attack with minimal risk of exposure while still using conventional speaker technology. more

“Is this a bug?” (updated)

“Is this a bug?” is a question we are often asked.

Usually the answer is, “I understand why you are asking is this a bug. Some bugs do look similar to this. But, here is what you actually found.”

Real electronic eavesdropping devices are getting smaller. So are lots of other little electronic bits which are part of our everyday lives. Distinguishing between the two can be tricky. If the object you found makes you think, is this a bug, keep reading. You stand a good chance of finding your answer here.

Weekend Project - Two-Tube Spy Transmitter

From the look around his shack Helge Fykse (LA6NCA) really has a thing for old technology. The typewriter, the rotary phones, the boat-anchor receiver — they all contribute to the retro feel of the space, as well as the circuit he’s working on... The tiny transmitter is built into a small metal box, which is stuffed with the resistors, capacitors, and homebrew inductors needed to complete the circuit... Almost every component used has a vintage look... But does it work? Of course it does! more

Bad Bunny - Not Your Recording - Bad Bunny

Pop superstar Bad Bunny is being sued for $40m (£33m) by his ex-girlfriend, who says he used a recording of her in two songs without permission.

Carliz De La Cruz Hernández says she recorded the catchphrase "Bad Bunny baby" on her phone in 2015, before he became famous and before they split up.

The line has appeared on the Puerto Rican singer and rapper's 2017 single Pa Ti and the 2022 song Dos Mil 16. Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist on Spotify for the past three years. more