FutureWatch - Robot Eavesdropping Microphone Smart Swarms

by Nick Bil

With the help of modern technology, muting distracting voices in video calls has become a simple process. With just a few clicks, you can silence unwanted background noise and side conversations, ensuring that the primary speaker's message remains clear and uninterrupted. This is largely possible due to the sophisticated audio processing algorithms and noise cancellation features built into video conferencing software...

One can take precautions to minimize background noise and encourage attendees to be considerate, but there is no easy technological solution to separate voices cleanly from a shared physical space. That may change in the near future, however, thanks to a swarm of robotic smart microphones that was recently developed by researchers at the University of Washington. The robots autonomously navigate around a room to distribute themselves optimally, then they run onboard deep learning algorithms to identify and track the position of each individual speaker.

The robots are powered by Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 microcontroller, with a Bluetooth Low Energy module added for wireless communication capabilities. By selecting a sufficiently powerful microcontroller, the algorithms can run on-device, sidestepping any privacy concerns associated with sending a stream of audio to a cloud service. A gyroscope and accelerometer provide odometry information, and a pair of micro motors provide for locomotion. A pair of microphones and a speaker are onboard, and the entire system is powered by a rechargeable LiPo battery.

Each of the circular, wheeled robots is about an inch across. After deployment from a charging station, they all travel in different directions, emitting high frequency sounds to communicate with one another and make sure they are spread out as far as possible from one another. These high-pitched chirps also keep the robots from falling off of tables or bumping into other obstacles.

By feeding audio information into a deep neural network, including the delay in time with which a particular voice arrives at microphones in different positions, the team found that it was possible to locate and track individual speakers in space. And the algorithm proved to be accurate enough to distinguish between speakers, even if they had similar sounding voices and were near to one another. Experiments showed that the present system was able to accurately distinguish between nearby individuals 90% of the time. Importantly, this was accomplished without prior information about the individuals, so no initial training session is required to calibrate the device...

And further down the road yet, they plan to explore incorporating noise-canceling technologies into the robots. That addition could allow them to mute noisy areas in physical locations, producing a sci-fi-like cone of silence. more

Time for an espionage sequel to the movie Runaway (1984)?

Legacy Systems Threaten Security in Mergers & Acquisitions

Here’s a simple fact: Legacy systems are far more likely to get hacked. This is especially true for companies that become involved in private equity transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures...

We have seen two primary trends throughout 2023:

– Threat groups are closely following news cycles, enabling them to quickly target entire portfolios with zero-day attacks designed to upend aging technologies — disrupting businesses and their supply chains.

– Corporate espionage cases are also on the rise as threat actors embrace longer dwell times and employ greater calculation in methods of monetizing attacks. more

Malaysian Police Investigate Spycam Found in Newlywed Couple’s Airbnb

Malaysian police investigate after spycam found in newlywed Chinese couple’s Airbnb room...

The device was installed inside a wall power socket in a room of a lodging establishment in Sabah
The case came to light after the tourists shared their ordeal on Chinese social media

Malaysian police are looking for those responsible for placing a hidden camera within a wall power socket in a room of a lodging establishment in Sabah state where a newlywed Chinese couple had stayed in earlier this month...

A probe had been conducted at the said premises, he said, adding they have seized the spycam in question. more

Disrupting Time: Industrial Combat, Espionage, and...

This week, Aaron Stark joins the show to discuss his new book Disrupting Time: Industrial Combat, Espionage, and the Downfall of a Great American Company, which chronicles an attempt by a foreign power to infiltrate, emulate, and eventually annihilate a great American company. 

In the late 19th century, watches were at the forefront of technological innovation, and the Waltham Watch Company made some of the finest watches in the world. Unlike their Swiss competitors, whose products were fancy, handcrafted works of art, the Watham company specialized in mass produced, affordable, and reliable watches for the masses. 

At an 1876 World’s Fair, they announced their arrival on the world’s stage, and the world took notice. The Swiss, in particular, took notice, and they took it by sending spies to steal the secrets of Waltham’s success. more

Secret ‘James Bond’ Tunnels May Become a Tourist Attraction

A subterranean space once used by British spies has been sold to fund manager Angus Murray, who has grand ambitions for it.

A warren of tunnels beneath central London, once used by the spies who inspired the creation of James Bond, has been bought by a fund manager with a £220 million ($269 million) plan to turn them into a tourist attraction “as iconic as the London Eye.” more

World Spy News Roundup

Canada Finds Smoking Gun In Nijjar Killing After Spying On India more

5 Bulgarians charged with espionage | Spying for Russia more

EU tells China spy and sanction laws could spook investors more more

10 Underrated Movies Based on Actual Real-Life Spies more

Spies in America who stole and sold U.S. secrets | 60 Minutes YouTube

Hamas Operative Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for Israel, Lebanese Media Report more

An award-winning London beautician accused of spying for Russia told her customers she had no interest in politics. more more

Ethiopian Contractor Charged For Spying In US more U.S. government contractor was charged with delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government. more

Exclusive Interview With Ukraine’s Spy Boss From His D.C. Hotel Room more

The Spy Inside Your Smartphone more

Norway drops spying claims against foreign student, says he's being held now for a 'financial crime' more

World Spy News Roundup

UK - Sunak tackles Chinese premier in person over ‘spy in Parliament’ arrest. At the G20 meeting in India, the PM warned Li Qiang over ‘unacceptable’ meddling in the UK’s democracy. more

Israel - Mossad Reveals New Details About Key Egyptian Spy Who Warned Israel That Yom Kippur War Was Imminent more

Germany - Germany charges intelligence 'mole' with treason in Russia spying case. more

UK - Police probe whether fugitive 'Iranian spy' Daniel Khalife had help from the inside as manhunt for ex-soldier, 21, who 'may have burns on his face' moves to Richmond Park near where his family lived. more

UK - A Chinese spy is alleged to have used LinkedIn to contact thousands of British officials and lure them into handing over state secrets. The Times said that the spy worked for Beijing's Ministry of State Security and used a series of false names. The MI5 has previously warned that spies are using LinkedIn to target those with access to confidential information. more

Sri Lanka - Easter bombings: President orders probe after allegations of spy chief’s complicity
The documentary aired this week featured a political insider who accused Sallay of complicity in the bombings by Islamist extremists at three churches and three hotels, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners. more

China - China’s new counterespionage law, which has been on the books for just a few months, is moving forward at a pace as Beijing weaponizes its citizens to report on suspected cases of foreign agents and Western spy networks – even offering big cash rewards for successful tips. more

North Korea - Calls failed spy satellite launch ‘the most serious’ shortcoming, vows 2nd launch. more

North Korea - Says its 2nd attempt to launch a spy satellite has failed, vows 3rd try. more

China - Accuses government worker of spying for the CIA in second public espionage claim. more

Canada - Organized cybercrime is set to pose a threat to Canada's national security and economic prosperity over the next two years, a national intelligence agency said on Monday. more

USA - Two California Sailors Arrested on Espionage Charges - One of the sailors is assigned to amphibious warship USS Essex (LHD-2) ship, while the other serves at a construction battalion near Los Angeles, according to the sailors’ bios obtained by USNI News. Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Jinchao Wei, of Wisconsin, has been assigned to Essex since March 4, 2022 and joined the Navy on July 28, 2021, according to the bio. Wei was indicted on a charge for conspiracy to provide national defense information to a Chinese intelligence officer, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. more

Girl Spycam'ed in Aircraft Bathroom - Flight Attendant Suspected

The FBI is investigating after a hidden camera was allegedly found in a bathroom onboard an American Airlines flight.

Massachusets state police said that a "potential criminal act" happened onboard an American Airlines flight that landed at Boston Logan International Airport from Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 2, but told WSOC that the incident involved a "juvenile, a flight attendant, and a cell phone."

State officials said since the incident happened in midair, the potential crime falls under federal jurisdiction.

Fox affiliate Boston 25 spoke with a passenger on the plane, who said that he saw a teenage girl attempt to use the first-class section bathroom and was stopped by a male flight attendant. "When she was about to go the bathroom he stopped her and said, ‘Hey hold on just a second, we’re about to start collecting trash so I am going to wash my hands,'" the passenger recalled. After the flight attendant left the bathroom, the girl then used the restroom. more

Spycam Awareness training.

AI Could Smuggle Secret Messages in Memes

In an advance that could benefit spies and dissidents alike, computer scientists have developed a way to communicate confidential information so discreetly that an adversary couldn't even know secrets were being shared. Researchers say they have created the first-ever algorithm that hides messages in realistic text, images or audio with perfect security: there is no way for an outside observer to discover a message is embedded. The scientists announced their results at the recent International Conference on Learning Representations. more

FutureWatch - What the Well-Dressed Spy Will be Wearing

 ...SMART e-PANTS

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is throwing $22 million in taxpayer money at developing clothing that records audio, video, and location data.

THE FUTURE OF wearable technology, beyond now-standard accessories like smartwatches and fitness tracking rings, is ePANTS, according to the intelligence community.

The federal government has shelled out at least $22 million in an effort to develop “smart” clothing that spies on the wearer and its surroundings. Similar to previous moonshot projects funded by military and intelligence agencies, the inspiration may have come from science fiction and superpowers, but the basic applications are on brand for the government: surveillance and data collection.

Billed as the “largest single investment to develop Active Smart Textiles,” the SMART ePANTS — Smart Electrically Powered and Networked Textile Systems — program aims to develop clothing capable of recording audio, video, and geolocation data, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced in an August 22 press release. Garments slated for production include shirts, pants, socks, and underwear, all of which are intended to be washable. more

Next up... Stylish wear by Faraday.

Eavesdropping on the Sounds of Your Typing

New acoustic attack steals data from keystrokes with 95% accuracy

(a little background music, please)

A team of researchers from British universities has trained a deep learning model that can steal data from keyboard keystrokes recorded using a microphone with an accuracy of 95%.

When Zoom was used for training the sound classification algorithm, the prediction accuracy dropped to 93%, which is still dangerously high, and a record for that medium.

Such an attack severely affects the target's data security, as it could leak people's passwords, discussions, messages, or other sensitive information to malicious third parties. more

He Hid a Tape Recorder in a Pen Cup...

...and caught the sheriff in a disturbing scandal.

A small-town paper takes on the county sheriff. The sheriff told staffers that anyone who spoke to the Gazette would be fired.

It is a long, complicated, and interesting story of a small town newspaper busting political corruption. Briefly, here is one of the methods used...

Two of the three commissioners—Robert Beck and Mark Jennings, the chairman—were present, along with the board’s executive assistant, Heather Carter. As they neared the end of the listed agenda, Bruce slipped a recording device disguised as a pen into a cup holder at the center of the conference table. “Right in front of ’em,” he bragged. He left, circling the block for the next several hours as he waited for the commissioners to clear out. When they did, he went back inside, pretended to review some old paperwork, and retrieved the recording device.

That night, after Gwen went to bed, Bruce listened to the audio, which went on for three hours and thirty-seven minutes. He heard other county officials enter the room, one by one—“Like, ‘Now is your time to see the king.’ ”

Maybe he got the pen in cup idea from here. Or, maybe this is an intuitively obvious spy trick. Would it have fooled you? more

Putin's Millionaire Wiretapping Boss, 40, Found Dead...

 

...in suspicious circumstances.

Anton Cherepennikov, 40, was found dead in his office in Moscow.

Further investigations are yet to be carried out, however, his cause of death was confusingly listed as “cardiac arrest” prior to any post-mortem.

His longtime pal Vasily Polonsky has since insisted: “I do not believe [he died of] cardiac arrest,” casting further doubt over the circumstances of the death.

Media outlet Baza has reported that “the exact cause of the entrepreneur's death will be determined later”. more

Ford has a better idea?

Ford is seeking to patent a system for “anonymizing speech data” that’s collected by a voice recognition system in a vehicle. (wait, what?!?!)

This system removes “speaker-identifying characteristics” from speech data collected from in-car voice commands. It then uses machine learning to generate a “random vector,” or randomized data in place of the previously identifiable characteristics, to apply to the speech data.

...While Ford may be keeping your road rage anonymous, the company may also want to use your voice to sell you stuff. The company filed a patent application for a system for “providing targeted content to users.”  more

Baby Monitors & Smart Speakers Enabling Abuse, say MPs

Fitness trackers, home security systems and baby monitors are among the devices that MPs warn are enabling the growing issue of tech-enabled domestic abuse.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee says there are on average nine such "smart" products in UK homes. It found they were being used to "monitor, harass, coerce and control" victims by collecting recordings and images.

The MPs say the government must tackle the situation. (hear! hear!) more