Hackers Are Using AI to Steal Corporate Secrets and Plant Ransomware

In one of the most recent examples, a hacker discovered an exploit in Anthropic’s Claude chatbot that allowed them to “commit large-scale theft and extortion of personal data” at 17 (and perhaps more) organizations in the health care, emergency services, government, and religion industries.

The hacker then threatened to expose that data, demanding ransoms that, in some cases, topped $500,000. (Anthropic did not name any of the 17 organizations that were impacted by the hack.) more

People Are REALLY Mad at These AI Glasses That Record Everything Constantly

Users on social media have responded with horror and outrage to a pair of smart glasses developed by a startup called Halo that its creators, a pair of Harvard dropouts, claim will feed you live AI-powered insights while logging and transcribing every conversation you take part in. So transformative will it prove to the human brain, the twenty-something-year-old inventors promise, that wearers will soon be not just thinking, but "vibe thinking."

Many were quick to raise alarm over the obvious nightmare this would be for personal privacy — not just for the wearers, crucially, but anyone they interact with. more

Security Director Alert: Employees Are Packing

This media advice to employees may lead to corporate espionage. BOLO

Worried About Losing Your Job? Pack a Digital Go Bag

It’s now more common for layoffs to happen through account lockouts. Every employee needs to download their most important files from work, and update them periodically.

What Is a Digital Go Bag?
A digital go bag or virtual go bag is an electronic version of a traditional go bag—a bag you pack ahead of time that has everything you need in case you have to leave in a hurry—and it's meant specifically for work. If you got laid off or fired without notice, what documents and information would you most want to keep hold of? 

How to Make a Digital Go Bag
First, identify the documents you want to take with you. Second, decide how often you need to download the items in order to keep your go bag up to date. Some, like performance reviews and tax documents, might only be updated once per year. Others, such as emails between you and your supervisor, might pile up quickly enough that you decide to download them quarterly. more

Spybuster Tip: iPhone 'secret code' reveals if someone is spying on your text message

Apple has a little-known security feature, often described as a hidden 'secret code,' that can reveal if someone is snooping on your private conversations. 

Every iMessage chat generates a unique security code, like a digital fingerprint. If you and your contact see the same code, your messages are safe and fully encrypted.

To make this process easier, Apple introduced Contact Key Verification, found under Settings and Apple ID, which displays a verification code that you and your iMessage contacts can compare. 

If the codes line up, you can tap Mark As Verified, which saves the code to that person's contact card. more

Recent Spy Camera News

• Student’s Federal Suit Claims URI Defamed Her After She Was Victim of Video Voyeurism in Bathroom

A University of Rhode Island (URI) student has sued the school, after she says a man in a unisex bathroom on campus recorded her while she was showering - and that the university subsequently “defamed” her...She has filed the lawsuit as “Jane Doe,” and she is seeking “an order that the Defendants make whole the Plaintiff with appropriate compensation for emotional and physical distress, loss of consortium, and interest, in amounts to be proved at trial, and other affirmative relief necessary to eradicate the effects of their conduct.” more

• London teacher banned from classroom after changing room voyeurism conviction
UK - A teacher who tried to take photos inside some female changing rooms has been banned from the classroom indefinitely. Christopher Arnold, 40, was convicted of a voyeurism offence and placed on the sex offenders register for five years in 2022 after holding up his phone camera to the window of some changing rooms, but maintains he did not actually manage to photograph anyone. more

• Stalker escapes jail after installing covert camera in his ex-wife’s home

NI - A Co. Antrim man whose “appalling behaviour” saw him cable-tie a tracking device to his ex-wife’s car and install a covert camera in her home during a two-month stalking campaign escaped jail today...The stalking was uncovered in April last year when his ex-wife found a tracking device attached to her car. Initially there was no evidence linking Dougan, but two days later she produced proof the device had been cable-tied behind her rear wheel.

• Five MSPs 'filmed by spy cam hidden in parliament toilet

UK - At least five MSPs along with several journalists and staff have been contacted by police over alleged secret toilet recordings in Parliament. Detectives have begun interviewing people already identified in footage understood to be from a covert camera hidden in a cubicle in the Holyrood building. more

• Hidden camera in the women’s toilets at his workplace

Greece - The case came to light when a 50-year-old female coworker at the office in Pallini, in eastern Athens, discovered the device and filed a complaint with local police. Officers recovered a memory card from the camera containing footage of the man adjusting the device. (doh! Darwin Award) more

• Police arrest man after recording device found in North Grenville daycare

Canada - Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the discovery of a recording device inside a daycare in North Grenville.

Police say officers with the Grenville County OPP Detachment received a report on Aug. 20 that a recording device was found and an investigation was launched into the “apparent act of voyeurism.” 

more

•  Foot Cam Man

Australia - A man has been charged after allegedly filming teenage girls with video cameras hidden inside his shoes (photo) in Sydney’s inner west. Police allege the 49-year-old man placed modified cameras within the lacings of his shoes and filmed teenage girls in public without their consent. The girls were believed to be aged between 12 and 15, police said. more

Eavesdropping Prevention: Acoustical Leakage Attenuator - Stick it Up Your Air Duct

The Phase Gradient Ultra-Open Metamaterial developed at Boston University has the potential to solve a long-standing problem in acoustics.

A new breakthrough from the Zhang Lab at Boston University is making waves in the world of sound control...making the technology viable in new environments such as factories, offices, and public spaces, where diverse and unpredictable sound frequencies are common and airflow remains essential.

Their latest advance centers on broadband silencing...the use of phase-gradient metamaterials, giving rise to the Phase Gradient Ultra-Open Metamaterial (PGUOM).

“PGUOM takes a smarter approach — more like noise-canceling headphones — effectively silencing a broadband of unwanted sounds,” said Zhang. “It remains highly effective even as the noise shifts in pitch or volume, making it far more practical in dynamic settings like open offices, ventilation systems, or transportation hubs, where sound sources are unpredictable and span a wide range of frequencies.” more

Recent Spy News

U.S. military contractor accused of trying to spy for China charged with espionage in Germany
CBS News
An American man who worked at a U.S. military facility in Germany has been indicted for allegedly offering to supply sensitive information to ...

Australia expels Iranian ambassador after spy agency finds Iran directed antisemitic attacks on its soil
CNN
Australia is expelling the Iranian ambassador to Canberra after the country's intelligence agency found that Iran was behind at least two ...

Schools' safety tools are spying on kids — even at home - Fox News
Fox News
Schools' safety tools are spying on kids — even at home. UC San Diego study finds early one-third of school safety companies rate students based on ...

Popular free VPN caught spying on users | Information Age | ACS
Information Age | ACS
A popular free VPN has been accused of spying on its userbase after security researchers observed it taking non-consenting screenshots of user ...

YouTuber appears in Hisar court in spying case - The Tribune
The Tribune
YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who is facing allegations of spying for Pakistan, appeared in person before a Hisar court on Monday after spending 95 ...

Corporate Leaders Targeted by Android Spyware Masquerading as Security Apps

Security experts at Doctor Web have uncovered the spread of a sophisticated Android spyware campaign aimed at Russian business leaders...

Distributed through APK files disguised as security programs, the spyware is most commonly presented as an application called GuardCB, complete with an icon that mimics the emblem of the Central Bank of the 

Other versions carry names such as “SECURITY_FSB” or simply “FSB,” in an attempt to masquerade as software from law enforcement or regulatory bodies. 

With an interface available only in Russian, the malicious application is clearly designed for a narrow target audience rather than the global user base. more

Guess who might be behind this.

Corporate Espionage: Apple vs Oppo Legal Battle

Apple and Oppo are embroiled in a major corporate espionage battle that has raised questions about the theft of trade secrets in the global tech industry. 

Apple has just lodged a federal lawsuit against Oppo, claiming the Chinese tech titan purloined vital trade secrets. The allegations are grave, and Apple had delivered a compelling evidence in support of the allegations.

According to Apple, Chen Shi, former Apple employee, moved the sensitive files to a USB drive one day before he parted ways with the company. Apple said Shi had viewed sensitive content in the middle of the night days before he left. The case itself is known as Oppo corporate espionage, and the phrase has started to pop up amongst the hot tech news outlets of today. more

Of Taiwan’s Inspected Hotels 50% use Measures to Detect Hidden Cameras

 (In the other half you could be an Only Fans free trial.)

Taiwan - The Consumer Protection Committee on Thursday announced the results of a May inspection of 21 hotels across seven cities and counties, finding that 11 had adopted measures to detect hidden cameras.

Of the hotels inspected, nine carried out hidden-camera detection on a regular schedule and two did so irregularly. Two others claimed to provide such services, but only one met its stated standards.

Inspectors ordered the removal of related signage at hotels that failed to meet their claims. more

Message to Innkeepers: Click here.

UNDERCOVER VIBES (The TSCM Song)

This is my experiment to show the developing power of artificial intelligence. 

Lyrics, music and vocal were all created in 2 minutes, by asking AI, ” Create a song about TSCM inspections.”

AI also suggested the following in order to make the song into a radio play hit: English, Upbeat Pop/Dance-Pop, energetic and accessible, with memorable hooks and singable melodies. Classic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure. Production: polished vocals, punchy drums, bright synths, catchy bass lines.

You can listen to two versions of the song here.

The Arduino Bug - Want to make one?

In this project, we are going to build an audio bug using Arduino and NRF24L01. 

This audio spy bug is highly customizable and can be easily integrated with other devices and systems. The NRF24L01 module allows transmission over specific channel, ensuring that our transmissions remain private up to a level. 

This device is perfect for monitoring a baby room, keeping an eye on a pet, or even for professional surveillance. With its small size and easy portability, this audio spy bug is a must-have for anyone in need of discreet and reliable audio recording. more  video

Our variation on the theme... more

The Irishman Caught in 'Biggest Corporate Espionage Case of the Century'

Secret messages, codewords and a phone smashed with an axe...

The story of Dublin man Keith O’Brien made international headlines when his employer, a major US HR services firm, set a “trap” to identify how confidential information was being leaked – and the saga is not over yet. His 13-page confession was read to the High Court, where he told how he spied on his multinational employer for a rival for a fee of over €5,000 a month. That is, until he was caught.

In an affidavit filed with the High Court, Keith O’Brien, who was global payroll compliance manager of Rippling, said he was induced into spying and passing sensitive company information to the CEO of rival US firm Deel Inc.

The admission was disclosed during an application to join Deel, its French chief executive Alex Bouaziz and two solicitors working for Deel – Italian national Andrea David Mieli and UK-based Asif Malik – as co-defendants in corporate espionage proceedings taken by Rippling against Mr O’Brien last month. more

NYC woman found a phone buried in her lawn...

 — and police say it’s a new tactic thieves use to spy on homeowners.

Scientists use Vibration Detection to Eavesdrop on Smartphones

An emerging form of surveillance, “wireless-tapping,” explores the possibility of remotely deciphering conversations from the tiny vibrations produced by a cellphone’s earpiece. 

With the goal of protecting users’ privacy from potential bad actors, a team of computer science researchers at Penn State demonstrated that transcriptions of phone calls can be generated from radar measurements taken up to three meters, or about 10 feet, from a phone. 

While accuracy remains limited — around 60% for a vocabulary of up to 10,000 — the findings raise important questions about future privacy risks. more