FBI arrest 10 alleged Russian spies in biggest espionage swoop since Cold War

THE FBI arrested 10 people for allegedly serving for years as secret agents of Russia's intelligence service, the SVR, with the goal of penetrating US government policymaking circles...

 

Intercepted messages showed they were asked to learn about a broad sweep of topics including nuclear weapons, US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumours, CIA leadership turnover, the last presidential election, the Congress and political parties.

The court papers made public on Monday (PDF and PDF) include details of 21st century spycraft more high-tech than anything Jason Bourne knew about... used private Wi-Fi networks, flash memory sticks, and text messages concealed in graphical images to exchange information... (more)

After a secret multi-year investigation, the Justice Department announced the arrests in a blockbuster spy case that could rival the capture of Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel in 1957 in New York. (more)

Colonel Abel, who hide his microfilm inside a hollowed out nickel, inspired one of our client gifts... The Official Espionage Spybuster Spy Coin! Our coin holds a microSD chip and contains the official FBI story about Abel's nickel. 
(click photos to enlarge)

Russia Denounces Arrests over Alleged Espionage

Russia angrily denounced the U.S. arrest of 10 alleged Russian spies as an unjustified throwback to the Cold War, and senior lawmakers said some in the U.S. government may be trying to undercut President Barack Obama's warming relations with Moscow. (more)

Germans Concerned About Industrial Espionage

Companies failing to protect themselves from external attack risk losing their competitive edge. In the information age, the threat of industrial espionage is all too real, with thousands of jobs at stake in Germany.

Some might describe the Cold War era as the good old age of espionage. Everything was clear cut: it was West versus East, capitalism versus communism... the fine art of spying is not dead...

And when it comes to economic espionage – something that is common in this day and age – the methods are generally a touch more subtle, and the prying eyes may be more familiar than you'd think. (more)

Russians Deny Industrial Espionage in Germany

The Russian government rejected Monday claims made by Berlin that its intelligence services were actively involved in industrial espionage in Germany.

The accusations, made in the annual security report published by the Berlin Interior Ministry on June 21, were "from the Cold War era," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said according to the Interfax news agency. (more)

Meanwhile, in the Ivory Towers...

The Netherlands' three Universities of Technology have no plans to take extra steps to prevent spying by foreign delegations, the Nederlands Dagblad reports on Tuesday.

The paper say in April the security service AIVD warned that foreign secret services are sending students to Dutch universities to gather information. In one case, half a delegation was made up of security officials, the AIVD said. 

Delft, Twente and Eindhoven Universities of Technology are most vulnerable to spying because of their focus on nuclear science, biotechnology and nano technology, the paper said.

University officials told the paper combating spying is not a task for academics. (more)

Corporate Espionage... There's an app for that.

A new report from SMobile Systems who specializes in security issues on mobile phones and in the wireless infrastructure, 20% of the available applications on Android Market allow third parties access to personal information of users.

The report says that 20% of Android applications enable third parties to access private or sensitive information that could be used by crooks for malicious purposes including identity theft, mobile banking fraud and corporate espionage. (more)

The SpyCam & Computer Tapping Neighbor

NY - A North Syracuse man was indicted today on charges he spied on one neighbor and illegally used the computer access of another neighbor.

Jesse Reed, 29, of 115 Crystal Drive, was indicted on a felony charge of second-degree unlawful surveillance and a misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of a computer.

Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Ciereck said the investigation began with Syracuse police looking into the downloading of child pornography. The person initially under scrutiny turned out to have been the victim of someone using his computer access to obtain the pornography, the prosecutor said.

That led authorities to Reed, Ciereck said. While police were investigating the child pornography matter, they also discovered equipment had been set up in Reed’s home to spy into the bedroom window of a female neighbor, the prosecutor said. (more)

Proof DIY TSCM Doesn't Work

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged Wednesday with fraud and tax crimes as the government accused him of enriching himself and others by milking $640,000 from the Civic Fund, a tax-exempt charity that he created as a good-works effort to enhance Detroit and improve the city's image.

Kilpatrick instead used it to pay for yoga, golf, camp for his kids, travel, a video about his family's history, cars, polling, college tuition for relatives and much more, including "counter-surveillance and anti-bugging equipment," according to the indictment. (more)

SpyCam Story #580 - The Cardial Infarction

NY - A North Hills cardiologist has been convicted of illegally installing a hidden camera in the office bathroom of his Manhasset practice to secretly spy on patients and employees, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced on Monday.

Vincent Pacienza, 54, was found guilty of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a felony. He will face up to four years in prison in his July 30 sentencing...

...Pacienza told his female employees that he would be installing an air purifier in the office restroom shared by employees and patients. However, the air purifier, which faced the toilet, contained a hidden wireless camera with a direct video feed to a monitor under Pacienza’s desk.

He was caught later that same month when an employee opening the office mail discovered a receipt for the camera and purifier from a website specializing in surveillance equipment... (more)

Dammit Jan...

Transsexual who waged five-year spying campaign on neighbors faces jail...

UK - Jan Krause, 44, videotaped the family and posted the recordings on YouTube, crashed into their cars and erected a roof-mounted device which emitted a high-pitched whine in their direction. One Christmas morning, nurse Carol Story opened the curtains to find Krause sitting outside dressed all in black and wearing a balaclava while taking notes. 

The campaign left 53-year-old Miss Story, a mother of three, upset and angry and she even put the family home on the market.

But she hopes her ordeal is over after Krause, a transsexual, was convicted of harassment at Chester Magistrates' Court. She was remanded on bail for sentence and banned from keeping cameras or recording equipment. (more) (cap)

How To Make a Cell Phone a Spy Phone For Free

In the early days of cell phones simply turning off the ringer and activating an auto-answer feature turned mobile phones into a spyphones.  
Times changed. Manufacturers adjusted the software to counter criticism. Now, as a publicity stunt to sell Internet speedup software, a Scottish firm created this work-around...
1st: You will need the 'Spy' ringtone: Click on the type of ringtone you want and then upload the ringtone to your phone just as normal.

1. Download the Spy.mp3 Ringtone

2. Download the Spy.wav Ringtone

3. Download the Spy.rtx Ringtone

2nd: On your phone select the Spy ringtone, turn off call alert lights (if you can), turn off vibration alert and set your phone to auto-answer; (note - some phones are set up in such a way that you must attach the 'handsfree' wire to allow auto-answer to work.)

That's it! You're done! You now have a top quality, undetectable, spy bugging / listening device that equals the quality of the best and most secret on the market. (more) 

Why mention it?

So you will know what you're up against.

The old auto-answer spyphone trick is back!

Hot Kid Spy Gear

This spy-kid toy is getting rave reviews. 

via thingiemajig.com

"The Ultimate Spy Watch is equipped with 8 thrill seeking features. First is the motion sensor with alarm and date stamp to protect your valuables and to alert intruders whenever they might come. Second is the message decoder to read messages from your fellow spies. For sending messages, it can drop message capsules with a spy paper. A night vision light is included to gain an advantage against your enemies during night time covert operations. A crosshair can definitely make a shot hit or miss, making it an indespensable tool for a spy, is built in too. Of course, watch functions are also a must such as world time for some international missions, stopwatch for time critical missions up to the last mili second, and a wake up alarm which can be very handy for some early morning operations or training. As for an added feature, this 10 inch watch is protected by a locking armor for increased durability - a must for tough agents."

Need more Paper for your Capsules? 

Download and Print Spy Messaging Paper Here." 

(more) (instructions)

Blagojevich Wiretaps in PDF

The federal government's case against Rod Blagojevich centers on recorded conversations involving the former Illinois governor and his associates. Prosecutors are also making those recordings available to the public.

The FBI wiretaps are being played in federal court but anyone with an internet connection can also listen (PDF transcipts at this point in time). Prosecution evidence is posted on the U.S. Attorney's website. (more)

Some things just can't be covered-up.

France's convoluted L'Oréal family fraud scandal became even more convoluted and even more gripping yesterday. Tapes of bugged conversations involving the L'Oréal owner, Liliane Bettencourt, 87, implied that President Nicolas Sarkozy had meddled in legal proceedings in which a society photographer is accused of defrauding France's richest woman of almost a billion euros.

The tapes, leaked to a French investigative website, also suggest that the supposedly senile billionairess was involved in elaborate schemes to hide some of her money abroad. There are cryptic references to campaign payments to ensure the "friendship" of two cabinet ministers, including the employment minister, Eric Woerth.

Ms Bettencourt's former butler was arrested yesterday and faces charges of "invasion of privacy", for allegedly bugging conversations between the L'Oréal heiress and her financial adviser. He has not been named. Tapes of the conversations were sent last week to Ms Bettencourt's only daughter, Françoise, who sent them to the police. (more)

SpyCam Story #579 - "Step right this way."

AL - Shocking allegations against the tourism director for the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce. Police say Justin Hasting set up a hidden camera in a public restroom and video taped women.

Police say the crime happened in the employee restroom at the scenic overlook in Daphne.

Investigators say they were tipped off when two women went in to use the restroom, but Hastings stopped them and told them it was out of order and they would have to use the employee restroom...

Hasting is charged with two counts of criminal eavesdropping and installing an eavesdropping device, which is a federal offense. Hasting is a former radio-host. (more)