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

"Wireman" by Pat Spatfore (book)

“Wireman,” from Newman Springs Publishing author Pat Spatafore, invites readers to look through the lens and become part of a profession that connects them to electronic surveillance, presidential assassins, counterintelligence, and criminal investigations.

The former president and chief executive officer of Secure Communications Service Inc., has completed his new book, “Wireman”: a revealing memoir that gives readers an inside look into a career in law enforcement.

Author Pat Spatafore served in the U.S. Navy as a communications technician and has been a sworn member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. His specialties include electronic surveillance, criminal investigations, and security administration.

Mr. Spatafore worked for a District Attorney’s Office located in New York State and served as a criminal investigator, a senior criminal investigator, and director of the district attorney’s Narcotics Initiative Task Force, retiring at the rank of deputy chief criminal investigator. He was responsible for electronic surveillance and criminal investigations. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s degree. more

The Tapes That Doomed Nixon’s Presidency (50th Anniversary)

Fifty years ago, on July 16, 1973, the country was rocked by the revelation that President Richard Nixon had been secretly recording his conversations in the White House. 

Pressed by Senate investigators, a Nixon aide, Alexander Butterfield, revealed that the president had installed an extensive taping system and that the machines had recorded “everything.” Butterfield’s words electrified the nation, watching live on TV...

Indeed, the tapes effectively doomed his presidency, giving prosecutors reams of evidence to sift through in the cascading Watergate scandal. Worse, they revealed a president speaking so coarsely that it embarrassed many Americans. It was a political disaster and a cautionary tale as well. Since then, no president has taped his official meetings. more  The 18.5 minute gap.

This Week in Spy News Around the World

• 5 suspects detained over alleged espionage for China more
• Ex-Venezuelan spy chief is extradited from Spain to US on drug trafficking charges more
• Nikhil Siddhartha's Spy Movie OTT Release Date/Time on Amazon Prime Video more
• Lookout Discovers Advanced Android Surveillanceware Attributed to China more
• Espionage case: NIA files charge sheet against two including Firozabad youth more

• Russian spy network planned to blow up trains in Poland more

• Chinese man arrested while trying to enter India, cops suspect he's a spy more
And proving once again there is no cure for stupid...
• Alleged classified docs leaker Jack Teixeira argues he should be treated like Trump more

Britain's Intelligence Chief Invites Russians Opposed to War to Spy for MI6

Britain's intelligence chief has made a proposal to Russians opposed to Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine: share any secrets about Moscow, and you'll be kept safe.

During a rare public speech on Wednesday, Richard Moore, chief of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6), drew parallels between present-day Ukraine and the 1968 "Prague Spring," a period of political liberalization and freedom movements that was ultimately crushed by a Soviet Union invasion — triggering defectors to the West. more

AI Espionage: Why Human Spies Remain Essential

Dodged another bullet.     

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, but according to the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency, it won’t replace the necessity of human spies. 

Richard Moore, director of the UK’s foreign intelligence agency, addressed the evolving threats from Russia and Iran in a speech in Prague. Despite the advancements in machine learning, Moore argues that the “human factor” will continue to play a crucial role in intelligence gathering...

In the realm of espionage, the importance of human spies cannot be overstated. The ability to gather intelligence requires human intuition, critical thinking, and adaptability. 

While AI can process vast amounts of data and identify patterns, it lacks the creativity and adaptability that human spies possess. Human spies can navigate complex social dynamics, exploit vulnerabilities, and make nuanced judgments that machines simply cannot replicate. more

U.S. Blacklists 2 Firms - Built Meta, iOS and Android Spyware

The Commerce Department blacklisted two European cyber firms that build spyware software, the Commerce Department announced Tuesday, including technology hawked by both firms that was used to surveil Meta users and reportedly at least one Meta employee.

The software exploited vulnerabilities in Android and iOS software and deployed hundreds of spoof Meta accounts to surveil activists, politicians and journalists around the world.

The firms — Intellexa and Cytrox — were described jointly as traffickers of “exploits used to gain access to information systems, threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide” in a Bureau of Industry and Security press release. more

Privacy Risks: Phones Purchased at Police Auctions

Law enforcement agencies nationwide regularly sell items that are seized in criminal investigations or are unclaimed from lost-and-found inventories. 

Many of these items—vehicles, jewelry, watches and electronic devices like cellphones—end up at online auction houses.

People looking for a bargain can bid on cellphones in bulk, snatching up dozens at rock bottom prices for parts or other uses. This ultimately provides revenue for the police agencies, making for a good deal for everyone involved. Or is it?

A recent study by University of Maryland security experts found that many of the phones sold at police property auction houses are not properly wiped of personal data. The study, conducted over two years with cellphones bought from the largest police auction house in the U.S., uncovered troves of personal information from previous owners that was easily accessible. more

Kevin Mitnick, Hacker Turned Security Consultant, Dies at 59

Kevin Mitnick, who became the country’s most famous cybercriminal after an FBI manhunt and later became a cybersecurity consultant, died on July 16.

Mitnick, who was 59, died of pancreatic cancer, said Kathy Wattman, a spokeswoman for KnowBe4, where Mitnick worked. Mitnick’s survivors include his wife, Kimberley, who is expecting a child this year.

“Mr. Mitnick branded himself the ‘world’s most famous hacker,’ as KnowBe4 called him in a Thursday statement. As the World Wide Web was slowly being adopted across the globe, he broke into the computer systems of companies such as Motorola, Nokia and Sun Microsystems, causing what prosecutors alleged was millions of dollars in damage,” Kelly writes.

“Before he was 30, Mr. Mitnick had already served a brief prison sentence for computer crimes. But his infamy as a hacker was cemented in 1995, when the FBI arrested him in the middle of the night at a North Carolina apartment in a highly publicized raid that capped a 24-hour stakeout outside his home and brought an end to his more than two years as a fugitive.”

Mitnick was a polarizing figure in the cybersecurity community after his release from prison in 2000. “He portrayed himself as a misunderstood ‘genius’ and pioneer, and some supporters said he was a victim of overzealous prosecution and overhyped media coverage,” Kelly writes.

“He became a cause célèbre for the internet,” former federal cybercrime prosecutor Mark Rasch, who investigated Mitnick, told Kelly. “There was this idea that he was liberating data, he was liberating information, and that he was just proving how hacking could be done,” he said. “You had a whole bunch of people in the hacker defense community who thought he was the worst thing in the world, and people in the hacker community who thought he was a demigod.” website

Alert: Not All Documents Labeled Confidential Actually Are

A Harris County Texas District Court jury found a telecom company acted in bad faith by filing a $23 million trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against a rival where the underlying technology was found to not actually be a trade secret...

As Texas courts have noted, and Liquid Networx cited in its motion for directed verdict, affixing a confidentiality label to a document does not necessarily make the information within a trade secret. See Providence Title Co. v. Truly Title, Inc., 547 F. Supp 3d 585, 609 (E.D. Tex. 2021) (“[B]usiness information is not necessarily a trade secret simply because it is confidential.”)...

It is important to always consider the nature of the document, how it was created, what value comes from keeping it confidential, what efforts are made to keep it from third parties, and what safeguards are used when it is disseminated to third parties, in analyzing trade secrets. more

Note: TSCM information security surveys are used by savvy businesses to show serious trade secret protection efforts. 

South Korean Spy Luck, or Pearls of Wisdom

For weeks, counterintelligence officials at South Korea's spy agency struggled to crack a tiny adversary — a locked USB stick that they believed was the key to proving that a South Korean labor activist followed orders from the North to foment unrest in the South...

The solution to this dilemma was randomly discovered by a NIS agent, who stumbled upon a string of gibberish written in the Latin alphabet that read, “rntmfdltjakfdlfkehRnpdjdiqhqoek,” in another data storage device owned by Seok. 

When the NIS agent typed out Korean letters in the same locations on a computer keyboard as these Latin letters in the same order, they spelled out, “Even three sacks of pearls only turn into treasure if you weave them together.”

The Korean proverb proved key to uncovering the cipher officials needed to crack the USB and the word document inside it. more