"The village called. They want their idiot back."

Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are now so aware every phone conversation may be monitored that they actually get on the line to taunt NSA interpreters who sit in relay centers to translate and distribute transcripts as quickly as possible. "They love to get on our bands and taunt us and especially our interpreters," said the intelligence source. (more)

"So, uh, what happened to the ones you did use?"

Tanzania - Police in Dar es Salaam has distanced itself from recording devices found in two hotel rooms rented out to two parliamentarians in Dodoma.

The Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr Robert Manumba, told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that Government intelligence unit, no longer uses such devices because they are of obsolete technology...

Dodoma police commander Omar Mganga, said in a statement on Saturday that preliminary investigation by experts on information technology identified the devices as EDIC-Mini Tiny, with a capacity to record for 10 hours. (more)

So, let's have a peek at this "obsolete technology."
EDIC-Mini Tiny - Miniature Edic-Mini Tiny digital voice recorder (DVR) is intended for professional recording voice messages into flash memory. The DVR features an extremely small size and weight, long record time (varying with the model – from 18 to 300 hours at the sample rate of 8 kHz, and 2 bit ADPCM compression), very low power consumption, wide frequency range (100- 10000Hz), wide dynamic range and a highly sensitive built-in microphone. A built-in real time clock and a calendar are provided, as well as the mode of start-up by timer. Due to the absence of moving parts, the DVR functions in a wide temperature range, under vibration and dusty conditions.

The model records high quality stereo audio signal from two external microphones on built-in flash memory. It is powered by the rechargeable battery (with 120 mAh capacity), which can be charged from USB port of a PC.

The DVR has a Voice Activating System (VAS) which effectively compresses pauses in messages, therefore increasing the actual record time. Using this system saves memory during pauses, but the time intervals remain. When downloading records to PC, the pause length can be either restored (as silence) or passed depending on the settings made.

One might think, being "obsolete technology," one would have a difficult time finding one for sale. (click here)

Privacy Compromiser's Privacy Compromised

Germany - Lax password security allowed hackers to bust into the German interior minister’s website, it has emerged.

Hacktivists pwned the website of Wolfgang Schäuble on Tuesday in protest against new wiretapping and data retention laws. They posted links inviting visitors to a protest website "Vorratsdatenspeicherung". (more)
Divine Internet farfegnugen.

SpyCam Story #517 - Teacher vs Student

KY - Police in Mayfield have arrested a middle school teacher after he was seen under some bleachers allegedly photographing beneath cheerleaders’ skirts.

The Paducah Sun reported 51-year-old Steve L. McCuiston of Murray was charged with voyeurism, eavesdropping, disorderly conduct and evidence tampering.

McCuiston is on paid leave from his job as a science teacher at Livingston County Middle School. (more)

SpyCam Story #516 - They're everywhere, they're...

IA - An admitted peeping Tom is accused of spying on "at least" 100 unsuspecting naked women through holes in the bathroom vents at a Sioux City hotel.

According to court documents, former hotel maintenance worker Robert Ray Campbell, 51, told detectives he had spied on "at least" 100 female guests at the Rodeway Inn and Conference Center, then known as Quality Inn.

Police discovered holes in bathroom vent filters while inspecting a maintenance hallway. Court documents filed Tuesday say holes were cut or torn into the filter of every bathroom vent in the building. The hotel has 153 rooms, according to its Web site. (more)

Cartoonist takes a biting look at HOA drama

CO - Homeowners associations towing away cars over unpaid dues. An HOA president engaging in illegal wiretaps of his neighbors...
These could be the latest horror stories from Colorado Springs' covenant-controlled neighborhoods...These are scenarios created by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Peters for his nationally syndicated "Mother Goose and Grimm" newspaper comic strip. (more) (more cartoons)

"Bugs don't kill people. People..." Part I

UK - The wealthy businessman accused of murdering his wife after listing ways to dispose of her body yesterday admitted attacking her in a rage.

Martin Hale, 52, said he hit wife Maureen several times after bugging her car and hearing her say she never loved him.

The jury heard the attack left her with a bloody nose and a sprained neck. Mrs Hale, 42, disappeared on June 22, 1999 - 10 days after she filed a divorce petition in which she said she lived in fear of her husband, the court heard. (more)

Defending, Richard Christie asked: 'Did you kill your wife?' Mr Hale, wearing a dark suit and pale blue shirt, calmly replied: 'No'.

He denied offering a friend £20,000 to hire an incinerator at a pet crematorium a month after his wife disappeared.

The company director, who ran a fruit and veg importing business, also denied borrowing a shovel from work to dispose of her body. (more)

"Bugs don't kill people. People..." Part II

UK - Gary Grinhaff, 44, an electrical engineer, battered his wife Tracey, 42, a former hairdresser, to death after she changed her profile on the social networking website to: "Currently splitting up with my husband."

Mr Grinhaff conducted his own private investigations after becoming convinced that his wife had rekindled a relationship with one of his close friends, an inquest heard.

He bugged her 4x4 vehicle to eavesdrop conversations, fitted it with a tracking device and secretly bought a Ford Escort which she would not recognise while he follow her in disguise. (more)

The Top 10 Female Spies

via askmen.com...
"There is a tendency to regard high-stakes espionage as a man’s domain, but history repudiates this myopic view -- in spades. In fact, for centuries women have served their allegiances with as much distinction, bravery and awe-inspiring efficacy as their male counterparts. The only ostensible difference can be found in the breadth of their methodologies..." (The Top 10 Female Spies)
Entertaining look at real spy history. NSFW depending upon your employer.

Exclusive: Foreign spies bug British offices

UK - Spies from at least 20 countries are targeting British businesses to steal industrial secrets.

Spooks are bugging offices, intercepting phone calls and infiltrating corporations to gain commercial details worth millions.

Senior security sources say networks from Iran, Russia and China are "highly active" here. But other so-called allies such as France, Spain and Saudi Arabia are also involved.

A report leaked to the Sunday Mirror says medical advances, particularly in genetics, are one of the spies' main targets. It states: "Intelligence services ... are targeting commercial enterprises far more than in the past.

A security source said: "If you can steal information you can save yourself years of expensive research." (more) (an additional 4 reports)

The FBI reports the same is true in the United States.
Did you know, espionage is preventable. (click here)
Need a band? Call the "Men In Black!" (more)

Bugging Device Found - Secretary General Slaa

Tanzania - There was drama in Dodoma when gadgets believed to be bugging devices were found on Thursday night in the hotel rooms of Chadema Secretary-General Willibrod Slaa and another opposition MP, both of whom are attending the current parliamentary session...

The other MP targeted by the unknown people who planted the high tech devices in the rooms is the Civic United Front (CUF) representative for Konde, Dr Ali Tarab Ali...

The two politicians then teamed up and scoured Dr Slaa's room together for any suspicious objects and were stunned to find what looked like recording gadgets tucked under the mattress.

Alarmed, Dr Ali, also suspecting that he might also have been targeted, checked in his room. And to his shock, he unearthed a similar gadget, also hidden under his mattress.

Speaking to reporters after the discovery of the recording device in his room, Dr Slaa said: "I have read widely about bugging and I know, how these devices work." (more)

Deutsche Bahn CEO Apologizes For Spying Scandal

Germany - The board of directors at Deutsche Bahn "apologizes to its employees," Mehdorn said after a meeting with the workers' council on Friday in Frankfurt. The Transnet, GDBA and GDL unions had already been demanding that Mehdorn issue an apology for the two surveillance operations conducted on employees. (more) (sing-a-long)

Spy vs Spy Satellites

US aerospace colossus Boeing says it has conducted successful ground testing of America's planned "space surveillance" satellite system. The idea, essentially, is spy satellites to spy on other spy satellites. (more)

The Reign in Spain...

...falls mainly on the plain.
Madrid Spying Scandal Probed
Spain - The legislative assembly of the Autonomous Community of Madrid on Friday created a commission to investigate a supposed network of agents that spied on local top officials...

Francisco Granados, the advisor of the Madrid cabinet's Presidency, Justice and Interior Affairs, created a secret service to watch over political figures and officials.

That apparatus, made up of former policemen and civil guards, is intended to obtain undisclosed information through its own and contacts with police organs, according to the daily. It is like a detective agency formed by former professionals who exploit old contacts, but with public money and protected by the regional government. (more)

Soccer-Japan Launches Anti-Spying Policy

Japan will train under a blanket of security from Saturday ahead of next week's World Cup qualifier in Yokohama against Australia for fear of spies leaking their tactics. (more)

Your Wireless SpyCam Detector Won't Work Here

Q. Which one is transmitting covert video?
Q. Which one is a spycam?





















A. None of them are transmitting covert video.
A. All of them are spycams.

They don't need a wireless connection to a separate recorder.
They record to an internal SD chip. (more)
You will need help discovering DVR spycams. Call us.

Pennsylvania's Strange Wiretap Law Strikes Again

PA - A cell phone voicemail recorded a man shot to death by an off-duty SEPTA police officer.

Joe McNair and SEPTA police Sgt. Darryl Simmons got into an altercation on a Perkiomen Township road in Montgomery County on September 17, 2008. McNair had made a call on his cell phone.

The person McNair called didn't pick up so the call went to voicemail, recording the rest of the incident.

McNair's family later learned of the voicemail recording and believe it sheds new light on the incident. They took it to the Montgomery County District Attorney's office and now to the NBC10 Investigators.

Simmons' attorney insists the recording doesn't change a thing and in fact, feels the recording may be illegal and in violation of Pennsylvania's wiretap law. Montco D.A. Risa Ferman says, "One difficult issue with which we are grappling is that our research suggests this recording may violate the wiretap act." If it does break the wiretap law, the recording would not be admissible as evidence. (more)

Other problems caused by Pennsylvania's eavesdropping and wiretapping law... (here) (here) (here)

Spies Building Special Places To Call Their Own

U.S. - A sort of national laboratory for eavesdropping and other spycraft, IARPA will move into its new 120,000-square-foot home in 2009. (more)

Lebanon - Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud announced on Tuesday that a center specializing in wiretapping would be completed by April 2009. (more)

No, not an AC/DC song played really loud.

New bill would allow use of audio Tasers
PA - Police officers in Pennsylvania might soon be able to record the use of their Taser stun guns, thanks to legislation being introduced by state Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore... Under current law, all parties involved in “intercepted communication” must know about and have consented to the interception for it to be lawful. (more)

Another Solution to VoIP Eavesdropping

From their press release...
"Paranet Solutions, LLC, a leading global provider of Data Center, Network Infrastructure and Enterprise Services and Solutions, announced today that it has expanded its Security Solutions Suite to include VoIP Security Services in order to identify and prevent Illegal Reconnaissance, Malicious Service Disruption, Eavesdropping, Message Manipulation, Services Theft, VoIP Spam, VoIP-to-Data-Exploits and Quality Degradation. Paranet's VoIP security solution is anchored with a comprehensive vulnerability and threat assessment." (release)

When a butterfly flaps its wings from China...

...you won't know it.
From the seller's web site...
Dualband GSM 900/1800 Spying Bug Audio Transmitter
$33.98, Free shipping!

Model: XF-168 - Ultra easy to use: simply insert SIM card and turn the device on. After the "phone" registers on your cell phone network, simply dial the SIM card's phone number to start listening.

- Perfect for monitoring home and office environments
- Fills the curious mind of eavesdroppers (note the law in some countries requires you to inform people you are eavesdropping on)
- Works silently to prevent exposure
- No location and no distance constrains. Works as long as there is GSM 900/1800 cell phone coverage
(an even cheaper model)

Last year, this was a very difficult eavesdropping attack to detect - even when the bug was transmitting.

Murray Associates developed a special detection technique. It is very effective. We use it on our corporate and government sweeps.

GSM Bugs
$33.98!
Free shipping!
Internet distribution!
You know these bugs are out there.
"What have you done to protect your company?"
Call us, before someone else asks you that question.
Like, your boss.

...and they heard you say, "Who isn't."

Russian private security companies are no longer permitted to use special surveillance equipment, Russia's official newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said on Tuesday.

According to recent amendments to the law on private security companies, they are banned from using special spy, surveillance and tapping equipment. They are also not permitted to use any police or security service identification in their work...

Over 200,000 people are currently employed as private investigators in Russia. (more)

Spybusting Can Be Dangerous

Peru - Gunmen tried to kill Peru's attorney general amid a high-profile corruption investigation... Saturday's attack on Attorney General Gladys Echaiz was an assassination attempt... Echaiz is overseeing the investigation of an alleged bribery involving state oil executives, and an illegal wiretapping ring allegedly run by Peruvian navy officers.

Echaiz's bodyguards engaged the gunmen in a shootout and repelled the attack, taking the attorney general to safety.

The suspects, who fled in an SUV, have not yet been identified, officials said. (more) (background)

"Beware of...," still sayeth the Turks.

Beware of strangers bearing high-tech gifts
Turkey - As the country is mired in wiretapping claims, a parliamentary committee has warned against giving phones as gifts and also proposed a ban on the sale of communication devices to anyone other than the intended user, as part of preventive measures against such invasions of privacy.

The Parliamentary research committee, which was established to search the wiretapping claims made by senior politicians, judges and newspapers, released its report last week.

"Telephones, keyboards or other electronic devices given by unknown people or organizations should not be accepted as gifts. E-mails or phone messages from unknown sources should not be opened and read," the report read. (more)

Extra Credit:
We all know the historical expression
"Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,"
and the definition of a Trojan Horse.
Where is Troy?
Pay attention to the Turkish Parliamentary research committee.
They know what they are talking about. (answer)

Every teacher has eyes in the back of their head

Spy High - Staff accuses principal of spying on them...
CA - One Jesse Bethel High School employee who didn't want her name published, said the principal has been pointing the cameras on classrooms "to spy on his teachers, to see when they're late," the employee said. "He tells the teachers he's doing it. Something tells me that's not what they're for." (more)