Wiretapping and Eavesdropping Research Paper

EARLY RESTRICTIONS ON ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE

The Supreme Court first considered the constitutionality of wiretapping in the 1928 case of Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928). The Court ruled that governmental wiretapping of telephone conversations fell outside the protection of the Fourth Amendment. The Court based its conclusion upon a narrow, textual reading of the amendment. First, the Court found that words spoken into a telephone were not tangible things and thus could not be subjected to a search or seizure. Second, it reasoned that because wiretapping could be accomplished without a trespass, there was no physical invasion of property to justify invoking the Fourth Amendment. Finally, the Court assumed that one who uses the telephone ‘‘intends to project his voice to those quite outside.’’

The ruling in Olmstead was controversial. more

Covenant Eyes: God isn't the only one watching you...

Churches are using invasive phone-monitoring tech to discourage “sinful” behavior. Some software is seeing more than congregants realize.

GRACEPOINT is (an) evangelical Southern Baptist church... when Grant Hao-Wei Lin came out to a Gracepoint church leader during their weekly one-on-one session, he was surprised to learn that he wasn’t going to be kicked out. According to his church leader, Hao-Wei Lin says, God still loved him in spite of his “struggle with same-sex attraction.”

But Gracepoint did not leave the matter in God’s hands alone. At their next one-on-one the following week, Hao-Wei Lin says the church leader asked him to install an app called Covenant Eyes on his phone...

Covenant Eyes is part of a multimillion-dollar ecosystem of so-called accountability apps that are marketed to both churches and parents as tools to police online activity. For a monthly fee, some of these apps monitor everything their users see and do on their devices, even taking screenshots (at least one per minute, in the case of Covenant Eyes) and eavesdropping on web traffic, WIRED found. The apps then report a feed of all of the users’ online activity directly to a chaperone—an “accountability partner,” in the apps’ parlance. When WIRED presented its findings to Google, however, the company determined that two of the top accountability apps—Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You—violate its policies. more

FutureWatch - Metaverse Espionage

By 2026, it is predicted that 25 per cent of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse. There, they’ll be able to participate in activities such as working and shopping, and 30 per cent of firms will have their products and services ready for the metaverse.

The metaverse — which includes blockchains and cryptocurrencies — is still in its early stages. As its possibilities expand, it’s important to consider the potential threats and dangers as the metaverse introduces risks related to legislation, property, control, fraud, privacy threats, ethics and security...

The metaverse can bring many fraud risks, such as market manipulation, cyber breaches and attacks, privacy breaches, money laundering, corporate espionage and identity theft.

Unlike traditional social media platforms, users have no guarantee that the data they share is only shared with those they choose to share it with in the metaverse. That means user identities can be tracked and revealed

As one researcher explains: “We cannot just turn off who can follow our avatars in the metaverse as we can do in the traditional social media.” more

The Flower Pot Bug Wins a Darwin Award

A 59-year-old man who was president of a condo association in the Matanzas Shores community faces four felonies for installing a video camera inside a condominium without the owner's permission, focused on the master bedroom, according to a press release from Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly.

Robert Orr turned himself in... Orr was president of Las Brisas Condo Association within the Matanzas Shores community.

FCSO was notified on August 30 by a woman who had a weekend stay at a condo, Staly said. As she was packing up to leave, she discovered a plugged-in USB camera hidden inside of an indoor flower pot located in the master bedroom she was sleeping in.

FCSO's Major Case Unit examined the camera and found that it contained video of two people in various stages of undress inside the condo, including the female who filed the report and a male who was also staying in the condo that weekend, according to Staly. It also contained videos of Orr testing the camera inside his own condo before it was placed in the flower pot (Darwin Award). more

Sports Spying (again)

Sacramento Republic FC plays Orlando City FC in the finals of the U.S. Open Cup, but there is some controversy ahead of the match.

A Republic FC spokesperson tells CBS13 at they filed a complaint with U.S. Soccer claiming that an Orlando City FC employee was caught spying on the Republic during practice just a couple of days ago...

Republic representatives say they asked the employee to leave but he refused. He eventually left after about 45 minutes -- this after taking various notes and making phone calls.

There are no official U.S. Soccer rules against spying on teams ahead of a finals match. more

...and in U.S. football...  Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage

Using SDRs for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)

One of the several technical techniques your TSCM team uses to detect illegal electronic eavesdropping...

Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is an umbrella term for collecting and analyzing information through the monitoring of radio frequency signals. In the era of remote and wireless communications, intercepting radio information is crucial in any application involving the malicious use of the RF spectrum, including military surveillance, homeland security, and monitoring of illegal RF transmissions. In this article, we discuss the basic concepts of SIGINT/COMINT, the requirements for system design, how software-defined radio (SDR) can contribute to the performance, and the various applications of SDR-based SIGINT.

By detecting strange signals in a hostile electromagnetic environment, SIGINT systems can rapidly adapt to emerging threats, locate unknown and/or illegal devices, and counteract against adversarial interference. SIGINT requires a large variety of devices, techniques, and algorithms for RF signal detection, measurement, processing, exploitation, and manipulation.

The most fundamental component in a SIGINT system is the spectrum analyzer. more

Greece Wiretap and Spyware

It has been dubbed the Greek Watergate. What began as a surveillance of a little-known journalist in Greece has evolved into an array of revelations circling around the Greek government.

The story emerged last spring, when Thanasis Koukakis found out his phone had been infected with spyware that can extract data from a device. He also discovered he had been tracked by Greece's EYP National Intelligence Service via more traditional phone-tapping.

It then emerged that an MEP had also had his phone tapped before he became leader of Greece's third-biggest party. more

Tech Aids Chess Cheating and Possibly More

James Stanley — "I have come up with a new way to win at chess: I have connected up a Raspberry Pi Zero in my pocket to some buttons and vibration motors in my shoes, so that I can surreptitiously communicate with a chess engine running on the Pi. The project is called "Sockfish" because it's a way to operate Stockfish with your socks.

The feet are ideal for this sort of thing, because they're the only part of your body that has any sensible degree of dexterity while still being invisible to casual observers."

Now, imagine this innovative use of technology—easily combined with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other radio-frequency modulation—being used during business negations or advance placement testing. Unsettling, to say the least. 

If you employ a Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) team this is another way they can help you. more

Poisonous Spouses — Spycams to the Rescue!

Man Jailed After Wife's Secret Camera Reveals He Was Poisoning Her Coffees...

A man in Macomb Township, Michigan, has been sentenced to 60 days in prison after his wife set up a camera to catch him poisoning her coffee.

Therese Kozlowski grew suspicious of her husband Brian Kozlowski - from whom she was going through a divorce - after she noticed she felt unwell whenever he made her a coffee.

She subsequently set up a secret camera in the kitchen which showed her husband was lacing her drink with what turned out to be an antihistamine.  more

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California Dermatologist Accused Of Trying To Poison Husband With Drano...

A California dermatologist has been accused of trying to poison her husband with Drano, with footage allegedly captured by a covert nanny cam.

Yue “Emily” Yu, 45, was arrested Thursday by Irvine Police after her husband told authorities earlier that day that he'd begun to suspect his wife was poisoning him when he started to feel sick over the course of a month-long period this summer, according a police statement obtained by Oxygen.com.

Yu’s husband, identified in court papers as radiologist Jack Chen, provided police with “video evidence supporting his suspicion.”

In a statement written to secure a restraining order against his wife, Chen described how he set up a secret nanny cam in the family’s kitchen after beginning to feel ill. more

Pegasus Spyware Maker NSO Avoiding a TKO

Will spyware maker NSO Group's struggles reduce use of its eavesdropping tech? Critics doubt it.

Embattled Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group announced a major reorganization Sunday — replacing its longtime CEO and laying off roughly 100 of its 700 employees — but experts who track the growing trade in surveillance technology say that’s unlikely to curtail deployment of the company’s technology designed to secretly monitor its targets...

More broadly, however, NSO may serve as a cautionary tale for the myriad other spyware vendors around the world hawking their wares. “Spyware tech is a risky investment,” Scott-Railton said. “Investors don’t usually line up to get wiped out.” more

In Other Corporate Spy News...

Enterprise giant Oracle is facing a fresh privacy class action claim in the U.S.

The suit, which was filed Friday as a 66-page complaint in the Northern District of California, alleges the tech giant's "worldwide surveillance machine" has amassed detailed dossiers on some five billion people, accusing the company and its adtech and advertising subsidiaries of violating the privacy of the majority of the people on Earth. more

Demise of a Corporate Spy

Shares of Pegasystems have dropped 65% since the start of the year and are unlikely to recover.

(Spoiler Alert... Appian Awarded $2.036 Billion in Damages Against Pegasystems Inc.) 

Appian, for investors who are unfamiliar, is a fellow SaaS vendor that competes in the business process management (BPM) space and also emphasizes low-code software. Appian sued and won a corporate espionage case against Pegasystems. 

In a nutshell, Pegasystems was found guilty of trade secret appropriation: it hired an employee of a government contractor to provide it with access to Appian software. This contractor then passed information (including video recordings of the Appian development environment) to Pegasystems employees. Pegasystems' CEO, Alan Trefler, was also found to have participated in meetings with this contractor present... Appian won a $2.036 billion judgment in its favor. more

Does your company have a Surreptitious Recording in the Workplace policy? If not, read Surreptitious Workplace Recording — and what to do about it.

A Warning Worth Repeating — iPhone's Spying Feature

iPhone’s ‘spying’ feature lets you eavesdrop on conversations without people knowing...

The Apple iPhone is packed full of secret tools and tricks. But one feature is possibly the sneakiest of them all.

The iPhone's 'Live Listen' feature was originally intended to help people with hearing difficulties better manage conversations in noisy environments.

It lets you listen to a live audio feed through your AirPod earphones using the iPhone's microphone from a distance.

However, if used correctly, it means you could listen in on any conversation from outside a room without anybody else knowing. All you'd have to do is hide your iPhone somewhere in the room. more

Apple AirTag: All Things Technical

Adam Catley has done extensive research into the inner workings of the Apple AirTag. He even has a few things to say about the security of the device...

Privacy Concerns (brief summary below)

While it is possible to use other products similar to AirTag to track people, they cannot benefit from the unmatched global coverage of the FindMy network. This makes the AirTag a more appealing device to people with malicious intent and so privacy features are important.

Let’s look at how reality compares to the claims Apple makes about the AirTag privacy features when the known security issues are considered.

• Sound alerts are infrequent and unlikely
• Speaker can be disabled
• Location can be tracked for the whole day
• Location can be spoofed
• “AirTag Found Moving With You” alert can be avoided
• Location history could be decrypted

more

Spybuster Tip #823 - The Car Thief Cell Phone Trick

Another reason not to leave personal belongings inside your vehicle. Memphis police say car thieves are using their cell phone cameras to look through tinted windows.

During a crime forum in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, Crump station officers said it was a new tool being used by the bad guys looking for items to steal.

They told the group it doesn’t matter how dark the tint is on your windows; when you put a cell phone in camera mode up to the windows, you can see right through them.

We (WREG-TV) put a cell up to a back window; sure enough, you could see everything in the backseat. more

Extra Credit: The reverse of this technique is how spy cameras, hidden behind black plastic, can see you when you can't see them. Learn more.

Video Door Bells Get Their Own TV Show

Wanda Sykes is knocking on the door of syndication with a new series that features videos taken from Ring doorbells.

The comedian is to host Ring Nation, a new twist on the popular clip show genre, from MGM Television, Live PD producer Big Fish Entertainment and Ring.

The series, which will launch on September 26, will feature viral videos shared by people from their video doorbells and smart home cameras.

It’s a television take on a genre that has been increasingly going viral on social media.

The series will feature clips such as neighbors saving neighbors, marriage proposals, military reunions and silly animals. more

David B. Watts - New Book - Shines the Light on a Serious Subject

A Chilling Tale of Child Sex Trafficking in Modern America

As if ripped from today’s headlines, Sex and Souls for Sale is a relevant read. No less a public menace than illegal drugs—nor any other kind of organized crime—child sex trafficking is a fact of life and needs to be discussed and exposed. While difficult to comprehend, it is found right here in modern America.

Private Investigators “Mack” Mackey and Bob Higgins are once again on the case as they thread the needle between law enforcement and a Russian crime family.

Our principal characters are flawed: a corrupt police lieutenant, a conman and extortionist with a chip on his shoulder, and his girlfriend, a reformed drug addict with a mysteriously checkered past. All three dig deep within themselves to rescue the children.

Come along on this perilous trip through the criminal underworld set in the New York/New Jersey Area and learn about this shocking crime: child sex trafficking.
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Author David B. Watts started in life as a young police detective in the turbulent sixties, which launched him into a four-decade career in the private sector as a licensed private investigator. His cases ranged from murder, fraud, and embezzlement to major corporate security issues. David has been active in several investigative professional organizations and is respected among his peers.

Other books by David B. Watts:

• Accidental P.I. – A Private Investigator’s Fifty-year Search for the Facts.

• Loose Ends – Murder in the New Jersey Suburbs.

• The Dementia Conspiracy – Where Crime and Corporate Interests Meet.

David’s books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel. He and his wife, Linda, are celebrating their sixtieth anniversary in 2022. They have lived in rural Hunterdon County, New Jersey for fifty-two years. 

David can be reached at TraffickedUSA@gmail.com

Korean YouTuber Hailed As A Hero For Catching “Spycam Perverts”

...And Turning Them In To The Police... 

The problem of the ‘spycam epidemic’ in Korea is nothing new. For years, it has been debated over by activists and politicians, but it continues to victimize folks whereas perpetrators use the footage to promote to others and even blackmail victims. It has gotten to the purpose the place many lists of tips for vacationers going to Korea typically emphasize vigilance towards spycams, as it’s an uncomfortably frequent prevalence, particularly for ladies.

Now, a Korean YouTuber is taking issues into his personal arms. As reported by Korea-based freelance journalist Raphael Rashid, this native hero has proven he has a knack for locating males who’re illegally filming ladies. He typically catches them after which arms them over to the police, even when the boys beg for mercy. more

BTW, the on-line video course SpyCam Detection Training has Korean subtitles.

Indoor Optical Fiber Eavesdropping Approach and its Avoidance

Eavesdropping exploit found in fibre-optic cables

Researchers in China have created a new technique for long-distance eavesdropping by tapping into fibre-optic cables, which are prominently used in networks across the globe.Abstract: The optical fiber network has become a worldwide infrastructure. In addition to the basic functions in telecommunication, its sensing ability has attracted more and more attention. more

In this paper, we discuss the risk of household fiber being used for eavesdropping and demonstrate its performance in the lab. 

Using a 3-meter tail fiber in front of the household optical modem, voices of normal human speech can be eavesdropped by a laser interferometer and recovered 1.1 km away. 

The detection distance limit and system noise are analyzed quantitatively. We also give some practical ways to prevent eavesdropping through household fiber. more

Eavesdropping via fiber optics is actually far from being new, as anyone who dealt with Mason & Hanger last century could tell you. In fact, we were alerting our clients to fiber optic eavesdropping microphones on our thank you mugs...

"Spy Trick #409 - Fiber Optic Microphone"
1994 - 1999
Number made - 323

Be Careful What You Fish For

The U.S. accused a Chinese MIT professor of spying. Now cleared, he helped discover what may be the ‘best semiconductor material ever found’

A team of researchers has discovered what the Massachusetts Institute of Technology calls the “best semiconductor material ever found,” even better than silicon, the material used in just about every computer chip on earth.

In July, scientists from MIT, the University of Houston, and other institutions announced they had proved that cubic boron arsenide performs better than silicon at conducting heat and electricity, opening up new possibilities for smaller and faster chips. The team includes China-born professor Gang Chen, the former head of MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, who was the subject of a yearlong investigation by the Department of Justice before the agency dropped espionage charges because of lack of evidence. more

Surveillance Documentary: Theo Anthony on All Light, Everywhere

Anthony follows the bliss of two hawkers of cutting-edge surveillance technology. 

In Scottsdale, Arizona, taking corporate assertions of transparency at their word, he is given a PR-guided tour of the headquarters of Axon Enterprise, Inc, formerly known as Taser, manufacturer of electroshock weapons and now runaway leader in the deployment of police body cameras. He tests the tech (and its limits) in a mall, captures the police’s internal rationale for body cameras in a training session, and – with the Axon PR now in overdrive – stages a multi-cam Axon-branded arrest scenario in the desert.

Back home in Baltimore, Anthony also attends to the efforts of Ross McNutt, president of Persistent Surveillance Systems, to sell citizens on his “God’s-eye view” plane-mounted live-feed spy cams – somewhat belatedly, since the tech had previously been deployed in 2016 without disclosure even to the mayor. Now he presents a genial face in community liaison meetings, offering blandishments about providing an “unbiased witness” in “troubled cities”. As Anthony’s voiceover says over an Axon promotional video, “It feels like watching a corporation dream out loud”: the claim is objectivity, the dream is omniscience, the end game is power. One thinks of Jeremy Bentham’s all-seeing panopticon, but also of Naomi Klein’s insights in No Logo into corporate aspirations of weightless, unburdened power. more

Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov Finds a Bed Bug

At home in Lvov, journalist Vitaliy Portnikov, presenter of a program about Espresso and Radio Liberty, found a listening device – a voice recorder with the ability to record for a long time.

About this in facebook Deputy Mykola Kniazhitsky said, reports Ukrinform.

“Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov, presenter of a program on Espresso and Radio Liberty, found a listening device at home in Lviv. This is a voice recorder with the ability to record for a long time. The police were called. They were quickly on the spot. do not know who and what purpose this device has installed: our services, foreign or criminals,” said the politician.

Vitaly Portnikov commented on the incident for “Espresso“: “Today, while cleaning the apartment in which I was located at the end of February, when the war started, I found a recording device under the bed. There was an inventory number on the device. I notified the police of my find so they could investigate the incident.”

Vitaliy Portnikov is a well-known Ukrainian journalist, publicist and political commentator. Works with Radio Liberty and Espresso. more

Wiretap: Listen to What Witness Tampering Sounds Like

...Levy writes in his greivance, “On 6/17/14, my office’s wiretap intercepted a conversation during which Galgano, who was trying a case in Westchester County, gave his Office Manager Stefani Capolongo directions, both in a phone call and via text messages (which he later deleted), describing how a Westchester County prospective juror, known to her, should respond to voir dire questions so as to deceive the DA and court as to her partiality. 

Galgano further directed Capolongo to make sure no one talks to anyone, including the police, a directive that was followed because no one did ultimately cooperate with the police.”

At the time, Galgano was the subject to a wiretap on his phone, for tampering and attempting to bribe a witness in the Putnam County rape case. more

U.S. Government Gets More Aggressive to Curb Espionage at Universities

The U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) thinks the FBI and other agencies are not doing enough to address the espionage threat on U.S. university campuses. 

It issued a report, “Enforcement Agencies Should Better Leverage Information to Target Efforts Involving U.S. Universities” on June 14, 2022, urging the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Commerce to step up their outreach efforts to address the threat. 

Commerce, DHS, and FBI have all concurred with GAO’s recommendations. As a result, U.S. colleges and universities to face yet another organizational risk: an increase in campuses visits by export control and law enforcement agents. more

Facebook May Owe You Money... due to wiretapping laws they transgressed.

Facebook's $90 Million Data Tracking Settlement: Find Out How Much You Could Be Owed

The deadline to find out if you're eligible for a payout is Sept. 22.

Were you on Facebook in 2010 or 2011? 

If so, you may be eligible for part of a class-action settlement from the social media giant stemming from a lawsuit accusing it of tracking users across other websites.

The plaintiffs in the case, Davis v. Facebook, allege the company was aware it violated privacy, communications and wiretap laws -- and its own contract -- by tracking logged-out users.

In 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Facebook profiting from the sale of users' data constituted a breach of privacy that caused economic harm. When the Supreme Court declined to review the case in March 2021, settlement negotiations began. more

Former Twitter Employee Convicted as Saudi Spy, or @jailbird

What does it cost to sell out and hand over the private information of the critics for a despotic regime? 

Apparently $300,000 and a nice watch. 

A former Twitter employee was convicted on six of his original 11 counts of operating as an agent for Saudi Arabia. The verdict came down late Tuesday, and all that’s left is sentencing, which could be up to 20 years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors said that former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. resident born in Egypt who held dual U.S.-Lebanese citizenship, worked as a media partnership manager, helping promote the company while working with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and north Africa. Feds further claimed that while in that job he had been working as a spy on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government from late 2014 to March 2015.

SOS (and more) With the Touch of a Finger

An electronic chip under your fingernail veneer, or anywhere else you care to hide it. 

It seems like spy tech. It is actually just NFC radio-transmission tech; same as when you hold your credit card near the payment terminal instead of swiping or plugging it in. 

The list of practical uses is long. The list of nefarious uses I leave to your imagination.

Virtual Call - Through the IoT Cloud Nail Chip, when you are in an Awkward Situation, you can quickly Schedule a Scheduled Virtual Call through your beautiful Fingertips and customize the reason for leaving. It is the best way to get out. At a critical moment, you can quickly ask for help by touching your mobile phone with your Fingertips, giving yourself more security. 

Information Sharing - Share Various cloud information with friends, such as importing mobile phone electronic business cards, sharing shopping website links, and downloading online disk files. more

FutureWatch: Preventing Microphones from Capturing a Target Speaker’s Voice

Over the decades, there have been many attempts at preventing electronic eavesdropping. The most popular methods employ "white noise" sound masking and ultrasonic jamming. These techniques are aimed at nullifying microphones. While these techniques have their pros and cons, they all share one trait. They target all sounds to all microphones in the area. Not helpful if only one person desires privacy while allowing others to continue communicating using their smartphones, Internet-of Things devices, or hearing aids.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University is working on a solution...

We propose NEC (Neural Enhanced Cancellation), a defense mechanism, which prevents unauthorized microphones from capturing a target speaker’s voice. Compared with the existing scrambling-based audio cancellation approaches, NEC can selectively remove a target speaker’s voice from a mixed speech without causing interference to others. ...The results show that NEC effectively mutes the target speaker at a microphone without interfering with other users’ normal conversations. more

Chinese Backup Chargers can Eavesdrop and Locate Individuals

Chinese media reporters have discovered that backup chargers can eavesdrop, locate citizens, and “live broadcast” citizens’ lives. However, this “spy backup charger,” which violates personal privacy, has been sold widely on e-commerce platforms in recent years. more

Fear the Peeper: 20 Years / 21,000 Covert Videos

Chilling update about hidden cameras that captured 21,000 secret videos of rental guests without consent over 20 years...

Shocking new information is now coming out about the South Carolina resident, who is currently out on a $10,000 bond.

Riviere surrendered to South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agents last week, who have reportedly collected "substantial" and "overwhelming" evidence against the 66-year-old.

Warrants show that the alleged incidents occurred between April and June 2001, when he filmed the victims “for the purpose of arousing or gratifying … sexual desire.”

But Ryan Beasley, an attorney representing the accuser in that case, said evidence from law enforcement shows 21,000 videos dating back almost 20 years. more

Protect yourself against hidden cameras.

Man Charged for Creating International Covert Spyware at Age 15

Australia - The man who is now 24, and his mother have both been charged, over the program used by domestic violence offenders and paedophiles. more / video

Practical Spy Gear: High-Tech Personal Electronics

Let’s rummage around in James Bond’s closet to discover some spy equipment with real-world applications...

Personal electronics have come a long way in just the past few years. This sampling of gear that used to be available only to spies just may prove useful in your daily life.

Uzi Parabolic Listening Kit

This comes in handy when you need to better hear what the referee is saying during a football game or want to listen to the songbirds in your backyard. The parabolic microphone and wind deflector funnel sound to an amplifier so you can hear every word or note clearly.
Keep It Clean

Destruct Pro Data Wipe Key

If you sell your computer or send it in for service, make sure your business or personal information doesn’t go along with it. Using a three-phase data-wiping process, this easy-to-use device can be used as often as needed on any PC whose contents you need to delete.
See What’s Ahead

Lanmodo Vast Pro Night Vision Driving Camera

Driving on dark, snowy, rainy, or foggy roads known to be populated with deer or pedestrians can be stressful. This system provides a clear, crisp image of what’s ahead, up to 984 feet, providing you with time to react. An integrated dashcam records in 1080p high-resolution.

NFL Espionage Book Released Today - "Spies on the Sidelines"

by Kevin Bryant

Hi, I’m so excited to announce that today is release day for Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage! I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has supported me in getting to this point. I’m in debt to so many people for their contributions. Thank you all so much!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Spies on the Sidelines details the collection techniques NFL teams utilize to gather information about their opponents in order to gain a game day advantage, as well as the countermeasures used to defend against these. The book spans the entire history of the league and contains anecdotes from each and every NFL team.

ORDERING INFORMATION

If you still haven’t ordered Spies on the Sidelines (perhaps you’ve been waiting for just this day), here’s how to get yourself a copy—and don’t forget the book makes a great gift for the football fans in your life too.

Hardcover: The hard cover version is most easily purchased through Amazon (as everyone already has an account) but can also be bought through the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield (www.rowman.com), and there is a 30% discount with the code RLFANDF30 if the book is ordered from their website. Other options are also available at www.SpiesOnTheSidelines.com.

E-book: The e-book version can be found at Amazon, Rowman & Littlefield, and Apple Books.

Audio book: Unfortunately it's not quite available. The plan is to have it out by 1 September 2022.

LAWS ON RECORDING CONVERSATIONS IN ALL 50 STATES

2022 Update by MATTHIESEN, WICKERT & LEHRER, S.C.

Individuals, businesses, and the government often have a need to record telephone conversations that relate to their business, customers, or business dealings. 

The U.S. Congress and most states’ legislatures have passed telephone call recording statutes and regulations that may require the person wanting to record the conversation to provide notice and obtain consent before doing so. Most states require one-party consent, which can come from the person recording if present on the call. However, some states require that all parties to a call consent to recording.

Laws governing telephone call recording are typically found within state criminal statutes and codes because most states frame call recording as eavesdropping, wiretapping, or as a type of intercepted communication. State laws may not explicitly mention telephone call recording because of these technical definitions. Accordingly, counsel may need to infer when and under what circumstances a state permits telephone call recording by reviewing prohibited actions.

The big issue when it comes to recording someone is whether the jurisdiction you are in requires that you get the consent of the person or persons being recorded... more

Top Spy News of the Week

A huge data leak of 1 billion records exposes China’s vast surveillance state
One billion resident records were allegedly siphoned from a police database... A massive store of data containing information on about one billion Chinese residents could be one of the biggest breaches of personal information in history. more

How the FBI Wiretapped the World
We finally understand the code behind the Anom phones... For years criminal organizations around the world were buying a special phone called Anom. The pitch was that it was completely anonymous and secure, a way for criminals to do business without authorities watching over their shoulder. It turned out that the whole thing was an elaborate honeypot and that the FBI and law enforcement agencies around the world were listening in. They’d help develop the phones themselves. more

France Spied on Nearly 23,000 People in 2021 Using Technical Tools
France’s National Commission for the Control of Intelligence Techniques has claimed that nearly 23,000 people were spied on by French authorities last year using ‘technical tools’ like geolocation and recording conversations. more

MA - Lawmaker Hopes to Change Wiretapping Law

MA - A Massachusetts state lawmaker outlined his reasons for updating the state wiretapping law to allow victims of domestic violence to record their abusers...

Alex Fopiano was in court today as his lawyer asked the judge to dismiss the criminal charges against him. He is accused of attempting to suffocate his wife, Shauna Fopiano, with a pillow...

She was criminally charged with eight counts of illegal wiretapping for making secret recordings of her husband, her alleged abuser. In a deal approved earlier this month, the charges will be dismissed in six months as long as she commits no other crimes.

"I was shocked that this is something that could still actually happen to somebody in Massachusetts," said state Sen. Patrick O'Connor, R-Weymouth.

The state's wiretapping law makes it a criminal offense to record someone without their permission. O'Connor said it should be updated to include an exemption to give victims of domestic violence the chance to record their abusers. more

17 CIA Tips - Think like a spy and stay safe while on vacation

The CIA is releasing these tips – or travel tradecraft, in spy parlance – as part of its ongoing effort to demystify its work in assisting the American public, according to agency spokesperson Walter Trosin.

I found the CIA's best practices, culled from the experience of its officers in the field, are exceptionally helpful, easy to adopt and especially relevant to Americans in these fraught times.

Here’s how to think like a spy on the ground overseas... more

Walmart Patents Technology to Eavesdrop on Workers

In the latest piece of evidence that we’re living squarely in a dystopia, Walmart has won a patent for technology that will allow bosses to eavesdrop on their workers. 

The audio surveillance technology can measure workers’ performance and listen to their conversations with customers at checkout. The “listening to the frontend” technology, as its called, might never be used—it’s one of many patents the company has applied for in recent years—but shows that company bosses are thinking about how they can use tech to monitor their workers. 

Walmart said in a statement: “We’re always thinking about new concepts and ways that will help us further enhance how we serve customers... more

Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Wiretapping Charge

WV - A former Logan County resident was sentenced today to two years and three months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for prohibited interception of oral communications. Randall Dwight Holden II, 33, was also ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Holden admitted to secretly recording a video of a woman engaged in sexually explicit conduct in her Logan County home on November 25, 2017. The video was later uploaded to the internet without the victim’s knowledge. The video was one of several secretly recorded videos that Holden had created and posted online depicting the victim. 

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). more

In The Listeners, Brian Hochman Details History of Eavesdropping (Book Review)

The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States, by Brian Hochman, Harvard University Press, 368 pages, $33.67

America's first wiretapping conviction happened in 1864. A stockbroker named D.C. Williams had been tapping a telegraph line in California to get corporate information, which he used for advantageous stock trades. The law he broke had been passed two years earlier, making California the first state to regulate wiretapping.

The telephone had not been invented yet, and the transcontinental telegraph had only just been completed. The Golden State's legislators were ahead of the game. Ever since then, legislation dealing with electronic surveillance has been playing catch-up—both with the technology and with public sentiment. more

Thus, Giving GoPro a Whole New Meaning

A GoPro camera found hidden in a bathroom at a high school graduation party in a Petaluma home led to the arrest of a 44-year-old man, California police reported. 

Charles G. Korrell of Ross, California, faces a charge of peeping, Petaluma police said in a news release. Officers were called to the home Tuesday, June 14, when someone found a GoPro camera in a litter box in the bathroom during a graduation party thrown by the resident for their 17-year-old, police said. 

...It had been recording for 30 minutes before being found. An investigation discovered Korrell had accidentally recorded himself placing the camera in the litter box, police said. more

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

Finland shuts down Confucius Institute amid espionage accusations... A cooperation contract between Helsinki University and the Confucius Institute will be terminated following accusations of spreading Chinese soft power, conducting espionage, and an attempt to block discussions on Tibet.

Belgium closed its Confucius Institute in 2019, Sweden and Denmark in 2020, and Norway in 2021. There are currently around 190 institutes in the EU. As of April, the number of institutes in the US had fallen to 18. more

The Strange Spy Case of Dr. Doublelives

An internationally recognized Mexican scientist who pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered agent for the Russian government and spying on an FBI informant in the Miami area, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in a U.S. prison...

Cabrera led a double life — as a cardiac scientist and a foreign agent — while also being married to a woman in Russia and another in Mexico, according to the few public court records. Much of the case was treated as a deep secret on national-security grounds under the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA. more