So, A Man Steals A Cherry-Picker...

...while undercover L.A. sheriff’s deputy is using it to remove concealed surveillance cameras!

A man carjacked an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department bucket truck early Wednesday morning while a sheriff’s deputy was precariously positioned high above the ground in the bucket, authorities said....

Two undercover deputies were using the truck to remove concealed cameras when a man jumped into the vehicle, said he had to go to the hospital and began to drive away, law enforcement sources told The Times.

When the carjacking took place, one of the deputies was elevated in the bucket.

The man conducted a takeover of a 2011 Ford F550 utility bucket truck on the corner of Spring and Temple streets around 5 a.m. while two deputies were in the vehicle, according to a department bulletin. A deputy received minor injuries during a struggle with the carjacker and was treated at a hospital, according to a department statement. more

P.S. I'll bet there is at least one very nervous citizen who frequents that part of town.

Supermarket Facial Recognition: "Attention. Miscreant in Asile 5."

The facial recognition system used by New Zealand’s supermarket chain Foodstuffs to prevent retail crime is compliant with privacy rules but questions still remain about bias and negative impacts on Māori and Pacific people, according to the country’s privacy watchdog...

The trial covered 25 supermarkets in which more than 225.9 million faces were scanned ... the system was effective at reducing harmful behavior, especially reducing serious violent incidents...The system only identified people who have engaged in seriously harmful behavior, while people under 18 or deemed vulnerable were not included on the list.

The Privacy Commissioner’s Office is currently working on New Zealand’s first code of practice for regulating biometric data, slated to be released by mid-2025. more

Book: Cyber for Builders: The Essential Guide to Building a Cybersecurity Startup

Cyber for Builders: The Essential Guide to Building a Cybersecurity Startup

by Ross Haleliuk

Reader Review: “Cyber for Builders" offers an essential roadmap for navigating the cybersecurity vendor landscape.

Most cybersecurity books are written for hackers, security leaders and practitioners, and a general audience. 

This book is different as it is intended first and foremost for builders - startup founders, security engineers, marketing and sales teams, product managers, VCs, angel investors, software developers, investor relations and analyst relations professionals, and others who are building the future of cybersecurity. 

Cyber for Builders provides an overview of the cybersecurity industry from entrepreneurial lenses, breaks down the role of a variety of industry players, from investors to channel partners and acquirers, and offers insight into the trends shaping the future of security. 

Moreover, the book is packed with mental models, notes, and advice to help early-stage cybersecurity founders get their ideas off the ground and solve problems faced by young companies around problem discovery, hiring, building products, and fundraising, to name some. more

From the Off-Topic Files

The world's largest freely available fart recording dataset.
This dataset contains over 7500 fart recordings that were collected over a period of 37 months.

Suggested Uses

• Unsupervised signal classification - You can experiment with categorizing farts without any preexisting knowledge of defining characteristics and potentially apply these learnings to other signal types - speech, radar, tv, radio, light, EEG.

• Supervised signal recognition - This dataset could be used to experiment with developing deep learning models capable of recognizing whether a sound is a fart. An interesting property of farts is variable frequencies and inconsistent durations.

• Sound effects creation - This dataset could be used by sound designers or audio engineers as a basis to create new sound effects for movies, video games, or other media. You could also simply use it as a publicly available and free source of farts.

• Education and outreach - Educators and scientists can use this dataset as an approach to better engage their audiences in signal processing and deep learning.

License

• This data is publicly and freely available to use and modify however you would like. There is no license and no limitations for use. I would appreciate being notified of this data being used publicly, purely for my own entertainment. more

Belgium Bugged Football Stadium Box to Spy on Huawei MEP Lobbying

Belgian security agents bugged a corporate box at the RSC Anderlecht football stadium that was being used by Chinese tech giant Huawei to schmooze members of the European Parliament.

They also listened into other conversations involving one of Huawei’s leading lobbyists, including in his car. 

The surveillance operations, confirmed by three people with close knowledge of the investigation, formed part of a wide-ranging probe into allegations of corruption that was first revealed in March. They contributed to the Belgian prosecutor’s decision, reported by POLITICO on Monday, to request that a group of MEPs have their immunities lifted so they can be investigated. more

Dutch Government: More Forms of Espionage to be a Criminal Offence

More than state secrets...
Legislation already exists which makes traditional espionage, such as sharing state secrets, a criminal offence. The problem is that espionage is changing in terms of its manifestations and use.

Espionage targets more than just state secrets. Indeed, foreign governments are also interested in sensitive information which is not a state secret about a particular economic sector, or which is related to political decision-making. Such information can be used to influence political processes, weaken the Dutch economy, or play allies off against each other. 

Espionage may also involve activities other than sharing information, such as stealing high-tech know-how, sabotaging vital infrastructure, exerting an influence on political decision-making, or endangering Dutch citizens with a migration background. more

Türkiye: China Is Spying on Uyghurs Using Fake Cell Towers

Turkish intelligence has dismantled a Chinese espionage network operating on its soil. This network had been conducting surveillance on Uyghur refugees as well as Turkish officials using advanced technology, particularly fake mobile towers.

Earlier this month, Turkish intelligence agents arrested seven suspects and discovered their vehicles outfitted with IMSI-catcher devices. These devices, which emulate genuine base stations, can intercept data, call logs, conversations, and other sensitive information from nearby mobile phones.

Intelligence sources indicate that some members of this espionage ring entered Türkiye as recently as March. However, a report last week disclosed that the network has been operational for the previous five years. more

China’s Spy Agency Warns - Foreigners Posing as Scholars, Tourists or ‘Insincere Lovers’

‘Don’t be fooled by sweet talk,’ ministry says in social media post.

Chinese citizens should be on alert for friendly foreign faces who could be spies – from scholars who do not do research and tourists who do not sightsee, to lovers who only want information, the country’s top spy agency has warned.

In a post on its official social media account on Sunday, the Ministry of State Security said foreign spies might be hiding in plain sight, using various identities to carry out activities that threaten China’s national security.

It highlighted five deceptive identities commonly used by foreign spies: tourists who do not sightsee, scholars who conduct no real research, businesspeople who do not do business, investigation consultants who do not investigate, and “insincere lovers” who exploit relationships to gather information. more

FutureWatch / Spytech: Contact Lenses Allow Seeing in the Dark, Even With Eyes Closed

Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light. 

Unlike infrared night vision goggles, the contact lenses, described in the journal Cell, do not require a power source—and they enable the wearer to perceive multiple infrared wavelengths. Because they're transparent, users can see both infrared and visible light simultaneously, though infrared vision was enhanced when participants had their eyes closed.

"Our research opens up the potential for noninvasive wearable devices to give people super-vision," says senior author Tian Xue, a neuroscientist at the University of Science and Technology of China. "There are many potential applications right away for this material. For example, flickering infrared light could be used to transmit information in security, rescue, encryption or anti-counterfeiting settings." more

AI Can't Protect It's IP Alone - It Needs TSCM

From her new book, Empire of AI, by journalist Karen Hao.

Sam Altman Asked for a Countersurveillance Audit of OpenAI

Altman himself was paranoid about people leaking information. He privately worried about Neuralink staff, with whom OpenAI continued to share an office, now with more unease after Elon Musk’s departure. Altman worried, too, about Musk, who wielded an extensive security apparatus including personal drivers and bodyguards. 

Keenly aware of the capability difference, Altman at one point secretly commissioned an electronic countersurveillance audit in an attempt to scan the office for any bugs that Musk may have left to spy on OpenAI. more

Got worries about your intellectual property? Get MA.

This Week in Spy News

Vlogger, Jyoti Malhotra

• The corporate espionage fight between Rippling and Deel again has escalated, and this time appears to involve a third HR software "unicorn." more

• Netherlands expands espionage laws to include cyber activities more

• After vlogger arrest, Haryana says more YouTube channels under espionage scanner more & more & more

• Russia’s intelligence services turned Brazil into an assembly line for deep-cover operatives. A team of federal agents from the South American country has been quietly dismantling it. more

• Why seduction is the weapon of choice in spying more

• Corrections sergeant accused of voyeurism - accused of putting a camera inside a shampoo bottle more

• Sen. Steinhardt sounds alarm after spy tech found in Chinese solar inverters more

• Bartender arrested for hidden cameras in restaurant bathroom, home more

• FBI Director Kash Patel Abruptly Closes Internal Watchdog Office Overseeing Surveillance Compliance more

• Researchers warn of China-backed espionage campaign targeting laid-off US workers more

• What China's spies are doing in the U.S., and what happens when they're caught more (CBS 60 Minutes)

• CIA Gadget-Maker Rates 11 Spy Gadgets In Movies And TV video

The Cold War Spy Technology Which We All Use

From: The Thing (aka The Great Seal Bug), to RFID cardkeys and tap-to-pay credit cards.

Moscow, 4 August, 1945. The European chapter of World War Two was over, and the US and the USSR were pondering their future relationship. 

At the American embassy, a group of boys from the Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union made a charming gesture of friendship between the two superpowers. 

They presented a large, hand-carved ceremonial seal of the United States of America to Averell Harriman, the US ambassador. It was later to become known simply as The Thing. 

Naturally, Harriman's office would have checked the heavy wooden ornament for electronic bugs, but with neither wires nor batteries in evidence, what harm could it do? more & much more

GPS Trackers: Under Cover & Under the Hood

If you are inspecting you vehicle for covert GPS trackers do not overlook these.

They are disguised to look like legitimate vehicle parts.

You can view all 38 photos here.

"Take it Down" Law Signed - Thank Nancy Mace

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) shared photos of her “naked silhouette” on Capitol Hill Tuesday, alleging that they were taken without her consent by her ex-fiance.

“Freedom is not a theory. It is the right to breathe. It is the right to dress and undress, to sleep without someone’s camera filming your naked body,” the congresswoman said during a House Oversight Committee hearing. “The Founders wrote liberty in parchment, but hidden cameras erase it in pixels.”

“I speak not just as a lawmaker, but as a survivor.” more

Take it Down law signed. more

A North Korean Agent Applied for a Job - A Halloween Question Tripped Him Up

The hiring team at Kraken, a U.S.-based crypto exchange, noticed immediately that something was off about “Steven Smith,” a would-be IT worker who applied for a software engineering job in early October. 

But it wasn’t until they compared Smith’s email to a list of those suspected to be part of a hacker group that their suspicions were confirmed: Smith was a North Korean operative.

Kraken could have just tossed the application. Instead, Kraken’s chief security officer, Nick Percoco, decided to take a closer look at Steven Smith...

The interview was scheduled for Halloween, a classic American holiday—especially for college students in New York—that Smith seemed to know nothing about.

“Watch out tonight because some people might be ringing your doorbell, kids with chain saws,” Percoco said, referring to the tradition of trick or treating. “What do you do when those people show up?” Smith shrugged and shook his head. “Nothing special,” he said. more

Find Out if Someone is Spying on Your Facebook Account

Unless you fly strictly under the radar, your Facebook account has valuable data about you—like who you speak with the most and what you talk about. It can also be a treasure trove of other personal details like your family members, close friends, and social plans.

You should be the only one to control your account. To ensure this, periodically verifying that everything’s secure is a wise idea...

On a PC
Meta buries this info in its account center. To go directly there, head to https://accountscenter.facebook.com/password_and_security/login_activity. 

You can also navigate there manually:

• Open the Facebook website in your browser
• Click on your profile icon at the top right of the window
• Choose Settings & privacy
• Select Settings
• Under Accounts Center in the upper left, click on See more in Accounts Center
• Choose Password and security
• Under Security checks, click on Where you’re logged in

A pop-up will appear with a box showing your name and the device you’re currently using, plus a small number showing the other devices logged in. more

Going Away This Holiday Weekend? Hide Your Stuff

Caught on camera: Jet Ski stolen in broad daylight from Amityville driveway. (Oh, the horror!)

A bold thief made off with a $25,000 Jet Ski in broad daylight Wednesday, and the crime was caught on doorbell camera.

Chris Montalbano, the homeowner and victim, said he was stunned by how quickly and confidently the theft unfolded. “Pretty brazen, didn’t seem like they cared,” Montalbano said. “I believe it was a guy — had his hood on. Just real quick. They knew what they were doing.” 

Montalbano noted that the surveillance cameras mounted above his garage mysteriously went dark during the theft. He suspects the thief may have used a signal-jamming device to disable the system. more

This is not an isolated incident. There have been many stories recently about thefts and break-ins being aided by the jamming of wireless security cameras. If you are going away consider placing several covert cameras, with internal video storage within your home and looking outside from windows. They are inexpensive. Some are listed here.

Enjoy the Long Weekend: CIA Officers Reveal Their Top Spy Movies

SPYSCAPE asked real-life CIA officers to pick their all-time favorite spy movies and we’ve got the low-down on 15 of the most realistic and entertaining films of the espionage genre. 

Here are the SPYEX team’s favorite flicks, chosen especially for SPYSCAPE readers! more

1. A Most Wanted Man (2014)

2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

3. Red Joan (2018)

4. The Little Drummer Girl (1984)‍

5. Argo (2012)

6. Syriana (2005)

7. The Good Shepherd (2006)

8. The Hunt for Red October (1990)

9. Spy (2015)‍

10. Three Days of the Condor (1975)

11. North by Northwest (1959)

12. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965)‍

13. The Amateur (1982)

14. Ill Met By Moonlight, aka Night Ambush (1957)

15. The Third Man (1949)

Vatican to Deactivate Mobile Phone Signals

All mobile phone signals will be deactivated in the Vatican today (7) ahead of the highly secretive conclave to elect the next pope, Italian State media reported.

The Vatican also plans to use signal jammers around the Sistine Chapel to prevent electronic surveillance or communication outside the Conclave that will see 133 Cardinals vote on who will succeed Pope Francis and lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Phone signal will be cut off at 3.00 pm local time (9.00 am ET) today, an hour and a half before the Cardinals are scheduled to proceed to the Sistine Chapel to begin the papal conclave, Italian state broadcaster RAI reported on Monday. more

So get down without your phone,
Comfort knowing you're not alone,
Bow your head with great respect,
And disconnect, disconnect, disconnect!

NSO Group Pegasus Spying Software Fined $168 Million in Damages

Unconvinced by NSO Group Technologies’ argument that it couldn’t – and shouldn’t – pay punitive damages for using WhatsApp to plant its Pegasus software on unsuspecting surveillance targets around the world, a federal jury in California walloped the Israeli company with a verdict awarding $168 million in damages today...

“The jury’s verdict today to punish NSO is a critical deterrent to the spyware industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and our users worldwide,” Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said in a statement. 

“This is an industrywide threat, and it’ll take all of us to defend against it.” more

How Apple's Network can be a Potential Tracking Tool

George Mason University researchers recently uncovered a way for hackers to track the location of nearly any computer or mobile device. Named "nRootTag" by the team, the attack uses a device’s Bluetooth address combined with Apple's Find My network to essentially turn target devices into unwitting homing beacons. 

"It's like transforming any laptop, phone, or even gaming console into an Apple AirTag - without the owner ever realizing it," said Junming Chen, lead author of the study. "And the hacker can do it all remotely, from thousands of miles away, with just a few dollars." 

The team of Qiang Zeng and Lannan Luo—both associate professors in the Department of Computer Science—and PhD students Chen and Xiaoyue Ma found the attack works by tricking Apple's Find My network into thinking the target device is a lost AirTag. AirTag sends Bluetooth messages to nearby Apple devices, which then anonymously relay its location via Apple Cloud to the owner for tracking. Their attack method can turn a device—whether it's a desktop, smartphone, or IoT device—into an "AirTag" without Apple's permission, at which point the network begins tracking. 

In experiments, they were able to pinpoint a stationary computer's location to within 10 feet, accurately track a moving e-bike's route through a city, and even reconstruct the exact flight path and identify the flight number of a gaming console brought onboard an airplane. Zeng gave an alarming example: “While it is scary if your smart lock is hacked, it becomes far more horrifying if the attacker also knows its location. With the attack method we introduced, the attacker can achieve this.” more

FutureWatch: Apple is Developing AirPods with Cameras

Apple is ‘actively developing’ a version of AirPods with integrated cameras. This tech is unlikely to make an appearance in AirPods Pro 3, which are expected to debut this year – but nonetheless, it’s in the pipeline. Apple wants your AirPods to better understand your environment, but why?
Visual Intelligence integration

With the iPhone 16 lineup, Apple introduced Camera Control. This new button is great for taking photos and adjusting camera settings, but it also unlocked a new feature: Visual Intelligence.

Visual Intelligence is a powerful tool that helps users learn about the world around them, and allows users to take action based on the physical context around them. You can add an event flyer to your calendar, for example, or tap into the power of ChatGPT or Google to help learn about something you don’t understand. more

Apple’s iPhone Warning—400 Million Chrome Users Must Now Act

Apple’s video warning for iPhone users to stop using Google Chrome doesn’t mention Google Chrome — it doesn’t need to. It plays on the browser’s reputation for tracking and privacy infractions, which just took another hit. But it also hides a clever message that makes its warning clear. Hundreds of millions of iPhone users need to take note.

Last summer, Google backtracked on its promise to kill tracking cookies for Chrome’s 3 billion users. Don’t worry, it said, it’s temporary. It proposed a one-click “don’t track me” for Chrome with parallels to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency. 

But it has now backtracked again — and this time it’s worse. Cookies are here to stay. “We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies." more

Secret Cameras Found in Bathrooms

Police are searching for the person who hid multiple cameras in a Hermosa Beach dance studio bathroom used by children, parents and employees.

A parent made the disturbing discovery Saturday morning at the dance studio in the 1100 block of Aviation Boulevard, the Hermosa Beach Police Department announced in a news release.

Police officers arrived at the studio around 9:30 a.m. and found that multiple cameras were hidden in bathrooms at the studio. The parent who found the cameras turned them over to staff who then contacted police, according to authorities. more

"This is like a safe and sacred place for many children for the last over 25 years. So, I'm horrified," Liliana Somma, the owner of School of Dance and Music, said through tears.

Now, Somma is taking every precaution she can think of... "Also, we bought these regular sweeping devices that we're going to be doing throughout the day, which I think everyone should be doing," Somma said. "But that's what we're going to be doing. That's newly purchased. We also added cameras in the hallway so we can see who is coming in and out of the studio itself." more

"Sweeping devices" alone are not an effective remedy. You need to know what to look for, and where to look. You need THIS.

A Professional Electronic Surveillance Operation Described

Serious corporate espionage spying, or government surveillance operations; the preparation and execution of surveillance measures are very similar. Hear how a real operation is accomplished in this short podcast...

I WAS NEVER HERE

True spies work in all sorts of far-flung locales - but some assignments are closer to home. For Andrew Kirsch, a Special Operations officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the suburbs of Toronto hold as much intrigue as Moscow or Baghdad. Vanessa Kirby joins Andrew on a nail-biting infiltration mission to unmask a home-grown terrorist, right in his back yard. Listen here.

P.S. This is why you will never know if your company Boardroom has been bugged by a pro. Learn more here.

Get the lucky T-shirt.

EU Hands Out Burner Phones to US-bound Staff Over Spying Fears

Is today's US-EU alliance truly trusted? Who would have thought that today, nothing better illustrates what "trusted ally" really means than EU officials being handed burner phones before visiting the US to protect themselves from potential "espionage." 

 
The Financial Times reported on Monday that European Commissioners and senior officials travelling to the IMF and World Bank spring meetings next week have been given the new guidance to take basic phones and laptops. "They are worried about the US getting into the commission systems," FT quoted one official as saying. "The transatlantic alliance is over," the report said, quoting another anonymous EU official. more

Cameras Are Popping Up in Eldercare Facilities

Roughly 20 states now have laws permitting families to place cameras in the rooms of loved ones. Facility operators are often opposed...

Though they remain a contentious subject, cameras in care facilities are gaining ground. By 2020, eight states had joined Minnesota in enacting laws allowing them, according to the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care: Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.

The legislative pace has picked up since, with nine more states enacting laws: Connecticut, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Legislation is pending in several others. California and Maryland have adopted guidelines, not laws. The state governments in New Jersey and Wisconsin will lend cameras to families concerned about loved ones’ safety. more

Spy Quote of the Week

via The Hustle...

"I smashed my old phone with an axe and put it down the drain at my mother-in-laws's house."

Not a movie scene, but: the directions former Rippling employee-turned-corporate spy Keith O’Brien said he received from a Deel attorney (and carried out) to destroy evidence in an ongoing legal battle between the two HR tech companies, according to a recent court filing via TechCrunch.

Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz is accused of hiring O’Brien to collect intel on competitor Rippling — product road maps, customer accounts, sales leads, etc. — in a four-month-long scheme, according to the lawsuit. O’Brien’s compensation? Allegedly just $6k a month. Not exactly hush money, it seems.

Google: Human Surveillance Isn't Enough - Target Dolphins

Imagine trying to crack a language where every "word" is a complex pattern of clicks, whistles, and burst pulses. That's what Google's DolphinGemma AI model is tackling, running on waterproofed Pixel phones in the waters of the Bahamas.

The system, announced on Google's blog, makes use of 38 years of underwater recordings from the Wild Dolphin Project (WDP), the longest-running study of its kind. These recordings capture everything from mother dolphins calling their calves with unique signature whistles to aggressive "squawks" during confrontations. The AI processes these vocalizations in real-time, searching for patterns that could unlock the dolphins' communication code. more

Is Your Phone Secretly Listening to You?

Here’s a simple way to find out...

To test if your phone is listening to your conversations, start by openly discussing a unique topic that you’ve never searched for or discussed previously while your phone is turned on next to you. It’s crucial that this be something that isn’t related to your usual interests or search queries.

Spend a day or two discussing this topic out loud with your phone next to you the whole time. Make sure that you don’t search about this topic on any of your devices—not just your phone.

During this time, pay close attention to the ads you’re served while online—ads on social media feeds, websites you visit, apps you use, and those on your smart TV if you have one. Then, if you begin seeing ads about the topic you chose to discuss, chances are you’ve confirmed the eavesdropping and caught your phone red-handed. more

Not Far from Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems in Grover's Mill, NJ

“Sushi John"-  SPYcy Roll'ed by ICE

An alleged sushi-slinging spy is in ICE custody. 

Ming Xi Zhang, known as “Sushi John,” the 61-year-old owner of Ya Ya Noodles in Montgomery Township, NJ, was arrested March 24 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Newark.

Zhang was convicted in April 2024 of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and sentenced to three years’ probation. In May 2021, he pleaded guilty to having served as an agent of China in 2016 without notifying the U.S. Attorney General.

ICE says he legally entered the U.S. in 2000 but later “violated the terms of his lawful admission.” more

"Sushi John" + "Ya Ya" = "John Ya Ya" 

One of the 46 Yoyodyne Employees (Red Lectroids)?

We checked. No relation.

Installing Hidden Cameras Around the Office - MrBeast Sues

MrBeast has a new game: work for Beast Industries without stealing company secrets. 

According to Jimmy Donaldson (better known as MrBeast) and his company, a former employee failed the challenge. In a complaint first spotted by Polygon, MrBeast is suing a former contractor for allegedly breaching his contract, stealing trade secrets, and—certainly the most creepy of the accusations—installing hidden cameras throughout the company offices...

In addition to discovering the documents had been downloaded, Beast personnel apparently also spotted cameras installed around the office after Nabors’ departure. According to the complaint, Nabors was “well-known among colleagues to surreptitiously record meetings.” The complaint accuses Nabors of installing and operating the cameras. more

When was the last time you checked your offices for covert cameras and bugs. Find out.

The Affidavit of a Rippling Employee Caught Spying for Deel Reads Like a Movie

On Wednesday, Rippling publicly released the affidavit of the Rippling employee who testified that he was working as a spy for the HR tech company’s arch rival Deel.

And the account, coupled with Rippling’s lawsuit filed against Deel a couple of weeks ago, reads like a corporate espionage movie script, complete with a sting operation and a smashed phone.

It’s the latest escapade between the two. TechCrunch has documented the most Hollywood-esque parts of the testimony below, but be aware that this is only one side of the story — the side Rippling wants everyone to know, as its PR machine has blasted it out, and CEO Parker Conrad tweet-stormed about it.

To recap: Rippling, a workforce management platform, very publicly announced on March 17 that it was suing Deel over this alleged spying, leveling charges ranging from violation of the RICO racketeering act (often used to prosecute members of the Mafia) to misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition. more

This Week in Spy News

• Trump fires top boss at NSA, nation's elite spy agency

• Where and Why to Spy? How does the Intelligence Community focus its collection and analysis?

• Russia Releases Mysterious Objects In Earth's Orbit, Internet Abuzz With Spy Mission Claims

• The alleged Deel spy just admitted to corporate espionage in a major scandal rocking the HR world

• Secrets, spy tools and a 110-year-old lemon are on show in an exhibition from Britain’s MI5

I Asked AI How to Bug a Room...

I asked AI how to bug this room. It did. 

Then, it tried to take my job! https://lnkd.in/eUCaiCDj

Threat Actors Allegedly Selling SnowDog RAT Malware With Control Panel on Hacker Forums

A new Remote Access Trojan (RAT) dubbed “SnowDog RAT” is malicious software purportedly marketed for $300 per month. It appears to have been specifically developed for corporate espionage and targeted attacks on business environments.

The malware advertisement, discovered on Thursday, April 3, 2025, describes sophisticated capabilities that could threaten organizations worldwide.

According to a ThreatMon post shared on X, the advertisement claims that SnowDog RAT offers an extensive array of intrusion and persistence features that make it particularly dangerous. more

Lawsuit Alleges Pharmacist Hacked Hundreds of Computers to Watch Women Undress

A recently filed class action lawsuit accuses a former pharmacist at the University of Maryland Medical Center of having hacked into hundreds of computers.

Court documents say Matthew Bathula targeted at least 80 of his coworkers, most of whom are women pharmacists, residents, and other medical professionals.

Bathula allegedly accessed their computers using passwords and usernames extracted from UMMC computers and was able to gain access to their personal email, texts, photo libraries, and "private and sensitive electronically stored information."

He also allegedly downloaded partially nude photographs and recordings, photographs, and recordings depicting the women breastfeeding their children.

The complaint states Bathula activated internet-enabled cameras in patient treatment rooms to watch and record his coworkers he knew to be pumping breast milk at work and accessed home security cameras remotely to spy on the women in their homes, recording all of them in multiple stages of undress, in private family interactions, and having intercourse with their husbands.

Bathula accessed at least 400 computers, per court documents, and the active spying went on for at least a decade. more

Spying on Children: Dino, the Stool Pigeon Dinosaur

Dino is a plush toy recommended for children ages 4-9. They play with it. It plays back, as only an AI chatbot can. It answers questions, creates interactive stories, can handle jokes, and even help with math homework. Pretty clever, and only $249.00, if you can get one. Production is currently not mass. 

Cute idea. Innovative, but not totally original. Toy companies have been offering "interactive" dolls for a long time. I am guessing we are all too young to have had a Thomas A. Edison talking doll, introduced in 1887. Zipping into the early 1960's there was Chatty Cathy, by Mattel. Still drawing a blank? How about Furby from the late 1990's. All these toys were "interactive" in that the child made them speak, and these responses were limited.

Welcome to the 21st Century! Interactivity is really here. Dino supposedly can "AI think" and answer. Since I have never seen a Dino in the wild, supposedly will have to do based on the website's claims.

"So, Kevin, how is this Spy News?!?!"

Dino has another talent. It can squeal. Its interactions zap to an app faster than you can say, "You dirty rat." 

• Tell Dino you raided the cookie jar, your parents will know. 
• Ask Dino where to hide the [fill in the blank] you stole, they will know. 
• Tell Dino you hate your parents and are plotting revenge, they will know. 

The gotchas are infinite, kid. Keep your knees loose. (JS)

This Week in Corporate Espionage News

• Corporate espionage in Canada: how HR leaders can guard against insider threats

• Deel and Rippling corporate espionage case takes a turn as accused ‘spy’ agrees to cooperate

• US is increasingly vulnerable to espionage threats, analysts warn

• Former Spy: Unstoppable AI-Powered Threats Target All

• Russian espionage group focused on corporate espionage, mainly targeting organizations in the US

• North Korea hackers go after business executives in latest info-stealing scheme

• DOGE Purge Is Boosting China’s Espionage Activities Against U.S.

• '$35 million gone in one call': Deepfake fraud rings are fooling the world's smartest firms: Impersonating CEOs for wire fraud to creating fake hostage videos for extortion

This Week in Spy News

• Putin’s Spy Hunters Grab Ukrainian Informants On Mission To Infiltrate Russian Military

• Trump administration is pointing spy satellites at US border

• Your TV is watching you

• Texas AG investigating insurance company accused of spying on lawmakers, journalists, other Texans

• FBI director avoids committing to investigate Signal leak

• Czech Republic blocks Chinese satellite investment over fears of espionage

Man Charged with Installing Eavesdropping Device

A Missouri man was charged with installing an eavesdropping device in an Oak Grove home Wednesday night.

Oak Grove Police told WKDZ that 34-year-old Manual Alvarez was arrested after a camera was found in the headboard of a bed in the home of a woman with whom Alvarez had a child in common.

Alvarez reportedly claimed he put in the camera due to things being stolen and said it was not hidden. more

A Chinese Spy Network is Targeting Former US Officials Laid Off by Musk and Trump

A network of companies linked to a Chinese tech firm has been attempting to recruit recently laid-off U.S. government employees. This campaign, uncovered by analyst Max Lesser, seeks to exploit the vulnerabilities of federal workers affected by mass layoffs. 

While the companies involved remain obscure, the operation's methods resemble those used in previous Chinese intelligence activities. The U.S. government is aware of the potential risks and is urging former employees to remain cautious about such offers...

Lesser, who shared his findings with Reuters, warned that "the network seeks to exploit the financial vulnerabilities of former federal workers affected by recent mass layoffs." These recruitment efforts closely resemble previous tactics used by Chinese intelligence to obtain valuable information under the guise of employment opportunities.

A Web of Fake FirmsFour companies—RiverMerge Strategies, Wavemax Innovation, and two others—are allegedly part of this recruitment network. Their websites share overlapping designs, are hosted on the same server, and exhibit other digital connections, raising suspicions of a coordinated effort. Lesser’s research, along with Reuters' investigation, found that all four companies’ websites were hosted alongside Smiao Intelligence, an obscure Chinese internet services firm. more

Student: Allegedly Secretly Recording Videos in Girls' Restroom

A now-former student at the Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology is facing felony charges after police say he recorded videos inside a girls’ restroom multiple times.

The most recent incident occurred on Feb. 25, but warrants reveal the teen is accused of similar actions at least 13 times since October 2024.

According to a police report, the 17-year-old male student entered the girls’ restroom and took a picture or video of a 17-year-old female student without her consent. Investigators collected the student's cell phone as evidence.

Officials credited a student's vigilance in reporting the incident, which led to swift action by administrators. more

Not So Secure: Drones Can Now Listen to Underwater Messages

Cross-medium eavesdropping technology challenges long-held assumptions about the security of underwater communications.

Researchers from Princeton and MIT have developed a method to intercept underwater communications from the air, challenging long-standing beliefs about the security of underwater transmissions.

The team created a device that uses radar to eavesdrop on underwater acoustic signals, or sonar, by decoding the tiny vibrations those signals produce on the water’s surface. In principle, the technique could also roughly identify the location of an underwater transmitter, the researchers said. more

Cool Spycraft at the Tip of Your Finger

Only $3.18.

This is a Near-Field Communications (NFC) chip. Very small. Very thin. NFC is a short-range wireless technology that enables data exchange between two devices within ~4 cm. The chip contains a small amount of memory, a radio antenna, and a controller. It can be operated in one of two modes. 

• Passive: No battery, powered by the electromagnetic field from the reader. 
• Active: Has its own power source and can initiate communication.

How you might want to put your new spy power to work...

1. Covert Information Drops

• Spy embeds NFC tag in a common object (book, card, clothing tag).
• The chip links to a hidden or encrypted file or payload.
• Handler taps the object with a phone to retrieve information without direct contact.

2. Target Tracking
• Spy plants an NFC tag on a person or vehicle.
• The chip contains a unique ID or triggers background logging when scanned by compromised devices.
• Useful in tight surveillance environments.

3. Access Credential Spoofing
• Clone an NFC badge or card to gain unauthorized access.
• With a reader and software, a spy can harvest data and replicate a target’s access card.

4. Payload Delivery
NFC chip programmed to:
• Open malicious URLs.
• Trigger phone actions (e.g., Bluetooth pairing, contact injection).
• Launch scripts on rooted devices or with social engineering.
• Planted in public items (posters, flyers, seats, hotel room items).

5. Dead Drops with Geofencing
• NFC chip triggers a secure drop message only when tapped in a specific location.
• Adds plausible deniability; nothing visible unless in context.

6. Asset Authentication & Deception
• Tag gear or documents with NFC chips claiming authenticity (e.g., fake origin metadata).
• Alternatively, verify real gear during handoff using known chip signatures.

7. Remote Trigger Mechanism
• NFC tag acts as a trigger for another device (e.g., when tapped, it signals a hidden recorder to start transmitting).