At 1:07 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times building succumbed to a immense explosion.Men, mortar and equipment were dispersed into the night air and a fire erupted. When the dust eventually settled, 21 newspaper employees were dead and 100 others were injured, many seriously.
Newspapers called the tragedy “the crime of the century.”
William J. “Billy” Burns, famed anti-union private detective, was hired to solve the crime...
Burns’ investigation of the dynamiting brought national notoriety to three Terre Haute men: Eugene V. Debs, Frank P. Fox and Kelly Monroe Turner...The March 30, 1912 issue of “Scientific American” and the Science and Invention section of the June 15, 1912 issue of “The Literary Digest” contained lengthy articles describing Turner’s invention and its use in the case... (Burns extensive use of Dictograph equipment later led to him being investigated for wiretapping.)
Turner, a native of Pimento and later a Terre Haute, Indiana resident, invented the dictograph, an eavesdropping device that “solved the crime” in December 1911 and sent John J. and James B. McNamara, represented by legendary Clarence Darrow, to prison. Placed in the McNamaras’ jail cells, the device “heard” the men admit to the crime...
In the June 1912 issue of “Popular Electricity,” novelist Edward Lyell Fox wrote: “In the past six months the dictograph has revolutionized crime prevention. In walls, under sofas and chairs, in chandeliers, behind desks, beside a window, it is the unseen listener to secret conversations. The secret of prison cells have been tapped, hotel rooms and offices have given up incriminating conversation… It has figured sensationally in the undoing of dynamiters, legislative bribe takers, grafters high and crooks low, across the continent.” (more)
The 100th anniversary of the Dictograph is coming up soon. Turner would be stunned by today's eavesdropping and wiretapping technology. Also stunned are its victims. Make sure you are not one of them. Call me. I have a time-proven (30+ years) protection program waiting to solve your concerns. ~Kevin
William Jackson was a slave in the home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. It turns out he was also a spy for the Union Army, providing key secrets to the North about the Confederacy.William Jackson, a slave, listened closely to Jefferson Davis' conversations and leaked them to the North.Jackson was Davis' house servant and personal coachman. He learned high-level details about Confederate battle plans and movements because Davis saw him as a "piece of furniture" -- not a human, according to Ken Dagler, (sic) author of "Black Dispatches," which explores espionage by America's slaves...
...slaves who served as spies were able to collect incredibly detailed information, in large part because of their tradition of oral history. Because Southern laws prevented blacks from learning how to read and write, he said, the slave spies listened intently to minute details and memorized them...Jackson wasn't the only spy. There were hundreds of them... One of the most iconic spies was Harriet Tubman, who ran the Underground Railroad... (
more)
Suspicious phone conversations on Skype could be targeted for tapping as part of a pan-European crackdown on what law authorities believe is a massive technical loophole in current wiretapping laws, allowing criminals to communicate without fear of being overheard by the police.The European investigation could also help U.S. law enforcement authorities gain access to Internet calls. The National Security Agency (NSA) is understood to believe that suspected terrorists use Skype to circumvent detection.While the police can get a court order to tap a suspect's land line and mobile phone, it is currently impossible to get a similar order for Internet calls on both sides of the Atlantic. (more)
from the seller's web site...
"The common Mini MP3 Player, which comes with other useful and powerful features. This Player is included a camera and a mic, which can be used as a video camera recorder, voice recorder and still image camera." $46. (more)
Australia - An unnamed Telstra executive has sparked a major security scare at Microsoft after a phone loaded with a secret upcoming version of the Windows Mobile operating system was stolen out of his pocket in Spain.
The phone belonged to Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo, who was testing the device before its release at the end of the year, News Ltd reported. But a spokesman for the telco would not confirm this.
The spokesman said the phone - developed by HTC and loaded with Microsoft's top-secret Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system - was in the possession of another unnamed Telstra executive at the time of the theft.
The incident could have serious implications for Microsoft as Windows Mobile 6.5 has hardly been touched by anyone outside the company and high-level telco executives.
Leaks regarding the features and early bugs in the software could mar its launch, which would be damaging as Microsoft is pinning its hopes on Windows Mobile 6.5 to give it an edge over new competitors such as the iPhone and Google's Android operating system. (more)
Job opportunity...
Telstra is the Australian telephone company. They are probably looking for a new assistant to the president.
Security opportunity...
This loss might have been preventable. Hire a good counterespionage consultant to help protect your company's intellectual property and detect electronic surveillance (eavesdropping, wiretapping and data theft).
Contact me for recommendations, worldwide. ~Kevin
This unfortunate high-value loss was forwarded to us by Jayde Consulting in Australia.
"Jayde Consulting provides professional and discrete services to protect sensitive, confidential and commercially valuable information from electronic eavesdropping, surveillance and espionage."
We hear it every day.
Here we go again...
Hackers broke into a computer at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts last July and stole tens of thousands of customer credit card numbers, the hotel chain warns.
The break-in occurred at a property belonging to a Wyndham franchisee, but that computer was linked to other company systems. "That intrusion enabled a hacker to use the company server to search for customer information located at other franchised and managed property sites," the company said in a statement disclosing the breach.The data was then uploaded to a Web site during July and August of 2008, Wyndham said. The company estimates that 41 Wyndham hotels and resorts were affected by the breach before it was discovered by the company's information security team in mid-September. (more)Is data theft preventable?Lots of people think so.Explore the solutions being offered...Voltage SecurityPGP CorporationProtegrityTriGeo
People are making Caller ID lie for them... "Spoofcard allows me to make my calls truly private. I can display any number on the Caller ID, record my calls and change my voice." Try it yourself. Free. (more)
Hate blocked Caller ID calls?
Force a confession out of them.
Here's how...
"Trapcall will unblock and reveal the actual caller ID (and name) when a call has been blocked. No software or download needed! ...Record all of your incoming calls! ...Read your voicemail messages via SMS while in a meeting, class, movie or other busy area! ...Block unwanted callers! ...Billing name and address!"Try it out. Free. (more)
Keeping track of your data will become soon more difficult...Ting Xu, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and Thomas Russell, a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, have created a technique that could, theoretically, pack a disk the size of a quarter with 10.5 terabits (more than 10 trillion bits) of data, the equivalent of 250 DVDs. (more)
Until then, we can still cram a lot of data into a Murray Associates Spy Coin. They are going fast. Find out how you can get one. (more)
New data shows businesses may be clueless about proxy abuse in their organizations...Schools long have struggled with savvy students who run anonymous Web proxy tools to bypass Web filters and secretly access banned Websites and content. But the use of these potentially dangerous tools within the enterprise appears to be more widespread than was once thought.A new study released today indicates that businesses may be clueless about the breadth of the problem: While 15 percent of IT managers report that Web filter bypass tools are in use in their organizations, it turns out that these tools are actually in use in three out of four organizations, according to FaceTime Communications, which polled both IT managers and its own customers on the topic."In some cases, the perception is not reality," says Frank Cabri, vice president of marketing and product management for FaceTime, whose customers provided the actual usage data in the study. "This doesn't surprise us -- but the difference [in perception and reality] is dramatic." (more)
"...employee use of Web 2.0 applications such as Instant Messaging, IPTV, VoIP and Social Networking on corporate networks exceeds IT estimates by up to 10 times." (more)
Why is all this important to you?
• Your IT folks are not seeing this end run. ($)
• You are probably paying your employees to surf, not work. ($$)
• It is an open back door to your intellectual property. ($$$)
Swedish intelligence official quits over wiretapping law...
Sweden - Anders Björck, a high-ranking Moderate Party politician and former defence minister has resigned from his post as head of Sweden’s intelligence oversight agency in protest against the country’s controversial wiretapping law... because he lacks confidence in the new surveillance measure which came into force January 1st... "I've thought it over carefully. The laws and the oversight activities now under consideration don’t foster privacy or efficacy." (more)
via WhiteSparks...Greek police are investigating the discovery of an object they believe could be a covert listening device in the Athens office of Greek Olympic Committee president Minos Kyriakou.In a statement released on Friday, Attica regional police confirmed they had been called to Kyriakou's office late on Thursday evening."In the evening hours of February 5, 2009 our service was informed about the existence at the office of the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee of a suspicious object that appeared like a microphone for monitoring conversations," the statement said."The police were requested to investigate the incident. The object was collected and was forwarded for further examination, the result of which is still pending."The investigation comes less than a week before the election for the new president of the committee which Kyriakou is contesting with Spyros Kapralos, the chairman of the Athens Stock Exchange. (more)
WhiteSparks is a free email newsletter sponsored by WhiteRockGlobal, a premier TSCM consultancy located near London. Contact them for a subscription: whitenews@whiterockglobal.com
Sneaking spyware in to plant on your computers?
Sneaking company secrets out from their computers?
Recording your private meetings?
Whatever the goal, drive-by spy devices are becoming harder to catch; especially USB drives.
Here is a quick update so you will know it when you see it.from the seller's website...
Surveillance style pen containing a micro sized video camcorder with 4 GB of memory. Get the mission completed with this awesome secret agent DV pen, often called a "spy pen" in the trade.Sitting in your shirt pocket, standing in the pen cup or lying on the desk, no-one will ever notice as you secretly capture their every move. The built in flash stores the video until it is ready to be downloaded to a computer via USB, and with 4GB's of memory you can record hours of surveillance or interviews in between trips back to the office. (more with video)
All metal cross shaped necklace containing an 8 GB USB flash drive.These days a USB flash drive is as necessary as your house keys. Whether you are taking large work files back and forth from the office or are sharing pictures and music with friends, nothing beats the convenience of a USB thumb drive. Well, why not make sure yours fits the person you are? This is a elegant all-metal cross that has a built in 8GB's of memory so you should have space to keep in its heart. (more)
All metal heart shaped necklace containing an 8 GB USB flash drive.These days a USB flash drive is as necessary as your house keys. Whether you are taking large work files back and forth from the office or are sharing pictures and music with friends, nothing beats the convenience of a USB storage drive. Well, why not make sure the one you get fits the person who is going to carry it? This is an elegant all-metal and jeweled heart necklace that has a built in 8GB's of memory so you or your loved one will have enough space to keep those treasured memories close at heart. (more)
Realistic looking watermelon containing 8GB of USB flash memory. If you want more than to just plug your old fashioned USB stock in, this novelty USB memory stick that is right up your alley. Just remove the tip to reveal the USB connection, and watch people gape at your one of a kind computer accessory. (more)
Perhaps they have one of these... linked to your cell phone.Bluetooth bracelet with vibration function and caller ID display.Spybusters Tip # 429 - Keep Bluetooth turned off when not in use. (more)
Throughout the world, Israel is considered a superpower when it comes to the development of new citrus fruit species, but now, Israeli farmers are accusing their Spanish counterparts of stealing a new species, and have recently filed a lawsuit against them. Commercial spying attempts have lead the developers of the new species to grow their fruits in hidden fields , "but afterwards the species grew in an open orchard," said Chai Benyamini, secretary-general of Israel's Citrus Growers’ Association.
"The Spanish send people who enter the orchard for a minute, cut off a citrus branch from the new species, and send it to Spain, and this is how we lose some NIS 200,000 ($48,900) a year," he explained.
The main species in question is a new breed of tangerine, called Or, that was developed in Israel and has been patented. (more)
Moral: Every business is an espionage target. It's the money. Doesn't matter if your selling Testarossa's or tangerines — you are a target.
Make counterespionage part of your business security program. We can help.
Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, police say... The police say Skype's encryption system is a secret which the company refuses to share with the authorities. (more)
London - An industry source disclosed that America's supersecret National Security Agency (NSA) is offering "billions" to any firm which can offer reliable eavesdropping on Skype IM and voice traffic.The spybiz exec, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed that Skype continues to be a major problem for government listening agencies, spooks and police. This was already thought to be the case, following requests from German authorities for special intercept/bugging powers to help them deal with Skype-loving malefactors. Britain's GCHQ has also stated that it has severe problems intercepting VoIP and internet communication in general. (more)
Italy - Investigators have become increasingly reliant on wiretaps in recent years... Use of wiretaps by prosecutors in Italy has grown exponentially in recent years.
Investigators say intercepts of telephone calls have become an essential tool of the police, who spend millions of dollars each year tracking down crime through wiretaps of landlines and mobile phones.
But the law may be about to change.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing 
government has drawn up a bill which would restrict police wiretaps to only the most serious crimes.Much crime reporting in the Italian media is based on leaks of wiretaps and leading politicians, including Mr Berlusconi himself, have found to their embarrassment that details of their private telephone conversations have sometimes been leaked to newspapers.Under the new law reporting of details of criminal investigations obtained through wiretaps would become illegal until a final verdict has been delivered.Given the extreme slowness of Italian justice, this would mean that details of cases now before the courts might be reported by the press only in 15 years time. (more) (background)
Civil liberties groups are watching a New York court case that should decide whether a police officer, acting on his own, can attach a global positioning system to a vehicle to track someone's movements. The case will be argued next month in the New York Court of Appeals.Last week, for example, area school administrators (Pennsylvania) were wrestling with the question of how far they can go under the wiretapping law in examining cell phones they confiscate from students. (more)
Trinidad and Tobago - Claims and counter claims of phone tapping and even spying by a government agency.In the parliament yesterday during debate on the date protection bill, Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj threw allegations at each other, saying that people’s privacy has been and are being infringed.Mr. Maharaj claimed he had solid information that the government was spying on people.The Prime Minister would later fire another salvo, saying under the United National Congress Government (UNC) there was an agency set up to tap people’s phones and spy on them. (more)
UK - A new billion-pound fleet of spy planes able to spot the roadside bombs that kill troops in Afghanistan will be out of action... because the RAF has failed to train enough crew...
Each aircraft is operated by a five-man team of two pilots, a mission commander and two imagery analysts. The planes, converted Bombardier passenger jets, have been built by the American firm Raytheon at sites in Texas and near Chester...
An air force spokesman said: “You’ve got to have all five aircraft and all 10 crews ready before you have full operating capability. It could be 2011 but everybody is busting a gut to bring that date forward.” (more)
TN - Davidson County Dist. Atty. Gen. Victor S. "Torry" Johnson decided against prosecuting state Rep. Jim Cobb for hiding a voice-activated tape recorder under the desk of his legislative assistant last September. Johnson says Cobb apparently did break wiretapping and surveillance statutes, but he won't be prosecuted because he did such a lousy job of it. (more) (background)PS - In the original report, Cobb described his actions as "just a prank." Now, it is reported, "Cobb claims he did it because he suspected his aide was treating constituents rudely, and he wanted to catch him in the act.""
In other news from the desk of Torry Johnson, it's also OK for a state representative to send a text message to try to extort a committee chairmanship out of the House speaker."
(sing-a-long) (Paul Garrett)
There are too many sources of vulnerability for VoIP to ever be completely secure, says Patrick Park, author of VoIP Security. Here he describes the VoIP threat landscape and offers best practices for making VoIP reasonably secure... (more)
via The Smoking Gun..."Meet Curtis Pickard. The Georgia student was arrested this week after he allegedly used his cell phone to take "upskirt" photos of Greenbrier High School teacher Ellen Hotchkiss, which he then showed to fellow high schoolers... Pickard was charged with unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance and booked into the Columbia County Detention Center..." (more) (Teacher vs Student)
UPDATE - Curtis Jamar Pickard, 17, of the 4200 block of Waterston Courtyard in Evans, was charged with unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance. He was released from the Columbia County Detention Center later that day after posting a $2,600 bond, according to jail records. (more)
Canada - The Conservative government is preparing sweeping new eavesdropping legislation that will force Internet service providers to let police tap exchanges on their systems - but will likely reignite fear that Big Brother will be monitoring the private conversations of Canadians.The goal of the move, which would require police to obtain court approval, is to close what has been described as digital "safe havens" for criminals, pedophiles and terrorists because current eavesdropping laws were written in a time before text messages, Facebook and voice-over-Internet phone lines. (more)
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)
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)
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)
...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)
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)
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)
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)
New bill would allow use of audio TasersPA - 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)
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)
...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.
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)
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 strangers bearing high-tech giftsTurkey - 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)
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)
Burns’ investigation of the dynamiting brought national notoriety to three Terre Haute men: Eugene V. Debs, Frank P. Fox and Kelly Monroe Turner...
In the June 1912 issue of “Popular Electricity,” novelist Edward Lyell Fox wrote: “In the past six months the dictograph has revolutionized crime prevention. In walls, under sofas and chairs, in chandeliers, behind desks, beside a window, it is the unseen listener to secret conversations. The secret of prison cells have been tapped, hotel rooms and offices have given up incriminating conversation… It has figured sensationally in the undoing of dynamiters, legislative bribe takers, grafters high and crooks low, across the continent.” (more)
