As if we didn't have enough evesdropping and wiretap problems to worry about, now this headline...
Turn your iPhone into a bugging device!7 Steps to turn your iPhone into a bugging device and then listen in over Wi-Fi.
Step 1) Open the free Blue FiRe iPhone app...
...
Step 6) Set your iPhone down and leave the area to start gathering intel.Step 7) Via any computer on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone go to the url you noted from the Browser Access window and download the audio file! TA DA!For extra credit use your iPhone to record in STEREO with Mikey. (more)
via USA Today...Corporate espionage using very simple tactics — much of it carried out by trusted insiders, familiar business acquaintances, even janitors — is surging. That's because businesses large and small are collecting and storing more data than ever before. What's more, companies are blithely allowing broad access to this data via nifty Internet services and cool digital devices. (more)
Product Notes..."Works on wooden walls, doors, windows, steel plates, etc. Highly Sensitive, carefully adjust audio slowly, as not to cause discomfort to your ear-buds. This product is being sold as an investigative tools for law enforcement 
or licensed investigators. Anyone else ordering this device should only be ordering it as a simple toy since MANY COUNTRIES STRICTLY PROHIBIT OWNERSHIP OF SPY DEVICES." (more)Why do I mention it?So you will know what you are up against.
Want to build one yourself? (start here)
One man snapped his cellphone in half and bit the memory card to conceal his actions, complaints allege. Fourteen more are charged in the continuing investigation.Reporting from New York - As an eavesdropping-detection specialist, Kevin D. Murray normally works for companies concerned about possible spying by competitors.But since a blockbuster insider-trading prosecution built on wiretaps and microphone-wearing informants became public last month, frantic hedge fund managers have raced to hire him."The nature of the question is 'Can you tell me if the government's bugging me?' " Murray said, adding that he turned down the three firms that approached him. (more)All businesses need a counterespionage strategy and should inspect their premises periodically for illegal electronic surveillance. Illegal eavesdropping is a serious problem with costly consequences.
If you are the target of a government investigation, however, you are on your own. There isn't anybody who can tell you if your phones are tapped (even if they are willing to take your money to do so). Modern government electronic surveillance methods do not change the electrical characteristics of your phone. There is nothing to detect.
Short Story: Beware the "free" USB memory stick.Long Geeky Story:From: David Lesher Subject: AMEX sends USB trojan keyboards in adsA fellow user group member reported getting a USB-fob from American Express. When he plugged in to a port, it attempted to send his xterm command line to {the dots were hex digits, it appears.... [and PGN changed x to dot to avoid filtering]} but didn't succeed. [It may be Windows and Mac compatible, but not Linux...]That address redirects to an Amex URL: It identified itself on the USB chain as: Bus 003 Device 003: ID 05ac:020b Apple, Inc. Pro Keyboard [Mitsumi, A1048/US layout]Since it's clearly NOT an Apple Pro Keyboard; one wonders why the manufacturer chose that false identity. The masquerade as a keyboard might also have been to penetrate those machines that do not blindly mount USB storage devices.Risks: While we now look for incoming malware on the TCP/IP connections, clearly we need to similarly monitor the other ports as well; you can do just as much damage (or more) with a insider keyboard attack, given some social engineering. Is the power line next?
Federal authorities on Wednesday filed intrusion charges against two men accused of accessing the computer systems of their former employer.Scott R. Burgess, 45, of Jasper, Indiana, and Walter D. Puckett, 39, of Williamstown, Kentucky, both worked as managers for Indiana-based Stens Corporation until taking jobs with a competing company in Ohio, according to an indictment filed in federal court. On at least 12 occasions, they used old passwords to access their former employer's computer and access proprietary information, prosecutors allege.Although the men left their jobs in 2004 and early 2005, they were able to use the outdated passwords successfully as late as September of 2006. On at least two occasions, administrators at Stens grew suspicious and terminated old passwords. The men simply tried different login credentials - and succeeded several times. (more)
"For years, Broward County's socially and politically connected marveled at the astonishing success of Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein and wondered: How does he do it?......Sakowitz said Rothstein boasted of having sophisticated eavesdropping equipment and that former cops would sift through potential defendants' garbage. With compromising evidence in hand, the firm urged the targets of the claims to pay a settlement without a public lawsuit." (more)
Until now, there were few ways to stop shoulder surfers from reading your computer screen: place a polarizing screen over your computer screen (not very practical for laptops), or mount a mirror on the side of your screen so you could see someone sneaking a peek from behind.This way sends peepers to the eye doctor...Oculis Labs has a product called PrivateEye, a simple, low-cost (from $19.95), easy-to-deploy software application for enterprise and consumer use. It requires no special hardware, just a standard embedded webcam. PrivateEye significantly improves on older technologies such as 3M privacy filters, and screen savers by performing active user-centric protection of all content displayed on the screen.PrivateEye uses a webcam sensor to continuously assess the user’s area of interest, and uses this information to control what is displayed. In the simplest mode, when PrivateEye determines that the user is looking at the display, the contents are presented normally. When the user looks away, the display is quickly blurred to protect the contents and when the user looks back, display is instantly cleared again. The effect is that contents are displayed only as needed by the authorized user. This feature alone significantly reduces the opportunities for eavesdroppers.In addition to protecting the display when the user is not attending to it, the system will reduce susceptibility to eavesdropping when the user is actively reading the screen. PrivateEye can identify when unauthorized viewers are looking at the display, and take action to reduce potential eavesdropping. (Video demonstration)Oculis Labs also sells a higher-priced version, Chameleon, which lets the user see clearly, and scrambles the view for others... all at the same time. Cool, eh?
Where Intelligence Goes to Work
Intelligence. It's the ability to think abstractly. Challenge the unknown. Solve the impossible. And at NSA, it's about protecting the Nation.
A career at NSA offers the opportunity to work with the best, shape the course of the world, and secure your own future. Isn't it time to put your intelligence to work? (more)
US - The government has agreed to pay $3 million to a former agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration who sued CIA officers for illegal eavesdropping.
The proposed settlement followed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in July that CIA officials committed fraud to protect a former covert agent against the eavesdropping allegations.
The lawsuit was brought by former DEA agent Richard Horn, who says his home in Rangoon, Burma, was illegally wiretapped by the CIA in 1993. He says Arthur Brown, the former CIA station chief in Burma, and Franklin Huddle Jr., the chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Burma, were trying to get him transferred because they disagreed with his work with Burmese officials on the country's drug trade.
Horn sued Brown and Huddle in 1994, seeking monetary damages for violating his civil rights. The CIA itself was a defendant in the lawsuit until early this year. (more)
UK - Councils have been criticised for using surveillance powers designed to combat serious crime and protect national security to spy on the public for minor crimes such as littering or unlawfully selling pot plants.They were also found to be using them to investigate parents accused of lying about where they live to get their children in to better schools. But Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, will today announce plans to change the law to ensure authorities only use the intrusive techniques, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), for serious offences. (more)
CA - Scott Gerber, the communications director for Attorney General Jerry Brown who admitted recording phone conversations with reporters without their permission --- including Chronicle senior political writer Carla Marinucci -- resigned Monday. (more)
People are often ashamed, scared or afraid of being called paranoid when they suspect eavesdropping or wiretapping. In most cases, something is wrong. The information leaks and subsequent feedback may not always be caused by a bug or wiretap, but something is wrong.
Take the case of Courtney Love...Courtney Love's Paranoid Sounding Claims Backed Up By Other Sources...the New York Daily News quotes not only Love, but also a few corroborating sources who back up her story...investigator hired by Love not only co-signs her story, but states that there's proof! From the News: Adam DelMonte and Michael Kenworthy of AC Digital Services...say they recorded the "blitz" on security cameras they installed in Love's house. "These impostors then flipped the situation on Mrs. Cobain and tried to strong-arm her and scare her into feeling she needed to hire them for protection," DelMonte and Kenworthy assert in a letter. "Fortunately, we were able...to get them out of her life." They go on to say that Love's former staffers installed "numerous types of spyware on her computers and her phone. Both her camera and microphone on her cell phone were bugged at one point."...she says she's called law enforcement to look into her case, she's gotten no response. She chalks the disinterest in her claims, rightfully, to a less-than-stellar reputation, saying, "My biggest problem is that I'm Courtney Love."That doesn't mean, however, that she has a lesser right to privacy than anyone else.You can begin to solve your own spying problems without: buying spy detection gadgets, hiring a private investigator or sweep team, or even admitting your suspicions to anyone. Read Quit Bugging Me.
The US-CERT has issued a warning about a new, free BlackBerry application that transforms the phone into a bugging device.PhoneSnoop, which runs on the victim's phone, lets an attacker stealthily call the targeted BlackBerry, answer the call, turn on the speakerphone, and let the attacker listen in on the victim. The app has to be configured to recognize the attacker's phone number, and it automatically and quickly answers it to evade detection.
Sheran Gunasekera, the developer of PhoneSnoop, says he was surprised US-CERT identified his app in an advisory. "I am happy that they did, though, because it's one step further in getting the word out," says Gunasekera, who is director of IT security at Hermis Consulting in Jakarta, Indonesia.
"I think the reason my app was flagged was because it's free and more easily accessible" than more expensive commercial spy tools. (more) (video)
Side note: The attacker either needs to have physical access to your Blackberry to load the spyware program, or in some way, trick you into doing it.
MN - The police chief of Gaylord is now charged with two gross misdemeanors in an alleged "bugging" scheme.Police Chief Dale Lee Roiger is accused of having one of his officers secretly plant a digital recorder to see if City Council members were meeting illegally at the Chamber of Commerce office. (more)
Oddly, the article mentions a digital recorder, which stores the recording in a solid-state memory, yet shows a photo of analog cassette tapes.
Example photo of a digital recorder...
This one is high quality, voice activated and stores up to 300 hours of conversation; about $375. on ebay. Lower fidelity digital recorders are also being sold in the $10.-$40. price range. Be careful what you say, and have your office swept periodically.
UK - An article this week at The Register states that between November 2008 and September 2009, there were 356 self-reported data losses this year by UK companies and government departments. In the same time frame a year before, there were 190 such incidents reported.The information was compiled by Software AG, which used a Freedom of Information Act request to get the data from the UK Information Commissioner's Office. (more)
WI - An Appleton man charged with installing spyware on his ex-wife's computer was fined after he entered into a plea agreement on a lesser charge.Brent J. Walbrun, 47, W3291 Hartland Court, originally was charged with interception of an electronic communication under the state's electronic eavesdropping law for installing the spyware on the computer.In October, Walbrun's ex-wife discovered the spyware program when she realized Walbrun was intercepting her e-mails. Walbrun entered a no-contest plea Oct. 19 to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and was fined $476. (more)
Australia - Distributors for new software that allows parents to spy on their children's text messages say they are still hopeful, as they try to get approval for their product.The software, which allows parents to see every text message their child sends and receives, was due to be on sale in August, but the earliest it will now be available is early next year.Civil libertarians and technology experts have deep concerns about the privacy implications of the product. (more)
(Reports coming in from GA, MA, and IL)
...The unknown sharp object penetrates the door metal, hits the lock mechanism and disengages it. The burglar or burglars slip inside the vehicle without having to break a window or otherwise heavily damage the car, which would call attention to themselves.Because the damage is minor, the owners may not realize they are victims until they notice items missing from the car or items that were moved. The puncture hole that the intruders leave under the lock, usually on the driver's-side door, is only up to about a half-inch in diameter.The thieves prefer to hit General Motors cars, Golike said."Most were GM vehicles," he said. "Many of the GM cars have a lock mechanism that somebody's familiar with."He said some of the cars were Dodges.The thieves target just about anything of value, including cash, wallets, purses and guns left in the cars.The first such "punch" car burglary reported in the greater Alton area happened to a vehicle owned by Telegraph Photo Editor John Badman. That burglary happened Sept. 23 while his Chevrolet Impala was parked in the parking lot of Fast Eddie's Bon-Air tavern along East Broadway. The tavern is at 1530 E. Broadway.Once inside the car, the burglar popped the lid of the trunk, making off with $14,000 in camera equipment - after first relocking the car door. (more) (more) (more)
An American whose secret recordings have placed him at the center of a $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador is a convicted drug trafficker, records show, throwing another complication into a case already tainted by accusations of bribery and espionage.
The lawsuit pits Ecuadorean peasants against Chevron over oil pollution in the Amazon and has been a major headache for the company for nearly a decade, producing a saga that underscores many of the hazards and ethical challenges of oil companies working in the developing world.
The company appeared to gain the upper hand in August when it revealed video recordings — captured on watches and pens implanted with bugging devices — that suggested a bribery scheme involving Ecuadorean officials, and possibly even the judge hearing the case.
But the company was put on the defensive again on Thursday, after lawyers for the peasants revealed that one of two men who made the tapes was a convicted felon. Court and other records provided by the plaintiffs show that Wayne Hansen, the American who helped make the recordings, was convicted of conspiring to traffic 275,000 pounds of marijuana from Colombia to the United States in 1986. He also was sued successfully in 2005 by a woman who accused him of unleashing his two pit bulls to attack her and her dog...
“It’s another blockbuster development in a case that never runs short of them,” said Ralph G. Steinhardt, a professor at George Washington University Law School...
Chevron has said it had no involvement in the videotaping, and company spokesmen have said Mr. Hansen was never their point of contact. “We’ve had no association with this guy,” said Donald Campbell, a Chevron spokesman. (more) (the videos)
As cell phones become more like pocket computers, many people are calling for closer scrutiny of their security... "The phone is a very stripped-down environment," says Benjamin Jun, vice president of technology at Cryptography Research, a security research company based in San Francisco, CA. "Which means that someone who's trying to attack the device generally has an easier time, because it's not as complicated as a desktop system."Jun believes attacks on mobile devices are particularly serious because these devices are being used to access high-value corporate data. (more)
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), says it has had its most intense period of operational activity since 2005. ASIO's annual report says in the last financial year it detected and responded to a new alleged terrorist cell...It also picked up internet espionage as a rapidly growing threat to Government and business information. (more)
Los Angeles - ROBERT H. PHILIBOSIAN, as one of his first acts as district attorney, had a “bug”—the electronic sort—removed from the DA’s executive office.Philibosian says that when he walked through the executive office after he was appointed at the end of 1982, he asked Clayton Anderson, chief of the Bureau of Investigation: “Is this office bugged?” He recites that Anderson responded: “Yes it is,” and pointed to an electrical outlet.The former district attorney says he told Anderson: “I want it out of here now.” (more)
"And, if you're into taxes...the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants kicks off its National Tax Conference at the J.W. Marriott in Washington. Hanging around the hotel and eavesdropping between now and Friday, when the conference closes, could save you thousands of dollars." ~ Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic (more)This is an off-handed, humorous comment.
It is also deadly accurate. I handle counterespionage strategy for my client's off-site meetings. Hotels and conference centers are the worst. It is not at all unusual to catch the competition (and unidentified others) hanging around, eavesdropping, crashing meetings and banquets, picking up unsecured papers and engaging meeting participants – one indiscretion can blackmail a loyal employee into becoming a million dollar problem.
The technical possibilities for eavesdropping are considerable as well. Bugs are easy to plant. Most meeting presenters use wireless microphones.
Competitors reserve a cosy hotel room above the meeting rooms. They arm themselves with a sensitive radio receiver and a directional antenna. Crashing a meeting is a no-brainer. You can see how a 2-3 person team from the competition could clean up with very little investment. One might almost call them negligent if they weren't there.Having an off-site meeting? Get a counterespionage strategy.Avoid leaking your corporate blood.
The new Devil Drive elevates the office prank to a new level of sophistication and maddening effectiveness. It looks like a regular USB thumb drive, but it's actually a devious device of electronic harassment. Its use should be strictly limited to deserving subjects only.The Devil Drive has three functions:
(1) it causes annoying random curser movements on the screen,
(2) it types out random phrases and garbage text, and
(3) it toggles the Caps Lock.
It allows you to select any combination of these frustrating functions, or all of them. It also allows you to set the time interval between events (ranges from 5 seconds to 15 minutes; the longer intervals are recommended for the most maddening effects).
Note: the Caps Lock toggle function does not work on Macs. To deploy the Devil Drive, just discreetly insert it into any unused USB port on the victim's computer (no drivers are needed).The Devil Drive never hits the "Enter" key and it never clicks the mouse button, but still you should not use it on anyone's computer who is doing critical work where any disruption could cause serious consequences; like any prank, exercise prudence and judgment before deploying. (more)
The threat to the United States from foreign economic intelligence collection and industrial espionage has continued unabated since the publication of the Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage, 2007. Economic espionage cases went up slightly and nearly every day brought reports—in the press and in the classified world—of new cyber attacks against US Government and business entities.
Additionally, the increasing use of new modes of communication and social networking has provided uncharted opportunities for transferring information and espionage for enterprising foreign intelligence services.
"Collection methods included everything from eliciting information during seemingly innocuous conversations to eavesdropping on private telephone conversations to downloading information from laptops or other digital storage devices."
Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage, FY 2008(click here for pdf version)
via The Wall Street Journal...
Companies are moving to plug leaks and contain the damage from sweeping insider-trading allegations disclosed last week.(more)Galleon Group received confidential information in 1998 about Intel Corp. chip shipments from a woman who has emerged as a key government witness against the hedge fund and its founder Raj Rajaratnam, according to a document filed by the Justice Department.The woman, Roomy Khan, was employed at the time by Intel and sent a fax containing "proprietary, non-public and highly confidential" information from the company to Galleon's headquarters in New York City, the two-page charging document indicates. She did so at the request of an unnamed representative of Galleon, the Justice Department alleged. (more)Need an information protection strategy?(click here)
Coming soon! Contest starts on November 17th, 2009
MAKE is teaming up with the Penguin Group to present The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest!
All of you adventure-seekers and gadget lovers out there are invited to join in. If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure "Crocodile Tears"?
Design your dream Alex Rider gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, toothpaste, a pen).
The winning gadget will be built right here at the MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic of what your gadget is made from and how it works. (Your schematic can be a diagram, a drawing or an explanation by you).
Remember that the winning gadget will be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that could fly us to the moon)! (more) FYI... (via boingboing.net)
"In case you're unaware, Alex Rider is a young spy whose exploits are chronicled in a popular series of teen spy/adventure books. Alex uses all sorts of crazy high tech contraptions, made from things in his school backpack, to get out of sticky situations."Let me know your ideas. Just for fun, I will post them here with your initials and country or state. To play for the prize, visit Make Magazine.
NY - US prosecutors who used wiretaps to make their insider trading case against billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of hedge fund firm Galleon Group, said they would use similar tactics to fight future Wall Street crimes.The US attorney for Manhattan, Preet Bharara, said on Friday the justice department would employ the same kind of electronic surveillance traditionally reserved for organized crime, drug syndicates and terrorism prosecutions.Bharara, whose office has jurisdiction over the headquarters of some of the world’s biggest financial firms, said investigators relied on wiretaps to build a case against Rajaratnam and former directors at a Bear Stearns hedge fund.He said it was the first time wiretaps had been used to target insider trading. (more)
NY - Blond society babe Ali Wise -- the fired publicity director for Dolce & Gabbana -- was slapped with four felonies yesterday for allegedly making a compulsive, vindictive leap from flacking to hacking.
The ferocious fashionista embarked on a strange, high-tech vendetta against the girlfriends of her old boyfriends, according to a criminal complaint filed against her in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Wise allegedly used widely available "SpoofCard" software more than 1,000 times. With it, she broke into the voice-mail systems of four people -- at least two of whom had dated her high-powered ex-boyfriends -- nearly 700 times, prosecutors said.
The Barbie-esque publicist would then eavesdrop on their messages, even deleting those that did not meet with her favor, prosecutors said. (more)
Stewart Nozette, 52, developed an experiment that fueled the discovery of water on the south pole of the moon, and held a special security clearance at the United States Department of Energy on atomic materials.He has been charged with “attempted espionage for knowingly and willfully attempting to communicate, deliver and transmit classified information relating to the national defence of the US to an individual that Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer,” the US Department of Justice said.But the person Mr Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer was in fact an undercover FBI agent in a sting operation, the department said...During a meeting in a bugged Washington hotel room, Mr Nozette is alleged to have said he wanted to receive cash amounts “under $10,000” to keep him from reporting it to the authorities. (more)
CA - The word espionage conjures up images of James Bond or Alger Hiss, not usually techies in Silicon Valley. But as the San Jose Mercury News reports, two engineers are about to face economic espionage charges in San Jose for allegedly stealing superfast computer chip plans. It’s only the second such trial of its kind in the nation. “For Silicon Valley, where companies have worried for years about their prized secrets being leaked to China and other countries, such a trial is a window into the complexities of protecting product information in a place with ties to every corner of the global economy,” reports the Mercury News. (more)Moral: Don't count on the law to protect you. Have a good counterespionage strategy in place.
Yet another "record your life" tool...
uCorder by iResSpy cameras have been with us for over 100 years; mostly used offensively to spy, sometimes used to inoffensively document life without intrusion-disruption.Times are changing. Today, everyone has a chance at instant global immortality. YouTube and Flickr are our memory mausoleums; CNN's iReport, our chance to be part of the world. The price of admission to this ego-lottery... microelectronics.Microelectronic spycam offerings have dramatically picked up pace during the past 12 months.
Take a stroll in the Security Scrapbook memory mausoleum. You will be amazed at what you see ...and what can see you. (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more) (more)
...never, never say it with ink."New documents shed light on a widely disseminated comment by Bank of America Corp. director Charles Gifford, who wrote in a January email that a U.S.-required dividend cut meant "unfortunately it's screw the shareholders." (more) (more)Effective Counterespionage Strategy Rule #1:
Develop a culture which practices being discreet.
South Korean embassies and other diplomatic missions abroad are vulnerable to electronic eavesdropping due to the shortage of preventive devices, according to the foreign ministry.In a recent report to Rep. Rhee Beum-kwan for the ongoing parliamentary audit of government agencies, the ministry said only 34 of the country's 167 diplomatic offices across the world are equipped with devices for blocking electronic eavesdropping...
An anti-bugging device costs about 8 million won (US$6,600), and only one billion won would be needed to install them in the remaining 133 diplomatic missions, he pointed out. (more)
If there was an effective "anti-bugging device," it would sell for a whole lot more than $6,600.
There is a common misconception (even in government circles) that bugging is accomplished by only one technology - radio frequency transmission. "Install our handy-dandy 'anti-bugging receiver system' and you will be bug-free, 24/7/365... forever!" Even Fortune 1000 companies have almost fallen for this mental band-aid.
A while back, the South African government found one of these "anti-bugging devices" and thought it was a bug! (more) Interestingly, that system was from Korea.
Moral: Avoid gadgets. Get a Strategy.
Researchers at the University of Utah have found a way to see through walls to detect movement inside a building.The surveillance technique is called variance-based radio tomographic imaging and works by visualizing variations in radio waves as they travel to nodes in a wireless network. A person moving inside a building will cause the waves to vary in that location, the researchers found, allowing an observer to map their position...Of course there are privacy and security concerns associated with the technology. A burglar could use it to detect if anyone is home or to scout the location of security guards. (more)
This technology is a cousin to our Digital Surveillance Location Analysis™. We use it to detect and pinpoint the locations of rogue computers, unauthorized Wi-Fi hot spots and digital GSM wireless bugs. (more)
Researchers (University of Tokyo) say they have created a special kind of paint which can block out wireless signals. It means security-conscious wireless users could block their neighbours from being able to access their home network - without having to set up encryption.The paint contains an aluminium-iron oxide which resonates at the same frequency as wi-fi - or other radio waves - meaning the airborne data is absorbed and blocked.By coating an entire room, signals can't get in and, crucially, can't get out...Some security experts remain unconvinced by the paint. "The use of electromagnetic shielding techniques are nothing new," said Mark Jackson, security engineer at Cisco UK. (more)Mark is correct. This is nothing new. Furthermore, the "blocking" claims are bogus. Radio waves may be attenuated, but they are not blocked. Windows and cracks around doors allow radio waves to pass freely. We've reported on this before. (more)
Wales - A woman has told a jury how her former partner set up a secret camera system to spy on holidaymakers staying at their rental cottage.
Teresa Crick said David Sturgess, 53, hid four cameras in fake smoke alarms to film guests undressing, showering and having sex.At Swansea Crown Court he denies 12 charges of voyeurism and three of taking indecent images of children. The jury heard some of those filmed at Llandysul, Ceredigion, were under 18.
Ms Crick 51, told the court that Mr Sturgess, originally from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, would watch a TV monitor showing their naked guests. She reported him to the police after they split up. (more)
UPDATE
David Sturgess, 54, was found guilty of 12 charges of voyeurism and three of taking indecent images of children at a trial last month.
Swansea Crown Court heard Sturgess hid four cameras in fake smoke alarms to film guests undressing, showering and having sex at Llandysul, Ceredigion.
Sturgess was also disqualified from working with children.
Jailing him for 30 months, Judge Keith Thomas said the offences were a gross intrusion into people's privacy and they were rightly devastated. (more with video)
Hilton Worldwide, the American hotel behemoth, could face criminal charges of corporate spying, on top of a civil case brought by its rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts.It emerged that a federal grand jury is investigating the company and several of its former executives over claims that they engaged in the “wholesale looting” of confidential documents in order to help it to launch a rival brand to Starwood’s W Hotels. (more)"What's your counterespionage strategy?"Find one here.
Maj. Gen. Yang Hui, China's most senior military intelligence official, a veteran of spy operations in Europe and cyberspace, recently made a secret visit to the United States and complained to the Pentagon about the press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. (more)
Remember... Watch CCTV. Report Crime. Win a Prize!No prize, but just as weird...Everyday Texts,
where you eavesdrop on people's text messages.
Ireland - Charles Haughey used Royal Ulster Constabulary surveillance technology in political spying operations at the end of the 1970s, a new book on the undercover anti-terror war claims.Haughey went on to boast that the use of the bugging equipment, which was meant for anti-terrorist operations in Northern Ireland, "changed the course of Irish political history". According to the book, Border Crossing, by George Clarke, a retired Special Branch officer, the future taoiseach even refused a request to hand back the two pieces of spying equipment.
Clarke says he lent the bugs – one in the shape of a pen, the other disguised as a 13-amp plug adapter, both of which he had bought in a specialist spy shop in London for £90 – to one of his counterparts in the Garda. (more)
CO - When it was discovered that a man had installed a hidden camera in a Denver Tech Center hotel room to watch the people staying next door, the only legal option for prosecutors was an audio surveillance law.Because Colorado law has not kept up with technology, video surveillance cases are being prosecuted as eavesdropping, a law intended to outlaw wiretaps and surreptitiously overhead conversations. Prosecutors eventually abandoned the felony eavesdropping charge and instead allowed the suspect to plead to a misdemeanor and avoid jail time. (more)
UK - The Ministry of Defence was left embarrassed after its internal guide to preventing leaks appeared on the internet. The Defence Manual of Security sets out tactics for preventing Chinese and Russian intelligence services from using blackmail or hi-tech gadgets to obtain sensitive information... A MoD spokeswoman said: 'The document is marked Restricted as current MoD policy is to keep our security policies and procedures private but the publication of an old version of this document does not raise significant security concerns.' (more) (manual)
FutureWatch (Coming Nov. 2009)
Watch this trend expand.
Next stop, prison cameras?
UK - Internet Eyes is an online instant event notification system. Viewers (in the EU for now) are able to monitor live video feed from our Customers and notify them; the instant an event is observed.
Typical event notifications include:
Shop lifting
Anti social behaviour
Burglary
Vandalism
Would you like the opportunity to help detect these crimes?
How does a reward of £1000 a month sound?
Internet Eyes is now offering you that chance.
Viewers are anonymously monitoring random video feeds streamed from privately owned establishments. At no time can Viewers designate or control the video feeds they receive and the locations of the feeds are not disclosed.
The instant a Viewer monitors an event, an alert can be sent directly to the owner of that live camera feed. The alert is sent along with a screen grab, identifying the image you have observed. Only the first alert received by the camera owner is accepted. Then... (more)
SMR Group an international executive search firm whose global practice is focused exclusively on professional and executive level corporate security positions. It’s US based company, Security Management Resources, Inc. is seeking candidates in behalf of their client for the following opportunity:TITLE: Senior Security Consultant / TSCM SpecialistLOCATION: Either San Francisco Bay or Puget Sound Metro AreasRELOCATION: Not Offered SUMMARYThe successful candidate MUST have a strong TSCM background WITH TRAINING CERTIFICATION FROM A GOVERNMENT TRAINING PROGRAM. A MINIMUM OF THREE YEARS EXPERIENCE PERFORMING TSCM INSPECTIONS AND ANALYSIS IS REQUIRED.Excellent communication and writing skills are essential. The candidate should also possess excellent management skills and experience in security operations. Being able to assist in client relations and marketing would be an added value.This is a full time, salaried position with a well established consulting firm based in Washington DC with numerous Fortune 500 level clients. Excellent salary and benefits commensurate with background and experience will be offered.Interested candidates should submit their resumes via the position posting on the SMR website at: http://www.smrgroup.com/
In a lawsuit filed yesterday in New York, construction information publisher Reed Construction Data claims that McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge posed as fake customers of RCD in order to access confidential information and trade secrets. According to the filing made in the Southern District Court of New York, Dodge used consultants to subscribe to RCD data under false identities and companies. RCD says in its statement, “Dodge then allegedly manipulated the information to create misleading comparisons between Dodge and RCD’s products and services in an effort to confuse the marketplace.” The actual court filing names Dodge employee Erick Kubicka as the person appointed as “Director of Competitive Intelligence,” whose job was to penetrate RCD’s databases. In fact, the suit says that Kubicka was commonly referred to by colleagues as “The Spy.” The filing also claims that Kubicka later gave a presentation in 2004 and 2005 to his own sales reps that included a walk-through of RCD’s Reed Connect data product and its competitive weaknesses. The information had been gleaned by a consultant hired by Dodge who posed as a customer and gave Dodge unfettered access to the RCD databases. (more)
Spy Tip: "Director of Competitive Intelligence" is not a subtle enough cover for the job.
via the Financial Times...
Frankfurt prosecutors on Thursday cleared Deutsche Bank’s top management and supervisory board members of allegations that they were involved in illegal acts when the bank hired detectives to spy on one of their shareholders.The prosecutors said they had not found evidence of an involvement of top management or supervisory board members in the spying scandal that rocked Germany’s largest bank. (more)
As anyone responsible for data security already knows, most company data is either not stored securely or it is emailed as plain text. Campaigns to secure internal and external communications by using public key infrastructures (PKIs) have so far failed to provide a comprehensive solution.Sophos Free Encryption can close these security loopholes. It provides encryption that is both easy to integrate and easy to use. It can protect valuable, confidential data on notebooks and PCs, and ensure that the data is sent securely when emailed. (more) (download)
As if we didn't have enough evesdropping and wiretap problems to worry about, now this headline... 
