How Do They Do It - Net Tapping

"Our latest products are the industry's only intelligent network surveillance probes for 1Gbps and 10Gbps networks. 

Designed for use in distributed surveillance environments under the control of separate mediation systems, they are ideal for monitoring large and complex networks and offer advanced features such as target discovery based on Webmail/Email address, chat/IM id, VoIP calling information, and IP address/subnet.

DeepProbe has the capability to fully inspect every network packet, so the controlling mediation systems don’t need to rely on CMTSs, switches, routers or other probes for filtering and intercept." (more)

“This is one of the most unusual cases I have ever encountered”, said Suzanne Stringer, of the Crown Prosecution Service.

UK - Man frames co-worker’s husband as collector of child pornography... (his goal) was to break up the marriage of the co-worker with whom he was infatuated. The police finally managed to trace the real culprit after it emerged that the Finnish man had previously appeared unannounced at his co-worker’s home when her husband was at work...

Furthermore, the police uncovered photographs taken inside the victim’s home in Karttunen’s possession. From his workplace, a tractor factory, the investigators also found a bugging device containing recordings of the victim’s family life. (more)

"Most enterprises do not actually know whether their data security programs work or not..."

The business of trading in corporate secrets is bigger and more lucrative than ever, a Forrester study commissioned by Microsoft, RSA and EMC has found, with tech companies in particular targeted for theft.

Most people associate espionage with war and politics. In the tech-centric 21st century, the trading of secrets for cash is where the game is at and most enterprises are overly focused on compliance and not enough on protecting their secrets.

The study concluded that most enterprises do not actually know whether their data security programs work or not. (more) (The Forrester study)

Of course they don't know... Corporate secrets are vulnerable long before they are distilled into to computerized data. Risk mitigation begins with a counterespionage strategy that takes into account pre-data information security. 

Please, get a good counterespionage strategist on-board. IT security alone is too little, too late.

"Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!" not to mention "Uh-oh!"

Alfred Wong, a former Secret Service official who reportedly oversaw the installation of the taping system at the Nixon White House, and whose job at one point was to prevent the White House from being bugged, died last week of mesothelioma, a form of cancer, the Washington Post reported. He was 91.

Wong, of Potomac, Md., spent 24 years in the Secret Service before retiring in 1975 as deputy assistant director in charge of White House security, the Post reported.

Wong told USA Today in 1994, because his job was to prevent bugs from being installed in the White House, he was reluctant to install the tape recording system ordered by Nixon, the Post reported.

“My first response was that we shouldn’t do it, but then it was that we have to do it,” Wong told USA Today. “They wanted it done surreptitiously.”

Of course, the rest is history. (more) (more)

Spybusters InfoBonus...

Report on the US Secret Service and the White House taping system during the Nixon Administration - Secret Service Participation in Tapings (click here)

Update - Feed the Children Bugging Case

Oklahoma’s attorney general has opened a formal investigation of Feed The Children because of allegations of misuse of funds, an assistant attorney general disclosed Friday.

The investigation will involve scrutiny of the charity board of directors and its former president, Larry Jones, who was fired in November.

The charity has accused Jones of taking bribes, hiding porn magazines at the charity and "bugging” executives’ offices. The charity also alleges he misspent charity funds, pocketed travel money, kept gifts from appearances, secretly gave himself a raise and misused a charity employee as a nanny.

Jones denies wrongdoing... (more)

Even more interesting... Jones asked for the AG to get involved!

Bingo Bill Fallout

AL - ...lawmaker says his secretary won't talk on the phone for fear it's bugged. (more)

Turkish Tappy - Update

This is an amazing story. A private large-scale illegal wiretapping ring - busted. The ring included cell phone company employees, businessmen, a sports writer, a sports figure, former policemen and others! 

Although unusual, it is not unheard of... remember Rupert Murdocks' newsboys' caper last year?

Turkey - Teams from the Istanbul Police Department Organized Crimes Unit decided to take action after receiving over 100 complaints of illegal tapping. After conducting a detailed investigation for over two years, police forces initiated a simultaneous operation in four different districts yesterday morning at 07:00. Two high-level administrators and a staff member of a Global Systems for Mobile Communications Company as well as five well-known businessmen, a sports writer, former national footballer Ridvan Dilmen and six former police officers were amongst the total 26 detained...

According to the allegations, the businessmen detained were claimed to have used the assistance of a telephone tapping organization to listen to other businessmen, and used prior records of messages and conversations to their advantage as extortion. Allegations also surfaced against Ridvan Dilmen that he listened in to former footballer Tanju Çolak due to claims he was interfering in his relationship with his girlfriend. Supposedly, reports of over 100 different telephone calls were found in his e-mail address. Meanwhile, the five businessmen were detained yesterday in connection to allegations they used an illegal tapping organization to track their girlfriends. 

The telephone tapping organization is claimed to have worked in conjunction with a security company which offers private detective services.

The illegal organization is claimed to have worked with the GSM company administrators that were detained and were able to keep tabs on their victims, by listening in on their phone conversations, sharing their messaging information and by obtaining information from the base station were able to track their locations and times of calls. Supposedly the organization had specific rates for famous figures they conducted this service for, such as 3-5 thousand dollars for one to three months of tracking and 5-15 thousand dollars for three to six months of tracking. (more)

A tip worth repeating... High profile individuals and prominent executives - Hire a reputable specialist to check for bugs, taps and spycams on a regularly scheduled basis. Be sure to investigate your specialist's background and credentials. You really don't want to hire an organized crime "front company" to conduct your sweep.

Wanted: Speech Therapist. Near Cairo.

Members of an Egyptian family have been using paper and pencils for communications for 11 years after the head of the family found a listening device in their apartment, local media reported on Monday.

The bug was apparently installed by Muhammad’s first wife.

The man moved to a new apartment after that but the bugs moved with him and the family decided to use notes for communication when at home.

Muhammad’s six-year-old daughter had to learn to write early.

After eleven years, they got sick and tired of writing letters to each other and turned for help to specialists only when Muhammad’s ex-wife died.

The family was shocked when they learned that the bug was fake and never worked. (more)

Don't mention the 'explosive' diarrhea you picked up on your trip.

If you are boarding a plane within the European Union you may want to watch what you are saying, as under a new security programme someone is likely to be listening in...

 

The EU is funding a new security program which will be monitoring "suspicious" behaviour on airplanes in Europe. 

The project, designed to combat terrorism, uses a combination of cameras, microphones, explosives detectors and a sophisticated computer system which would give a pilot early warning of any danger. 

Brussels is funding research at Reading University at the moment and the project could be rolled out within the next few years. But the work has alarmed civil liberties campaigners who fear the growth of the big brother state. (more)

EU Investigates Mystery Buggings

European Union officials have launched an investigation after bugging devices were found at offices used by several delegations - including those of France, Germany and the UK.

Extra security measures have been adopted ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

Spanish, Italian and Austrian offices had also been bugged, officials said...

EU spokesman Dominique-Georges Marro said it was "impossible at this stage" to determine who had planted the devices. (more)

Corporate Espionage: Five Areas Where You Could Be Caught Napping

1. Know Your Company’s Strengths.
While there aren’t many business managers who don’t know where their profit comes from, a significant number will automatically assume that it is only the strengths that drive those profits that someone else might wish to steal. The two do not necessarily equate. What may appear to you to be a minor part of your production chain could be the missing link for a domestic or overseas competitor.

2. Know Your Employees and the Stresses and Strains They’re Under.
The global financial crisis might be only one reason why some of your staff members are desperate for cash.  

3. Physical Security.
Know who’s coming in and out of your firm’s premises. Some companies have no policy on visitors, whether friends, customers or prospective clients. Even inquisitive members of the public sometimes gain access through sheer gall and boldness. Consider the areas to which general staff access should be restricted. Don’t forget to screen your cleaners, caterers, as well as your security guards. Anyone who has access to your premises during or after working hours is a potential threat, either through accessing sensitive information or planting listening devices.

4. Electronic Security.
This is a huge area where every business should regularly seek professional advice on the sort of equipment installed and the ways in which it is used. Anti-virus software and firewalls won’t offer much protection against a concerted attempt to penetrate your operations.

5. Personal Security.
Most employees – through no fault of their own – will lack the sense of security with which you would hope they’re endowed. You need to regularly reinforce for them your company’s security requirements, and the best way to do this is to keep it simple. (more)

Dumpster diving for advice provides far less than it costs...

"The Internet is a city of mental nourishment.

You can pick dumpsters for your food, or you can spend some money and visit a fine restaurant." ~ Chef Kevin

Do-it-yourself bugging (dumpster a la law suit)

"Morally it won’t be correct to eavesdrop on an individual’s personal discussion, but through electronics you can always and every time find a way of fulfilling your wishes no matter whether the act is ethical or not." (more)

Do-it-yourself de-bugging (dumpster a la lie)

"If you find yourself the victim of a nasty lawsuit, industrial espionage, or an intrusive ex-spouse, be on guard against audio surveillance... With proper equipment and the vigilance to use it on a regular basis, you can minimize the risk of electronic eavesdropping." (more)

Eat smart.

Meet the Canadians who busted GhostNet

A team of Canadian researchers revealed this weekend a network, dubbed GhostNet, of more than 1,200 infected computers worldwide that includes such "high-value targets" as Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, as well as a dozen computers in Canada.

The revelation left government bodies around the world scrambling to determine what sensitive files may have been compromised by the cyber-spy network, which even now continues to spread and infect, its authors apparently undaunted by all the extra attention. (more)

The Smallest SpyCam in the World

Muvi by VEHO – Smaller than the average thumb!

2" x ¾" x ¾" It's the smallest spycam in the world. You can even wear it around your neck and use it as a webcam.

Muvi has a special VOX mode that lets you start/stop recording using your voice

Micro SD card slot

Despite its size the Muvi records in VGA quality (640x480). Incredible! Videos are stored on the included 2GB Micro SD card (1 hour of recording!), but for those of you who prefer real epics the Muvi can handle cards up to 8GB. (more) (sample videos)

Wiretapping + Blackmail = $$$

Turkey - Former Fenerbahçe soccer player Rıdvan Dilmen was arrested on Tuesday as part of a suspected organized crime group that allegedly wiretapped prominent figures, the Anatolia news agency has reported.

Thirty-six people, including Fenerbahçe's legendary player, were arrested in four different provinces in simultaneous operations conducted by the National Police Department.

These detainees allegedly wiretapped prominent figures such as businessmen, celebrities and soccer players. Police have also taken the testimony of another legendary soccer player, Tanju Çolak, under the scope of the operation. (more)

Spybusters' Tip - High profile individuals and prominent executives - Hire a reputable specialist to check for bugs, taps and spycams on a regularly scheduled basis. Be sure to investigate the specialist's background and credentials. You really don't want to hire an organized crime "front company" to conduct your sweep.

Keeping up with privacy news...

Privacy Journal specializes in reporting on the individual's right to privacy.

The monthly newsletter was founded in 1974, before there was an Internet, before there was e-mail, and before there was automated telemarketing. Thus, it's the oldest publication on privacy in the world.

It is always full of news on new technology and its impact on privacy, tips for protecting your privacy, and the latest on court decisions, legislation, professional conferences, and corporate practices.

Robert Ellis Smith, who is recognized as the leading expert on the right to privacy in the U.S., is the publisher. (more) 

In addition to the journal, PJ is an exceelnt source for specialized privacy information...

• Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws
• Ben Franklin's Web Site. A book about privacy in American history - from our founding to the present.
• The Directory of Privacy Professionals
and more.

"I'm gonna super-size your butt, clown!"

NJ - Police have charged a man who they say climbed in a drive-thru at a New Jersey McDonald's because he was tired of waiting for his Filet-O-Fish sandwich.

Rashon East was charged with simple assault and making terroristic threats after he turned himself in to South Brunswick police on Monday. East paid for the sandwich at the first window. Surveillance video then showed the man climbed out of the back seat and into the pickup window.

Police say East felt intense pressure to surrender because of media attention from videotape and pictures that were released. (more) 
 
Spybusters' Tip - Never underestimate the power of pro-active video surveillance. Logging entry / exit activity at your doors is one good counterespionage deterrent.

21 Technical Secrets (and their solutions)

via pcworld.com  

Here are 21 dangers that the industry is hiding from you--and what you can do about them. 

Don't despair. For every dirty little secret revealed herein, we describe a fix or a way to work around it (if any exists). You don't have to be a victim, if you know what to do.

• Your Webcam May Be Watching You
• Your Cell Phone Is a Homing Beacon
• Your Facebook Apps Are Spying on You
• Cell Phones Don't Crash Airplanes
• Your Boss Can (and Probably Does) Monitor Your Computer
• Your Geolocation Data Is Not Private
• Your Passport Could Make You a Target for Crime--Wirelessly
• The Social Web Never Forgets
• Antivirus Software Won't Protect You 
• The Cyberwar Is Heating Up (and Uncle Sam Is Losing) 
• Google Could Rat You Out
• You Can Escape Almost Any Service Contract Without Penalties
• Your ISP Is a Copyright CopYou Can Fight the RIAA and Win
• A 'Cheap' Smartphone Is a Rip-Off
• The NSA Is Tapping Your Data Stream
• Pacemakers and Other Implants Can Be Hacked
• Your PC May Be Killing YouYou're Spending Too Much on Printer Ink
• End User License Agreements May Not Be Enforceable
• 'Private' or 'Incognito' Browsing...Isn't

When not polishing his tin-foil hat, Contributing Editor Dan Tynan tends his geek-humor empire at eSarcasm.

Stare Bear "I don't want him daddy, he's creepy."

via ThinkGeek...

"The Tell Me Your Secrets Bear is an adorable plush that will be your wee geek's closest confidante. When hugged, he'll profess his love for your child, and stress that friends always share their secrets. He'll ask, "Do you have a secret, best friend? You can tell me anything." When the bear completes a trigger phrase, the audio and video turns on, recording your child's secrets, which are then wirelessly transmitted to you via email (or Twitter). Of course, mostly you'll hear things like, "I really wish Mommy would cook more bacon" or "Is this real life?" but every once in a while, you'll get valuable intelligence that will help you become a more casually despotic parent. We guarantee it." (more) (funny video)

Poll Results - Would you sell your employer's secret information? (assume you would not be caught)

Apparently, our readership is pretty honest. Not surprising, you're not the typical employee. You have an interest in security.

However... considering the makeup of the group, the dishonest results are alarming — 29% admit they do, or might, commit espionage! 

Numbers lie. I suspect many who answered "Heck, I do that now" have a sense of humor like mine.

But what about that 8%? And, would that number be higher in the general (non-security minded) population? 

Thought... If your organization doesn't have a counterespionage strategy yet, you had better visit your local strategy shop.

GPS Tracker (with audio eavesdropping) Update

About 3 years ago the Security Scrapbook alerted you to a tracking device with eavesdropping capabilities. 

The folks at GoPass Technology Corp. have been really busy since then...

Their latest real time GPS trackers – with eavesdropping capabilities – can now...

• Store data when out of cell range, and burst it back when it comes back in range.
• Can send to two different computers. (Convenient home and office surveillance.)
• Automatically snitch when the vehicle is moved.
• Locate with assisted GPS. (Garage parking won't save you.)
• Remotely immobilize the vehicle. (By killing the ignition... or the oil pump, which they suggest, but "don't recommend" in an Eddie Izzard sort of way.)
• Send back data based on the preset time internal or based on the distance driven.
• Read the voltage data by SMS message inquiry.
• Get position data via a phone call. 
• Set a timetable to send back data automatically. 
• Snitch mode. (Teens will hate this.) Only sends data when a preset speed limit is exceeded.
• And, a remote Sleep Mode. 

Need a "personal" tracker (with eavesdropping capabilities)? GoPass has you covered. "Don't leave home without it."

Why do I mention these things?

So you will know what you are up against.

P.S. Suspect you have something like this on your corporate vehicle (car, plane or boat)? Give me a call. I can help.

Contest - You vs. the Swiss Army (USB)

Carl Elsener Jr, the current president of the Swiss army knife maker Victorinox and grandson of the company's founder, was in London this morning to promote the company's latest product: a secure USB flash drive.

And when he says secure, he doesn't appear to be mucking around. Victorinox is so confident of the combination of encryption and fingerprint security built into the drive that it has offered a reward to anyone who can crack it.

Think you've got what it takes to crack the Victorinox code? If you succeed, be prepared to walk away $100,000 richer. It's that simple.
Click here to to send us your registration by email!
View Rules and Regulations (PDF)

PS - If you screw it up, the data self-destructs!

Print Center Blues

Want to know what expenses your boss claimed last month? How much your colleague makes? What the co-worker down the hall is really working on? 

Forget about hacking their computers – you might want to hit the nearest photocopier instead... copy machines in your office keep a wealth of copied data on a hard drive that anyone can hack. 

In the age of everything digital, the photocopier is probably the one workplace item you never thought to worry about. It's just making a copy of a document, right? How risky could that be?

Very risky, as it turns out. (more)

Most print center manufacturers have add-on security software; one option worth opting for.

FutureWatch - "It's just our new 'know yer customer' policy, mate."

Australia - Somewhere in Perth's central business district is a building containing the names, ages, addresses, photographs and unique fingerprint codes of thousands of revellers who danced and drank at Sydney's Home nightclub last year.

 

Home, in Darling Harbour, began trialling a biometric ID scanning entry system nine months ago. Patrons lined up before six large terminals to have their photo taken, and their driver's licence and right index fingerprint scanned. The information was copied and sent to Western Australia, where it is stored on a secured central database by the system developers.

While Home is the only NSW venue to use fingerprint technology at present - there are 13 nationwide - various forms of ID scanning are being quietly rolled out at other nightspots. (more)

"Sheila, if we didn't do this you might get carried off by an alien. It's for your own good, you know, not to mention limiting our liability."  

It may take a decade or so, but once this generation has been privacy desensitized the concept of a business 'knowing the customer' as they enter the establishment will become more commonplace. 

Personal security won't be the only reason. Think about the counter-shoplifting possibilities. When businesses network their customer knowledge, mobile shoplifting gangs will find it harder to operate. 

The marketing mantra... "This enhances and customizes your experience with us."

I Spied (We'll miss you.)

Robert Culp, the veteran actor best known for starring with Bill Cosby in the classic 1960s espionage-adventure series "I Spy" and for playing Bob in the 1969 movie "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," died Wednesday morning. He was 79.

Culp fell and hit his head while taking a walk outside his Hollywood Hills home. He was found by a jogger who called 911 and was pronounced dead at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Lt. Bob Binder of the Los Angeles Police Department. An autopsy is pending.

"My mind wants to flow into sadness, but I want to stay above that," Cosby told The Times on Wednesday. (more)

Australia Week at KSS continues...

The Queensland government has tipped $14 million into wiretapping capabilities to support new phone interception powers handed to police last year. (more)

Plant a bug, grow a business? You decide.

Australia - A Sunshine Coast jury will decide the fate today of two women and a son who placed a fake bug in the home of a Nambour woman with mental health issues.

In each of their recorded police interviews, which were shown during a Maroochydore District Court trial over the past two days, they said they thought planting the bug would “help” the woman, who believed someone was monitoring her.

They took $100 from the woman’s daughter for removing the bug, which was a circuit board and wiring they obtained from a Mooloolaba surveillance store.

Kathleen Joan Kitchner, 54, and Corinne Martell, 47, from Private Eyes007, and Ms Martell’s son, Shane Robert Martell, 26, have pleaded not guilty to attempted fraud.

Their defence barrister has told the jury that “the reason the bug was placed there” should be the issue in their deliberations.

He said while the Crown argued the women planted the fake listening device with a view to getting further business through installation of a surveillance system and possibly security patrols, they had other motives.

The women were hired after Cheryl Metcalf called them to sweep her mother’s home for cameras and bugs in June, 2008. (more)

Bug Found on Activist's Phone Line

Australia - The former fashion designer Prue Acton, who is campaigning to save a koala colony from logging in a south-east forest, has discovered a bugging device in her phone.

The MP3 recorder was found by chance three weeks ago when Ms Acton, pictured, and her partner, the artist Merv Moriarty, received a delivery of water on their property at Wallagoot near Bega.

When the truck arrived, it ran over the Telstra pit (an underground phone junction box) on the track leading to their home.

The couple noticed their email had stopped working so Mr Moriarty went to check the pit. "He and the tanker driver pulled off the broken top and saw some strange devices attach to the phone lines but didn't realise they were listening devices," Ms Acton said.

Telstra fixed the line hours later, but the next day a detective from Bega police arrived.

"She came out to ask us first whether either of us were having an affair and bugging the phone. Hilarious! She next said a recording device, not a broadcasting device, had been found on the line."

The device was sent to Sydney for forensic examination, but Ms Acton said that because she had not been threatened directly, police were not giving the matter high priority.

She had no idea who might have installed the bug, but said it would not stop her from battling Forests NSW over logging in the Mumbulla and Murrah state forests near Bermagui.

Insight 

• Most bugging devices are found by accident. 

Imagine how many would be found if high-risk individuals and businesses hired a professional counterespionage consultant to look of them.

China Holds 4 Australians for Espionage Trial

Australia - Australian mining executive Stern Hu admitted to receiving bribes of up to 6 million yuan ($960,000) during a sensational opening day of the trial of four Rio Tinto executives in China yesterday... The four Rio executives were arrested on July 5 last year and charged with bribery and stealing state secrets, a charge that was later downgraded to stealing business secrets... The charges of stealing business secrets could add up to seven years to any bribery sentences, if they are found guilty. (more)

"Fair dinkum, money's no object!"

Australia - The general manager of a council in Sydney's inner-west has admitted spending council funds to employ a surveillance company to follow a man he feared was involved with his wife... It is alleged Mr Romano used council funds to pay for security expenses for personal purposes. Mr Romano has told the inquiry he spent more than $44,000 to conduct surveillance on a man he believed may have been harassing his family. The inquiry also heard Mr Romano thought the man was involved with his wife. (more)

Catch an E-Mail Snoop Yourself

via Erik Larkin, PC World...

Your Web mail account is a treasure trove of private and potentially valuable information -- and thieves know it... Normally you can't tell whether you've been hacked... Even if you cannily leave a juicy-sounding e-mail unread, a thief or snoop may read it and then return its status to unread. But with a little bit of know-how, you can create an electronic trip wire that will trigger whenever someone reads a rigged e-mail... The gist of it is to keep an e-mail message in your account that includes the code for a counter. Opening the attachment trips the counter, thereby alerting you that someone was snooping. (how-to details)

Better than a Sharp Stick in the Eye Alarm System

The Snow Queen or The Emporer's New Clothes? You decide.

From those wonderful folks who brought us Hans Christian Andersen...

“Dry” fog from PROTECT A/S obscures everything in protected areas in less than 20 seconds after a break-in. When activated, the fog generator produces dense but harmless fog and making thieves flee the way they got in. Because thieves cannot steal what they cannot see!

A PROTECT™ Fog Cannon completes the “circle of protection” when used with conventional burglar alarms, giving customers an additional sense of security. (more) (actual break-in video)

A competing product, FlashFog, also has some great surveillance and demo videos worth viewing.

Looks pretty cool. I'll go with Snow Queen.

World's Smallest Autofocus

LensVector Inc. has developed an autofocus technology that may make cameras again a main focal point on mobile phones.

LensVector’s autofocus device, which the company says is the smallest ever, sheers and focuses light using LCD technology. And, very importantly, it has no moving parts. LensVector has its sights set on cameras for cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices. (more)

(FutureWatch) ...like contact lenses for microbots or telephoto lenses for spycams, perhaps?

Your espionage is wildly successful. What's next?

China's relationship with foreign companies is starting to sour, as tougher government policies and intensifying domestic competition combine to make one of the world's most important markets less friendly to multinationals.

Interviews with executives, lawyers, and consultants with long experience in China point to developments they say are making it much harder for many foreign companies to succeed. They say the changes suggest Beijing is reassessing China's long-standing emphasis on opening its economy to foreign business—epitomized by the changes it made to join the World Trade Organization in 2001—and tilting toward promoting dominant state companies. (more)

“There are louder voices pushing China to be more protectionist and to be more nationalist.” Lester Ross, managing partner in Beijing for WilmerHale law firm

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday lent its support to calls by the United States for China to allow its "much undervalued" currency to rise, amid EU complaints of protectionism. (more)

Murray Associates / Spybusters featured in the Tektronix March 2010 Newsletter

Case Study: 
Spybusters Tracks Down Hidden Eavesdropping Devices 

New technologies are making it easier than ever to listen in on private conversations. High-tech bugs are easy to plant and hard to detect, and are turning up in boardrooms and offices where they are not wanted. Learn how Spybusters LLC, a firm that specializes in detecting and removing surveillance devices, used Tektronix Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers to keep clients' offices bug-free. (Tektronix newsletter) (full story)

Password Whacker now a 100x Faster Cracker

Password-cracking tools optimised to work with SSDs (solid state drives) have achieved speeds up to 100 times quicker than previously possible.

After optimising its rainbow tables of password hashes to make use of SSDs Swiss security firm Objectif Sécurité was able to crack 14-digit WinXP passwords with special characters in just 5.3 seconds. Objectif Sécurité's Philippe Oechslin told Heise Security that the result was 100 times faster than possible with their old 8GB Rainbow Tables for XP hashes.

The exercise illustrated that the speed of hard discs rather than processor speeds was the main bottleneck in password cracking based on password hash lookups. (more)

If Tiger Woods' cell phone had this...

...he would be working on his putts today.

(from the manufacturer's press release...)

FlexiSHIELD is software for cell phones that effectively creates an 'invisibility' shield for your phone, protecting SMS, EMAIL, MMS, Phone Logs and actual Phone Calls from prying eyes.

For any phone number, or Contact that you specify, FlexiSHIELD will automatically hide any incoming or outgoing SMS, MMS, EMAIL, Phone Logs and actual Phone Calls in an invisible vault on the phone itself.

When installed and activated, there is no indication of the application, and all message and call notifications are suppressed, making FlexiSHIELD totally invisible in operation. (more)

No, it won't work on your iPhone or BlackBerry. Currently, it is only compatible with Windows Mobile / Nokia cell phones. Yes, these are the same people who make the cell phone spyware.

FutureWatch... It will be interesting to see how this development affects law enforcement, cell phone forensic investigations.

"How small are GSM bugs?"

A. They can be as small as a Compact Flash card.

This is a question I hear frequently, along with...

"How expensive are they?" 

($20 to $80)

"Where are people getting these?" 

(ebay and on-line spy shops)

"How do they work?" 

Plug in a SIM card and hide it. Call the listening device using any phone, from anywhere in the world. Or... some models will call, or text, you whenever it hears someone in the vicinity talking!

"How do you find them?" 

In 2009, Murray Associates developed a proprietary test - Digital Surveillance Location Analysis™ (DSLA™) - which plots the location of these normally dormant devices on a computer screen map, using triangulation.

Ain't this a kick in the head? (again)

Erin Muller says she found a GPS tracking device attached to the undercarriage of her car two weeks ago ... and Erin tells TMZ she believes her ex Michael Lohan is the one who put it there. Muller claims her dad found the device -- which can track the whereabouts of her vehicle in real time -- while he was checking for an oil leak... According to Muller's lawyer, cops are investigating the situation as a felony eavesdropping case -- and, as a result, Erin says she's so paranoid that she's going to have her apartment swept for bugs. (more)

Leave a key under the mat, Erin...

Michael Lohan has released an audio tape exclusively to RadarOnline.com which he says proves that his ex-fiance Erin Muller broke the restraining order against her, ultimately leading to her arrest on Thursday. (more)

And you thought TSCM was difficult in China...

China - Four private detectives from Liaoning province have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven to eight months in Chaoyang district court for running an illegal operation... The men registered their private detective agency in February 2009, describing it as a "business consultancy." Detective agencies are not legal in China. The men were accused of tracking, photographing and locating people between February and August 2009. (more)

If you need TSCM advice/assistance in any country, please call us, we can help you do it legally.

Out of the Box Malware

Security researchers report that malware has been discovered on a Vodafone HTC Magic smartphone running Google's Android operating system. The discover comes just days after battery producer Energizer acknowledged that the Windows software it had been distributing for its Duo USB charger was infected with a Trojan. (more)

Eavesdropping as Entertainment

You have to be sharp to keep up with the changing social mores. While "don't stare" "don't point your finger" are withstanding the changing social landscape, "don't eavesdrop" has not. Hundreds of thousands of Web sites now specialized in eavesdropping as entertainment.

One example, as reported by the Sun Sentinal... 

"Today, I was working at Publix ringing up some 70 year old woman. She says ‘Man, you're a fast cashier, I like my men fast!' and then gives me a wink. I got really nervous and didn't know how to respond, so not thinking, I quickly said, ‘Yeah, me too.' FML"

Murdoch’s News of the World censured for bugging on an “industrial scale”

UK - A report by the Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee has exposed the contempt that the mass circulation Sunday newspaper, News of the World (NoW), part of Rupert Murdoch’s media giant News International, has for basic democratic rights, parliament and the rule of law.

Its 167 pages, part of a wider inquiry into press standards, libel law reform, privacy and press regulation, found that the newspaper had lied about the extent to which its journalists had illegally hacked into the phones of the police, the military, royals, government ministers, celebrities and other well-known people in the top echelons of British society—in what was described by one MP as hacking on a “near industrial scale.” (more)

UK Football Team Bugged - "In the future, all rooms will be swept for such surveillance devices."

Video reports from BBC (video) and Sky News (video).

Olympic-level Surveillance Equipment Bargains

Now that the Paralympic games are wrapping up, Honeywell Building Solutions is beginning the final stage of its $30 million security contract with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police here: the removal of all the equipment that’s been installed to protect the 18 Olympic venues. But what to do with the roughly 1,300 Panasonic IP cameras, Computar lenses, 4,000 Xtralis PIRs, etc.? (more) (the list)

X-Ray Vision ?!?!

In the distant future private investigators may no longer need to peep through the cut-out holes in their newspapers, thanks to researchers at the ESPCI in Paris, who have discovered a way to see through various opaque materials. (more)

UK Football Team Bugged

UK - The FA have launched an investigation to uncover the culprits behind bugging the England camp last week. The Daily Mail says lawyers have already been instructed to prevent the illegal tape from being published. 

England were left facing yet more potential disruption to their World Cup plans when it emerged that a six-hour recording of team meetings was in existence. 

Last night, FA officials still had no knowledge of who committed what amounts to a serious breach of privacy laws — or the contents of the tape. 

Speculation remains that the sensitive tape includes Capello discussing tactics with his staff, as well as players talking about private matters that could cause some embarrassment to members of Capello’s first team, as well as World Cup bonuses. (more)

Sir Alex Ferguson, has spoken of his concerns about the news that one of Fabio Capello's team-talks was bugged during England's preparations for their friendly against Egypt last week.

Ferguson was speaking from personal knowledge after a device was planted in the home dressing room at Old Trafford before a game against Chelsea in 2005 and the tape was offered to newspapers.

'It happened to us once before,' Ferguson said. 'I would be concerned about it. Preparation involves discretion and secrecy. (more)

Sports is not a game. It is a business. A big money business. Electronic surveillance is as likely to occur against a professional sports team as it is at any other business.

Sports teams should seek local counterespionage help by adding their country name to this search.

And thus began the long parade of frogmen...

United Arab Emirates

Police in Dubai Wednesday ordered spies to leave the Persian Gulf...

"Those spies that are currently present in the Gulf must leave the region within one week.

If not, then we will cross that bridge when we come to it," said a lieutenant general with the Dubai police. (more)

Insider-Trading Wires & Taps

NYC - Federal prosecutors in Manhattan equipped several cooperating witnesses with recording devices to try to obtain information about targets in the Galleon insider-trading probe, people familiar with the matter say... A total of 21 individuals have been charged in the Galleon case. At least eight individuals have pleaded guilty and are cooperating against other defendants... Criminal prosecutors also are using evidence obtained from wiretapped telephone calls. (more)