Coffee Unlike the Starstrucks Kind

There was a time when a nickle of joe was all one could get. The Europeans even had a joke about it. "Why is American coffee like making love in the bottom of a boat?" (Contact me directly for the rude punch line if you don't know it.)

Tinted water. Blaaaach, pewey!

   

Then came the hard stuff in all its rocky Italian stallion iterations. We loved it... but secretly we all knew it was over the top. Given no other choices, we stayed starstruck.

So, I'm in my local wine shop the other day. Andrea, the proprietress, says, "Try this, you'll love it!" (She is right 98% of the time.) But, instead of a bottle of wine, she hands over a black bag—filled with coffee beans. I take it home, set it aside until the starstrucks is exhausted from the old A-9 grinder. Yesterday, I fill the mill with the new black gold. Ten minutes later, I am sipping what coffee should have tasted like all along. Smooth, mellow, aromatic and delicious... and that's without milk or sugar.

I only recall having this experience once before (in 2001) when a security director friend asked his mother to bring back a pound of coffee for me, from a small plantation in Costa Rica. 

Later in the morning, I am at my town post office. Serendipity. Another patron walks in and hands the postmaster–a black bag filled with coffee beans. They begin talking coffee. I pipe up with, "I just tried that for the first time this morning. You'll like it." Surprise. It turns out the coffee company is located in my tiny town! And, the other postal patron, Matt, is a partner in the company. We kept talking.

Did you know, the darker the roasted beans, the less caffeine they have? Seriously, no java jive. Turns out the lighter colored roasted beans are the ones you want with breakfast. Heavy roasting brings out the oils and dissipates the caffeine. I also learn that Matt specializes in organic beans, some from super small-yield estates—like the kind my friend, Ted gave me ten years ago!

Ok, I'll spill the beans. If you are interested in getting better mocha java lava into your vena cava (and other veins) visit a Fair Trade USA certified coffee partner and look for their organic products. The coffee in my black bag came from Black River Roasters. Real java-heads, however, will want to grow their own. Buy your own plantation!

So... what does this have to do with spies and electronic surveillance? Nothing, not even the black bag reference. Sometimes one just has to take a coffee break from the world of espionage and reflect on the good things in life. ~Kevin

Rupert Murdoch's Newspapers Are Spying On... Each Other

Well, the whole News Of The World phone-hacking scandal just took a rather amusing turn.

The Independent reports that Rebekah Brooks, former editor of The Sun, was one of the victims. Private detective Glenn Mulcaire, working on behalf of News reporters, hacked her phone "more than 20 times."

Considering the big names in the story -- Sienna Miller, Jude Law, etc. -- Brooks, a relatively minor figure, wouldn't normally be news. Except that in addition to editing The Sun, Brooks previously served as an editor at NotW, the very paper accused of spying on her. (more)

Weird Book Promotion Offers Up Spying Devices as Prizes

via The Mirror...

UK - "To celebrate the book release of Private London by James Patterson, we have the ultimate gadget package up for grabs.

Our prize includes a state-of-the-art Nokia mobile handset worth £595, which records all messages and calls with a device which can be listened to from another phone, a Sony digital radio which has a surveillance camera and sound recorder, a keyboard with bugging device, a voice recorder disguised as a USB stick and a mains adapter with a bugging device that can listen to the surrounding sound in room - which can be listened to live from anywhere in the world. This is the ultimate spy package for any budding investigator, and has all the gadgets they need to mimic their spy idols such as Dan Carter in Private London.

Our winner will also get a copy of Private London which follows Dan Carter, the head of the London office of Private, the world's largest and most technologically advanced investigation agency." (more)

Why is this newsworthy?

It points out that electronic eavesdropping laws and attitudes in the rest of the world are not quite the same as in the United States. We advise our clients of this, and once in while a very good example comes along which emphasizes the point.

New Feature in iPhone iOS5 - Unsecured Call Alert

New in iOS 5 is the Unsecured Call alert. This new feature of iOS 5 actually issues a popup alert when you receive an incoming call from an unrecognized number or from a blocked caller ID. 

Here’s what appears on the iPhone screen as a consequence: Unsecured Call : The cellular network you are using is not encrypted. This call can be intercepted by unauthorized listeners.

The science behind this new feature is the fact that hacks and security breaches can actually make listening in on to your phone calls possible, bringing in use, IMSI catcher, a fake GSM cell tower.

It’s a genuine problem with all GSM phones... (more)

Report: Chinese Government Installs Bugs in Hong Kong Cars

Beijing is allegedly using audio spying devices on dual-plate Chinese-Hong Kong vehicles to gather information.

Apple Daily reports the eavesdropping devices were originally installed under the name "inspection and quarantine cards” back in July 2007. The Shenzhen Inspection and Quarantine Bureau installed the devices free of charge to thousands of vehicles across Hong Kong.

The devices are about the size of a PDA, screwed into the car’s front window. 

People in Hong Kong, in particular criminals, began to notice something was awry when the authorities were able to pick out cars carrying illegal goods across borders without problem or hesitation.

"For every ten cars we ran we only had [smuggled goods] in three or four to reduce the risk, but the border agents caught all of them. The accuracy was unreal!" one smuggler told Apple Daily.

Zheng Liming, an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at City University in Hong Kong, took a look at the listening device and determined that it was indeed an eavesdropping device. (more)

CCTV Cufflinks - Wear them to a Far Eastern Embassy when you pick up your Visa

Show your CCTV solidarity with these solid metal mini-peeper cufflinks. You never know, once there you might be featured on CCTV news, shown being lead away in a pair of official cufflinks. (more)

Ingenious & Insidious - Power Cord Hidden Camera

The Power Cord Hidden Camera is an inconspicuous camera housed in a standard-looking power cord that sits on your desk and records everything that happens while you're gone. 

Its slim, sleek and discreet design doesn't draw any extra attention. 

The device looks like an ordinary charger or computer cable, so no one will think twice that it's anything other than a loose cable forgotten on your desk.

Simply pair the camera with any of a number of portable DVRs, plug it in, and you're ready to start recording. And, with a built-in motion sensor, you'll only get the footage you need. (more)

Why do I mention it?

So you will know what you're up against.

This Week in World Spy News

Egypt - An alleged Israeli spy arrested in Egypt has been identified by Israeli media as an American citizen who made aliyah in 2005. (more)

Egypt - A former Israeli military officer was questioned by Egyptian authorities Sunday and detained for 15 days on suspicion of spying for Israel, according to a spokesman for Egypt's general prosecutor. (Probably same as above but with a different last name reported... interesting.) (more)

Thailand - The government insists it has solid evidence to present to the international community concerning Cambodia's alleged spying along the border. It also rejected Phnom Penh's accusation the spy claims are fabricated to justify aggression against Cambodia. (more)

USA - Did aliens crash a flying saucer in Roswell, New Mexico more than 60 years ago? ...a new book ("Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base") takes a look at Area 51, rekindles debate over both questions - and introduces a Nazi connection to the mix. The book chronicles what happened on that base in the 1940s, '50s and '60s -- she spent years interviewing those who worked there. "They're kind of a fraternity of formerly secret spies and scientists and spy pilots and engineers, all of whom know one another," Jacobsen observes. They spent most of their lives hiding what they did at work every day. (more)

Germany - For the first time a Chinese agent has been convicted of spying on practitioners of Falun Gong, the meditation and spiritual discipline that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1999 vowed to crush. The guilty party, John Zhou, was given a two-year suspended sentence on June 8, along with a hefty fine. (more)

USA - New spy kit - Internet-to-Go

Pakistan - A US national has been arrested for allegedly scouting nuclear facilities near the Pakistani capital and is expected to be deported soon as the Interior Ministry has already cancelled his visa. Matthew Craig Barrett, 27, was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a court in Islamabad. (more) 

Eritrea - Four Britons held in Eritrea on spying and terrorism charges since December have been released, the Foreign Office (FCO) has said.

The four men - who all worked for the same security firm - are believed to be on their way back to the UK. (more)

Spain - Jose Mourinho's agent Jorge Mendes denies 'spying' on Barcelona for Real Madrid. The Fifa agent, whose clients also include Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria, claims he has done nothing wrong after reports of espionage in the Spanish press. (more)

USA - Former CIA counterterrorism officer Philip Giraldi is on a mission. He says he wants to expose how costly and dangerous Israeli espionage is to the United States. Giraldi is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest Foundation which just released a 12 page overview called The Spy Who Loves Us. He says Israel conducts more espionage against America than any other US ally... Israel profits from selling US technology... Israeli spying has bankrupted some American companies. (more)

USA - Former National Security Agency exec Thomas Drake has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of exceeding authorized use of a computer. Drake had been facing trial on Espionage Act charges... Drake was under fire for allegedly passing along classified documents to a newspaper reporter about an ill-fated NSA program. (more)

Drake to NSA, "Be seeing you."

Affordable spying – for all... Surveillance gadgets such as Mark Kennedy's 'spy watch' are now within the reach of ordinary citizens (more)

Weird SpyCam App Pitch of the Day

from the app seller's web site...
"SECURET SpyCam 1.5.4 helps you to turn your android phone camera or webcam into a visual motion triggered Spycam. Your device will automatically capture any motion being occurred in your area and saves it. You may spy on your friends to avoid some problems. Also it helps to arrest Criminals or thieves." (more)

Why do I mention it.

So you will know what you are up against.

High Flying Lowe's Intelligence Aerostat Corp 150 Years Old Today

Long before Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance became a buzz phrase or acronym (ISR), Civil War-era inventor Thaddeus Lowe came up with the idea of taking to the skies to spy on the enemy.

Lowe pitched President Abraham Lincoln on the idea of balloon reconnaissance 150 years ago tomorrow, which led to formation of the Union Army Balloon Corps in July 1861, with Lowe carrying the nifty title of "chief aeronaut."

Lowe's simple concept lives on in today's Army, which uses high tech aerostats equipped with cameras and sensors instead of human observers to eyeball the battlefield.

This summer the Army plans to test the ultimate extension of Lowe's balloon-based recon idea with a sensor packed in a football-field long airship. The service has an eye toward deployment in Afghanistan next year. (more) (movie) (book) (book)

"Sorry about that, Chief." (very sorry)

 Leonard Stern, an Emmy Award-winning writer, producer and director whose career in television spanned "The Honeymooners," "Get Smart" and "McMillan & Wife" and whose additional career in publishing included co-creating the classic Mad Libs word game books, has died. He was 88. (more)

99.7 Percent of Android Devices 'Leaking' Data

via itbusinessedge.com...

German researchers have discovered a loophole in Android devices the could potentially leak data if the devices are used over an open Wi-Fi network. According to recumbu.com, authentication codes for Web-based services, like Google Contacts and Google Calendar, are often sent between a phone and Google’s servers unencrypted and in a plain-text format. This means that anyone eavesdropping on the traffic could access information such as a user's contacts library, phone numbers and email addresses.

In a blog post, the researchers say:
Beyond the mere stealing of such information, an adversary could perform subtle changes without the user noticing. For example, an adversary could change the stored email address of the victim's boss or business partners hoping to receive sensitive or confidential material pertaining to their business.

The loophole affects more than 99 percent of Android phones, notes BBC News. However, researchers are not suggesting that attacks are actively exploiting the loophole. Google has not commented on the researchers' discovery. (more)

Bugged Xbox Guitar Hero Reveals Killer. (Not Megadeth, a real killer.)

A trusted uncle playing Guitar Hero on an Xbox was the key to extracting information from a suspect in a fatal Saskatoon shooting...

According to testimony from the uncle, the man agreed to secretly record his nephew for police. In exchange for that help, the police agreed to drop an outstanding drinking and driving charge against the uncle.

To record the suspect, police rigged an Xbox game in the uncle's house with a hidden microphone. Then, during a midnight-to-dawn session of the uncle and nephew playing the game Guitar Hero, the youth was recorded giving his account of the shooting. (more)

Mobile Malware - "The genie is out of the bottle."

Amil Klein, CTO at Trusteer, explained how mobile malware has evolved to a stage where it can now bypass most banking security.

Graham Ingram, the general manager of AusCERT, backs this up.

"The genie is out of the bottle. The hardware is there, the software is there, the capability is there ... these guys will turn it around quickly, now. They know what to do, as soon as the reward is there — and it is clearly there — they will move rapidly into it, and I think that is going to shock a few people because we will wake up one morning and it will all be happening."

SpyCam Story #612 - NYC Hidden Camera Alert

Watch yourselves... especially at: pharmacies, home improvement stores, retail stores, museums, landmarks, fast food joints and anything involving tours. 

Locations in New York City are currently being scouted for hidden camera locations for a new TV show. Expect filming all summer long.

Remember Candid Camera? Well, this one is for the next generation. 

You've been warned, but if you get caught we're all going to laugh at you on truTV.

"All right, who called me Bullet Head!?"

There's something a little disturbing about the thought of jamming something that looks like a bullet into your ears, but then again, MUNITO's SITi (Standard Issue Titanium) Nine Millimeter Earphones clearly aren't your grandma's earbuds. 

Not only are their metal bodies modeled after 9 mm shell casings, but their flexible tips are actually trademarked as SiliconeHollowPoints. 

Lest you think that these earphones are all novelty, they do have some half-decent specs. (more)

Memo to self: Replace REI OSCOR Blue headphones with these.

Tip: How to recover from a malicious web picture attack

Security researchers have found thousands of photos from searches within the Google Images site that have been infected with malicious code. In many cases, clicking on one of these poisoned images triggers a script that makes it seem like the computer has become infected with viruses. Another Web site pops up trying to wheedle your credit-card number in exchange for fake antivirus software. (more)

Tip: If this happens, just force-quite the application. If you downloaded the photo, trash it.

PC - Press the Control-Shift-Esc keys, then End Task.

MAC - Press the Option-Command-Esc keys, click on the program and click the Force Quit button.

SPYPEDIA Library is On-Line and Open for Business

 SPYPEDIA, is the CI Centre's new counterintelligence and security database. It is a resource of cases, latest news, podcasts, videos, CI calendar events, quotes, reports, and more. SPYPEDIA has been in research and preparation for 15 years.

A continually updated, rich, open source database for professionals in the counterintelligence, security, and counterterrorism disciplines; educators; authors; researchers; academia; students; and all who hold an interest in CI and CT.  

What's Available...
• Search current and archival news links and security trends.

• Facts on case studies of spy cases, economic espionage, security, leaks, illegal exports to high-threat countries, foreign intel officers, domestic terrorists.

• Articles from authorities on counterintelligence, terrorism, and security issues.

• Download critical information for your organization's security awareness briefings.

• Hours of video documenting CI and security lessons, vital issues, key facts, and important cases.

• CI history - congressional hearings on espionage related activities, government reports, source documents, and spy trials.

• CI and CT expert reviews of current movies, books, and television shows. (more)

PA School Laptop SpyCam Lawsuits Keep Coming

(Recap - How it began... Michael and Holly Robbins of Penn Valley, Pa., said they first found out about the alleged spying last November (11/09) after their son Blake was accused by a Harriton High School official of "improper behavior in his home" and shown a photograph taken by his laptop.)

PA - A former student at a suburban Philadelphia high school has sued his school district for allegedly spying on him and his family using a school-issued Mac laptop, according to court documents.

The Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Pa. was first sued in February 2010 by another student using similar charges. That case, dubbed "Spygate" in some media reports, was settled last October when Lower Merion agreed to pay Blake Robbins $175,000 and cover $425,000 in court costs.

On Monday, Joshua Levin, a 2009 graduate of Herriton High, charged the district with violating his civil rights and privacy by remotely activating the notebook's built-in camera to take photographs and screenshots.

Today, Lower Merion spokesman Doug Young called Levin's lawsuit "solely motivated by monetary interests and a complete waste of the taxpayer's dollars."

Last year, Lower Merion acknowledged it had activated cameras on the school-provided MacBook system to track lost or stolen laptops, but denied it was using them to spy on students.

Levin begged to differ.

According to his lawsuit, Lower Merion used his laptop to take more than 8,000 photographs and screenshots between September 2008 and March 2009. A report commissioned by the district uncovered more than 30,000 photographs and another 27,000 screenshots taken when the tracking and security software was activated by district IT personnel. (more)

SpyCam Story #611 - The Mac Attacker

He was hired to fix their computers, but police say that Trevor Harwell instead installed spyware software that took candid photos of his clients in various states of undress.

Trevor Harwell had been a Macintosh specialist with a Los Angeles-area home computer repair company called Rezitech. That's how he allegedly had the opportunity to install the spy software, called Camcapture, on computers.

While working on repair assignments, the 20-year-old technician secretly set up a complex system that could notify him whenever it was ready to snap a shot using the computer's webcam, according to Sergeant Andrew Goodrich, a spokesman with the Fullerton Police Department in California. "It would let his server know that the victim's machine was on. The server would then notify his smartphone... and then the images were recorded on his home computer," he said.

Police say they've found thousands of images on Harwell's computers and have identified dozens of victims, all of them women in Los Angeles and Orange County. Harwell was arrested Wednesday by Fullerton police.

Harwell was formerly a student at Biola University, a small Christian university in southern California. Many of the victims were Biola students and Harwell may have compromised university systems as well, police said. (more)

NLJD "Test Target" for TSCM Reverse Engineered

Ok, I know not everyone will "get" this, but the TSCM'ers in our readership will. Everyone else, go read the next post.

Thanks to our respected Canadian colleague for pointing this out.

Disclaimer: I will not be responsible if you read this and die laughing. You have been warned. DO NOT read this if you have a weak heart. 

This week on eBay...

NLJD “TEST TARGET” TSCM

Reverse Engineered...
$0.00 - Paint Stick (free at any paint store)
$0.35 - Diode
$0.00 - Can of paint bought for some other reason.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

$69.00 - "Buy It Now" on eBay... priceless!

$8.00 - Expedited Shipping

Of course, the reverse engineering above is just wild speculation. It is possible that the stick is rare Anigre wood, the diode is actually a specially designed array which was painstakingly tuned to provide an even 360º sphere of sensitivity with a tolerance of +/- .0045%, and all this was encased in an environmentally sealed protective coating – impervious to everything except NLJD emissions.

PrivateEye Software - Automatic Screen Shield - Major Price Drop

When this product was first pitched to the government a few years back it was about $49.95. TODAY - $1.99!!! 

These guys are brilliant, on two counts. 

1. This is a really clever, innovative security solution that works. 

2. They are really trying to sell the enterprise solution of this software... by practically giving away free individual samples to seed the marketplace.

End result. Everyone wins.

BTW, I am not affiliated in any way with any of the products I discuss here. I paid for the original version of PrivateEye I tested. I just paid for the upgrade to test that version. 

I love showing off new software and gadgets to my clients. Just after "Hello" comes "What cool stuff did you bring to show me this time, Kevin?" 

Let's review... 

"How can I stop shoulder surfers from reading my computer screen? The polarized screen thing makes me look like a paranoid dork."

Kevin says... Funny you should ask. I recently purchased some computer screen security software for testing, PrivateEyes from Oculis Labs. It works eerily well. All you need is a computer screen with a video camera and Windows. 

During the simple setup, the software learns who you are by looking at your face. From that point on, the screen automatically blurs unless you are looking directly at it. Turn to answer a phone call, or talk to someone nearby – BLURRR goes the screen. 

"What if someone sneaks up behind me?" I hear you say. No problem. When it sees an extra set of eyes – BLURRR.

Pro: The BLURRR effect changes quickly.

Con: Doesn't work as well in a high contrast environment.
The upgrade seems to have fixed this. Still testing.

PrivateEyes would also make an awesome IT guy gag. "I don't know. Your computer screen looks sharp and clear to me. Maybe you should get your eyes checked."

FREE 30-day trial, or just buy it for $1.99

"Is that an EB200 with directional antenna, or are you just glad I'm not cheating on you?"

Priming the U.S. market for TSCM practitioners coming out of the darkness of their covert inspections for bugging devices, Chinese police show that techno-proctoring school exams is a viable service.

 China's Education Ministry says police have detained 62 people for selling wireless headphones, two-way radios and other electronic devices to cheat on this week's nationwide college entrance exam. (more)

In a strange twist of fate, a man is brought to court on wiretapping charges because of a law passed at his brother's urging, a brother often burned by electronic surveillance revelations in the media and currently engulfed in his own legal quagmire because of them.

Italy - A judge in the northern city of Milan on Friday sent Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's brother to trial for the illegal publication of a wiretapped phone conversation in conservative Italian daily Il Giornale. (more)

Finally, Something in the Smoke-Filled Room that Actually Works

NC - North Carolina House Republicans caucused Friday at the state capitol. These meetings are essentially strategy sessions that are closed to the public. But unbeknownst to lawmakers, the media was able to listen in. WFAE's Greg Collard reports. 

About 20 minutes into the meeting, a lawmaker walked up to a microphone and asked, "Is this working?"

Was it ever.

The meeting took place in a legislative committee room where debate during public meetings is streamed on the web. There's also a feed to the press room.

These feeds are turned off when the political parties caucus. But today, the feed to the press room stayed hot.

So reporters listened in, recorded and posted the audio of a rare behind-the-scenes look at the political process. (more)

"How I lost three fingers making a cupcake bomb in the kitchen of my mom."

British intelligence agents have hacked into the online magazine of the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda and sabotaged an article on bomb making, a government official said Friday. 

The English-language magazine Inspire had published an article last year titled “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.” The agents, reportedly working for Britain’s eavesdropping agency, replaced the instructions with a recipe for cupcakes. (more) (cupcake cannon video)

The Future of Warrantless GPS Tracking in Doubt

DE - A criminal case making its way to the Delaware Supreme Court could help define personal privacy and set limits on how far police can go when using electronic surveillance in Delaware and perhaps across the United States.

The American Civil Liberties Union this week filed a brief in Delaware v. Michael D. Holden, urging the state justices to uphold a lower court ruling that essentially bars police from using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to track people without a court-approved warrant.

Holden, 28 of Newark, was suspected of being a drug dealer and was electronically tracked for more than 20 days by police without a warrant, ending with his arrest after police discovered 10 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle after he visited a suspected drug distribution house. The judge in the case tossed out the drug evidence, ruling that the lengthy warrantless tracking of Holden amounted to an illegal search.

In its brief, the ACLU notes the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled on this issue and legal experts agreed the state case could be part of a growing national debate over the reach of technology versus the boundaries of privacy.

The case will likely turn on the concept of the "reasonable expectation of privacy," said defense attorney and former prosecutor Peter N. Letang. (more)

What Will Anna Chapman Do Next?

Move over, TechCrunch and watch your back, Wired. The voracious self-promotion empire that is Russian spy babe Anna Chapman now claims another conquest. Russia’s sweetheart and America’s favorite deportee is taking over the reins as editor for a small venture capital newspaper.

Yes, hard as it may be to believe, a Putin ally from the intelligences services has found success in Russian business, politics and, now, media. Chapman will take over as editor of the Russian-language Venture Business News, a publication covering the world of venture capital. We’ll also be treated to Anna’s musings on matters economic in a weekly column, Field News. (more)

Anna's interesting time-line, July 2010 until now...

• U.S. sleeper spy who never awoke, was arrested and deported.

• Posed in lingerie for photo shoot.

• Attended a Russian space launch.

• Had a sing-along with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

• Nicknamed Agent "90-60-90" by the Russian press, referring to her alleged measurements.

• Attended a political youth rally.

• Attended a meeting of the commission on economic modernization and technological development of the Russian economy.

• Launched a weekly television show called "Mysteries of the World with Anna Chapman."

• Trademarked her name to pimp eight lines of merchandise, including vodka, clothing and watches.

• Assist the Russian space agency in designing a stylish new uniform for its personnel.

• Will run for Parliament in her native Russia. (No word on how this is working out.)

• And now, editor of a newspaper.

So, what have you done since last July?

Slacker Sack becomes Instant Private Meeting

All of us feel the need to make like an ostrich and hide from the world around us now and then. Could this be the answer? Lying somewhere between a travel cushion and a soft bag to put over your head, the OSTRICH is a design concept that aims to provide a portable retreat from any waking daytime environment where the stresses and strains of the day can melt away. (more) (more) 

Not being one to let a bad concept lay an egg, the scientists at the Spybusters Countermeasures Compound put their heads together and created the electronic surveillance resistant Instant Private Meeting.

Corporate Spying: The Next Growth Industry

via economywatch.com...

The corporate spying business is booming. The largest companies around the world are all involved in “competitive intelligence gathering” by highly trained professionals according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Corporations have people trained to obtain raw data from a wide range of sources* and apply traditional intelligence analysis techniques to produce usable information," PwC dispute analysis and investigations director Richard Batten said. (more)

* electronic surveillance, dumspter diving, social engineering, decaying perimeter security measures, lack of (or ignored) information security policies, etc. — All are things a good counterespionage consulting specialist will address for you.

It's One Thing If You Lose Your Wallet...

It's another thing if Google loses it... 

"Your phone will be your wallet." That's what Google's promising with Google Wallet and Google Offers, which'll combine payments and deals in one neat package. And it's a pretty compelling little vision of the future of paying for stuff.

Google Wallet isn't really one thing, so much as a bundle things tied together in one package. It's an Android app. It's a way for you to pay for things with your credit or debit cards, using your phone. It's a coupon collector and loyalty card system. It's another way for merchants to let you pay and offer up deals. It hooks into other Google services, like Shopper (which shows you nearby deals) and Google Offers. And Google is planning for it to eventually store everything you'd keep in a wallet. (more)


It's the future. 
No escaping it. 
Déjà vu time. 
"With new conveniences comes new security vulnerabilities."

Two CyberWar Hacking Stories. Just Coincidence? You decide.

China has admitted for the first time that it had poured massive investment into the formation of a 30-strong commando unit of cyberwarriors - a team supposedly trained to protect the People's Liberation Army from outside assault on its networks.

While the unit, known as the "Blue Army", is nominally defensive, the revelation is likely to confirm the worst fears of governments across the globe who already suspect that their systems and secrets may come under regular and co-ordinated Chinese cyberattack.

In a chilling reminder of China's potential cyberwarfare capabilities, a former PLA general told The Times that the unit had been drawn from an exceptionally deep talent pool. "It is just like ping-pong. We have more people playing it, so we are very good at it," he said. (more)

Lockheed Martin Cyber Attack: Routine, a Warning or a Possible Act of War?

Last Thursday, Reuters ran a story that the US defense firm Lockheed Martin was experiencing a major disruption to its computer systems because of cyber attack.

The Reuters story said that the attack began the weekend before and indicated that it involved the company's SecurID tokens which allow Lockheed's 126,000 employees "... to access Lockheed's internal network from outside its firewall."

As a result of the attack, Lockheed reset all of its employees' passwords.

Thought Wall Stickers:
• "You have no idea how many people are freaked out right now [about the SecurID breach] ... TASC is no longer treating the RSA device as if it were as secure as it was beforehand."

• As one military official in the WSJ article stated it: "If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks."

A while back, I visited the new Cyber-war exhibit at the Spy Museum in DC. It was about just this sort of thing, and the consequences of remotely destroying electrical generators using code. The outcome is very scary. Glad to see folks waking up and smelling the coffee.

The hackers have done us a favor, this time. ~Kevin

Aerial Espionage is No Longer an Obvious Piper Cub Buzzing Your Plant

Pix4uav provides hands free solutions for UAV imagery. The processing includes the automatic external and internal orientation of the input images, the computation of an orthographic image, its robust geo-referencing and the creation of digital surface models.

This functionality is provided by a fast cloud service, a private server solution that can be placed in your office as well as a light version that can run on your laptop with basic functionality. (more)

In other words... 

Aerial surveillance is now being accomplished in 3D, using stealth model aircraft with a semi-silent electric motor, by a guy working out of the trunk of his car, a mile away. If intelligence can be gleaned about your company, manufacturing processes, work force size, stockpiles, and interior open spaces... you need to think about some countermeasures. Contact a professional counterespionage specialist for assistance.

CONTEST: The Tunny Machine Missing Diagrams Question

(WE HAVE A WINNER. DF from Canada.)

UK - The National Museum of Computing has finished restoring a Tunny machine - a key part of Allied code-cracking during World War II.

Tunny machines helped to unscramble Allied interceptions of the encrypted orders Hitler sent to his generals.

The rebuild was completed even though almost no circuit diagrams or parts of the original machines survived...

The first Tunny machine was built in 1942 by mathematician Bill Tutte. He drew up plans for it after analysing intercepted encrypted radio signals Hitler was sending to the Nazi high command. (more)

CONTEST: What happened to the original circuit diagrams?

PRIZE: First correct answer wins an autographed copy of "Is My Cell Phone Bugged? Everything you need to know to keep your mobile communications private."

CONTEST Alert

Another Security Scrapbook Contest is coming. 
(Hey, it has been a while.)

Here, Tuesday, May 31 at 12:01 PM, New York City time.

The first correct answer wins.

(This pre-contest announcement is made to give everyone who is interested 24-hours notice to get to the starting line at the same time.)