If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody hears it...

Trees in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are being fitted with mobile phones in an attempt to tackle illegal logging and deforestation.

Devices smaller than a pack of cards are being attached to the trees in protected areas to alert officials once they are cut down and the logs are transported. 

Location data is sent from sensors once the logs are within 20 miles of a mobile phone network to allow Brazil’s environment agency to stop the sale of illegal timber. The technology, called Invisible Tracck, which is being piloted by Dutch digital security company Gemalto, has a battery life of up to a year and has been designed to withstand the Amazonian climate. (more)

Audio Steganography - SkyDe, as in Skype Hide

Those awkward silences during phone calls can communicate a lot. Especially if you're sending hidden messages during them. 

Computer scientists at the Warsaw University of Technology have come up with a way to secretly send nearly 2000 bits of encrypted data per second during a typical Skype conversation by exploiting the peculiarities of how Skype packages up voice data. They reported their findings this week...

First the researchers noted that even when there's silence in a Skype call, the software is still generating and sending packets of audio data. After analyzing Skype calls, they found that they could reliably identify those silence packets, because they were only about half the size of packets containing voices. SkyDe (for Skype Hide) encrypts your hidden message, grabs a certain portion of outgoing silence packets, and stuffs the encrypted message into them. (more)

Important point: Conventional steganography hides data within photos and pictures. Downside... Your hidden message may languish on servers in multiple places for a long time, where it could eventually be discovered. Sky-De reduces this vulnerability. ~Kevin

Who Is Tracking You On-Line - Infographic

How do the digital detectives on the net snare you? 
This infographic makes the mysterious, fathomable...
 

See the full graphic here.

Need an "I'm not here" outfit to go with the Mysterian glasses?

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or "drones") are fast becoming an ever-present eye in the sky, potentially granting governments greater strike and surveillance capabilities than even Orwell’s fictional Big Brother could hope to wield. In response, NYC artist Adam Harvey has created a series of garments which claim to reduce the effectiveness of UAVs.

Harvey’s garments include an anti-drone hoodie and scarf, which are designed to block the thermal imaging cameras used by many airborne drones. The designer also created a burqa which appears to function in much the same way.
 

Click to enlarge

Harvey is currently selling the designs, and would-be shoppers can pick up an anti-drone hoodie for £315 (or around US$500).
 
The Stealth Wear collection is on display in the UK at Primitive London until January 31. (more)

The Mysterians and Question Mark...or viceversa?

Worried about all those security cameras tracking your every move? Try rocking one of these visors and enjoy anonymity once again.

At least that's what Isao Echizen from Japan's National Institute of Informatics is trying to achieve with the Privacy Visor (PDF).

Developed with Seiichi Gohshi of Kogakuin University, the visor has a near-infrared light source that messes up cameras but doesn't affect the wearer's vision, according to the institute.

They're hardly fashionable, but the lights create noise that prevents computer vision algorithms from extracting the features needed to recognize a face. (more) (get the t-shirt) (sing-a-long)

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and other Cold War Spy Toys

via one of our Blue Blazer irregulars... (thanks!)
From Russian photoblog PhotoShtab.ru comes these great pictures of Cold War-era miniature gadgets that KGB spies and others used to monitor, smuggle, and kill (via RussiaEnglish).

Seeing as we have just seen the new adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, these photos are a another great reminder of how paranoid and insane that whole 'Cold War' period was. (many more gadgets)

P.S. If you like seeing Cold War spy tools, your really need The Ultimate Spy Book, by historian H. Keith Melton. It is loaded with large glossy photos of the CIA's Greatest Hits, and the fascinating history of spies and their gadgets.

Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act of 2012 vs. My Baloney Meter

On January 14, 2013, President Obama signed the Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act of 2012.

The Act enhances the penalties for certain violations of the Economic Espionage Act.

The purpose of the Act was to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased penalties for foreign and economic espionage.

Under the Act, the upper limit of penalties for individual offenses of Section 1831(a) are increased from $500,000 to $5,000,000 and the upper limit for corporate offenses of Section 1831(b) are increased from $10,000,000 to the greater of $10,000,000 or 3 times the value of the stolen trade secret to the organization, including expenses for research and design and other costs of reproducing the trade secret that the organization has thereby avoided. (more)

Why this approach alone has never worked, and what will work...
"A Cunning Plan to Protect U.S. from Business Espionage"

Book: Britian's Brilliant Bugs Bomb Nazis

Historian Helen Fry, who has written a book called The M Room: Secret Listeners who bugged the Nazis., says the information gleaned by the eavesdropping of the German generals was vitally important to the war effort - so much so that it was given an unlimited budget by the government.

Click to enlarge.

She believes what was learned by the M room operations was as significant as the code-breaking work being done at Bletchley Park.

"British intelligence got the most amazing stuff in bugging the conversations. Churchill said of Trent Park that it afforded a unique insight into the psyche of the enemy. It enabled us to understand the mind-set of the enemy as well as learn military secrets. "If it wasn't for this bugging operation, we may well have not won the war." (more)

Man Sends His Computer Security Token to China...

...so he can outsource his job!

A security audit of a US critical infrastructure company last year revealed that its star developer had outsourced his own job to a Chinese subcontractor and was spending all his work time playing around on the internet.
 

Verizon investigators found that he had hired a software consultancy in Shenyang to do his programming work for him, and had FedExed them his two-factor authentication token so they could log into his account. He was paying them a fifth of his six-figure salary to do the work and spent the rest of his time on other activities...

Further investigation found that the enterprising Bob had actually taken jobs with other firms and had outsourced that work too, netting him hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit as well as lots of time to hang around on internet messaging boards and checking for a new Detective Mittens video. (more)

The Suspected Fly on the Wall was a Horse

 Not a horse-fly, a real horse. 
 My friend and colleague, Tim Johnson, relates the tail tale...

"I was contacted to do a debugging sweep of a company executive area and an executive residence in a midwestern state. Having concluded the examination of the offices without finding anything I proceeded to the residence where I repeated the process. 

During the radio frequency examination I detected a radio frequency that I noted for additional analysis. In doing a further examination of the signal it was determined to be originating from outside the residence. This was done by moving my receiver to different locations and checking the signal strength. 

There was a barn located in the general direction of the signal path so I went out and did a further check." (more)

(Foal Alert Transmitter)

What Happens When You Lose A Cell Phone?

Vodaphone wondered too...
In The Lost Phone Experiment, Vodaphone planted 100 phones throughout the Netherlands, and tracked their fortunes via a web site.  

They came up with some interesting data about how many are returned, where they traveled to, what they were used for, and by who. Open the site up using Chrome and hit "Translate" so you can read it in English. (more)

Spoiler Alert: About 30% were returned to their owners.

Cautionary Tale - Unsafe Sex, USB Style

Critical control systems inside two US power generation facilities were found infected with computer malware, according to the US Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team.

Both infections were spread by USB drives that were plugged into critical systems used to control power generation equipment, according to the organization's newsletter... (more) 

(reiteration time) - "If you are not sure where it has been, don't stick it in." 
~ Kevin

Business Espionage: AMD v. Ex-employees

AMD has filed (and been granted) a request for immediate injunctive relief against multiple former employees that it alleges stole thousands of confidential documents. Named in the complaint are Robert Feldstein, Manoo Desai, Nicholas Kociuk, and Richard Hagen. All four left AMD to work at Nvidia in the past year.

The loss of Feldstein was particularly noteworthy, as he’d been the head of AMD’s console initiatives for years. Feldstein was behind the work that landed AMD the Wii U, PS4, and Xbox Durango.

The AMD complaint states that “He [Feldstein] transferred sensitive AMD documents, and in the next six months, the three defendants either did the same thing... 

AMD claims to have forensic evidence that three of the four defendants transferred more than 10,000 confidential files in total, with the names of the files in question matching “either identically or very closely to the names of files on their AMD systems that include obviously confidential, proprietary, and/or trade secret materials related to developing technology.” (more)

One in Four Android Apps Pose "High Risk" to Security

Almost 25 percent of Android apps feature code that can access application permissions and cause security vulnerabilities, according to a new study by mobile security firm TrustGo.

Of the 2.3m Android apps analysed by TrustGo in the fourth quarter of 2012, 511,000 were identified as high risk, defined as being able to make unauthorised payments, steal data or modify user settings.

Not all of the apps are universally available. For example, just 10 percent of apps in the US and Western Europe had a high risk for causing security issues. While China was reported to have the most high risk apps available for download. (more)

Stingray - Clandestine Cellphone Tracking Tool - Fights On

The FBI calls it a “sensitive investigative technique” that it wants to keep secret. But newly released documents that shed light on the bureau’s use of a controversial cellphone tracking technology called the “Stingray” have prompted fresh questions over the legality of the spy tool.

Functioning as a so-called “cell-site simulator,” the Stingray is a sophisticated portable surveillance device. The equipment is designed to send out a powerful signal that covertly dupes phones within a specific area into hopping onto a fake network. 

The feds say they use them to target specific groups or individuals and help track the movements of suspects in real time, not to intercept communications. But by design Stingrays, sometimes called “IMSI catchers,” collaterally gather data from innocent bystanders’ phones and can interrupt phone users’ service—which critics say violates a federal communications law. The FBI has maintained that its legal footing here is firm. Now, though, internal documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group, reveal the bureau appears well aware its use of the snooping gear is in dubious territory...

It’s likely that in the months ahead, a few more interesting nuggets of information will emerge. The FBI has told EPIC that it holds a mammoth 25,000 pages of documents that relate to Stingray tools, about 6,000 of which are classified. The Feds have been drip-releasing the documents month by month, and so far there have been four batches containing between 27 and 184 pages each. Though most of the contents—even paragraphs showing how the FBI is interpreting the law—have been heavy-handedly redacted, several eyebrow-raising details have made it through the cut. (more) (Stingray explained)

Van Eck Grown Up - Time to look at eavesdropping on computer emissions again.

1985 - Van Eck phreaking is the process of eavesdropping on the contents of a CRT or LCD display by detecting its electromagnetic emissions. It is named after Dutch computer researcher Wim van Eck, who in 1985 published the first paper on it, including proof of concept.[1] Phreaking is the process of exploiting telephone networks, used here because of its connection to eavesdropping.

2009 - A simple experiment showing how to intercept computer keyboard emissions. 

It is notable that there is: 
• no connection to the Internet; 
• no connection to power lines (battery operation); 
• no computer screen in use (eliminates the screen emissions possibility); 
• and no wireless keyboard or mouse. 
Intercepted emissions are solely from the hard-wired keyboard.

The interception antenna is located about one meter away. (This is why we look for antenna wires under desks, and metal parts on desks to which wiring is attached.) 
(video 1) (video 2)

The point is, if one can get an antenna withing close proximity of your computer, what you type belongs to them.
 
December 2012 - Not satisfied with pulling information from your keyboard, injecting information becomes a concern (pay attention investment firms).

"The roughly half-dozen objectives of the Tactical Electromagnetic Cyber Warfare Demonstrator program are classified, but the source said the program is designed to demonstrate ready-made boxes that can perform a variety of tasks, including inserting and extracting data from sealed, wired networks.

Being able to jump the gap provides all kinds of opportunities, since an operator (spy) doesn’t need to compromise the physical security of a facility to reach networks not connected to the Internet. Proximity remains an issue, experts said, but if a vehicle can be brought within range of a network, both insertion and eavesdropping are possible." (more)

2013 is going to be an interesting year. ~Kevin

'Spy News from New York' shows off NYC

New York in stunning 360 degree detail — A photographer has created a stunning interactive image of New York, giving a detailed 360 degree tour of Manhattan.

Click to enlarge.

Sergey Semenov, a Russian, created the image by stitching together thousands of photographs of the city, taken during helicopter tours in 2011.
The interactive graphic has also been "flattened" to create a detailed 2-D image, focused on Central Park and its surrounding skyscrapers.
Mr Semenov won the best amateur award from the International Pano Awards, given out for panoric photographs, for the 2-D image. (more)

Tip: Be sure to click the 'view full screen' link for a spectacular helicopter ride around New York City, without the helicopter.

Business Espionage Alert: China Now Blocking VPNs

The "Great Firewall of China," designed to prevent its citizens from accessing some overseas content, has apparently undergone an upgrade.

And some observers say this may not only be an effort to stop citizens from reading or viewing Western information, but also to spy on international corporations doing business in the country who encrypt their internal communications...
 
"A number of companies providing virtual private network (VPN) services to users in China say the new system is able to 'learn, discover and block' the encrypted communications methods used by a number of different VPN systems," the report said.

"China Unicom, one of the biggest telecoms providers in the country, is now killing connections where a VPN is detected, according to one company with a number of users in China," the report said.  (more) (more)

"1984" Gets a New Look

via creativity-online.com...
You can't judge a book by its cover, but there's no denying that a thoughtful, bold packaging can make all the difference when it comes to picking up a tome from a shelf.

Penguin Press enlisted designer David Pearson to re-do the covers of five classic George Orwell novels. Among them is this standout cover for "1984," with both the title and the author's name "blacked out." In certain lights, you can see the title, however. 

It is of course a nod to the contents of Orwell's dystopian novel, where the misnamed Ministry of Truth rewrites and falsifies history to serve its own purpose. See the covers for other Orwell books by Pearson below. (more)

Brilliant!

Investigative Journalist Finds Electronic Listening Device in Apartment

Ukraine - Lviv investigative journalist Taras Zozulinsky said he discovered an electronic listening device in his apartment on Jan. 6. He thinks it was planted because of his investigation into whether high-ranking police officers in Lviv Oblast are involved in the illicit drug trade.

"I didn't snitch on you. You snitched me!"

Police say they have launched criminal proceedings regarding intentional obstruction of journalistic activities, but complain that the newspaper is obstructing their work.

Zozulinsky said he did not trust the police, so the newspaper decided to give the device to a reliable and independent expert in Europe.

Zozulinsky said he found the device sewn to the label of a towel on a shelf and made a complaint to police the same day. Police interviewed him and searched the apartment at his request, but did not find any other bugs. (more)

My take... Until further evidence is brought forth, I'm saying he stole that towel from a hotel or a local gym, brought it home, and later discovered it had something extra in it. You can learn all about that something extra here. ~Kevin

Book Review - A Cybercop's Guide to Internet Child Safety

I am reading Glen Klinkhart's book, "A Cybercop's Guide to Internet Child Safety." After reading only two chapters, it is clear that this is a must-have book for every parent. 

The book begins with an Author's introduction. It sets the tone, i.e. Glen Klinkhart has not written this book to make a buck, he is on a much larger mission, and has the experience-clout to accomplish it. You see, when he was 15, his older sister was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered. Since then, he made cyber-security his life. Having worked with his team, I know first-hand they are very good at it.

Patriculary impressive is the layout and organization of his advice and guidence. The headlines and sub-heads are clear and concise, as are the explanations which follow. It is an instant, easy-to-understand education for every parent, no matter what their previous level of Internet savvy.

Most parents will find this book is THE answer to, "What can I do?" A few may feel policing their child's cyber-activities is an Sisyphean task, and bury their heads in the silicon. But hey, who ever said parenting was easy, or that everyone was up to the task. At least, "A Cybercop's Guide to Internet Child Safety" now makes this part of parenting do-able. All of us no longer can use ignorance as an excuse. Isn't protecting your child worth $25.00?

From those wonderful folks who brought you Godzilla...

Two moments of security Zen, from Japan... SECOM's rentable private security drones.

"Flyzilla"



and... "Flee, puny humans. FLEE!"

   
(more)

Larry Ellison's Sailing Team Gets Caught Spying - Pay $15,000 Fine

Larry Ellison's Oracle Team has been found guilty of spying on the Italian team by an international jury of sailing experts, reports Julia Prodis Sulek at the Mercury News.

The penalty shouldn't hurt too much: they have to give up five days of practice and pay a $15,000 fine. That couch change for billionaire Ellison, one of the world's richest men with a net worth of about $41 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.  (more)

Spies & SpyCams at the Supermarket

Germany - A former store detective who worked at the German supermarket Aldi has revealed to news outlet Der Spiegel that in addition to looking out for shoplifters, Aldi wanted him to spy on store employees and install hidden cameras.

"I had to say if an employee was working too slowly, engaged in an affair and reveal other private details such as their financial situation," the anonymous source told Der Spiegel, according to Business Insider.

But the alleged demands for staff surveillance didn't stop there. According to the German news site The Local, which reported on the Der Spiegel exposé, the unnamed source said he was asked to install tiny cameras in staff locker rooms and was threatened with losing his job when he refused. (more)

Computer Anti-Virus King Becomes a Spy?!?! ...you decide.

Remember John McAfee? ...the man who, just weeks ago, went on the run from Belize after his neighbor was found murdered, claiming that the police wanted to kill him and frame him for the murder. 

He fled to Guatamala,...arrived in the US shortly after, and now he’s pecking out his tell-all tale via his blog, where he describes himself as the head of his own private spy operation.

According to the post he... purchased 75 laptops, loaded them with “invisible keystroke logging software,” packaged them back up so none would be the wiser, and gave them away to those in positions of power: law enforcement, government employees, etc. The software then sent McAfee text files of what was typed, and he soon had access to a variety of social media and email accounts.

Soon after, he amassed 23 women and six men whom he calls his operatives; eight of the women, he said, were so accomplished at their missions that they ended up living with him...

Of course, it’s important to remember some things: McAfee is known to be involved in drugs, even having had his place in Belize raided at one point on suspicion of meth manufacturing. (more)

Trakdot - Smart Baggage Surveillance

Paranoid about your luggage? 
Did it make the plane? 
Did it make the wrong plane? 
Where is it now? 

In March, you may be able to pinpoint where your luggage is even before the airline!

"Trakdot™ Luggage is constantly monitoring the cellular network to determine it's city location. When you fly, Trakdot™ Luggage knows and goes to sleep. Upon arriving at your destination, Trakdot™ Luggage wakes up and reports it's new location. Depending on your preferences, a text-message or email is sent to you confirming that your luggage has arrived with you." (more)

Apps for Investigators - Takes the legwork out of finding the most useful investigative tools

There are hundreds of thousands of apps out there, but only a select few are truly useful to the private investigator, private detective and law enforcement professional. 

You will find those apps at a new web site called Apps for Investigators.

David Ziegler has done the legwork of testing and evaluating apps for iphones, Androids, Blackberrys and ipad and other tablets. 

The web site lists apps that save investigators time and money, and assists them in the field. A small sampling may be may be seen immediately, and getting to the gold mine requires a simple log-in.

Need to know about new investigator-vetted apps more quickly? Follow Dave on Twitter.

Released: SpyWarn - Android Smartphone Anti-Spyware App

SpyWarn™ the simple-to-use forensic evaluation tool, used to check Android cell phones for spyware. Its unique forensic methodology makes it impossible to miss active spyware. 

SpyWarn™ begins with a FREE diagnostic survey – like a private consultation with a forensic expert. 

Based on your answers, a vulnerability Threat Level for your phone is computed.

If your Threat Level is low, there is little need to worry. Keep the app handy for future tests. If the Threat Level is medium to high, conduct further testing with SpyWarn PRO (an in-app upgrade). 

Additional features found in SpyWarn PRO:
• Automated analysis of key internal phone functions affected by spyware.
• An eBook version of, "Is My Cell Phone Bugged? Everything you need to know to keep your mobile communications private." (152 pages, $17.95 in hardcover.)
• An automatic Eavesdropping Alert function.
• Data and power statistics.
• A data & power graph.
• A history of every analysis you conduct.

Other "spyware detection" apps only scan for known spyware files. New or well hidden spyware is missed. SpyWarn's unique forensic methodology makes it impossible to miss active spyware. Available at Google Play. (more)

Security Director Alert - VoIP Phone Eavesdropping

Murray Associates warns clients that VoIP phones are inherently less secure than the older style phones. It is one reason they advise disconnecting phones in meeting rooms until they are needed. 

Ang Cui, through his extensive research, has moved this threat from theoretical to very real. 

For in-depth information we recommend viewing his presentation. (video)

High-tech telephones common on many workplace desks in the U.S. can be hacked and turned into eavesdropping devices, researchers at Columbia University have discovered.

The hack, demonstrated for NBC News, allows the researchers to turn on a telephone's microphone and listen in on conversations from anywhere around the globe. The only requirement, they say, is an Internet connection.

Doctoral candidate Ang Cui and Columbia Professor Sal Stolfo, who discovered the flaw while working on a grant from the U.S. Defense Department, say they can remotely order a hacked telephone to do anything they want and use software to hide their tracks. For example, they said they could turn on a webcam on a phone equipped with one or instruct the phone's LED light to stay dark when the phone's microphone has been turned on, so an eavesdropping subject wouldn’t be alerted that their phone has been hacked. (more)

Once upon a time... privacy was the norm.

via cnet.com...

Obama extends government wireless (should be warrantless) wiretapping for another five years -- and the public reacts with a big yawn... 

"Never say die."

...sound of silence greet(ed) the five-year extension of extraordinary spying powers handed to the National Security Agency. Even in an age when attention deficit disorder seems to be the default mode, this was something else. In the closing days of 2012, President Obama signed into law a bill that lets the government avoid judicial review, leaving the NSA free through the end of his term to intercept international e-mails and phone calls without needing a court order. (The new law is awkwardly named the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012, and it reauthorizes 2008's FISA Amendments Act, which modified the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.) (more)

Private Spy Drone Prompts Criminal Indictments

TX - An anonymous individual or group’s private spy drone’s images have resulted in a criminal indictments for a US meat packing company. The images were taken nearly a year ago and received so much attention that authorities took notice and acted.

The images were taken above an Oak Cliff, Texas-based meat packing company and revealed a large-scale release of pigs blood into a creek flowing into the Trinity river. The business, Columbia Packing Company, and its owner, Joe Ondrusek, are facing 12 indictments for water pollution. 

The consequences for the owner, his relative, and the company could be severe. The company could be forced to pay between $6,000 and $1.5 million in fines, while Ondrusek could receive up to five years in prison and faces a $100,000 fine for each charge. The owner and his relative are facing up to 10 years in prison for the alleged tampering with evidence and could pay a $10,000 fine for each additional count. (more)

2013 at the International Spy Museum

What's up at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC next month... 

New Special Exhibit
Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains

Meet Bond’s villains, uncover their evil schemes, and explore their exotic lairs and weapons in this special exhibit. Now open through 2014.

Exquisitely Evil Family Night
Friday, January 11
You are invited for a secret after-hours infiltration of the Museum’s newest exhibition, Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains. Families are welcome to this exclusive viewing of the special exhibit complete with Code Cracker competitions, Bond Spy Trivia contests, SPY snacks, hot cocoa, and a chance to explore all forms of spy tradecraft. Eye patches optional.

Spying in America
Espionage from the Revolutionary War to the Dawn of the Cold War - Tuesday, January 15 (FREE)
Join Michael Sulick, former director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, as he discusses his new book, Spying in America, which presents a history of more than 30 espionage cases inside the United States including Benedict Arnold and Julius Rosenberg.

On the Front Line
Protecting Presidents and Prime Ministers - Thursday, January 17
As Inauguration Day nears, consider what it’s like to guard the President. Meet two experts who know first-hand the work in keeping the head of the state safe: Mark J. Basil served with distinction in the United States Secret Service for ten years; and Daniel J. Mulvenna retired from the Security Service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after 21 years.

Spy Hunters
The Women Who Caught Aldrich Ames - Wednesday, January 23
Meet Sandy Grimes, a former CIA Operative in the Agency’s Clandestine Service, and hear how she and her fellow operative Jeanne Vertefeuille used their determination, hard work, and cunning to enable the capture and conviction of their former colleague and infamous CIA officer-turned traitor: Aldrich Ames.

Power and policy in syria
Intelligence Services, Foreign Relations and Democracy in the Modern Middle East - Wednesday, January 30
Join Radwan Ziadeh, Director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies, as he presents a fresh and penetrating analysis of Syria's political structure and the Syrian intelligence service.

Spy Seminar Series
Exfiltrations, Captures, or Kills: Famous High Stakes Intelligence Operations
 - Wednesday, February 6 - February 27
Intelligence operations that hold human life in the balance are some of the most difficult missions any intelligence service will ever undertake. Exfiltrations are supremely delicate. This is the process of extracting a person or people from a targeted site with absolute urgency due to a sudden change which makes the site hostile. This could happen when a spy’s cover is blown or a change in leadership puts people in danger. Captures are just that - snaring an enemy. And lastly, kills. Wet jobs. Assassinations. When the enemy is bad enough that termination is the only answer. In this series, a distinguished group of experts and former intelligence personnel will introduce you to some of the greatest of these intense operations. — In collaboration with the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program.

While there, stop by the Spy Museum Store and pick up a copy of "Is My Cell Phone Bugged? Everything you need to know to keep your mobile communications private."

Predicting Personal Aerial Surveillance – Drone On

Mark Pesce takes a look at drones and tries to predict the future...

At the end of March, a new service announced itself to San Franciscans. 'One-click taco delivery' sounded quite reasonable. The perfect lunch food, ordered via smartphone, and couriered to your door while still steaming hot.

All perfectly normal - until you got a peek at the delivery vehicle: a 'quadcopter'.

A quadcopter looks a bit like a helicopter, but rather than the customary single rotor, they have four rotors mounted on an X frame, one rotor at the end of each arm. They're often quite small - less than a meter in width - and computer-controlled...

Tacocopter was revealed as an elaborate April Fool's prank...

As the cost of a drone drops below a hundred dollars, we'll see them used everywhere. Their mounted cameras will give us eyes in places we can't reach easily ourselves, and will find countless industrial uses...

Suddenly we can see everything, everywhere. We are stumbling into the Age of Omniscience almost accidentally, and before we know it there will be no place, high or low, where we can not be seen.

This will vex celebrities first... Within the next year, a jealous husband will be able to hire a private detective to track his wife by drone, and be able to witness her comings and goings for himself.

Creepy men will stalk their ex-girlfriends by drone, leading to an expansive application of restraining orders to cover 'personal airspace'. The right not to be seen will be debated in the courts, the public sphere, and on the floor of Parliament... (more)

Reality Check: In a majority of countries, air space is government controlled. Personal spy drones, as a legitimate delivery business or surveillance service, will not get off the ground without strict restrictions. But, like other electronic surveillance technologies — whose usage is already covered by legislation — illegal usage will proliferate. 

Maybe there is a new TSCM menu item in this, Drone Spotting... 

To paraphrase a line from an old blues song... "Spying been down so long, it look like up to me."  
I am sad about 2013. Too many developing surveillance technologies. Dropping prices and ethics. All this, creating more people and businesses whose privacy and intellectual property will be targeted. I am also optimistic. TSCM specialists – people like me who detect illegal surveillance as a business – around the world are keeping one step ahead of these developments, and are ready to help you.

Keeping an eye on the bugs in the sky... ~Kevin
(Excuse me, while I go on-line to shop for a portable radar station and ballistic air nets.)

Are They Tracking You? - Government Cell Phone Surveillance

From an article in "For the Defense" Winter 2012 • Volume XVI, Issue 4, New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, by Bill Elliott, Criminal Defense Investigative Specialist — Contact the author for a pdf copy of the full article.

With the recent ruling in USA v. Jones mandating that law enforcement will now need probable cause and a warrant prior to attaching a GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking device to someone’s vehicle, most people are feeling pretty secure that the government will not be tracking their every movement without good reason and authorization from a judge. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In fact, this narrow decision by the U.S. Supreme Court (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf) only addressed the issue of physically attaching a GPS tracker to someone’s vehicle and not the more common place practice of tracking someone using their cell phone...

What is a cell phone ‘ping’ and why all the government interest in cell site location data?
 
Simply stated, a cell ping is when a cell tower communicates with a cell phone in its area of coverage to see if there is a need to connect. Cell phones are continuously communicating with cell site towers every couple of seconds saying here I am, are you receiving my signal.
 
This is happening even if no call is being placed at the time. At times a cell phone may be communicating with as many as six cell towers at once as it nears a handoff point. Each cell tower is recording this contact and this information can be utilized to track the location and movements of the cell phone across town or across the country. A cell phone’s location can be identified to within a quarter-mile radius of the cell tower location. The location can be narrowed even further by utilizing information as to which side of the tower the cell phone was on and, using other cell phone towers to triangulate the cell phone’s signal, the actual location can be pinpointed with signal strength meters.

In a nutshell... If you voluntarily carry a GPS receiver with you (a feature of your cell phone), it is not a surveillance enhancement. Thus, it can be used against you.

Turkish PM: Five Electronic Surveillance Devices Found

Turkey - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan revealed that four unauthorized wiretapping devices had been detected in his parliamentary office and government car.

A subsequent report from the Office of the Prime Minister on December 25 said that one more device had been found in Mr. Erdoğan’s home-office at this residence in Turkish capital Ankara. (more)

See Two App Store Icons on Your Phone? Beware.

New spyware Trojan – Android.DDoS.1.origin – silently takes over your phone.
 
via Dr. Web...
Android.DDoS.1.origin creates an application icon, similar to that of Google Play. If the user decides to use the fake icon to access Google Play, (Google Play) will be launched, which significantly reduces the risk of any suspicion.

When launched, the Trojan tries to connect to a remote server and, if successful, it transmits the phone number of the compromised device to criminals and then waits for further SMS commands...

Activities of the Trojan can lower performance of the infected handset and affect the well-being of its owner, as access to the Internet and SMS are chargeable services. Should the device send messages to premium numbers, malicious activities will cost the user even more.

It is not quite clear yet how the Trojan spreads but most probably criminals employ social engineering tricks and disguise the malware as a legitimate application from Google. (more)

Putting Spyware on Daughter's Phone Nets Restraining Order

OH - A university student who accused her mother and father of stalking her after they installed monitoring software on her phone and computer has won a restraining order against them.

A US judge ordered David and Julie Ireland to stay at least 150m away from their daughter Aubrey Ireland and have no contact with her at a court hearing in Ohio on December 10. (more)

Remember the spy who was found dead in a duffle bag?...

UK - Scotland Yard has concluded that MI6 Codebreaker Gareth Williams probably locked himself inside the duffel bag he was found dead in, sources close to the inquiry tell the Telegraph. 

Click to enlarge

Police re-opened the case after the coroner ruled that a third party had likely been involved—possibly even one of Williams' security service colleagues—but after taking DNA samples and re-interviewing MI6 employees, the detectives "have been unable to find any trace of anyone who should not have been in the flat," the source says. (more)

Wiretapping Sweeps Over China

Now wiretapping is very popular in China's officialdom, from senior level to the grass-roots, spying equipment is being utilized widely.

Officials wiretap each other to find their opponent's secrets, then use it as a bargaining chip to achieve a promotion. In many situations, people can see that the officials embrace each other. In fact, it's an action to check whether the other has a wiretapping device or not.

Commentators thought the spy equipment has been a tool of siding with the bully in China, where it isn't ruled by law.

Qi Hong is an expert on detecting spying equipment in China. Recently he told media that he had helped more than one hundred officials remove more than 300 bugs in 2011. His job is locating the wiretap device and pinhole camera from officials' car, bedroom and office. In busiest times, he removed more than 40 devices in a week.

Qi Hong also exposed that wiretap devices are widely used among the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members. In some cases, the subordinates want to find some crimes of their superior, so that he can replace them. In some cases, competitors want to find the secrets of others which can be used to plot against them. In some cases, the superiors want to control the subordinates.

In addition, the wives and lovers want to grasp some insider information. Normally, the wiretap devices were installed in officials' cars, offices and bedrooms. (more) (video)