Tap Stars of Las Vegas - "...we're damn good!"

"Let me call in a buddy of mine. He's an expert on wiretaps."

Las Vegas authorities use electronic wiretaps more than almost every other police agency in the country, according to a new report. Clark County judges approved 187 wiretaps on phones in 2013, and police executed 178, according to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. 

All of the wiretaps were for drug investigations. That’s a lot of wiretapping, especially when you factor the county’s population, compared to metro areas at least four times larger. 

Los Angeles County judges approved 148 wiretaps last year. New York City’s special narcotics bureau had 138 wiretaps approved. 

Pew Research Center analyzed the data and determined — based on population — that the Silver State leads the nation with 38 phone wiretaps per 500,000 people in 2013. 

No other state saw more than 12 wiretaps per 500,000 people, according to the nonpartisan think tank. So why are Nevada’s numbers so high... (more)

Privacy Tip: How To Remove Your House From Google Street View

Stars like Paul McCartney and Jimmy Page are asking Google to blur out their houses on Street View, but that's not a feature exclusive to celebrities. You can do it, too. Celebrities -- they're just like us!

There's not a whole lot of privacy to go around nowadays, so it's a good idea to take advantage of any opportunity for anonymity you can find. It's actually pretty easy to ask Google to blur out your house from Street View.  

Here's how: Find your house on Street View by searching for your address on Google Maps... (more)

How bad is computer security in the business world?

Complete disarray, if you believe a friend of mine who's worked in the industry forever. Behold his hair-raising tales... (more)

Australia - Stronger privacy laws needed to protect public from drones

A federal parliamentary committee is recommending stronger privacy laws to protect the public from invasive technologies like drones.

The Government-dominated committee's report is titled Eyes in the Sky, but its recommendations go beyond the use of remote piloted aircraft, more commonly known as drones.

The House of Representatives' standing committee on social policy and legal affairs calls on the Abbott Government to look at creating a tort of privacy.

But Attorney-General George Brandis has previously rejected such a move as an intrusion on personal freedoms. (more)

The fight drones on. Personal Privacy v. Personal Freedoms.

PI High Flyers are not Keeping a Low Profile - What could possibly go wrong?

(Private) Investigators are taking drones to new heights — using the remote-controlled aircraft to catch New Yorkers cheating on spouses, lying about disabilities and endangering their kids.

“People want you to believe there’s all this negativity associated with drones . . . but they could be a very helpful tool,” said Olwyn Triggs, a gumshoe for 23 years and president of Professional Investigators Network Inc. in Glen Cove, LI.

Triggs recently used a drone to find an upstate man suspected of insurance fraud. Signs on his rural property warned that trespassers would be shot, so she sent in her 2-pound, foot-long Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter, which costs about $1,000...

"And if they're not disabled..."

Matthew Seifer recently pretended to test-fly a drone in Central Park. He was actually recording a husband fooling around with a female coworker from 100 feet away.

“Sometimes the best thing is to be right there in plain sight,” said Seifer, president of Long Island-based Executive Investigations...

“We raised the drone above the restaurant, [and] he was engaged in a sexual act in the front seat of his car,” the investigator said. “[Drones] get us those types of money shots.” (more)

...an FAA crackdown, loss of PI license, lawsuit defense expenses, etc.

Keylogger Malware Found in Hotel Business Centers

The NCCIC and the USSS North Texas Electronic Crimes Task Force recommend that hotel managers, owners and other hospitality industry stakeholders consider the following.
 
Contacting your network administrator to request that:
• A banner be displayed to users when logging onto business center computers; this should include warnings that highlight the risks of using publicly accessible machines.
• Individual unique log on credentials be generated for access to both business center computers and Wi-Fi; this may deter individuals who are not guests from logging in.
• All accounts be given least privilege accesses; for example, guests logging in with the supplied user ID and password should not be able to download, install, uninstall, or save files whereas one authorized employee may have a need for those privileges to carry out daily duties. 
• Virtual local area networks (VLANs) are made available for all users, which will inhibit attackers from using their computer to imitate the hotel’s main server.
• All new devices are scanned (e.g. USB drives and other removable media) before they are attached to the computer and network; disabling the Auto run feature will also prevent removable media from opening automatically.
• Predetermined time limits are established for active and non-active guest and employee sessions.
• Safe defaults are selected in the browsers available on the business center desktops (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox). Options such as private browsing and ‘do not track’ for passwords and websites are some of the many available.

Any questions regarding this advisory can be directed to the United States Secret Service North Texas Electronic Crimes Task Force at (972) 868-3200

Correctional Facility Bugs Employees, Claims it was a Test (cue klaxon)

Correctional staff are reeling and demanding answers after a microphone was found inside of a smoke detector in a staff lounge area.

CBC News reports that the acting director of Saskatoon Correctional Center claimed the listening device was a prototype for a new intercom system intended to keep the facility safer.

If it were actually used, it would be placed in inmate living areas. The testing, however, had to be done elsewhere.

“It was not installed as a means in which to covertly listen to staff conversations. For anyone to covertly listen or intercept private communications would require legal authority to do so,” Jock McDowell said.

The device was designed to look like a smoke detector to discourage inmates to tamper with it.

The union says this has further strained staff-management relations. (more) (RIP Dick Jones) (sing-a-long)

Business Espionage: White Pigment Spy Sentenced by Judge White

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a California chemical engineer to 15 years in prison and fined him $28.3 million for a rare economic-espionage conviction for selling China a secret recipe to a widely used white pigment.

U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland said Liew, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had "turned against his adopted country over greed." (more)

You Know You Want One...

Have something small — cash, microfilm, an SD card loaded with private videos — that you want kept safe and out-of-sight? 

Hide it in plain view with the Spy Bolt. Based on Soviet KGB hollow bolts, this handy gadget features a secret storage compartment that's nearly half and inch in diameter and almost three inches long, offering plenty of room for covert communications. And should the bolt find its way outside, you rest assured that the contents are safe, thanks to an O-ring seal around the top. (more)

Emboldened by Their Upcoming World Cup Victory this Sunday...

Germany expelled the CIA station chief in Berlin over alleged spying by the United States which has refused to break its silence over the escalating row between the Western allies.

The expulsion came after two suspected US spy cases were uncovered in less than a week in Germany, where anger still simmers over the NSA surveillance scandal...

“The representative of the US intelligence services at the embassy of the United States of America has been told to leave Germany,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said. The step was highly unusual among NATO allies and underlined Berlin’s anger. (more)

The NSA Speaks (humor)

The NSA addresses allegations that the U.S. has been spying on Germany. (video)

Before There Was Snowden There Was Mitrokhin

The papers spent years hidden in a milk churn beneath a Russian dacha and read like an encyclopedia of Cold War espionage.

Original documents from one of the biggest intelligence leaks in history — a who's who of Soviet spying — were released Monday after being held in secret for two decades.

The files smuggled out of Russia in 1992 by senior KGB official Vasili Mitrokhin describe sabotage plots, booby-trapped weapons caches and armies of agents under cover in the West — the real-life inspiration for the fictional Soviet moles in "The Americans" TV series.

In reality, top-quality spies could be hard to get. The papers reveal that some were given Communist honors and pensions by a grateful USSR, but others proved loose-lipped, drunk or unreliable.

Intelligence historian Christopher Andrew said the vast dossier, released by the Churchill Archives Centre at Cambridge University, was considered "the most important single intelligence source ever" by British and American authorities.

Mitrokhin was a senior archivist at the KGB's foreign intelligence headquarters — and a secret dissident. For more than a decade he secretly took files home, copied them in longhand and then typed and collated them into volumes. He hid the papers at his country cottage, or dacha, some stuffed into a milk churn and buried.

After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Mitrokhin traveled to a Baltic state — which one has never been confirmed — and took a sample of his files to the U.S. Embassy, only to be turned away. So he tried the British embassy, where a junior diplomat sat him down and asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"That was the sentence that changed his life," said Andrew.

Smuggled out of Russia, Mitrokhin spent the rest of his life in Britain under a false name and police protection, dying in 2004 at 81. (more)

Priest Bugged

Australia - Police are examining alleged threats made to a Greek priest and the bugging of a church house in which he was living.

The alleged threats, involving an unnamed priest from the Autocephalic Greek Church of America and Australia, were reported a fortnight ago while the discovery of the concealed listening device was reported to police in late March.

The alleged threats are ­related to the controversial ordination of Father Prokopios Kanavas as bishop of the AGCAA last August.

Father Kanavas resigned in acrimonious circumstances in April – just eight months after he was ordained. He has been stripped of his titles and moves are now being made to expel him from the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia.

While GOCSA executives ­believe they know who made the unlawful threats to the priest, the precise motive and culprit ­responsible for the bugging remain unclear.
The listening device was hidden in the rangehood of a church house in Grattan St, in the city, adjacent the Greek ­Orthodox cathedral. Such devices, which are freely available for purchase on the internet, have a range of around 50m. (more)

Employee and Aid Bug Co-Workers

An accountant resigned from her $42,000-a-year part-time job as West Seneca’s comptroller two months ago after employees accused her and an aide of using a tape recorder to secretly record their workplace conversations.

Town officials confirmed that two town employees made complaints against Jean M. Nihill, 57, about a month before she resigned from her job as the town’s top finance officer on May 12. Nihill, a certified public accountant, is the business partner of one of the town’s most politically powerful individuals – town Democratic Party leader Paul T. Clark, who served as town supervisor for 16 years.

The employees also alleged that former deputy comptroller Linda Kauderer took part in the bugging. Kauderer retired from her town job May 20.

Police investigated the complaints and verified that a tape recorder was used to record the employees while they were working in town offices, Police Chief Daniel M. Denz confirmed. (more)

1978 Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act Instigator Dead at 68

David Truong, a Vietnamese antiwar activist whose conviction on espionage charges in the United States in 1978 raised alarms about the federal government’s use of wiretaps without court orders and spurred passage of the 1978 Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act prohibiting such practices, died on June 26 in Penang, Malaysia. He was 68. (more)

Happy Fourth of July

Kevin

Today in Business Espionage News

PA - Cumberland County-based Harsco Corp. is suing one of its former top executives in federal court, accusing him of corporate espionage for allegedly passing confidential company information to a competitor.
Clyde Kirkwood essentially acted as a mole, Harsco contends in the U.S. Middle District Court complaint it filed this week.

Kirkwood abruptly quit his post as commercial vice president for Harsco's Metals & Minerals Division in early June, three months after he secretly agreed to take an executive job with the Michigan-based Edw. C. Levy Co., Harsco's suit states.

Harsco claims that, starting early this year, Kirkwood not only passed confidential Harsco information to Levy, including data on top-level corporate decisions, he also intervened to try to steer Harsco away from international projects where it could be in competition with Levy. (more)

-----

Taiwan tech giant Hon Hai said today it has pulled out of a deal to buy 4G equipment from Huawei after the government warned that the Chinese company posed a national security threat.

Taiwan raised those concerns in March after Hon Hai announced the USD 178 million deal, saying telecom equipment purchased from Huawei could be used for cyber espionage. (more)

-----

The wife of a Chinese company’s chairman was arrested in California after she was charged in an indictment filed Wednesday in federal court in Des Moines with conspiracy to steal trade secrets from U.S. seed corn companies.

Mo Yun, 42, was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles. She is a citizen of China. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt said he could not comment on whether she was in the U.S. on a work or visitor visa or why she was in California.

Her arrest is the latest development in a case Klinefeldt announced in December in which several employees of Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Co., known as DNB Group, or its subsidiaries were alleged to have stolen patented seed corn from fields in Iowa and Illinois and shipped it to China to try to reproduce its traits. (more)

Marti Oakley's Pre-4th of July Privacy Review

• We have street lights spying on us in public.
• We have your SMART meters tracking what you do in your home, not to mention making many people ill.
• We got your scan enabled license plates so that you can be tracked for any reason or no reason as you travel.
• These plates will also be handy for “tax per mile” calculation at the pump coming to a state near you in the very near future.
• Our cell phones can be tracked using GPS installed in them.
• Retailers can access your cell phone while you shop in their stores.
• NSA can listen in and track you anytime they want on the phone, on the net, or on any gadget you might possess.
• GPS allows the tracking and location of our vehicles.
• Black box recorders are now installed on all new models of cars so that conversations in the cab of the car can be retrieved, insurance companies can access info about you and so can the NSA.
• And there is not one major retail establishment that you can enter without having your picture snapped, compared to millions of faces in the system, and identified. You can and will be tracked throughout the store you are in, along with your purchases and how you paid for them.
• We have nano-chips, scan enabled from satellites, sprinkled in numerous high volume food products so that what we eat can be tracked, if anyone really wants to know what we are eating and where we are eating it.
• Medications are soon to be laced with nano-chips so that your doctor and/or insurance provider can determine if you are taking prescribed medications.  (You can be dropped from your insurance for non-compliance if you are not taking the drugs for any reason)
• They will also be inserted into medical devices, like your hip and knee replacements. (more)

Note: The above comments are not mine and should be subject to fact-checking.

On the other hand, fireworks haven't been banned in all states, yet.
Map that shows the types of fireworks allowed in each state.

"Talk to the badge, Axxxxxx."

UK - Shop workers who have been the victims of hate crime are to be given 'spy' name badges - in a bid crack down on racism.

Some 48 devices are being bought by Merseyside's Police Commissioner Jane Kennedy to help tackle hate crime.

The semi-covert video cameras, which look like large name-badges, are intended to support victims of racial abuse. The cameras will capture evidence to help prosecute offenders.

The commissioner is also buying 100 personal safety devices for use by high-risk victims of domestic abuse, harassment and stalking. (more)

Spy Badges Gain Traction...
HIGHLY trained officers keeping the peace during G20 will wear tiny, spy-like cameras – the first to be issued by the Queensland Police Service.

The lightweight, miniature video cameras will be clipped to officers’ uniforms to record potential evidence during November’s summit.

The Courier-Mail can reveal 70 high-definition cameras will be used by frontline police. (more)

The Government Owns Your Tweets - No, not the NSA... the LOC

Even deleting your Twitter account won't help. 
You're brain farts are permanently archived.

Twitter and the Library of Congress have this "deal", see. Twitter gave the right to the Library of Congress to archive your public tweets from 2006 on. The result... everything posted publicly by you, since then, is now owned by the government.

"An element of our mission at the Library of Congress is to collect the story of America and to acquire collections that will have research value. So when the Library had the opportunity to acquire an archive from the popular social media service Twitter, we decided this was a collection that should be here.

In April 2010, the Library and Twitter signed an agreement providing the Library the public tweets from the company’s inception through the date of the agreement, an archive of tweets from 2006 through April 2010. Additionally, the Library and Twitter agreed that Twitter would provide all public tweets on an ongoing basis under the same terms."

FutureWatch: Data mining of your tweets by employers, attorneys, investigators, retailers, insurance companies, LOEs, ex's, and plain old creepy people.

BTW... Kevin's Security Scrapbook post headlines are Tweeted.

Infographic - NSA Interactive Spy Chart

This is a plot of the NSA programs revealed in the past year according to whether they are bulk or targeted, and whether the targets of surveillance are foreign or domestic. Most of the programs fall squarely into the agency’s stated mission of foreign surveillance, but some – particularly those that are both domestic and broad-sweeping – are more controversial.

Click to see whole chart.

Just as with the New York Magazine approval matrix that served as our inspiration, the placement of each program is based on judgments and is approximate.
For more details, read our FAQ or listen to our podcast. Also, take our quiz to test your NSA knowledge. (more)

BSI Publishes Study on Enterprise Mobile Device Security

BSI, the German Federal Office for Information Security, has published a report on "Enterprise mobile device security" (in German*) that provides a comprehensive overview on the current risks associated with the deployment of mobile devices in an enterprise context.
The report... covers Apple iOS, Google Android and Blackberry devices, taking a hard look at the current generation of hardware and software and the resulting dependencies on a limited number of key suppliers.

The study identifies key risk areas associated with the deployment of mobile devices in an enterprise context... and makes the case for doing so only in the context of a well-defined framework of organizational and technical measures that secure the enterprise against industrial espionage and other kinds of attacks. 

* An English version may be available. Ask at ESD America. 
Audio interview about Cryptophone, a high security cell phone ≈ 6 min.

Travel - Should executives expect to be subjected to more traditional means of surveillance...

...such as hidden cameras or microphones, intrusion into hotel rooms, or being followed?

Hidden cameras, microphones or physical surveillance are all reportedly routine in many parts of the world, not just China, for purposes that can include industrial espionage, blackmail and to identify and monitor potential criminal activity. 

Physical security systems, domestic security practices and personal privacy expectations can vary in different areas, but all of the above may be encountered. 

At major facilities catering to foreign business travelers, we expect that plainclothes police and domestic security personnel are nearby at almost all times. 

However, some individuals claiming to be police or facility staff may be scam artist impersonators – you never want to hand over a wallet containing identification, cash and all your payment cards. 

If you travel into the interior on a domestic flight, do not be surprised if your wallet and personal electronic devices are removed to a location out of your view during screening at the security checkpoint. (more)

First a Drone. Now a Helicopter. World Cup Spying Continues.

A helicopter from TV Globo was caught spying on Chile’s practice just outside Belo Horizonte.

Chile coach, Jorge Sampaoli, brought the session to a temporary standstill until the helicopter was ushered away from local side Cruzerio’s training centre at Toca da Raposa. (more)

Leaked: 10 Months Of The Houston Astros' Internal Trade Talks

Two years ago, the Houston Astros constructed "Ground Control"—a built-from-scratch online database for the private use of the Astros front office.

It is by all accounts a marvel, an easy-to-use interface giving executives instant access to player statistics, video, and communications with other front offices around baseball.

All it needs, apparently, is a little better password protection.

Ground Control Failure

Documents purportedly taken from Ground Control and showing 10 months' worth of the Astros' internal trade chatter have been posted online at Anonbin, a site where users can anonymously share hacked or leaked information. (more)

The Banksy Spy Art Saga - Next Stop - The Art Gallery - Maybe

UK - A stop notice could be issued by Cheltenham Borough Council to prevent a Banksy artwork from being removed from the side of a private house. 

Click to enlarge. (worth doing)

A photo has emerged apparently showing a hole has been cut into the wall of the Grade II* listed building, on which the Spy Booth artwork was painted.

On Thursday it was confirmed it was being removed, but the council warned that planning permission may be needed. 

The work, depicting men "snooping" on a telephone box, appeared in April. (more)

Bill Cosby's First TV Series, I Spy, Leads New Shows on DVD

“I Spy: The Complete Series” 
(Timeless/DVD, 1965-68, 18 discs, 82 episodes; 20-page booklet/episode guide).  

The story goes that actor Robert Culp was developing a secret-agent series to cash in on the James Bond craze and the second lead was to be an older white actor. But when producer Sheldon Leonard saw Cosby’s stand-up act, he suggested the character be changed to accommodate him. Cosby was 27, this was his first acting job and over the course of the show he won three Emmys. (more)

Supposed NSA Surveillance Trigger Words Blacklist

The List.

...and the project to which they are linked.

Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE X) Conference - New York City, July 18-20

HOPE X will take place on July 18, 19, and 20, 2014 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. H.O.P.E. stands for Hackers On Planet Earth, one of the most creative and diverse hacker events in the world. It's been happening since 1994.

Three full days and nights of activities, including the provocative and enlightening speakers for which the HOPE conferences are known. In addition, there will be access to a massive amount of space to put together all sorts of hacker projects and assorted fun stuff.

Pre-register for HOPE X! Tickets are on sale at the 2600 store or can be purchased with Bitcoins! (more)

Why Every Newsroom Needs a TSCM Consultant on Call

In the post-Edward Snowden era, newsrooms are increasingly aware of state-sponsored breaches of privacy and the threat they pose to journalists and their sources. 

Some newsrooms have introduced sophisticated anti-surveillance technology, and others have literally reverted to notepad, pen and clandestine meetings in the interests of shielding their sources and avoiding state, and corporate, electronic surveillance. (more)

One solution.

Translation: Make an Artificial Brain That Can Think Like a Spy.... then make us a zillion of them.

A secretive United States intelligence organization has organized a conference to find firms capable of creating computer algorithms that learn in a similar manner to the human brain...

The July 17 conference in College Park, Maryland, gives prospective companies time to deliver presentations and slide shows of their existing research.

IARPA says it is involved in "high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the agencies and disciplines in the intelligence community".

It undertakes research for more than a dozen organizations, including the Pentagon, the CIA and the National Security Agency. (more)

"They are spying on us with Jinns." (Hey, I only pass the stories along.)

An Iranian cleric has accused Israel of using “jinn” to spy on Iran and its allies.

Iranian TV has broadcast a segment where Waliullah Naqi Borfer, an expert in the supernatural jinn of Arab mythology, said that Jews have long experience in manipulating jinn and Israel has tried to use the creatures to perform espionage on Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

The Israelis were unsuccessful in their attempts, however, according to Borfer.

He did not give details. (more) (video)

Air Force One - Gets TEMPEST TSCM Tested

When it's time to make sure that communications from and to the aircraft of the president of the United States are safe from eavesdropping, who do you call? The Air Force's 346th Test Squadron.

Part of the 688th Cyberspace Wing, which itself is part of the 24th Air Force, based at Lackland Air Force base here, the 346th is tasked with making sure that electronic emissions aboard all the service's aircraft are secure. Even Air Force One.

As part of CNET Road Trip 2014, I've come to Lackland, located in this south-central Texas city of 1.3 million, to see just how the Air Force "hardens" its aircraft from unwanted eavesdropping. Though I came to hear technicians talk about their efforts on board any number of the service's planes, I wasn't expecting to hear about their recent work to secure communications on Air Force One. (more)

Smartphone SpyWare Gets Smarter

Android and iOS mobile trojans likely used for surveillance through mobile devices of journalists and politicians, activists and human rights advocates have been discovered circulating in the wild...

The mobile trojans are designed to operate in a discreet manner, for instance monitoring a mobile device’s battery life so as not to ostensibly drain it, arousing suspicion. Then, when a victim is connected to a particular Wi-Fi network or while the device is plugged in to charge, it springs to life, unbeknownst to the user. Kaspersky said that the trojans are capable of performing a variety of surveillance functions, including intercepting phone calls and SMS messages, and chat messages sent from specific applications such as Viber, WhatsApp and Skype. It can also report the target’s location, take photos, copy events from the device’s calendar and more.
These mobile trojans are part of the allegedly ‘legal’ spyware tool, Remote Control System (RCS), aka Galileo. The mapping shows the presence of more than 320 RCS command & control servers in 40+ countries. The majority of the servers were found in the US, Kazakhstan, Ecuador, the UK and Canada. (more)

Business Espionage: Old Spy Tactics Return

Last month it was reported that British intelligence agency MI5 had, in a series of high-level meetings, painted a worrying picture for leading British corporations in which their IT workers may become targets for foreign powers seeking sensitive data.

The idea of an IT department infiltrated with double agents may sound a little fanciful but the threat of a rival nation trying to influence them is far more realistic than many may think according to Uri Rivner, vice-president for cyber strategy at Israeli security company BioCatch.

“Obviously there are cases like this,” says Rivner, who compares the situation to having “someone on the inside” of a bank before committing a robbery. Of the companies or organisations that will be targeted, he says that “whatever a nation is good at, that’s interesting to other nations”.

In the case of the UK, he says this may be the financial sector, while in Scandinavia two industries in particular, telecommunications and mining, “have been targeted”. (more)

Obi-Wan Kenobi Jammin' Cloak

Austrian architecture firm Coop-Himmelblau has designed a Snuggie-like piece of clothing that jams the wearer's phone, effectively rendering him invisible. 

The Jammer Coat shields the phone from wireless signals, so the device becomes undetectable to things like search engines or tracking software, and there's no way for anyone to pull credit card information.

Click to enlarge.

The code is basically a Faraday cage, with metals embedded in the fabric that reflect incoming radio waves, protecting the wearer from unwittingly sharing any information on any device beneath it.

Apparently, one of the cloak's most useful features is its lumpy pattern, which acts as a disguise for would-be phone hackers and thieves.

"The Wave Circle pattern of the fabric gives an illusion of strange multiple body parts, which hides and frees the individual physicality," the product's website states. (more)

The Next Thing in TSCM - Drone Detection

Worried about spying? Maybe you need a personal drone detection system.

Privacy in the drone-filled age is going to be more difficult to protect than ever. Competitors, thieves, or even just your neighbors could be spying on your every move using a remote-controlled flying camera.

That’s the kind of paranoia Domestic Drone Countermeasures (DDC) is hoping to tap into with its new personal drone detection system (PDDS) Kickstarter project – a black box that promises to go beep when a drone flies within 15m of its sensors. (more)

Tortured Journalist Reports Wiretap Evidence Missing (We're Shocked)

An inspection by agents from Colombia’s investigation unit discovered that evidence was missing from the National Archive in Bogota regarding the wiretapping scandal of Colombia’s former intelligence agency. 

The disappearance of the evidence in the wiretapping case against Colombia’s now-defunct intelligence agency, DAS, was confirmed by journalist Claudia Julieta Duque, who claims to have been “psychologically tortured” and harassed by the former agency, Colombia’s Caracol Radio reported on Thursday. (more)

Business Espionage: Classic Spying is Back

According to a security and counterintelligence expert, Fortune 500 companies and the world’s media face a crisis. Chinese operatives are gaining control over the crucial nexus through which market intelligence is gathered and cash flows to media companies: ad agencies.

The issue is known to top executives at some of the largest companies in the United States. Five spoke off the record and gave a common answer: they’re aware, but cannot step forward for fear of retribution...
 
After having learned that spies were targeting proprietary information through their ad agencies, a chief executive officer at a Fortune 100 technology firm said, “We had no idea as to the relentlessness and depth the Chinese were willing to go to in obtaining our negotiating and pricing strategies.”...

In the case of the ad agencies, the information is being gathered by spies inside the companies.

The sending of agents, rather than the launching of cyberattacks, shows the strong value placed on the targets. Singer said, “You’re talking about something that’s costly on your side, so what you’re going after has to be of great value to you.” (more)

Knock-off Smartphone Sends Info Back to China

A cheap brand of Chinese-made smartphones carried by major online retailers comes pre-installed with espionage software, a German security firm has said.

G Data Software said it found malicious code hidden deep in the propriety software of the Star N9500 when it ordered the handset from a website late last month. The find is the latest in a series of incidents where smartphones have appeared preloaded with malicious software...
G Data said the spyware it found on the N9500 could allow a hacker to steal personal data, place rogue calls, or turn on the phone's camera and microphone. G Data said the stolen information was sent to a server in China.
Bjoern Rupp, chief executive of the Berlin-based mobile security consultancy firm GSMK, said such cases are more common than people think. Last fall, German cellphone service provider E-Plus found malicious software on some handsets delivered to customers of its Base brand. (more)

Surgeon Cuts Deal to Excise Spying Charges

TX - A pioneer in cancer research, who was facing a second-degree felony charge in an alleged plot to spy on his ex-wife during their divorce, has reached a plea deal to dismiss the charges.

According to prosecutors, Dr. Steven Curley plotted with a computer expert to install a program called eBlaster. Dr. Curley and his ex, a physician’s assistant, once worked together at MD Anderson Hospital. (more)

Die Spy: We hack dead people's computers, so you don't have to!

Has a family member recently died leaving you with more stuff than answers? 
Die Spy can help!  

Our teams can find out everything you want to know about your deceased loved one. You may find out so much you will wonder why you ever bothered to get to know the person when he or she was alive!

We have a service package to fit any budget...

Open Sesame
Do you want to make sure there aren't any paperless bills to be paid or recurring payments that should be canceled? Perhaps you want to notify the deceased's social media contacts of the death. With our most basic package a low level hacker will get you logged in to your loved one's computer, tablet, and smart phone to help you find that person's most used accounts... (more)


Someone forensic examiner better buy up DieSpy.com fast.

 Wish I published this on April 1st.

UK Man Restores WWII Surveillance Gear

UK - Spy supremo Peter Sables has tapped into history with his collection of wartime surveillance gear.

The radio buff has lovingly restored a string of listening devices used by the Allies against Nazi Germany during World War Two to create a nostalgic goldmine dating back more than 70 years.

And now his hobby has sparked the interest of a museum which is to take up some of his wireless sets as part of a new exhibition. (more)

Survey: People's Beliefs about Cell Phone Spying

Only a tenth (12 per cent) of people in the UK believe that calls on a mobile phone and texts are private, research from Silent Circle has found following Vodafone revealing secret wires that allow state surveillance.

The research of 1,000 employed Brits found that over half (54 per cent) believe ‘anyone with the right equipment’ has the ability to listen in on their mobile calls and texts.
Respondents named the government as the group most likely to have the ability to listen in on calls and texts (54 per cent), while 44 per cent believe the police can eavesdrop and a third think mobile phone providers could listen in.

Criminals (28 per cent) and jealous spouses (17 per cent) also raise suspicions for eavesdropping. (more)

This Phone Ain't No Stool Pigeon

Local police confiscate a suspected drug dealer's phone—only to find that he has called his mother and no one else. 

Meanwhile a journalist's phone is examined by airport security. But when officials look to see what is on it, they find that she has spent all her time at the beach. The drug dealer and the journalist are free to go. Minutes later the names, numbers and GPS data that the police were looking for reappear.

A new programming technique could bring these scenarios to life. Computer scientist Karl-Johan Karlsson has reprogrammed a phone to lie. By modifying the operating system of an Android-based smartphone, he was able to put decoy data on it—innocent numbers, for example—so that the real data escape forensics. (more)

"A Winemaker, a Spy, and a PI" or "Drunk with IT Power" What could possibly go wrong?

Swiss authorities say they have arrested a Swiss winemaker, a spy and two others on charges of hacking the computers of at least two journalists.

The Geneva public prosecutor says winemaker Dominique Giroud and an unnamed federal intelligence officer, along with a professional hacker and a private investigator, were arrested for hacking while allegedly trying to identify the source of media leaks about a criminal investigation into Giroud in Swiss canton (state) Vaud...

News outlets including broadcaster Radio Television Suisse and Le Temps newspaper reported recently about a probe by Swiss authorities into suspected tax fraud involving Giroud's empire. (more)

Security Directors & Meeting Planners - Off-Site Meeting Counterespionage Tip

Smartphones certainly offer countless advantages for meetings and events. However, they also introduce a unique set of security concerns, creating a window of vulnerability for cyber attackers. Among common scams are phony SMS messages (known as SMiShing attacks) that are indistinguishable to attendees from official blasts, or malicious QR codes that bring attendees to hostile websites. Phone calls, texts and Wi-Fi traffic can be intercepted and leaked, providing hackers access to personal data.

The following precautions can help you protect your attendees.
 

For approximately $3,000, a hacker can set up a miniature cell phone tower that fits in a backpack and is capable of intercepting cellular calls and SMS messages. Attendees would not know if their phones were connecting to the impersonating or legitimate equipment from the hotel and cell phone carriers. For about $200, a hacker can set up a special wireless router that is capable of impersonating those set up by hotels and conferences. People who surf the web or transmit sensitive information would be victims without knowing it.

To prevent these devices from being deployed at your facility, arrange for qualified people from your staff or a vendor to provide real-time scans of the airwaves. This task requires specialized security training and equipment that is not usually part of a physical security team. Including this feature during the planning stages and throughout your event can provide valuable security for your attendees. (more)

FutureWatch: Bug Your Life with a Butterfleye (It aint' your dad's surveillance CCTV)

Surveillance cameras aren’t what they used to be. Butterfleye aims to be not just a surveillance camera, but a home monitoring camera – and that means more than just security concerns. Butterfleye wants to record your life, too.

In the same vein as Dropcam, Butterfleye is a camera you can set up to monitor your home, allowing you to check on the stream as long as you have an Internet connection. The camera itself takes 1920 x 1080 resolution video using a wide-angle 3 MP lens. 


Interestingly, Butterfleye can also operate wirelessly – it pulls off this trick by having a smart camera system that shuts down when no activity is detected. Using sensors, video analysis software, and learning algorithms, the camera will know to start recording if someone comes into a room, which will save some battery life. 

Butterfleye will also be able to pick up audio, and use that as a cue to start recording. There’s actually two-way audio here, so you can use Butterfleye in a pinch as a speakerphone to talk to someone at home while you’re away. 

That’s just the surveillance part, though... (more)

SpyCam Nabs Care Worker Stealing from 82-year-old

An 82-year-old Winnipeg woman who used a hidden camera to catch her home-care worker stealing money from her says she hopes her story will empower other seniors to stand up for their rights.

"My dad taught us morals, and all of a sudden I'm in my home and somebody rips me off.
It made me mad."

Viola Dufresne said she noticed money vanishing from her wallet starting last January, totalling nearly $1,100 over six months...

Winnipeg police told Dufresne there wasn't much they could do without evidence, so she went online and bought a spy camera.

The camera, which resembles a clock radio, showed the home-care aide taking $25 from Dufresne's wallet...

The 54-year-old aide pleaded guilty to theft, alleging that she took the money to buy cigarettes. She has since been fired. (more)

A Drone Was Caught 'Spying' on Team France at the World Cup

French national team coach Didier Deschamps is reportedly calling for an investigation into a quadcoptor drone that was spotted spying over his team’s closed training session on Tuesday...

The culprit? A hobbyist and fan, flying his unlicensed drone in Brazilian airspace, according to BFMTV. 

Local police are investigating and are promising a quick resolution. (more)