Showing posts sorted by date for query wearable. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query wearable. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, September 10, 2023

FutureWatch - What the Well-Dressed Spy Will be Wearing

 ...SMART e-PANTS

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is throwing $22 million in taxpayer money at developing clothing that records audio, video, and location data.

THE FUTURE OF wearable technology, beyond now-standard accessories like smartwatches and fitness tracking rings, is ePANTS, according to the intelligence community.

The federal government has shelled out at least $22 million in an effort to develop “smart” clothing that spies on the wearer and its surroundings. Similar to previous moonshot projects funded by military and intelligence agencies, the inspiration may have come from science fiction and superpowers, but the basic applications are on brand for the government: surveillance and data collection.

Billed as the “largest single investment to develop Active Smart Textiles,” the SMART ePANTS — Smart Electrically Powered and Networked Textile Systems — program aims to develop clothing capable of recording audio, video, and geolocation data, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced in an August 22 press release. Garments slated for production include shirts, pants, socks, and underwear, all of which are intended to be washable. more
Next up... Stylish wear by Faraday.

Saturday, December 12, 2020

World's Smallest & World's Best Spy Cameras of 2020

World's Smallest

Weighing just 1g, Austrian company AMS has announced they have made the world's smallest camera. The NanEyeC has a footprint of just 1x1mm so is smaller than the size of a pinhead.

The 102,000 pixel camera only shoots in black and white, but is designed to be invisible when mounted in wearable devices, such VR headsets – and will doubtless also become the ultimate spy camera. more

 
 World's Best Spy Cameras of 2020

We've put together this guide to spy cameras to help you pick out the best one for your home. 

Some are simple small cameras that can be placed somewhere that most people won't notice them, while others are disguised as objects like photo frames or USB chargers. 

We've even found a camera that's disguised as a light bulb! 

As you might imagine, there are loads of creative options in this area. more


 

Friday, January 27, 2017

Technical Surveillance Countermeasures To Prevent Corporate Espionage

via Veteran Investigation Services
You're at an important company board meeting discussing a top secret product development project. If this unique product idea gets leaked to your competitors, the consequences could be dire. The key stakeholders are in the conference room or participating via conference call. The meeting goes well and later you find out your competitor has beat you to market with the same product idea. How could this have happened?

Your business or organization could be the victim of corporate espionage. Someone could be collecting competitive intelligence through unethical means, such as listening devices, video surveillance, or even something as basic as rummaging through your trash. Whether the threat comes from bugging devices at a one-time event, or ongoing surveillance at your corporate site, make sure you are aware of surveillance techniques, find the threats, determine who is behind the intelligence gathering and put systems in place to prevent future breaches.

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING
Your competitors and corporate enemies want to know what is said at meetings with shareholders, new business partners or clients or new product development teams. They may be seeking information about your financial outlook, or access to your intellectual property. Some companies will stop at nothing to gain that information and for many reasons, it's easier than ever for them to get it.

Today, surveillance is easier than ever. Advanced wireless devices such as covert listening devices, miniature cameras, concealed, wearable recording devices or hidden micro-cameras are just a click away online and can be very inexpensive. Employees or someone on the cleaning crew could be paid to place a device in a conference room or collect paper trash afterwards, or look for computer passwords left on desks or taped under keyboards. Safeguarding your company secrets requires a preventative approach.

The most common surveillance targets are CEO offices, their private conference rooms, and assistant's work area, since these spaces are the most likely locations for strategic meetings where valuable company information is discussed. These areas should be swept for bugging devices before critical meetings and at regular intervals, based on the level of risk.

TECHNICAL SURVEILLANCE COUNTERMEASURES
If you suspect that someone is obtaining company secrets or you've already experienced a damaging leak of information, we recommend screening for potential threats to prevent further leaks. A TSCM (technical surveillance countermeasure) examination can be performed to look for surveillance equipment or detect other risks. These can be done before an important meeting, at an off-site event, or at your site at regular intervals.

A TSCM examination may include such counter surveillance tactics as:
  • Full Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum Analysis
  • Infrared Spectrum Analysis (IR)
  • Detecting transmitting devices in the electrical system/wiring
  • Computer forensics (for example, searching for emails that mention a sensitive topic after a meeting has taken place to look for leaks).
  • Disrupting laser frequencies with static "white noise" and or window coatings to prevent laser listening systems from gathering micro-vibrations from the surface of a window to listen in on conversations from outside of a room.
  • Conducting a physical search looking for:
    • Idle surveillance equipment that may be turned off or out of batteries.
    • Cameras or microphones in the ceiling.
    • Reflections from camera lenses.
    • Radio transmitters that could broadcast to an external radio.
    • Bugged telephones. Polycom phone systems are easy to turn into listening devices.
    • Easily found passwords left on desks or under keyboards.
    • Computers left on and logged in.
    • Document disposal and inadequate document shredders.
COUNTER SURVEILLANCE TECHNIQUES OFF-SITE
Important business meetings held off-site at hotel convention centers can be easy opportunities for surveillance. Sweeps of the meeting rooms, guest rooms, or bathrooms can be done, and then security staff should maintain custody of the room to ensure the room stays free of bugs until after the meeting. Executive cars can be targeted and especially at risk if using valet parking, as well as executive phones which are susceptible to Trojan horse software that can allow someone to listen in on all the conversations or steal data from email or text messaging.

AFTER THE TSCM EXAMINATION
What happens if listening devices are found during a sweep? If surveillance equipment is found during the TSCM examination, it should not be removed immediately because it can be used as a trap to find out who put it there. The TSCM examination is just the stepping off point for a full analysis and investigation. Suspects need to be interviewed. A full security assessment may be necessary if many problems are found. Systems should be established to prevent this kind of activity. Embedded and dedicated security personnel may be needed to keep security at the forefront of executives' minds, staff who can be there to watch, learn, listen and report on surveillance threats. Everyone in the organization can contribute to prevent leaks. Policies and procedures should be developed and communicated to employees regarding the handling of passwords, access, and confidentiality agreements.

ARE YOU AT RISK OF CORPORATE SURVEILLANCE?
Companies are hungry for that competitive edge that will help crush their competition. They may hire corporate surveillance companies to gather company secrets from their competitors, often through unethical means. Low level employees with low moral or low paid personnel from external maintenance services can be paid off to gather intelligence or plant bugs. Most companies are naive and feel that industrial espionage and surveillance does not happen in real life, it only happens in the movies and "cannot happen here." They feel they can trust all of their employees like family. But all it takes is a hungry competitor and a disgruntled employee passed over for a promotion to initiate the leaking of your company secrets that could be devastating to your business. Then, with the preponderance of equipment easily available, your company's most important information and conversations could get into competitors hands in an instant.

What proprietary business information could cause damage to your company if your competitor was able to listen in on your meetings? Have you done all that you can to protect that information?  more

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Ads Go from Subliminal to Ultrasonic - "PSSST... Any devices nearby?"

Privacy advocates are warning federal authorities of a new threat that uses inaudible, high-frequency sounds to surreptitiously track a person's online behavior across a range of devices, including phones, TVs, tablets, and computers.

The ultrasonic pitches are embedded into TV commercials or are played when a user encounters an ad displayed in a computer browser. While the sound can't be heard by the human ear, nearby tablets and smartphones can detect it. When they do, browser cookies can now pair a single user to multiple devices and keep track of what TV commercials the person sees, how long the person watches the ads, and whether the person acts on the ads by doing a Web search or buying a product.

Cross-device tracking raises important privacy concerns, the Center for Democracy and Technology wrote in recently filed comments to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has scheduled a workshop on Monday to discuss the technology. Often, people use as many as five connected devices throughout a given day—a phone, computer, tablet, wearable health device, and an RFID-enabled access fob. Until now, there hasn't been an easy way to track activity on one and tie it to another.

"As a person goes about her business, her activity on each device generates different data streams about her preferences and behavior that are siloed in these devices and services that mediate them," CDT officials wrote. "Cross-device tracking allows marketers to combine these streams by linking them to the same individual, enhancing the granularity of what they know about that person." more

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Opinion - IT Should Ban Google Glass Before It's Too Late

IT Should Ban Google Glass Before It's Too Late

Google's soon-to-be-publicly-available wearable technology exposes your company to problems ranging from illegal wiretapping and surveillance to a wild spectrum of inappropriate uses.  

Columnist Rob Enderle writes that you should do yourself a favor and ban Google Glass before it is even available to your employees. (more)

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Google Glass Hacked - Everything You See and Hear Transmitted to Anyone

Google's Glass wearable computer have been hacked so video and audio can be transmitted online to anyone.

Hackers have been able to remotely watch and hear everything a wearer does, and today warned 'nothing is safe once your Glass has been hacked.'

Although Glass does not go on sale to the public until next year, the attack raises major security and privacy questions over Google's plans for the device. (more)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Interesting: Radar Tracks Your Sleep, Then Wakes You Up

via Robert E. Calem, techlicious.com
...there's a new alarm clock available that was designed to help you avoid sleep inertia by monitoring your sleep cycles—without a wearable sensor—and waking you up only when you're sleeping most lightly. It's called the Renew SleepClock by Gear4 ($199.95 on gear4.com) and combines a motion sensing iOS-device docking station-clock radio with a dedicated app that both wakes you and tracks your sleep habits over time. 

The hardware transmits two channels of 10GHz radio frequency signals in a 45-degree beam. These signals bounce off your body and are received back at the device by a sensor, which then processes them and passes the data to the app. 

The app uses the data to discern your breathing pattern and monitor your movements. Based on these interpretations, the app knows when you've fallen asleep, how long you've slept, when you're sleeping lightly or deeply, and when your sleep has been interrupted (for example, when you get out of bed for a 2 AM bathroom break). 

In the morning, the app uses all the captured data to determine the best time to wake you up within a one-hour time slot that you've preset in one of two built-in alarms. (more)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Your Next Cell Phone May Seem Like a James Bond Gadget

10 Things Your Phone Will Soon Do 
via onlinedegree.net...
(more

Aston Martin teams with Mobiado for transparent touchscreen concept phone
British car maker Aston Martin is looking to leverage its luxury brand into the world of consumer electronics by teaming up with Canadian mobile phone manufacturer Mobiado to produce a line of high-end handsets to be launched in May of this year. Until then, the company has provided a tantalizing peek at possible future designs with the CPT002 Aston Martin Concept Phone that takes the 'slab of glass' design of many current smartphones to the next level. With a solid sapphire crystal capacitive touchscreen, the CPT002 is completely transparent. (more)

Monday, September 7, 2009

FutureWatch - SenseCam, your auto diary

SenseCam is a wearable digital camera that is designed to take photographs passively, without user intervention, while it is being worn.

Unlike a regular digital camera or a cameraphone, SenseCam does not have a viewfinder or a display that can be used to frame photos. Instead, it is fitted with a wide-angle (fish-eye) lens that maximizes its field-of-view. This ensures that nearly everything in the wearer’s view is captured by the camera, which is important because a regular wearable camera would likely produce many uninteresting images.


SenseCam also contains a number of different electronic sensors. These include light-intensity and light-color sensors, a passive infrared (body heat) detector, a temperature sensor, and a multiple-axis accelerometer. These sensors are monitored by the camera’s microprocessor, and certain changes in sensor readings can be used to automatically trigger a photograph to be taken.
(more) (video)Don't laugh. Things go from geek to chic very quickly these days. Think about it. How often do you refer to your calendar program to remember what you did, when? Surveillance devices like this one will eventually become standard gear. ~Kevin

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Your Third Eye Has an Indelible Memory

The VIEVU PVR-PRO 2 is an enhanced WEARABLE video recording device for use by consumers and professionals wishing to capture their daily events or protect themselves from liability.

The design enables the camera to be attached to the user so that their perspective is captured during their routine daily events.

Video files are downloaded to a PC via simple drag-and-drop. Once transferred, the files can be edited or uploaded to your favorite video sharing site. The camera operates via an on/off switch which also serves as a lens cover.

VIEVU PVR-PRO can record and store approximately 4 hours of video and audio in SVGA quality format. (
more)