from Technology Insight...
"Had an old Espion (sic) digicam with a broken LCD lying around. Removed the case, LCD and battery connections and found it fit perfectly in this tiny (<5cm> Connected via Skype and set to auto answer and send video when I call it. Shame about the USB cable sticking out the side (I may move it to the back)… and the fact I have nobody to spy on… " (more)
Korea’s three telecom companies are planning to unveil a subscription anti-wiretapping service for cell phone users this week. SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom said Sunday that they will offer the Private Long Code service, a digital encryption system, from this week.
Dubbed “Voice Private”, the service was developed to prevent eavesdropping on mobile phone calls. The technology uses a strong encryption code to make it difficult for unauthorized listeners to decode digitalized voice information.Fees range from W1,500 to W2,000 ($1.60 - $2.13 USD). Customers can subscribe to the service without having to purchase a special phone. Telecom providers say they will begin the service as soon as the Ministry of Information and Communication approves it.Customers are expected to include people who deal regularly with sensitive information, such as politicians, public officials, businesspeople and journalists. (more)
UK - "This is an activity for students to practise reporting speech. ... You may have to explain the concept of eavesdropping (listening to someone else's conversation). With lower levels it may be easier to explain spying." ~ Marta Joyce Sabbadini, Teacher & Trainer, British Council, Cameroon (more)
...and you wonder where the adults come from who think that eavesdropping, spying and espionage are socially acceptable. ~Kevin (more)
Sweden - A large majority of Swedes like the idea of additional surveillance to aid in the hunt for terrorists and serious criminals. A survey carried out by Statistics Sweden shows that a full 80 percent of Swedes favour increased surveillance. But while the general public supports plans to keep a closer eye on the population, public bodies have been lining up to criticise defence minister Mikael Odenberg's proposal to permit the monitoring of ordinary citizens' phone calls and email.
OR - The Roseburg man who allegedly attacked his ex-wife last month at her townhouse had apparently been eavesdropping on her with recording equipment below her home for some time, according to police.Police say Vincent Wayne Maneha, 41, broke into the woman’s Umpqua Street home with a gun Dec. 15 and choked her. She was able to escape with minor injuries...In the crawl space beneath the residence, police found a cordless drill, a pry bar and a microcassette recorder. The recorder was attached to a corded microphone that had been placed in a hole drilled through the subfloor into the living room, according to the probable cause affidavit RPD filed in court upon the man’s arrest. A set of earphones that fit the microrecorder were later found in Maneha’s coat. Police also found energy bars, water and extra clothing, according to the affidavit.“There was definitely evidence that he’d been spending some time in the crawl space under the apartment,” Sgt. Aaron Dunbar said.
San Francisco - Federal prosecutors are poised to score their first victory in their investigation of Hewlett-Packard Co's ill-fated boardroom spying probe, after a private investigator agreed to plead guilty to identity theft and conspiracy charges.Bryan Wagner, 29, of Littleton, Colo., will enter his plea during his scheduled arraignment hearing... (more)
Riga – The Prosecutor General’s Office has launched a criminal case against four officers of the Latvian Finance Police over the wiretapping of journalists’ telephone conversations.
Canada – They say money talks, and a new report suggests Canadian currency is indeed chatting, at least electronically, on behalf of shadowy spies.Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Defense Department.Security experts believe the miniature devices could be used to track the movements of defense industry personnel dealing in sensitive military technology. (more)
There is something wrong with this story. It does not make sense - technically or practically. Transmitter... no. RFID tag... maybe. Purpose... ??? More likely, souvenir challenge coins were given as gifts to these contractors and someone joked that they were bugged. ~Kevin
Australia - The Queensland Opposition is calling for extra resources, like secret surveillance cameras, to help police find the offenders attacking women on Brisbane walkways and bike paths.There have been 36 attacks in the past 12 months. ...The Opposition's Mark McArdle says a helicopter would also be a valuable tool in the search for the attackers."I'm talking about modern technology on the helicopter - infrared cameras, infrared lights, covert lighting systems, also on board cameras capturing real time imagery, so this can be used at a later date and assessed," he said. (more)
OK - Dumpster diving thieves may have their hands on your private information. Personal documents, with visible bank account information, were found in an overflowing dumpster behind a strip mall near 91st and Yale on Sunday. Some of the documents, which were not shredded, had fallen onto the ground and were blowing around in the wind, police said.Tulsa Police contacted some of those identified on the documents; their reaction was not a pleasant one. (more)
...give them a special phone!
from Modern Mechanix (February, 1932)
Telephone companies are much concerned by eavesdropping on rural party lines because it interferes with transmission over the line. To take down the receiver increases the electrical resistance of the circuit.It is proposed to stop fighting the apparently incurable tendency of rural subscribers to listen to other people’s business and to recognize it by installing special telephone instruments to which eavesdroppers can listen without increasing the electrical resistance of the circuit or interfering with its legitimate use. (more)
...from Bank Technology News...
Trust Your Instincts. If you think something's going on, it probably is; reacting quickly can prevent extensive damage.
One Size Doesn't Fit All. There is a wide range of information-security events, from pure technology incidents to phishing to lost laptops. Each bucket of incidents should have its own response plan and team that includes members with expertise in that particular event, as well as the business owners.
Tell Your Boss Now. Keeping senior management in the dark is never good. (more)
"WikiLeaks is developing an uncensorable version of WikiPedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis." (more)
Every coin has it light side and dark side.
The flip side of this coin is extortionography.
What is Extortionography?
Using audio / video / photographic or other evidence for personal or monetary gain, or to force a desired result or outcome. "Do [insert your demand here] or I will send [insert your eavesdrop, wiretap or leak here] to WikiLeaks!"
Astronomers have proposed an improved method of searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life using instruments like one now under construction in Australia. The Low Frequency Demonstrator (LFD) of the Mileura Wide-Field Array (MWA), a facility for radio astronomy, theoretically could detect Earth-like civilizations around any of the 1,000 nearest stars.
The Mileura Wide-Field Array will be able to "eavesdrop" for unintentional signals from any such worlds within 30 light-years of Earth.
"Soon, we may be eavesdropping on signals from Galactic civilizations," says theorist Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "This is the first time in history that humans will be capable of finding a civilization like ours among the stars." Loeb will present his findings on Wednesday, January 10, in a press conference at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, Wash. (more)
The paper describing these findings has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics and is available online.
Man accused of seeking money for tapes about her...
Oprah Winfrey was the victim of an extortion attempt after an Atlanta man threatened he had potentially damaging audio tapes he'd publicize if he wasn't paid off, according to federal charges.Keifer Bonvillain of Atlanta is charged in Chicago federal court with illegally taping telephone calls he had with a Winfrey employee he befriended at a party. Over a series of weeks, Bonvillain allegedly asked the employee many questions about Winfrey and her business. He later told a second person, described as Winfrey's "business associate," that he recorded 12 hours of those conversations and ultimately asked for $1.5 million to destroy the tapes and his notes, according to charges.
At various times, Bonvillain threatened to sell the information to tabloids, to use the tapes to write a book or to simply sell them to Winfrey's representatives, according to federal charges.
Bonvillain's name came up in a separate legal case in New Jersey recently. According to court records, he was hired as a consultant by one of the parties to that case and involved in tape recording conversations while probing claims tied to an insurance dispute. (more) (update)
