Romanian spy chief quits after admitting he misinformed parliament over phone tapping operations.
Claudiu Saftoiu, appointed last September by (Romanian President) Basescu, resigned after earlier telling a parliamentary committee that phone tapping of people suspected of violating national security had been conducted with the approval of the general prosecutor's office.
Later, in a letter, Saftoiu apologised, accepting that such operations could be carried out only with the authorisation of a judge.
"His move is an act of honour. He told us something and later took it back," Crin Antonescu, member of a parliamentary commission investigating opposition allegations of unconstitutional behaviour by Basescu, told Reuters.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
"Indiana wants me, Lord I can't call back there..."
IN - Cell phones and other electronic devices have opened new avenues for criminals, but these same technology advances have left Indiana police investigators behind.
Hoping to regain lost ground, the Indiana State Police is pushing a bill in the Statehouse that would give it the authority to listen in on cell phone calls and intercept other electronic communications, such as e-mail. Local law enforcement agencies would have the same power, but only with State Police supervision.
Hoping to regain lost ground, the Indiana State Police is pushing a bill in the Statehouse that would give it the authority to listen in on cell phone calls and intercept other electronic communications, such as e-mail. Local law enforcement agencies would have the same power, but only with State Police supervision.
"Is this a game of chance?"
..."Not the way I play it, no." ~W.C. Fields
New York City — A jury was chosen Monday to weigh charges against four former A.B. Watley Group Inc. executives accused of paying brokers at securities firms thousands of dollars to let them eavesdrop on share orders by institutional clients. (more)
UPDATE - 3/29/07
A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker (Timothy O'Connell, 42, of Carle Place, New York) was arrested on state gambling charges in New York, postponing his federal trial for selling access to trading information broadcast over his firm's office intercom. ... O'Connell is one of seven defendants on trial for conspiring to trade on information broadcast over internal ``squawk boxes'' at top Wall Street firms. He and brokers at Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. allowed day traders at A.B. Watley Group Inc., an online brokerage, to eavesdrop on large institutional orders, according to prosecutors. (more)
New York City — A jury was chosen Monday to weigh charges against four former A.B. Watley Group Inc. executives accused of paying brokers at securities firms thousands of dollars to let them eavesdrop on share orders by institutional clients. (more)
UPDATE - 3/29/07
A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker (Timothy O'Connell, 42, of Carle Place, New York) was arrested on state gambling charges in New York, postponing his federal trial for selling access to trading information broadcast over his firm's office intercom. ... O'Connell is one of seven defendants on trial for conspiring to trade on information broadcast over internal ``squawk boxes'' at top Wall Street firms. He and brokers at Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. allowed day traders at A.B. Watley Group Inc., an online brokerage, to eavesdrop on large institutional orders, according to prosecutors. (more)
Must have been a nice place to live!
Oregon - Law-enforcement officials said Monday that they used wiretapping to help gather evidence against the defendants in a suspected illegal drug-distribution ring and said it was the first time that a Benton County investigation used wiretaps under state law. (more)
Monday, March 19, 2007
China Edging US in Espionage
Washington, DC - Chinese espionage directed against the United States has met with "total success for China" and "total failure" for America's own intelligence operations, said an author and reporter on national security issues.
Counter-intelligence operations have allowed the Chinese to block and manipulate U.S. electronic eavesdropping operations while the theft of U.S. technology has helped accelerate Beijing's military ambitions, Bill Gertz said Friday at a gathering of the Defense Forum Foundation on Capitol Hill. ...
For legal reasons, espionage cases are very difficult to prosecute unless someone is caught "red-handed," Gertz observed. Consequently, U.S. government officials must often settle for circumstantial evidence that translates into lesser charges. ...
One of the most sensational cases detailed in Gertz's new book involves Katrina Leung, a Los Angeles businesswoman, who secretly remained loyal to China while working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Leung is one of the many spies who got away, thanks in part to a "botched" FBI investigation, Gertz said.
U.S. officials believe Leung is responsible for compromising an electronic eavesdropping program that involved the planting of bugs on a Boeing airliner China was purchasing in 2000 for Jiang Zemin, who was the communist leader at that time.
The prosecution of Leung proved difficult because she had "intimate relations" with two FBI agents who were responsible for intelligence operations involving China, Gertz said. Consequently the espionage charges against Leung "went away." (more)
Counter-intelligence operations have allowed the Chinese to block and manipulate U.S. electronic eavesdropping operations while the theft of U.S. technology has helped accelerate Beijing's military ambitions, Bill Gertz said Friday at a gathering of the Defense Forum Foundation on Capitol Hill. ...
For legal reasons, espionage cases are very difficult to prosecute unless someone is caught "red-handed," Gertz observed. Consequently, U.S. government officials must often settle for circumstantial evidence that translates into lesser charges. ...
One of the most sensational cases detailed in Gertz's new book involves Katrina Leung, a Los Angeles businesswoman, who secretly remained loyal to China while working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Leung is one of the many spies who got away, thanks in part to a "botched" FBI investigation, Gertz said.
U.S. officials believe Leung is responsible for compromising an electronic eavesdropping program that involved the planting of bugs on a Boeing airliner China was purchasing in 2000 for Jiang Zemin, who was the communist leader at that time.
The prosecution of Leung proved difficult because she had "intimate relations" with two FBI agents who were responsible for intelligence operations involving China, Gertz said. Consequently the espionage charges against Leung "went away." (more)
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Bugs go to court...
South Africa - Three secret microphones and a hidden camera were discovered in Fidentia's Cape Town boardroom in a sweep for electronic bugs after curators took over the business, the city's magistrate's court heard on Friday. (more)
RF Condoms
Protect cell phones, PDAs, laptops and even cards with embedded RFID chip from eavesdroppers. EM-SEC Technologies makes and sells special cases which protect your electronics from secretly communicating with ether-snoops.Need to protect something larger... like a whole room?
They also make paint that blocks radio waves! EM-SEC Coating is applied as an interior surface coating to individual rooms or entire facilities to provide a secure “Electromagnetic Fortress” for the safe operation of both wired and wireless networks and other electronic equipment.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Intercepting Text Messages
Interception of our phone calls and messages is the thing that’s ‘in’ among those who put eavesdropping first. There are various methods that are used.
- First we have phone cloning where the interceptor disguises as the receiver and receives the data, be it text or voice. Later he forwards it to the receiver.
- Another working technique for hacking into phone communications is by using certain illegal firmware that can cause your phone to pick up broadcasts from any other phone that is at a suitable proximity from the mobile station. (more)
- First we have phone cloning where the interceptor disguises as the receiver and receives the data, be it text or voice. Later he forwards it to the receiver.
- Another working technique for hacking into phone communications is by using certain illegal firmware that can cause your phone to pick up broadcasts from any other phone that is at a suitable proximity from the mobile station. (more)
Wi-Fi Security Tips
Experts say home networks are particularly vulnerable
When many of the computer industry's top security gurus gathered in San Francisco last month for a conference, a Boston company decided to point its radar toward the airwaves and see how much of the show's wireless activity it could see.
The distressing and ironic answer? The Boston hackers could eavesdrop on more than half of the wireless traffic ... at a security conference!
Security experts offer these tips when using wireless Internet access (abbreviated):
-- Use a suite of security software, including a firewall.
-- When logging on in a cafe or hotel, make sure you find out from an employee what the name of the network is, so you don't fall for a phony network set up by a hacker.
-- Change the password when you set up your router at home.
-- Try using OpenDNS, a free service at www.opendns.com, which will change the router's settings and, among other things, prevent pharming attacks (in which you think you're entering data at, say, your bank's Web site, but really you're at a fake site).
-- When on a secure financial site, make sure the address bar reads https (the "s" at the end stands for "secure") and that a picture of a lock shows up next to the address.
-- To get particularly tricky, when setting up your laptop. Give yourself a gender-bending sign-in.
-- If you get confused, call tech support for the router or the security software. (more)
When many of the computer industry's top security gurus gathered in San Francisco last month for a conference, a Boston company decided to point its radar toward the airwaves and see how much of the show's wireless activity it could see.
The distressing and ironic answer? The Boston hackers could eavesdrop on more than half of the wireless traffic ... at a security conference!
Security experts offer these tips when using wireless Internet access (abbreviated):
-- Use a suite of security software, including a firewall.
-- When logging on in a cafe or hotel, make sure you find out from an employee what the name of the network is, so you don't fall for a phony network set up by a hacker.
-- Change the password when you set up your router at home.
-- Try using OpenDNS, a free service at www.opendns.com, which will change the router's settings and, among other things, prevent pharming attacks (in which you think you're entering data at, say, your bank's Web site, but really you're at a fake site).
-- When on a secure financial site, make sure the address bar reads https (the "s" at the end stands for "secure") and that a picture of a lock shows up next to the address.
-- To get particularly tricky, when setting up your laptop. Give yourself a gender-bending sign-in.
-- If you get confused, call tech support for the router or the security software. (more)
From the 'Add Insult 2 Injury' department...
The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to levy what likely will amount to wiretapping taxes on companies, municipalities and universities, saying it would create an incentive for them to keep costs down and that it was necessary to fight the war on terror. ...
"We're going to have a lot of fights over cost reimbursement," Al Gidari, a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie...
"I am not persuaded merely by largely speculative allegations that the financial burden on the higher-education community could total billions of dollars," said FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate...
BLAMMmmmpppp! You're both wrongo. The cost of forced wiretapping is always passed down the line to the people whose voice is taken - the voiceless consumer.
"We're going to have a lot of fights over cost reimbursement," Al Gidari, a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie...
"I am not persuaded merely by largely speculative allegations that the financial burden on the higher-education community could total billions of dollars," said FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate...
BLAMMmmmpppp! You're both wrongo. The cost of forced wiretapping is always passed down the line to the people whose voice is taken - the voiceless consumer.
VoIP Security Tips
VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) "telephone" services are open to the vulnerabilities of the Internet.
Many threats may even be more acute because VoIP architectures are complex and hierarchical with many networked components such as IP PBXs, application servers, media gateways, and IP (Internet Protocol) phones.
VoIP networking also relies on numerous protocols, some of which remain poorly defined, and all of which introduce their own security risks.
VoIP Security Threats include DoS and Distributed DoS Attacks; unauthorised access to administration systems for toll and credit card fraud or identity theft; eavesdropping by unauthorised agents; and application-level attacks for registration hijacking, illegal teardowns, register floods, call floods, malformed packets, harassing calls and spam over Internet telephony (SPIT).
The following comprise a best practices approach to VoIP security (summarized):
- Maintain current patch levels.
- Install a good antivirus system.
- Apply state-of-the-art intrusion detection and prevention systems.
- Install application-layer gateways.
- Enforce SIP security by means of authentication.
- Establish policy-based security zones to isolate VoIP segments.
- Run VoIP traffic on VPNs to minimise eavesdropping risk on critical segments.
- Use VLANs to prioritise and protect voice traffic from data network attacks.
- Apply encryption selectively.
- Protect against UDP flooding.
- Develop a holistic security program.
From Andy Miller, vice-president of Juniper Networks Asia Pacific's enterprise division.
(more)
Many threats may even be more acute because VoIP architectures are complex and hierarchical with many networked components such as IP PBXs, application servers, media gateways, and IP (Internet Protocol) phones.
VoIP networking also relies on numerous protocols, some of which remain poorly defined, and all of which introduce their own security risks.
VoIP Security Threats include DoS and Distributed DoS Attacks; unauthorised access to administration systems for toll and credit card fraud or identity theft; eavesdropping by unauthorised agents; and application-level attacks for registration hijacking, illegal teardowns, register floods, call floods, malformed packets, harassing calls and spam over Internet telephony (SPIT).
The following comprise a best practices approach to VoIP security (summarized):
- Maintain current patch levels.
- Install a good antivirus system.
- Apply state-of-the-art intrusion detection and prevention systems.
- Install application-layer gateways.
- Enforce SIP security by means of authentication.
- Establish policy-based security zones to isolate VoIP segments.
- Run VoIP traffic on VPNs to minimise eavesdropping risk on critical segments.
- Use VLANs to prioritise and protect voice traffic from data network attacks.
- Apply encryption selectively.
- Protect against UDP flooding.
- Develop a holistic security program.
From Andy Miller, vice-president of Juniper Networks Asia Pacific's enterprise division.
(more)
Soap Snoop News, or...
...art imitates life, again.
Last week on the Bold and Beautiful: Stephanie secretly turns the intercom on at work so that she can eavesdrop on Rick and Phoebe, and hears their secret plan to meet at the Big Bear cabin. (surprise) At the cabin, Rick and Phoebe are enjoying their time alone as the sexual tension rises between them. Ridge and Stephanie walk in on Rick and Phoebe's romantic set-up... (more, if you can stand it)
Last week on the Bold and Beautiful: Stephanie secretly turns the intercom on at work so that she can eavesdrop on Rick and Phoebe, and hears their secret plan to meet at the Big Bear cabin. (surprise) At the cabin, Rick and Phoebe are enjoying their time alone as the sexual tension rises between them. Ridge and Stephanie walk in on Rick and Phoebe's romantic set-up... (more, if you can stand it)
Saturday, March 10, 2007
How Private is Your Cell Phone Call or SMS Text
Mobile phone privacy
is inversely proportional
to the amount of money
the eavesdropper has to spend.
See for yourself...
How Do You Intercept a Text Message?
(or, Turn Your Cell Phone into a Spy Gadget)
Professional Cellular Intercept Gear
The SingInt PGIS-900/1800 Passive GSM Intercept System
The Scandec, Inc. Real-time GSM System
The Shoghi SCL-5020 GSM Monitoring System
The G-Com Cellular Interception Systems
The Access GSM 3310 Interceptor
The Spy World 4001-D Cellular Interceptor
The Surf Mobile Data Lawful Interception Module Package
More Intercept Systems
The Spytec 3000 GSM Monitoring System
The Maxx Technology, s.a. Cellular Intercept Systems
The Silver Bullet PGSM Interception System
The Endoacustica GSMx900/1800 Interceptor
The Chiare GSM Interceptor
NSS White Paper on GSM and SMS interception
So, what is one to do?
Mobile phone privacy
is inversely proportional
to the amount of money
you have to spend...
Sagem myX-8S
GoldLock
CryptoPhone
Secure GSM
Sectera Secure GSM Phone
Shoghi PAD 1000 Secure GSM Phone
Ericsson and Sony-Ericsson Crypt-a-Cell (add-on)
DICA GSM Cipher Systems
Silentel SecureCall
Now that you feel all secure again...
The Number One Cell Phone Eavesdropping Trick!
is inversely proportional
to the amount of money
the eavesdropper has to spend.
See for yourself...
How Do You Intercept a Text Message?
(or, Turn Your Cell Phone into a Spy Gadget)
Professional Cellular Intercept Gear
The SingInt PGIS-900/1800 Passive GSM Intercept System
The Scandec, Inc. Real-time GSM System
The Shoghi SCL-5020 GSM Monitoring System
The G-Com Cellular Interception Systems
The Access GSM 3310 Interceptor
The Spy World 4001-D Cellular Interceptor
The Surf Mobile Data Lawful Interception Module Package
More Intercept Systems
The Spytec 3000 GSM Monitoring System
The Maxx Technology, s.a. Cellular Intercept Systems
The Silver Bullet PGSM Interception System
The Endoacustica GSMx900/1800 Interceptor
The Chiare GSM Interceptor
NSS White Paper on GSM and SMS interception
So, what is one to do?
Mobile phone privacy
is inversely proportional
to the amount of money
you have to spend...
Sagem myX-8S
GoldLock
CryptoPhone
Secure GSM
Sectera Secure GSM Phone
Shoghi PAD 1000 Secure GSM Phone
Ericsson and Sony-Ericsson Crypt-a-Cell (add-on)
DICA GSM Cipher Systems
Silentel SecureCall
Now that you feel all secure again...
The Number One Cell Phone Eavesdropping Trick!
Friday, March 9, 2007
Fun Weekend Project - Make a Throwie!
Developed by the Graffiti Research Lab a division of the Eyebeam R&D OpenLab, LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood.A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Throw it up high and in quantity to impress your friends and city officials. (more) Kits available here.
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