Saturday, August 4, 2007

Cautionary Tale #436 - Teachers Pet

IN - Still unaware of who is responsible for putting an unauthorized recording device in the office of former Sandridge Elementary School Principal Leroy Coleman, Sandridge District 172 is looking into having a company check other areas of the school for bugging devices.

Interim Superintendent Diane Dyer-Dawson recently told the School Board she received an $8,000 price quote from one company for an electronic surveillance sweep of the school.

The company would check such areas as offices, the media center, teachers lounge, locker rooms, and student and faculty restrooms for eavesdropping devices, transmitters, receivers and cameras, Dyer-Dawson said.

She said the security of the school was seriously compromised when a camera was secretly placed in Coleman's office and a DVD recording began circulating, showing Coleman engaged in sex acts in his office with former teacher Janet Lofton at various times and dates between December and January. (more)

Consider this a cautionary tale. Regularly scheduled inspections for eavesdropping devices are a common practice in business and government. Discovering snoops and spies during the intelligence collection phase - before they use your information against you - is cheap insurance. A proactive inspection program also reduces $$$ losses and personal embarrassments. Call us to start your program.

...all of them?

India's Intelligence Bureau has been ranked among the top 5 intelligence outfits in the world. According to a survey conducted by Strategic Forecasting, or STRATFOR, India’s IB exhibits efficiency and a high level of sophistication.

The STRATFOR report says IB's strength lies in its ability to conduct electronic surveillance with microphones. This comes as a relief to the Indian intelligence community, embarrassed by claims of its ineptitude by a key aide of former British PM Tony Blair.

Alastair Campbell had claimed Indian intelligence bugged Blair's Hotel room when he visited Delhi in 2001, but the British security service easily discovered them. (more)

Mountie surveillance expert charged with selling secrets to the Mob

Canada - An RCMP expert in electronic surveillance has been arrested in Montreal and charged with selling police secrets to organized crime, Sun Media has learned.

Angelo Cecere, a 50-year-old visually impaired civilian employee, has worked for decades for the RCMP, listening to sensitive police wiretaps, translating them from Italian, and interpreting them for police. (more)

IA Supreme Court: Parents can wiretap kids

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that telephone conversations a father recorded between his daughter and the teacher he suspected of sexually abusing her will be admissible in court, writing that parents may record their children’s telephone conversations if it is necessary for a child’s welfare. (more)

Zimbabwe passes 'eavesdrop' law

Africa - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a bill allowing the state to eavesdrop on private phone conversations and monitor faxes and emails.

The Interception of Communication Act, published in the government gazette on Friday, provides for the setting up of an interception centre to listen into telephone conversations, open mail and intercept emails and faxes.

The law also compels Internet service providers to install equipment to facilitate interception "at all times or when so required" and ensure that its equipment allows full-time monitoring of communications. (more)

Del Male non Fare e Paura non Avere

People having an affair in Italy would be well advised in future not to use their car for illicit assignations.

An Italian judge yesterday ruled that wives or husbands who suspect marital infidelity are entitled under the law to bug their spouse’s car in the search for incriminating evidence. (more)

VoIP Vandals

Internet telephone services like Skype and Vonage are starting to look less like digital gimmicks and more like the next generation of voice communication. They're cheaper than traditional phone services and increasingly fast and reliable. But they may also be far more hackable.

Security professionals at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas spent Wednesday outlining the exploitable vulnerabilities in voice over Internet protocol technology, or VoIP. In a series of presentations, they demonstrated ways in which cybercriminals can eavesdrop on VoIP calls, steal data from Internet telephony devices, intercept credit card numbers from VoIP connections and shut connections down altogether. (more)

Eavesdropping on VoIP Calls—Part 1

Just like with all TCP/IP traffic, it is easy for a snoopy person to sniff unencrypted VoIP packets and record your conversations. And don't think they won't.

Remember the early days of cell phones, when people used ordinary police scanners to eavesdrop? Newt Gingrich, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, Prince Charles, and hosts of other celebrities learned the hard way the value of using cell phones with strong encryption.

It's not as easy to snoop wired IP traffic because you need physical access to the wires, but it's not that hard, either. Anyone on your network, anyone on other networks that you contact—and all points in between, including service providers—all have the opportunity to do an awful lot of juicy snooping. Throw in some poorly secured wireless access points, rogue wireless access points, or wireless VoIP endpoints, and you have a real security risk.

While spying on other people's communications is mostly illegal, that's small comfort if it happens to you. (
more)(one good solution)

"Can you hear me now?"

UK - Mobile phones have everything these days: GPS, SMS, MP3... and now MI5.

In a development straight out of James Bond, spooks have worked out a way of using everyone's favourite gadget as a bugging device.

Real-life Qs have developed a crafty surveillance technique that involves sending a signal to the target mobile which reprogrammes the electronics and allows it to be used as a listening device. The affected phone - even if it is in standby mode or apparently switched off - remains in contact with the listening station, transmitting conversations picked up on its microphone.

And if you still think this is science fiction, think again. Last week, German police admitted using the system. In Britain, the Home Office have been more, well, British, saying: "We are aware of the technique but we don't comment on which techniques are used by law enforcement agencies." (more)

Bail bondsman convicted of wiretapping phone

MO - A part-time bail bondsman from Sparta was convicted Wednesday in federal court of wiretapping a Springfield woman's telephone.

Richard A. Hugh, 54, was found guilty of intercepting the telephone communications without permission, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Hugh installed the phone tap on the woman's phone line in December 2005 in an effort to locate a fugitive in a Lawrence County case, the release said. Using equipment bought at a Radio Shack, he recorded conversations for about 11 days. (more)

...the smart ones do.

India - Detectives today are being approached to spy on matters big and small, issues personal and professional. Be it for checking on spouses, pre-marital screening, employee verification, update on a business rival or uncovering cyber crime, the reasons for hiring a sleuth are many and varied.

Spy, detective, sleuth or secret agent. Whatever you decide to call them, the very word implies danger, intrigue, and enemies. Their job is to obtain information. From tracking down an errant husband or a two-timing wife to shadowing corporate, business or political rivals or verifying credentials of prospective employees, sleuthing is big business today. Large corporations spend a lot of money on precautions and protective countermeasures. (more)

Microchips implanted in humans: High-tech helpers, or Big Brother surveillance tools?

CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself - until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.

The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs - radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick - was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said.

Innocuous? Maybe.

To some, the microchip was a wondrous invention - a high-tech helper that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases, help authorities identify wandering Alzheimer's patients, allow consumers to buy their groceries, literally, with the wave of a chipped hand.

To others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian, a departure from centuries of history and tradition in which people had the right to go and do as they pleased without being tracked, unless they were harming someone else.

Chipping, these critics said, might start with Alzheimer's patients or Army Rangers, but would eventually be suggested for convicts, then parolees, then sex offenders, then illegal aliens - until one day, a majority of Americans, falling into one category or another, would find themselves electronically tagged. (more)

Teacher Apologizes for Bugging Colleague

A middle school science teacher charged with bugging a colleague's classroom has pleaded no contest in the case, saying her actions were embarrassing to her and her family.

Anne M. Harvey, 44, of Flushing apologized to the fellow teacher and following her plea Thursday was sentenced to six months of probation and 75 hours of community service. Harvey also was fined $250.

She originally was charged with attempted eavesdropping, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. But she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of trespassing for eavesdropping.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing purposes. (more)

SpyCam Story #369

MI - A former township treasurer, Brian Hill, has been found guilty of filming teenage foreign exchange students showering in his home. Hill has been convicted on 13 felony counts, including making and possessing child pornography, and eavesdropping (more)

Spy News

The Usual Suspects...
Maintenance worker charged with spying at nuclear plant. (
more)
South Korean man accused of lying about spy activities. (more)
McLaren (auto racing) submit 'spying' defence (more)
Aide to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney before joining the FBI, pleaded guilty to espionage. (more)
Belarus Intelligence Chief Axed After Spy Scandal (more)
Rice Urges Russia to Extradite Suspect in Spy-Poisoning Case (more)
Bulgaria's spy chief says foreign agencies helped free medics (more)
...and just for nostalgia and fun...
Get clued in to these spy legends (more)

In Fly Spy News...
Robotic Bird Designed to Spy on Humans (more)
Flying robots spy for government (more)
Iran's Spying Squirrels (more)
India to Launch Israeli SAR Spy Satellite (more)
India to buy more Russian spy planes (more)
New-age Ball spy satellite tests A-OK (1-2 foot resolution) (more)
Cheesed-off spooks give up on duff spy-sat (more)

In Workplace Spy News...
Your boss is spying on you right now. What can you do? (more)
Email told assistant to spy, says manager (more)
Spying in the Workplace: Big Money? (more)
Find Out If Your Printer Is Spying on You (more)

In Tanning Salon Spy news...
US - Man accused of spying inside tanning booth (more)
UK - Peeping Tom crashes through ceiling while spying (more)

In Spy Shop News...
Best Find: Spy Shops (more)
17 Cameras Roll as Thieves Break Into Spy Store (more)