UK - "If you had been watching EastEnders as long as I have, you'd know that someone always leaves a baby alarm, a tape recorder, covert surveillance equipment or, in this case, a video camera accidentally switched on. The incriminating contents will detonate with maximum embarrassment at a future date." (more)
Monday, November 5, 2007
SpyCam Story #402 - Puppy Love
...from an unusually conscience German Shepherd dog breeder...
"From Sunrise to sunset my puppies are individually loved and cared for. Even while sleeping if I wake in the middle of the night I can view their activity 24/7 from my spycam that I set up from the day they were born. I have monitored and keep journals of each ones behavior to know that they are highly intelligent and are capiable (sic) of being, what ever they are trained to be!" (more)
"From Sunrise to sunset my puppies are individually loved and cared for. Even while sleeping if I wake in the middle of the night I can view their activity 24/7 from my spycam that I set up from the day they were born. I have monitored and keep journals of each ones behavior to know that they are highly intelligent and are capiable (sic) of being, what ever they are trained to be!" (more)
Bugging Computers - So Simple A Child Can Do It
NY - Any teenager with the skill to hook up a Playstation can bug a computer in just a few moments, given the right opportunity, motive and brazenness.
The three Fayetteville-Manlius High School students who allegedly tampered with the school's computer and changed their grades used a simple piece of spyware equipment known as a keylogger, said sources familiar with the case. All they needed was a few moments to install and later retrieve the device - which can capture passwords - on the targeted computer when a staff person wasn't looking, the sources said. (more)
Of course, computer bugging happens in the workplace just as easily. Our eavesdropping detection inspections take this into consideration.
The three Fayetteville-Manlius High School students who allegedly tampered with the school's computer and changed their grades used a simple piece of spyware equipment known as a keylogger, said sources familiar with the case. All they needed was a few moments to install and later retrieve the device - which can capture passwords - on the targeted computer when a staff person wasn't looking, the sources said. (more)
Of course, computer bugging happens in the workplace just as easily. Our eavesdropping detection inspections take this into consideration.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Just when you thought your prohibition against bringing USB memory sticks into sensitive work areas was working...
"In lieu of lighter fluid and a flint, this lighter uses resistance coils to create heat. It’s the same technology found in car lighters.The small rechargeable battery cell powering the coil can be recharged via USB. On top of that, there’s some flash memory in there to store files. Designer: Nathan Gabriele (more)
Although this particular camo-stick is still stuck in Nathan's brain as a concept piece, real camo-sticks available for sticking in your computer. Some are outragious. Some are clever. The last one could really cause you problems if it were repackaged.
• The Memory Stick Stick
• The Top 10 weirdest USB drives ever
• Stick Doll
• Sushi
• Watch
• Swiss Army Knife USB
• Keystroke Logging "Memory Stick"
• Mini-mini I & Mini-mini II
• The "pull my finger" Thumb Drive
AND
• The Snoopstick! A memory stick that inserts spyware code to allow remote eavesdropping.
(more)
Information Security - Quote of the Day
"Your ultimatum: resign in one hour or I will go to the press and smear your reputations -- was a remarkable piece of bullying and thuggery, and it almost worked."(In fact... it did work.)
This was the response of the five (independent) Directors of Affiliated Computer Services Inc. to ACS lawyers who had demanded the immediate resignations on behalf of company management.
"One of the most serious allegations ACS leveled against the independent directors is that they gave a competitor access to company secrets during discussions with Unisys, according to people close to ACS." (more)
Moral: Take your information security seriously.
"Do you have what it takes to be a spy?"
Now you can find out.
The International Spy Museum announces Operation Spy™, a new and groundbreaking immersive experience that takes the interactive concept to a higher level. In an action-packed hour, participants take on the role of U.S. intelligence officers on an international mission to locate a missing nuclear device on the verge of being sold to a rogue nation. This intense experience combines live-action, video characters, themed environments, special effects, and hands-on activities. Participants take part in an intrigue-filled adventure based on an actual case drawn from the files of U.S. intelligence. (more) (video)
The International Spy Museum announces Operation Spy™, a new and groundbreaking immersive experience that takes the interactive concept to a higher level. In an action-packed hour, participants take on the role of U.S. intelligence officers on an international mission to locate a missing nuclear device on the verge of being sold to a rogue nation. This intense experience combines live-action, video characters, themed environments, special effects, and hands-on activities. Participants take part in an intrigue-filled adventure based on an actual case drawn from the files of U.S. intelligence. (more) (video)
Aerial Spy News
Germany - The third of five planned German high-resolution SAR-Lupe radar reconnaissance satellites was successfully launched Nov. 1 by a Russian Cosmos-3M rocket. (more)
The fly's a spy - UST below a half-opened garage door a tiny device can be seen at the feet of someone lurking in the shadows. It looks like a blue dragonfly. Then its miniature wings begin to flap as it slips under the door and darts along the street. After rising through the air it stops to hover outside the window of a building several stories high. There is an opening on the roof, and it slips inside. As it flits from room to room its video-camera “eye” transmits pictures to a screen on a remote-control unit strapped to the wrist of its clandestine operator.
This is not a scene from a James Bond film, in which 007 tests a new device from “Q”, but an animated video produced by Onera, France's national aerospace centre, to explain REMANTA, a project to develop the technologies needed for miniature robotic aircraft. More bug-like flying devices are being developed in other research laboratories around the world. (more) (video)
The fly's a spy - UST below a half-opened garage door a tiny device can be seen at the feet of someone lurking in the shadows. It looks like a blue dragonfly. Then its miniature wings begin to flap as it slips under the door and darts along the street. After rising through the air it stops to hover outside the window of a building several stories high. There is an opening on the roof, and it slips inside. As it flits from room to room its video-camera “eye” transmits pictures to a screen on a remote-control unit strapped to the wrist of its clandestine operator.
This is not a scene from a James Bond film, in which 007 tests a new device from “Q”, but an animated video produced by Onera, France's national aerospace centre, to explain REMANTA, a project to develop the technologies needed for miniature robotic aircraft. More bug-like flying devices are being developed in other research laboratories around the world. (more) (video)
Fax Spy Caves
Australia - A former state Labor MP, accused of spying on a Liberal opponent, has quit her taxpayer-funded job and been criticised by the Ombudsman for "highly inappropriate" behaviour.
Heather McTaggart, who was Labor MP for Evelyn until losing her seat at last year's election, confessed to receiving electronic copies of all faxes sent to her successor, Liberal MP Christine Fyffe, for seven months.
She said she deleted any remaining faxes after reading a copy of the anonymous note alerting Ms Fyffe to the fact that Ms McTaggart was receiving her faxes: "I just deleted everything. I panicked and deleted it. That was it. Whatever was there …"(more)
Heather McTaggart, who was Labor MP for Evelyn until losing her seat at last year's election, confessed to receiving electronic copies of all faxes sent to her successor, Liberal MP Christine Fyffe, for seven months.
She said she deleted any remaining faxes after reading a copy of the anonymous note alerting Ms Fyffe to the fact that Ms McTaggart was receiving her faxes: "I just deleted everything. I panicked and deleted it. That was it. Whatever was there …"(more)
Blind Justice... League Story
Sacha van Loo, 36, is not your typical cop."Being blind has forced me to develop my other senses, and my power as a detective rests in my ears," he said from his office at the Belgian Federal Police.
Van Loo, a slight man who has been blind since birth, is one of six blind police officers in a pioneering unit specializing in transcribing and analyzing wiretap recordings in criminal investigations. ...such is his acute sense of hearing that Paul van Thielen, a director at the Belgian Federal Police, compares his powers of observation to those of a "superhero."
When police eavesdrop on a suspected terrorist making a phone call, van Loo can listen to the tones dialed and immediately identify the number. By hearing the sound of a voice echoing off of a wall, he can deduce whether a suspect is speaking from an airport lounge or a crowded restaurant. (more)
SpyCam Story #401 - Royal Shoot-Out
UK - Two men who allegedly demanded £50,000 from a member of the royal family to keep quiet about a sex and drugs video were arrested after a police sting in a hotel room. ...the royal went straight to police who set up a meeting at the £500-a-night Hilton hotel in Central London. ...The meeting was filmed secretly by officers in an adjacent room. (more)
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Spy Budgets
For the first time in almost a decade the federal government has pulled back the curtain on the American intelligence budget. In 2007 the country will spend $43.5 billion to spy on its enemies -- plus another $10 billion for the Pentagon that's still classified. Steve Henn reports... (audio) (more)Wonder what is budgeted to spy against your company?
Try this on for size:
• A$ = The value of your intellectual property.
• B% = A modest one-percent attack budget.
• Cc = The number of interested competitors.
• X$ = The war-chest you are up against.
Formula: (A$ x B%) x Cc = X$
Sample company: ($10,000,000. x .01) x 5 = $500,000.00
These figures are, of course, fictitious and very variable, but you get the idea.
So, how much are you budgeting to counter spying?
FREE counterespionage program development help is available.
Call us.
The presenter, her husband and their 'spying secretary'
UK - Kirsty Wark’s secretary used industrial espionage to get information that could help the Newsnight presenter’s husband to bring a claim for constructive dismissal against his business partners, it was alleged in the High Court
The secretary hacked into the e-mails sent between colleagues of Ms Wark’s husband, Alan Clements, who is accused of trying to get out of a “golden handcuffs” agreement that tied him to the television production company RDF Media. Mr Clements is also accused of deleting entries from his personal diary, which RDF claim would show that he was considering defecting to SMG, a business rival that owns Scottish Television. ...
The PA was allegedly able to access e-mails belonging to former colleagues of Mr Clements, including Hamish Barbour, who is also the husband of the television presenter Muriel Gray. (more)
The secretary hacked into the e-mails sent between colleagues of Ms Wark’s husband, Alan Clements, who is accused of trying to get out of a “golden handcuffs” agreement that tied him to the television production company RDF Media. Mr Clements is also accused of deleting entries from his personal diary, which RDF claim would show that he was considering defecting to SMG, a business rival that owns Scottish Television. ...
The PA was allegedly able to access e-mails belonging to former colleagues of Mr Clements, including Hamish Barbour, who is also the husband of the television presenter Muriel Gray. (more)
Russian official charged with wiretapping
A Moscow court has upheld the arrest of a Russian drug control officer on illegal wiretapping charges. The Moscow City Court also rejected a defense request that Lt. Gen. Alexander Bulbov, a department chief in Russia's FSKN agency, be released until his trial begins. (more)
SpyCam Story #400 - Cell Phone Cam Scam
Australia - A man who used a mobile phone to covertly film his former flatmate in the shower has been put on a two-year good-behaviour bond. David William Pender was arrested in July after the woman discovered a mobile phone with its camera running on her bathroom windowsill. (more)
Today's Amazing Stories (not spy-related)
...forget eating bacon, sausage and lunchmeat. No amount is considered completely safe, according to the analysis from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund. (more)
...a $199 PC (sans display). ...runs a Linux OS and is loaded with (or has links to) free applications, including Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Product Search, Google Blogger, Google YouTube, Google Maps, Google News, Meebo (instant messaging), GIMP (image editing), Firefox, Xing Movie Player, RhythmBox (iTunes substitute), Faqly (tech support), Facebook, Skype and OpenOffice.org 2.2. (more) (more)
The world's first 'Divorce fair' has taken place (in Vienna, Austria) to meet rising demand as more and more people untie the knot. ...gave people the chance to speak to lawyers and councillors about parting amicably. Dating agencies were also on hand... (more)
...a $199 PC (sans display). ...runs a Linux OS and is loaded with (or has links to) free applications, including Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Product Search, Google Blogger, Google YouTube, Google Maps, Google News, Meebo (instant messaging), GIMP (image editing), Firefox, Xing Movie Player, RhythmBox (iTunes substitute), Faqly (tech support), Facebook, Skype and OpenOffice.org 2.2. (more) (more)The world's first 'Divorce fair' has taken place (in Vienna, Austria) to meet rising demand as more and more people untie the knot. ...gave people the chance to speak to lawyers and councillors about parting amicably. Dating agencies were also on hand... (more)
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