Tuesday, March 11, 2008

School Board Sued for Eavesdropping on Attorney

Attorney Susan Burgess of Brockport is suing the district, the Board of Education and Kevin Ratcliffe, director of Pupil Services, for alleged eavesdropping on a private legal conversation she had Aug. 4, 2006, at a district office with her client, Carmen Coleman of Fairport, regarding Coleman’s son’s educational needs.

The suit further alleges that district officials listened in on the conversation in retaliation for Coleman’s pursuing her son’s legal rights and to gain an advantage in the negotiations. (more)

What in the World???

Every minute disaster strikes somewhere in the world.
These sites keep track of it all...
GlobalIncidentMap.com
Havari Information Service - AlertMap
Incident1.com
USDA Active Fire Map
Illegal Alien Activity Tracking System
PetFlight Airport Incident Map
Real-Time Earthquate Map
World Disasters
Disaster Resource Network

PATS 'SPY' READY TO ROLL TAPE

The former New England Patriots employee who supposedly has tapes of illegal spying by the team may be ready to give them up. (more)

Cracking GSM encryption just got easier

by Michael Kassner...
For all intents and purposes most everyone including the GSMA—an organization representing most of the mobile phone operators—considered and still considers GSM very secure. In reality A5/1, the technology used to encrypt GSM communications has been vulnerable for at least a decade. The sense of security seems to be based on the fact that the original attack venues require a great deal of computing power, time, and therefore money to accomplish the crack. So an organization would have to be particularly motivated to even want to crack GSM traffic. Care to guess who has enough motivation?


It appears that researchers David Hulton and Steve Miller have recently developed techniques to greatly reduce the time and required computing power needed to crack A5/1 encryption. The two researchers have even patented their work personally. The efficient modifications of the original crack open all sorts of doors making it easier for both black and white hat types to decode GSM conversations. (more)

The following is a public service announcement...

...ABOUT SHINE A LIGHT
On April 4, 2008, an Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and the world's greatest rock n' roll band will unite to bring audiences the year's most extraordinary musical film event, "Shine a Light," to theaters everywhere.

Martin Scorsese's concert documentary "Shine a Light" will show the world the Rolling Stones as they've never been seen before. Filming at the famed Beacon Theatre in New York City in fall 2006, Scorsese assembled a legendary team of cinematographers to capture the raw energy of the legendary band. (more) (review)

Monday, March 10, 2008

More Sports Spying History

According to a report in the New York Daily News, the New York Jets were aware of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's videotaping shenanigans as far back as 2004.

Sources told the Daily News that Herm Edwards, then the Jets head coach, and his defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson not only noticed a camera aimed at them from the opposite sideline during a game between the Jets and Patriots, but they waved at it. (Does this constitute consent?)

The News' report also said the videotape was apparently one of six tapes Belichick turned over to the league that were subsequently destroyed by the order of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. (more)

But spying has always existed in football and other professional sports. A marvelous book, "The Echoing Green," documents how the 1951 New York Giants utilized a telescope to steal opposing catchers' signs — and relay them to the batters.

Papa Bear George Halas, it has been claimed, paid young men to listen to and film other teams' practices. The old Kansas City Chiefs were accused of being the worst spying offenders — by Al Davis, who was accused of bugging AFL teams' locker rooms. The Broncos purportedly had two spies a long time ago at a San Diego workout, writing plays on the inside of paper cups.

A former NFL coach told me at the recent Super Bowl in Arizona that his team cheated regularly. "We did everything you can imagine to get information on the teams we were playing. The more technology, the easier you can get stuff. It's common in the league," he said.

Belichick was caught.
Now, Congress is involved. (more)
"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit..."

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Inside the Shady World of Spy Gadgets

by Mike Elgan...
The online catalogs have names like Spy World, Spy Source and even Spy Zilla. The wonderful and disturbing new world of spy gadgets offers obscure, often expensive devices -- available in most cases to anyone with a credit card.


Most spy gadgets should be and could be used for legal and ethical purposes -- but you know they probably won't be.

Hidden cameras, secret microphones, GPS tracking devices, telephone voice changers, camera and microphone detectors, computer and cell phone snooping devices, cell phone and Wi-Fi "jammers" -- spy gadgets are sold vaguely and euphemistically as "security" or "surveillance" products. But you can bet they're popular with perverts, snooping bosses, suspicious spouses, cheaters, blackmailers, criminals and terrorists.

Nobody monitors who buys this stuff or what they use it for... (much more)

Smart businesses regularly conduct eavesdropping detection inspections. If you're not looking, you're not finding. Call us.

"All right, who said, 'They're higher than a kite'?!?"

from switched.com...
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will award contracts to design and build an unmanned spy plane they've dreamed up that will stay aloft for for an amazing five years. The pseudo satellite will circle the globe for years at between 60,000 and 90,000 feet, gathering photos, communications, and generally watching everything you do. (more)

Computer Bug Gets Upgrade

from the seller's website...
New for 2008! eBlaster 6.0

eBlaster has been the standard in remote monitoring software for parents and employers for almost a decade. It's time for a real innovative change, and we have some very exciting news.

Blaster 6.0 is now available, and we have added features we believe you're really going to like. Now, you have the ability to change options and settings remotely without having to return to the computer on which eBlaster is installed.

What Else is New in eBlaster 6.0?
NEW! Block Web Sites
-- Block inappropriate web sites by name immediately...
NEW! Block Chat/IM Contacts
-- Block all chat and instant messaging with specific people...
NEW! Online Searches
-- records searches made on Google, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo...
NEW! Screen Snapshots with Keyword Alerts
-- Now you can actually see EXACTLY what they saw...
NEW! MySpace Activity
-- All activity on the popular but potentially dangerous MySpace site...

When was the last time you checked your computer for spyware?
eBlaster detection.

Bugs - The Ultimate Bugs

The agency that the Pentagon set up to turn outlandish sci-fi concepts into reality has come closer to creating an army -- or air force -- of cybugs: cyber-moths and beetles that can spy on the enemy.

Inspired by Thomas Easton's 1990 novel, Sparrowhawk, in which animals enlarged by genetic engineering were fitted with implanted control systems, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) set out to insert microsystems into living insects as they undergo metamorphosis.

The plan is that their organs will grow around the chips and wires that make up the remote-control devices. (more)

Reel Camp for the Really Stupid



Friday, March 7, 2008

"Slime him, Danno!"

UK - Police in Nuneaton yesterday unveiled their latest technological weapon - a remote-controlled helicopter, the size of a dustbin lid.

The microdrone can film from more than 350ft away and beams back live video footage to operators on the ground.

If needed, the little helicopter can even swoop down and squirt offenders with a security marking solution called SmartWater which can be identified by police. (more)

Listening to Michael Jackson May Be Hazardous to Your Wealth

Eavesdropping on Michael Jackson and his lawyer Mark Geragos will cause the former owner of charter jet company XtraJet a total of $10 million, according to TMZ.com.

Geragos filed a lawsuit suit against XtraJet claiming the company violated Jackson's right to privacy by videotaping their Nov. 2003 flight from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara, where the King of Pop was to surrender to child molestation charges. XtraJet's former owner Jeffrey Borer tried to sell those tapes to the media.


The judge awarded Geragos and an associate lawyer $2 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages, according to TMZ.

Geragos called the taping "one of the most outrageous acts I've seen in my 20 years of practicing criminal law." (more)

Hollywood Wiretapping Case - 6-Years Running!

Anthony Pellicano masterminded a lucrative criminal enterprise aimed at discrediting and destroying the enemies of his Hollywood clients, a federal prosecutor charged Thursday in opening arguments in a long-awaited wiretapping trial.

But he bragged about it so much — and recorded himself doing so — that Mr. Pellicano “was the biggest government informant in this case,” the prosecutor, Kevin Lally, said Thursday.

Mr. Pellicano, 63, who is defending himself against wiretapping and racketeering charges, denied nothing in his opening remarks, saying that his business was “problem solving,” and that customers in the entertainment industry paid him well because they knew he would “perform” for them. He stressed only that he never intended their secrets to become public. (more)

Turn Old 78 RPM Records into MP3s and CDs

Ace sound engineer, Mike Stewart, spins advice about how to turn old 78rpm records into MP3 or CD recordings.

Sounds like it should be easy, but consider, "modern" record players won't play at 78rpm.

Now you know why Mike is the Ace.
(video tutorial)