Confessing? Don't phone it in...

Bugging fears thwart sinners' confessions
Egypt's Coptic pope has banned the faithful from confessing their sins to priests over the telephone because intelligence agents might be listening in... The leader of the Coptic minority also said confessions over the Internet were invalid because they might be read by web surfers... The Vatican does not recognise confessions by telephone or over the Internet. (more)

Alert - Dot Com could really be a Dot Bomb

You receive an email containing interesting news.
It ends with, "Learn more. Visit our website. Link below."
The link is an attachment named, "OurGreatSite.com".
You're interested. You click it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM

Oooops!
You forgot that ".com" is also an old MS-DOS executable file extension. Some .com's mean business. Other .com's mean monkey business.

Thank goodness you updated your virus protection recently.
You did, didn't you?

FREE - PC Pandora Gives Away their Spyware

via AppScout...
"David Pogue at the NYTimes.com reports that Pandora Corp. is giving away PC Pandora Version 5 for a week starting on Christmas morning, until they hit 50,000 copies (or until 11:59 PM on January 1, 2009, whichever comes first). The software usually runs $70 bucks. To get it you have to use the code PCPANDORAGIVEAWAY.

The company describes the software as "an invisible TiVo" for the PC, recording every email, IM, password, and keystroke, all of which you can monitor remotely. Our own Neil J. Rubenking reviewed PC Pandora last January and gave it 3 out of 5 stars. He said the software is not going to control how your kids use the computer, but "if you want to secretly monitor every little thing they do on the computer, PC Pandora will definitely do the job."

Why limit it to kids when you can spy on any user? Give the gift of free snooping this holiday."

Satchel Paige was not always right...

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
"Age is a question of mind over matter.
If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter."
"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."

Satchel had a great philosophical outlook when it came to age. Not so great, when it came to competition. Looking back every now and then gives perspective and a sense of where one stands.

Exactfactor understands this, and plays upon your ...Google-envy.

Spy on your competitor's website ranking. Get email alerts when they pass you in rank, when your rank is zooming up or sliding down, and when you reach first-page status. Hey, you can bet they are spying on you!

New Security Buzzwords You May Hear in 2009

Baked-in - When security comes as an integral part of a product; as opposed to bolted-on, where a security fix may be applied to the product if desired.

Privileging - Authentication opens the main door, but no longer will you have the keys to the kingdom. It is Privileging which will keep you where you belong once granted entry. No more poking your nose where it doesn't belong.

Autocrypt - The concept of automatic encryption of all data, stored in any system or media.

Privylaws - New laws designed to protect your private data from taking a dump in the wrong place.

Reprivatize - Periodically renewing a high level of privacy. Quarterly eavesdropping detection audits of executive offices, conference rooms and vehicles is one example.

SpyCam Story #504 - Not Licensed to Shoot

A Grand Island photographer, Dennis L. Beins, has been charged with 11 counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and five counts of unlawful intrusion...

The warrant listed numerous items seized from that address, including a Sony AM-FM clock radio with a hidden camera that was removed from a dressing room. (more) (video)

Surprise! Chinese Art Form to Become Illegal

China is cracking down on hackers, making penalties a lot tougher. New laws mean that hackers could face up to seven years in jail, according to those unbiased watchdogs of the People, the State media.

The current law only allows punishment for hacking into government, defence or science computers. Private companies are fair game, which has made corporate spying an art form. (more)

TIme to break out a Tabua

Fiji's interim government has expelled New Zealand's acting high commissioner, Caroline McDonald. Ms McDonald was summonsed to Fiji's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday afternoon and was told she has been declared "persona non-grata", and has been given one week to leave the country...

The expulsion comes a day after Fiji accused Australia and New Zealand of tapping telephones. He also accused the two nations of using Fijian staff in their high commissions to spy. (more)

Free Internet Spy School

Let's give a few of the the Internet How-to-Spy sites a view. It is a good education, especially if you want to know what to protect yourself against!

First Stop...
How to Spy Computers, Helping You Spying Computers (sic)
• Should you spy on your employees?
• Is a keylogger completely hidden?
• How can I spy on what my spouse is doing on our home computer?
• What Is a Keylogger?
• Why Should I Spy on My Home Computer?
• How to Spy a Computer and Receive Reports by Email
• 7 Keyloggers for Windows Vista
• Keylogger for Mac
• All-Spy Keylogger Tutorial

Second Stop - 14 Tools to Legally Spy On Your Competition

Third Stop - How to Spy on Your Competitors—Without the Guilt

Quote of the Month - Hail to the Chief

"I came out with an encrypted drive. Every country in the world wanted me to put a back door into it [for security eavesdropping]. We refused. It’s not a secure drive if it has a back door." Bill Watkins - chief executive of Seagate, the $13 billion Scotts Valley, Calif.-based hard disk drive maker. (more)

SpyCam Story #503 - WatchCam

"Nothing like a spycam that screams, 'Look at me! I'm dorkey!'"

No, no, no... Give it a chance.
Think Transformer!
The seller says so...
MP4 Player + Music Player + Video/Voice Recorder + Digital Camera + Digital Watch + Photo Album + E-book reader + PC Camera!!!

"MP4 Watch + Video Camera is a novel and fashionable design Portable Media Player (PMP) device. Just plug and play into USB port to transfer music files and data. Save all your media files on your wrist, you can listen to music, watch movies, take photos, record voices and videos wherever you go.

With Internal Speaker, you can share your lovely videos with your friends!

Moreover, you can plug it into your PC as a Web camera, convenient to use. Enjoy the high-tech life on the go!"

1.8" TFT screen, 160*128 pixel image
MP4 Player + Music Player + Video/Voice Recorder +Digital Camera + Digital Watch + Photo Album + E-book reader + PC Camera, all in one featured product
Built-in 8GB flash memory
Built-in Video Camera - Photo resolution: 640 x 480, Video Resolution: 352 x 288
Built-in speaker
PC Web Camera feature
MP4 watch, support MP4(AVI/3GP) video
Shows time/date and watch design is outstanding
Supports MP3, WMA and MP4(AVI) format, up to 8 hours of music playback
Supports JPEG format, also displays lyrics and picture
High-quality digital record, song circulation function and support several languages
5-equalizer modes: common, popular, rock classic, jazz
E-book browse function
USB 2.0 High Speed transfer
Auto Power Off Function
Package Contents:
MP4 Watch + Video Camera
USB Cable
Earphone
Driver CD
AC adapter
User's Manual
$129.00 (seller)

Laugha while you can, monkeyboy. Some day this will be super camp, and worth much more. Seriously. Remember the first TV wristwatch? (Seiko, 1982) Occasionally these turn up on ebay and sell for more than they originally cost.

Spy-Fridge - Coming soon to a steet near you.

Philadelphia - "In case you haven't been wandering around the east side of Broad Street in Center City recently, the neighborhood has been sprouting refrigerator size boxes at every signalized intersection.

They're part of a Streets Department project to digitize the traffic signals throughout the city, but thanks to the Department of Homeland Security the new system is three times the size of the old pole-mounted controls, requiring a 67-inch free-standing box.

The reason? The boxes were made bigger so they could hold the computer equipment for a future surveillance network." Inga Saffron - architecture critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

FutureWatch Update - Stolen Cell Phone Alarm

Reportedly, coming soon.
Now in Beta - Available upon request.
From the inventor's web site...
Maverick Secure Mobile (MSM) is a security application.
Secure mobile helps you protect your data, track your stolen device, retrieve your phonebook & disable the stolen device remotely. The application works in hidden mode and cannot be viewed in the device...

1. Protects Your Data In case of theft/loss, the moment SIM change is detected, Secure mobile will encrypt all the data on the device like the phonebook, images, messages etc.

2. Track Device In case of loss/theft the application will send the phone number, device id, country code, operator name and area code(location) to the reporting device through sms. Secure Mobile will also report about activities performed on the stolen device via SMS; like Outgoing Calls made, etc.

3. Retrieve Phonebook The most important data on any device are the contacts. Using MSM one can retrieve phonebook from the stolen device.

4. Spy Call Spy call will switch on the loudspeaker & mic of the stolen device remotely, so that the caller can actually listen to the conversation other person is engaged in. This call will not give any notification/ ring to the stolen device.

5. Raise an alarm and disable the phone To disable stolen device remotely, send sms = hang from the Reporting device to the stolen device, and it will raise an alarm and start playing a loud Siren. MSM will also display a customized message.

6. Data Back-up Secure Mobile has a distinctive feature of incremental Data Back up. Using this feature one can back up all the data from the device to secure remote server using GPRS. So now all your data is very much secured and you can retrieve it without any hassle. All the above mentioned features can be used even if the SIM is not changed,
a. In case the device is lost by sending SMS “Activate” from the reporting device.
b. For Parental control of child’s mobile device by sending SMS “Track” from reporting device (more) (videos)

Spybusters Tip #387 - FREE Internet Encryption

Traveling executives take note...
Public networks (both wired and wireless) are great. However, the danger to your personal data exists even if you connect to a fee based open network. Your passwords, credit card numbers, and any data you send can be seen and associated with you personally.

Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and our Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers and hackers from viewing your email, instant messages, credit card information or anything else you send over the network. Hotspot Shield security application is free to download, employs the latest VPN technology, and is easy to install and use.

Hotspot Shield runs on:
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard)
Mac OS X (10.4 Tiger)
iPhone
(more)
Hotspot Shield slightly increased page loading times in my tests. Given the increased level of privacy, the trade-off is well worth it. ~ Kevin

Kids Spy Camp

UK - Give your kids the time of their lives at spy school. They will learn how to operate hidden cameras, bugging devices and radio equipment, take part in a shoot-out using state of the art laser tag guns, dodge laser beams to crack open the safe against the clock, learn how to quick draw their pistol from a holster and finally crack codes to de-activate the bomb as the clock ticks away. Can they crack it before time runs out? Only those with stealth, agility and cunning will find out! Location: Buckinghamshire (more)
Looks like my future is secure. ~ Kevin