Germany - Aircraft maker Airbus has admitted to spying on its staff in an attempt to uncover potential corruption. It is the second high-profile case this year of a company admitting to snooping on its workers in Germany.
Airbus ordered checks on all staff working in Germany from 2005 to 2007, the company acknowledged. The checks were to see if workers' bank account numbers matched those of suppliers. No wrongdoing was found.
The head of Germany's national rail operator Deutsche Bahn resigned this week after the company also admitted to spying on thousands of its employees. (more)
Friday, April 3, 2009
World Leader 'unaware' of alleged Chinese spying
Australia - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he has not been told that Chinese spies tried to infiltrate his email and listen to his phone calls when he visited Beijing for last year's Olympics.
The Australian newspaper is reporting Chinese spies have repeatedly tried to tap into the Prime Minister's email and mobile phone communications, Government and business IT networks and foreign embassies in Canberra.
The newspaper reports that China directly targeted Mr Rudd last August, saying he and his staff were under constant cyber attack from Chinese authorities trying to access laptop computers and mobile phone calls. (more with full audio report)
What's wrong with this story?
A. Mr. Rudd had been properly briefed, but diplomatically downplayed the incident.
B. Mr. Rudd needs a more open channel with his intelligence staff.
C. Like many leaders (public and private sector), naive arrogance blinds caution.
In case there is any doubt that spying is very real, look at some of my first-hand experiences, here and here. ~ Kevin
The Australian newspaper is reporting Chinese spies have repeatedly tried to tap into the Prime Minister's email and mobile phone communications, Government and business IT networks and foreign embassies in Canberra.
The newspaper reports that China directly targeted Mr Rudd last August, saying he and his staff were under constant cyber attack from Chinese authorities trying to access laptop computers and mobile phone calls. (more with full audio report)
What's wrong with this story?
A. Mr. Rudd had been properly briefed, but diplomatically downplayed the incident.
B. Mr. Rudd needs a more open channel with his intelligence staff.
C. Like many leaders (public and private sector), naive arrogance blinds caution.
In case there is any doubt that spying is very real, look at some of my first-hand experiences, here and here. ~ Kevin
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Security Director Budget Booster - CCTV TLC
via Fred D. Miller - CPP, CHS L-III, SRG Security Resources Group...
"It’s amazing how many times we are asked for specifications to replace an older camera system when just a little TLC is needed to dramatically improve its performance.
We’re not talking about trying to revive a totally dead horse or the complete upgrade of an old system to perform like new, which can be as costly as total replacement. But rather spending a modest amount to coax a couple more useful years out of a legacy if not ailing system. With today’s economy that kind of economics makes good sense to us.
So, here are a few tweaks that may help to resurrect a dying system which you may be able to do in-house. I would note though, that PM [preventive maintenance] should be conducted at regular intervals even on brand new equipment.
• Make a list of all equipment, where it is located and what it views. Note its apparent operating condition or problem. For example; camera #1, main lobby door, washed out view.
• Physically inspect every camera, component and connector, particularly if co- axial cable is used, as even slightly corroded connections will result in poor video. If in doubt at all, replace the connection with new.
• Thoroughly clean camera housings – particularly if they were located in an area where they were apt to accumulate dirt, dust, smoke film etc.,
• Clean camera lenses with lens cleaner [not a window cleaning product which may remove or damage the lens coating] If it is a varifocal lenses [auto iris etc] readjust as necessary. “Exercise” the lens motor or mechanism to assure it works freely,
• Check the placement of the camera so that it is not washed out by lighting, sunlight, or glare from nearby glass [curtain] walls,
• Make sure cameras view what you intended them to view and readjust their mounts if need be.
• If VCRs are being used, purchase good quality head cleaning tapes. Use them initially and then on a scheduled basis. If you are using a DVR, dust and heat are among the more common enemies of this equipment, so good ventilation [cooling] and housekeeping are important.
Whether you are using VCRs or DVRs refer to their respective operating manuals before attempting any PM maintenance on your own . . . it's delicate equipment."
Fred Miller is a well-known independent security consultant. His firm, SRG Security Resources Group, is located in Lafayette Hill, PA.
For more tips like this one, sign up for his newsletter.
Need help fast... call him right now. 1-610-834-0884
His services include:
– Risk Assessments
– Site Security Evaluations
– Security Master Planning
– Security Procedures
– Contingency and Emergency Plan Review
– Supply Chain Security
– Computer Security
– Security Awareness Training for Employees
– System Design
– RFP and Bid Documents
– C-TPAT Guidelines and Cargo Security
"It’s amazing how many times we are asked for specifications to replace an older camera system when just a little TLC is needed to dramatically improve its performance.
We’re not talking about trying to revive a totally dead horse or the complete upgrade of an old system to perform like new, which can be as costly as total replacement. But rather spending a modest amount to coax a couple more useful years out of a legacy if not ailing system. With today’s economy that kind of economics makes good sense to us.
So, here are a few tweaks that may help to resurrect a dying system which you may be able to do in-house. I would note though, that PM [preventive maintenance] should be conducted at regular intervals even on brand new equipment.
• Make a list of all equipment, where it is located and what it views. Note its apparent operating condition or problem. For example; camera #1, main lobby door, washed out view.
• Physically inspect every camera, component and connector, particularly if co- axial cable is used, as even slightly corroded connections will result in poor video. If in doubt at all, replace the connection with new.
• Thoroughly clean camera housings – particularly if they were located in an area where they were apt to accumulate dirt, dust, smoke film etc.,
• Clean camera lenses with lens cleaner [not a window cleaning product which may remove or damage the lens coating] If it is a varifocal lenses [auto iris etc] readjust as necessary. “Exercise” the lens motor or mechanism to assure it works freely,
• Check the placement of the camera so that it is not washed out by lighting, sunlight, or glare from nearby glass [curtain] walls,
• Make sure cameras view what you intended them to view and readjust their mounts if need be.
• If VCRs are being used, purchase good quality head cleaning tapes. Use them initially and then on a scheduled basis. If you are using a DVR, dust and heat are among the more common enemies of this equipment, so good ventilation [cooling] and housekeeping are important.
Whether you are using VCRs or DVRs refer to their respective operating manuals before attempting any PM maintenance on your own . . . it's delicate equipment."
Fred Miller is a well-known independent security consultant. His firm, SRG Security Resources Group, is located in Lafayette Hill, PA.
For more tips like this one, sign up for his newsletter.
Need help fast... call him right now. 1-610-834-0884
His services include:
– Risk Assessments
– Site Security Evaluations
– Security Master Planning
– Security Procedures
– Contingency and Emergency Plan Review
– Supply Chain Security
– Computer Security
– Security Awareness Training for Employees
– System Design
– RFP and Bid Documents
– C-TPAT Guidelines and Cargo Security
Big Business Espionage - Espionage Business Big
via the REI newsletter...
So how big is the problem and who’s at risk? Tim Barker of the Orlando Sentinel in his article “Are you safe from corporate spies” summed it up this way, “There is an easy way to figure out if you might be a target: If you sell anything worth buying, you’ve got something worth stealing.”
A recent article by Kevin Greenberg at Forbes.com tells of a study by Purdue’s Krannert School of Management where CIOs were surveyed about the loss of intellectual properties in 2008. The value of lost information is staggering. Of the 119 respondent CIOs, the value of stolen information last year was $559 million or $4.6 million per company. (more)
So how big is the problem and who’s at risk? Tim Barker of the Orlando Sentinel in his article “Are you safe from corporate spies” summed it up this way, “There is an easy way to figure out if you might be a target: If you sell anything worth buying, you’ve got something worth stealing.”
A recent article by Kevin Greenberg at Forbes.com tells of a study by Purdue’s Krannert School of Management where CIOs were surveyed about the loss of intellectual properties in 2008. The value of lost information is staggering. Of the 119 respondent CIOs, the value of stolen information last year was $559 million or $4.6 million per company. (more)
Brazilian Cell Phones Smuggled
Brazil - Police say inmates are using carrier pigeons to smuggle cellphones onto a prison farm in southeastern Brazil.
Police inspector Celso Soramiglio says that guards at a prison near the city of Sorocaba caught a pigeon last Wednesday with components of a small cellphone inside a bag tied to one of its legs.
A day later, another pigeon was found with a bag containing a cellphone charger.
The birds apparently were bred and raised inside the prison, smuggled out, outfitted with the cellphone parts and then released to fly back.
Soramiglio noted that pigeons "instinctively fly back home — always." (more)
To our Washington, DC readers: Read the headline again. It's not as many cell phones as you're thinking.
Police inspector Celso Soramiglio says that guards at a prison near the city of Sorocaba caught a pigeon last Wednesday with components of a small cellphone inside a bag tied to one of its legs.
A day later, another pigeon was found with a bag containing a cellphone charger.
The birds apparently were bred and raised inside the prison, smuggled out, outfitted with the cellphone parts and then released to fly back.
Soramiglio noted that pigeons "instinctively fly back home — always." (more)
To our Washington, DC readers: Read the headline again. It's not as many cell phones as you're thinking.
15 Employees Fired for Snooping...
...and another eight hospital employees disciplined for improperly accessing Nadya Suleman's files!
A Kaiser Permanente hospital located in a Los Angeles suburb has fired 15 employees and reprimanded eight others for improperly accessing the personal medical records of Nadya Suleman, the California woman who gave birth to octuplets in January.
The unauthorized accessing of Suleman's electronic records at the medical center in Bellflower, Calif., violated a California law designed to safeguard the privacy of health care data, according to Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson, who said the snooping incidents have been reported to the California Department of Public Health...
An Associated Press story published today quoted Suleman's attorney as saying that she has no plans to sue Kaiser over the data breaches. (yet) (more)
A Kaiser Permanente hospital located in a Los Angeles suburb has fired 15 employees and reprimanded eight others for improperly accessing the personal medical records of Nadya Suleman, the California woman who gave birth to octuplets in January.
The unauthorized accessing of Suleman's electronic records at the medical center in Bellflower, Calif., violated a California law designed to safeguard the privacy of health care data, according to Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson, who said the snooping incidents have been reported to the California Department of Public Health...
An Associated Press story published today quoted Suleman's attorney as saying that she has no plans to sue Kaiser over the data breaches. (yet) (more)
Extortionography: Activists vs. Planned Parenthood
AZ - An anti-abortion group's hidden-camera video is raising questions about whether Planned Parenthood facilities in Arizona are meeting their legal duty to report sexual abuse of minors.
Planned Parenthood Arizona says its commitment to the health of women remains its guiding principle. It calls the videos "edited propaganda."...
But the question of accountability is unclear. The videos are based on a fabrication. The women in the videos are adults, not young teens, and they're not pregnant. (more) (Extortionography)
Planned Parenthood Arizona says its commitment to the health of women remains its guiding principle. It calls the videos "edited propaganda."...
But the question of accountability is unclear. The videos are based on a fabrication. The women in the videos are adults, not young teens, and they're not pregnant. (more) (Extortionography)
Crikey, they're tapping Bikie!
Australia - Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland says the Commonwealth Government will consider changing the federal law governing phone taps in a bid to help states crack down on bikie gangs and organised crime. Mr McClelland says he will discuss the need for a nationally consistent framework to tackle bikie gangs when he meets with the state attorneys-general next month...
The current laws say phones can be tapped if police suspect someone of a crime which could attract a seven-year jail sentence, but Mr McClelland says that could be lowered to five years. (more)
Soufflé Dream Car - James Bond's Aston Martin
Spy fantasists can now buy their very own James Bond car, complete with hood-mounted machine gun cannons and rocket launchers secreted by the front grille, for just $125,900 U.S. -- and it's even street legal. (WOW!)The ultimate spy car edition includes: Front grill rockets, machine gun cannons, revolving license plate and other must have accessories. (YES!)
"The weaponry is fake, of course, (ah, man!) so it doesn't work but it looks realistic," says Cloverdale businessman Mark Stuzka, who has teamed with Exclusive Motor Cars to produce the Ultimate Spy Car.
"Neither can it be operated when the ignition is switched on, as the last thing we want is people ahead being frightened to death at the sight of a cannon in their rear-view mirror." (sez-who?!?)
The revolving license plate also won't flip while driving, so don't think you can beat that speeding ticket by displaying a phony number! (PHOoowwwzzz...) (more)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Update: CEO to be run out of town on a rail?
Yes.
Germany - The head of Germany’s state owned rail operator resigned today following a series of scandals over the company’s attempts to spy on its staff...
Describing himself as a “tough man,” he told a press conference in Berlin: “The prejudgement, suspicion and speculation have reached dimensions that are no longer bearable even for me.
“This is not about a data protection scandal but rather a campaign to change the firm’s direction,” he added, stressing that investigators have found no evidence of illegal activity by DB’s management. He denied any wrongdoing. “My conscience is clear,” he said. (more) (background)
Germany - The head of Germany’s state owned rail operator resigned today following a series of scandals over the company’s attempts to spy on its staff...
Describing himself as a “tough man,” he told a press conference in Berlin: “The prejudgement, suspicion and speculation have reached dimensions that are no longer bearable even for me.
“This is not about a data protection scandal but rather a campaign to change the firm’s direction,” he added, stressing that investigators have found no evidence of illegal activity by DB’s management. He denied any wrongdoing. “My conscience is clear,” he said. (more) (background)
Super-Secret Spy Lens (oldie but goodie)
from the seller's website... People have a sixth sense for knowing when someone's taking their photo. Especially so when you've got an SLR and a big lens pointed right at 'em.
Our Super-Secret Spy Lens is the answer.
It's the ultimate accessory for kids, the photo-shy, street photography or any time you want natural, unposed shots." (more)
Business Espionage - Valspar Corp.
IL - A former Valspar Corp. employee was accused by U.S. prosecutors of stealing trade secrets from the paint maker, then packing his belongings for a one-way trip to China, where a new job in the same business awaited him.
David Yen Lee, 52, appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier in Chicago, one day after FBI agents said they arrested him in possession of a pocket-sized computer "thumb drive" containing Valspar data. (more)
Can't say we haven't been warning you...
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David Yen Lee, 52, appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier in Chicago, one day after FBI agents said they arrested him in possession of a pocket-sized computer "thumb drive" containing Valspar data. (more)
Can't say we haven't been warning you...
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ACLU starts cable program on governmental spying and surveillance in America Today
CT - Why are video surveillance cameras not equipped with microphones? How was Governor Spitzer caught? Do you unknowingly have a personal radio frequency ID? If so, who can read it?
These and other questions are answered in a talk by Christopher Calabrese, Esq., Program Counsel of ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Program, in the first of a series of television programs presented by the newly formed Fairfield County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut.
The series of programs will be aired on Cablevision’s channel 77 on Monday evenings at 11 P.M. starting April 6, 2009, and continuing through June 29. Programs in the series will tackle the Patriot Act, surveillance and privacy, the relation between government and religion, and other topics, dealt with from multiple progressive points of view. (more)
To learn more about the Fairfield County program, call (203)588-0161 or email richard.duffee@gmail.com.
These and other questions are answered in a talk by Christopher Calabrese, Esq., Program Counsel of ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Program, in the first of a series of television programs presented by the newly formed Fairfield County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut.
The series of programs will be aired on Cablevision’s channel 77 on Monday evenings at 11 P.M. starting April 6, 2009, and continuing through June 29. Programs in the series will tackle the Patriot Act, surveillance and privacy, the relation between government and religion, and other topics, dealt with from multiple progressive points of view. (more)
To learn more about the Fairfield County program, call (203)588-0161 or email richard.duffee@gmail.com.
SpyCam Story #523 - Sexting
MA - Police in Holbrook are investigating charges against three minors who allegedly created a video of two of them having sexual intercourse while the third recorded it, then distributed the video to junior high students...
"The video depicts two minors engaging in sexual intercourse," Holbrook police officer Keysha Mitchell said. She said the person recording the scene was also a minor.
The video was then distributed among students at Holbrook Junior-Senior High School, police said, and the charges that may be leveled against the teens are serious as the forwarding of such a video, also known as "sexting," is a felony offense...
... and if there's any audio discovered on the video there's also the possible charge of wiretapping," Mitchell said. (more)
"The video depicts two minors engaging in sexual intercourse," Holbrook police officer Keysha Mitchell said. She said the person recording the scene was also a minor.
The video was then distributed among students at Holbrook Junior-Senior High School, police said, and the charges that may be leveled against the teens are serious as the forwarding of such a video, also known as "sexting," is a felony offense...
... and if there's any audio discovered on the video there's also the possible charge of wiretapping," Mitchell said. (more)
101 Undiscovered Freebies: The List
via PCWorld...
We scoured the Internet to come up with 101 innovative, entirely free downloads and services. Here's the whole collection.
We scoured the Internet to come up with 101 innovative, entirely free downloads and services. Here's the whole collection.
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