This is about information leaks, not about the global warming debate. Leaks can happen in any organization. The effects can be devastating, as this current event shows...
Cause
A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's global climate summit in Denmark... About 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents have been posted on Web sites and seized on by climate change skeptics, who claim correspondence shows collusion between scientists to overstate the case for global warming, and evidence that some have manipulated evidence. (more)
Effect
Climate campaigner Al Gore has canceled a lecture he was supposed to deliver in Copenhagen. The former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner had been scheduled to speak to more than 3,000 people at a Dec. 16 event hosted by the Berlingske Tidende newspaper group. The group says Gore canceled the lecture Thursday, citing unforeseen changes in his schedule. (more)
A good counterespionage strategy will help you avoid problems.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Computer Stolen from Blagojevich's Attorney
Evidence in the Rod Blagojevich corruption case may have been stolen when burglars broke into the Chicago law firm representing the former Governor. They got away with eight computers and a safe which could have copies of those secret wiretap recordings provided by the F-B-I.... Blagojevich's attorneys don't think it will impact the June third trial date. (Stop snickering.) (more)
Street crime, or political espionage? You decide.
Street crime, or political espionage? You decide.
The Future of GSM Digital Cell Phone Taps
If you're still using a cellphone based on early digital standards, you better be careful what you say. The encryption technology used to prevent eavesdropping in GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), the world's most widely used cellphone system, has more security holes than Swiss cheese, according to an expert who plans to poke a big hole of his own.
Karsten Nohl, chief research scientist with H4RDW4RE, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based security research firm, is mounting what could be the most ambitious attempt yet to compromise the GSM phone system, which is used by over 3 billion people around the world. Others have cracked the A5/1 encryption technology used in GSM before, but their results have remained secret. However, Nohl, who earned a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Virginia and is a member of Germany's Chaos Computer Club (CCC), intends to go one big step further: By the end of the year, he plans to make the keys available to everyone on the Internet. (more) (video - search HAR2009 GSM)
Karsten Nohl, chief research scientist with H4RDW4RE, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based security research firm, is mounting what could be the most ambitious attempt yet to compromise the GSM phone system, which is used by over 3 billion people around the world. Others have cracked the A5/1 encryption technology used in GSM before, but their results have remained secret. However, Nohl, who earned a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Virginia and is a member of Germany's Chaos Computer Club (CCC), intends to go one big step further: By the end of the year, he plans to make the keys available to everyone on the Internet. (more) (video - search HAR2009 GSM)
"Go to the Principal's office."
MI - Court papers filed in a federal lawsuit against the Bullock Creek School District allege eavesdropping and violations of constitutional rights... The case was filed by Michael Wittbrodt...
Superintendent John Hill and employee Jeffrey Taylor began to intercept and read e-mails... sent by Wittbrodt to a secretary.
The suit accuses the defendants of eavesdropping on private e-mail communications of others and divulging the contents in violation on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, the Federal Wiretapping Act, the due process clause of 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and invasion of privacy. (more)
Superintendent John Hill and employee Jeffrey Taylor began to intercept and read e-mails... sent by Wittbrodt to a secretary.
The suit accuses the defendants of eavesdropping on private e-mail communications of others and divulging the contents in violation on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, the Federal Wiretapping Act, the due process clause of 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and invasion of privacy. (more)
A "Move on" turns into an Eavesdropping Arrest
IL - A Rogers Park neighborhood man was charged with felony eavesdropping after allegedly taping conversations -- including the voices of officers who arrested him -- without permission while selling art for a $1 Wednesday afternoon in the Loop. (more)
Learn how to make real Dollar Art!
Learn how to make real Dollar Art!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
New Communications Bunghole Opens Today...
...Tap arrives later.
Sweden - The highly discussed and controversial wiretap law takes effect today. But the signal intelligence agency FRA is far from ready with the technical implementation.
The “FRA law” last year was accepted by the Parliament and gives ‘Försvarets radioanstalt’, FRA ( the National Defence Radio Establishment) legal permission to tap communication cables passing the Swedish national borders, this despite protests by a large public opinion and many experts. (more)
Sweden - The highly discussed and controversial wiretap law takes effect today. But the signal intelligence agency FRA is far from ready with the technical implementation.
The “FRA law” last year was accepted by the Parliament and gives ‘Försvarets radioanstalt’, FRA ( the National Defence Radio Establishment) legal permission to tap communication cables passing the Swedish national borders, this despite protests by a large public opinion and many experts. (more)
More Powerful than a Santa Claus GPS
USA - One phone company "provided law enforcement agencies with its customers' (GPS) location information over 8 million times between September 2008 and October 2009."
How did they do it?
Automation... "a new, special web portal for law enforcement officers."
How did this leak out?
A company employee "who described it during a panel discussion at a wiretapping and interception industry conference, held in Washington DC in October of 2009. " (more) (video)
FutureWatch...
This will become commonplace.
How did they do it?
Automation... "a new, special web portal for law enforcement officers."
How did this leak out?
A company employee "who described it during a panel discussion at a wiretapping and interception industry conference, held in Washington DC in October of 2009. " (more) (video)
FutureWatch...
This will become commonplace.
UN in Geneva Reportedly Bugged
(via Al-Manar TV - unverified)
"A Swiss newspaper said that a number of UN employees in Geneva have concluded that Israel is eavesdropping on UN court sessions. The Neue Zuericher Zeitung (NZZ) added that bugging devices have been found in the organization’s deliberations room in the Swiss capital.
The newspaper pointed that during regular maintenance procedures on the electrical network, three years ago, two bugging devices were found in a room set for the UN Disarmament Committee meetings. It added that ‘secret’ meetings were also held in the room over the Second Gulf War and the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri.
NZZ revealed that other spying devices have also been found in other parts of the building, including courtrooms...
UN security experts estimate that the planting process might have taken at least two days with the collaboration of UN employees...
The Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Aharonoth, quoted Israeli diplomats as denying any connection to the issue." (more)
"A Swiss newspaper said that a number of UN employees in Geneva have concluded that Israel is eavesdropping on UN court sessions. The Neue Zuericher Zeitung (NZZ) added that bugging devices have been found in the organization’s deliberations room in the Swiss capital.
The newspaper pointed that during regular maintenance procedures on the electrical network, three years ago, two bugging devices were found in a room set for the UN Disarmament Committee meetings. It added that ‘secret’ meetings were also held in the room over the Second Gulf War and the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri.
NZZ revealed that other spying devices have also been found in other parts of the building, including courtrooms...
UN security experts estimate that the planting process might have taken at least two days with the collaboration of UN employees...
The Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Aharonoth, quoted Israeli diplomats as denying any connection to the issue." (more)
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Big House Family Taps Each Other
CO - Felony eavesdropping charges have been filed against three Arapahoe County Jail employees accused of listening in on conversations on the jail's phone system.
Two other employees have been placed on administrative leave and another resigned after jail administrators said they would investigate eavesdropping by jail employees on other employees.
Lt. Chris Manos and civilian employees Sue White and Jaella Rangel were all charged with class six felonies. All are set to appear in court next month. (more)
Two other employees have been placed on administrative leave and another resigned after jail administrators said they would investigate eavesdropping by jail employees on other employees.
Lt. Chris Manos and civilian employees Sue White and Jaella Rangel were all charged with class six felonies. All are set to appear in court next month. (more)
Just the thing for a Black Friday gift list...
The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception
From Publishers Weekly...
Intelligence historian Melton and retired CIA officer Wallace (coauthors of Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda
) reunite for this unremarkable reproduction of a long-lost cold war–era relic.In 1953, the fledgling CIA hired professional magician John Mulholland to adapt his techniques of stealth and misdirection to the craft of espionage. Mulholland produced two illustrated manuals featuring a range of tricks from placing pills into drinks to stealing documents and avoiding detection.
The classified manuals were believed to have been destroyed in 1973, but the authors discovered a copy in 2007 among recently declassified CIA archives.
Like Grand Theft Auto?
Some Twin Falls teenagers are promising to pay attention to the road. And if the preservation of life isn’t enough of an incentive, they can also win video games...
Enrollment in the program provides parents with a high-tech method of conducting covert surveillance on their kids’ driving habits. A video and audio unit in the vehicle captures dangerous driving behavior and gives parents access to a “driving report card,” along with tips for improvement. (more)
Enrollment in the program provides parents with a high-tech method of conducting covert surveillance on their kids’ driving habits. A video and audio unit in the vehicle captures dangerous driving behavior and gives parents access to a “driving report card,” along with tips for improvement. (more)
Coach, is that you Duckman?
At a tense, emotional moment during Denver's crucial 26-6 victory over the New York Giants, McDaniels went nuclear, dropping a verbal bomb on his players. Thanks to an eavesdropping camera and microphone from the NFL Network, the tirade on the sideline was telecast to prime-time viewers across America in all its profane glory. (more)
Saturday, November 28, 2009
New Eyes for Spies
Prototype contact lenses developed by Babak Parviz at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Dr. Parviz’s prototype lenses can be used as biosensors to display body chemistry or as a heads up display (HUD). Powered by radio waves and 330 microwatts of power from a loop antenna that picks up power beamed from nearby radio sources, future versions will also be able to harvest power from a cell phone. (more)
Alright, knock it off with the "See I A" and "eyes buggin' out" jokes.
SpyCam Story #562 - The play is the thing.
Australia - A former drama teacher at a Melbourne girls school has been accused of installing a spy camera to capture students undressing and making child pornography. Mark Stratford, 49, was employed as director of drama at Lauriston Girls School when the alleged offences took place from early last year. He pleaded guilty today in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to possessing child pornography and installing an optical surveillance device. (more)
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