GSM Bugs, Prohibited Hi-tech Goods - Cheap

Vietnam - The Dong Kinh Market, the biggest and most bustling market in the border province of Lang Son, is considered the “paradise” of prohibited hi-tech goods, where imitated products are dirt cheap. 

Typical electronics market.

The noteworthy thing in the market is that prohibited goods are displayed openly. The “black technology” products, such as cameras, or key hooks with eavesdropping devices, are available at all electronics kiosks.

GSM bug

Most of these products (GSM bugs) are as small as matchboxes. The products use 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz band of GSM network and they have installed the MiniSIM of mobile phone in order to be used as sound recorders.

In February 2011, according to Buu dien, as the supply is profuse, the devices are selling very cheaply, at 500-650,000 dong ($23.94 - $31.13). The products with more complicated functions which allow to automatically call those, who want to eavesdrop, would be 100,000 dong ($4.79) more expensive.

The currently valid Government’s Decree No. 59 stipulates that all eavesdropping equipments are listed as prohibited goods. However, at Dong Kinh Market and other markets in the border provinces, such as Tan Thanh, Dong Dang in Lang Son province, Coc Leu in Lao Cai, the laws have been “ignored”. In fact, the market management taskforce has turned a blind eye to the products. (more)

• The electronic eavesdropping market is global.

• Laws against illegal eavesdropping devices are not being enforced, globally.

• Electronic eavesdropping is easy and affordable.

Web's Hot New Commodity: Privacy

As the surreptitious tracking of Internet users becomes more aggressive and widespread, tiny start-ups and technology giants alike are pushing a new product: privacy. (more)

NOC, NOC, Who's there? See I a...

Always look for the ring.

The history of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers landing behind bars in foreign countries dates back to 1951, when an undercover agent Hugh Redmond was caught in the Chinese city of Shanghai and charged with espionage.

According to the TIME magazine of October 27, 2003, agent Redmond was posing as an employee of a British import-export company. The CIA spy had to spend 19 years in a Chinese prison before actually dying there. In an article shedding light on the shadowy world of “Non-official Cover” spies or the NOCs, the afore-quoted edition of the TIME magazine had also mentioned another incident where the French agencies had rolled up five CIA officers, including a woman, who had been working under business cover for about five years. This incident had taken place in 1995.

Although the NOCs caught in Paris were simply sent home, a former CIA official familiar with the matter had opined,” The NOCs have no diplomatic status, so they can end up in slammers.”

Research reveals that a “Non-official Cover” is often contrasted with an official cover, where agents assume a position at a seemingly benign department of their government, such as the diplomatic service. Diplomatic service provides the secret service agents with official immunity, thus protecting them from the steep punishments normally meted out to captured spies...

A thorough peek into this subject shows that serving as NOCs, various CIA officers even pose as American businessmen in friendly countries, from Asia to Central America to Western Europe.
 

The revelations about the NOCs (pronounced “knock”) were made public a few years ago by the American media. (more) (more)

Chinese Biz to US Gov... Prove we spy.

Huawei, the Chinese networking giant, has challenged US authorities to investigate claims it has close ties to the People's Liberation Army, after spying fears blocked its takeover of a small firm.

In an extraordinary open letter, Huawei's deputy chairman Ken Hu attacked "falsehoods" and "unfounded" concerns that scuppered the acquisition of 3Leaf, a cloud computing technology firm based in California.
 
"We sincerely hope that the United States government will address this issue by carrying out a formal investigation of any doubts it may have about Huawei in an effort to reach a clear and accurate conclusion," he said. (more)

Activist Group Sues Over Corporate Espionage

Following the recent undercover police scandal in the UK, the world's largest eco-activist group is turning the tables on one of the world's biggest chemical companies.

"And then they dumpster dived me, officer."

Greenpeace has field a lawsuit accusing The Dow Chemical Company of using private investigators to spy on the group, stealing thousands of documents and intercepting phone call details between 1998-2000...

The corporate spying was uncovered in an investigation by a journalist from the magazine Mother Jones, after it was handed documents by a former insider with the private security firm, since dissolved. (more)

When you think of business espionage, think outside the doughnut hole. Here, one business hires another business to do their spying. Nothing unusual so far. All spies try to insulate themselves from the actual act. Fark... The usual victim in the corporate/activists tug-of-war, the corporation, is alleged to be the spy this time. Backfark... The spies get stung by one of their own, via an internal theft of information. 

And you thought you only had to worry about activists. ~Kevin

Trojan Horse Spyware Masquerades as a "News" Item

Is this a blatant commercial for cell phone spyware being pawned off as a 'news' item? You decide. This just in from MSNBC.com...

"If you suspected your spouse, child or employee was up to no good, would you want concrete proof? Would it help if you had access to every phone call, text and e-mail they sent?

If so, a new cell-phone spying application might be right up your alley.

Made by Retina Software and released this week, ePhoneTracker allows users to monitor every move made on a person’s mobile phone, from call info and text messages to websites visited, e-mails sent and received, new contacts added and even the GPS coordinates of the phone’s user. Even deleted e-mails and texts can be retrieved by ePhoneTracker...

The software sells for $49.97. It is available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile 6 or Symbian OS 9." (more) 

Hope they give my book equal coverage.

"Oh, yeah. Sesame Street is nifty keen. Wanna go?"

Isis Forensics is preparing to release new mobile phone software which it says will enable children to check that their friends really are who they say they are.

 
Called ChildDefence, it allows youngsters to scan webchats to check the ages of people they’re messaging, putting the process in the hands of the children themselves, rather than their parents.

“Our research shows that children find it very difficult to spot adults posing as children on social networks. This software improves children’s chances of working out that something isn’t right. Using state of the art language analysis software it gives children a powerful tool which can help them work out who they are really talking to online.

It's currently undergoing final testing before being made freely available as iPhone, Google and Nokia phone apps. (more)

Unintended Consequence: Undercover on-line honeypot cops will have to be younger because the predators will be using this app to out them. ~Kevin

Bugged Bear Bites Bugger

NE - First, Little Bear became Big Brother as an Omaha-area woman inserted an electronic device into her daughter's favorite stuffed animal to record her ex-husband.

Now, Little Bear has become Big Burden as a judge has ordered the woman and her father to pay a total of $120,000 to six people who were illegally recorded.

In a civil judgment, U.S. Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett III has ruled that Dianna Divingnzzo unlawfully recorded ex-husband William “Duke” Lewton by inserting the device into her then-4-year-old daughter's toy bear.

He also found that Divingnzzo's father, Sam, improperly transcribed conversations from Little Bear — and that Divingnzzo's former attorney, William Bianco, improperly distributed copies of the recordings. (more)

The Trash, The Man and The Bird

Dude, just don't tell him about the hummingbird with the built-in camera. It would break his heart. 

India - An MTech student of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur has come up with an `ornithopter' (mechanical bird) made out of scrap that is not only capable of flapping its mechanical wings just like birds but can also be used for spying. The bird, if fitted with cameras, can take pictures of enemy terrains. 

The `ornithopter' is in the shape of an eagle and is one metre long.

Joydeep Bhowmik, MTech first year student of IIT-Kanpur, who has made the mechanical bird, said that a smaller version of the mechanical bird can be used for spying purposes. (more) (sing-a-long)

"What Will Anna Chapman do Next?"

How Capt. Kirk's wardrobe got its start.

Remember our Anna Chapman Spy Contest, where we detailed her star-studded path since her failed career in espionage? From our "What will Anna Chapman do next?" files, an update!

Two new reports this week...

One-time Russian secret agent Anna Chapman, globally famous for being the only one of the deep-cover spy ring unmasked by the US last year who is even mildly attractive, will now assist the Russian space agency in designing a stylish new uniform for its personnel. (This story is disputed by some media.) (more)

Anna Chapman, the sultry redhead who was kicked out of the United States in June for spying, will run for Parliament in her native Russia, The Telegraph reported, citing Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper. (more)

Cell Phone Spyware Found on 150,000 Phones

China - The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center has found a mutated version of a spyware software that allows a third party to eavesdrop on a two-way cell phone conversation without the users knowledge, Beijing Times reported Wednesday.

More than 150,000 mobile phone users are victims of Xwodi, Beijing-based NetQin Technology Company, a mobile security services firm said Wednesday.

The firm did not say what phone company the customers mainly used, or whether the victims were concentrated in a particular city.

Once the virus gets into the mobile phone, Xwodi records the users' messages and voice calls, and then send the information to a dedicated receptor. (more)

Spy Hard - Korean Style

South Korea’s intelligence agency has made headlines in the country for several consecutive days, after its agents allegedly broke into an Indonesian delegation’s hotel room last week in Seoul, in an attempt to steal classified information on Indonesia’s planned arms trade with South Korea. 

Korean media and net users lambasted it as both a botched spying job and an ethically regrettable act. The intelligence agency has neither denied nor admitted the allegation...

Local media reported that two men and one woman broke into the suite room at the Lotte Hotel on February 16, 2011 and fled after a delegation member saw them copying computer files onto a USB memory stick. South Korea’s Chosun newspaper reported an exclusive story strongly suggesting that the three intruders were members of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), South Korea’s top intelligence agency.

The 50-member delegation of Indonesian President Yudhoyono stayed for three days in Korea from February 15-17, 2011, to discuss on expanding bilateral economic and military cooperation between South Korea and Indonesia.

The three spies, who had not even disguised themselves as hotel staff, were caught red-handed handling two laptops in the room. When an Indonesian delegate walked in and found them, one agent handed him a laptop right away, while the other agents walked out of the room carrying another laptop to the hallway, only to then hand it back to the delegate. (more)

SpyCam Story # 602 - Toilet Brush with Danger

PA - An Earl Township woman has filed a lawsuit in Berks County Court accusing officials at a Muhlenberg Township company of failing to prevent a former employee from sexually harassing her, including videotaping her in the restroom

Sylvia Spayd and her husband, Glenn, accuse Markus Lattner, a former vice president of operations at Reading Powder Coatings Inc., of having a romantic fixation on her and hiding a video camera disguised as a pen in the ladies room.

Kathleen Heimbach of Douglass Township has filed a separate suit accusing Lattner of hiding a video camera in the ladies room.

Both suits allege Lattner used chewing gum to attach the video camera to a toilet brush in a bathroom stall at the plant at 1100 Commonwealth Blvd. The video also showed Lattner putting the device on the brush and leaving the restroom. (Doh!) (more)

Business Espionage - A Wiretapping Gang ?!?!?

Turkey - A wiretapping gang the police cracked down on in the southern province of Antalya last week offered a price list to its clients for the kind of tapping services it provides while charging them TL 2,500 ($1,565.00) for the entire wiretapping package, depositions of the suspected gang members have revealed.  

A complaint was lodged with the Antalya Prosecutor’s Office last year claiming that an organized group was illegally wiretapping individuals’ phones. The prosecutor’s office discovered that it was active in 15 provinces. In an operation named “Third Ear,” simultaneous raids were carried out at the offices of the gang, resulting in the detention of 10 people, including gang leader Ercan Ö. and a retired noncommissioned officer on Feb. 17. The gang, which offered its services to people who suspected their spouses of cheating on them, wiretapped the phones of suspected lovers or spouses for a fee. Police have detailed information about the working methods of the gang thanks to the depositions of the suspected gang members who were referred to the court.

The gang charged TL 350 ($219.00) for text-message following, TL 600 ($375.00) for text-message following and bugging, TL 500 ($313.00) for bugging and wiretapping of telephones, TL 600 ($375.00) to follow individuals weekly, TL 500 ($313.00) to follow a vehicle via general packet radio service (GPRS), while it charged TL 2,500 ($1,565.00) for the all-inclusive package. Clients who purchased the all-inclusive package were also given a three-day free trial period.

In addition to wiretapping and bugging, the gang members also physically followed people while disguised as couriers. (more)

How Some Energy Firms Spy on Environmental Activists

UK - Three large energy companies have been carrying out covert intelligence-gathering operations on environmental activists, the Guardian can reveal. 

The energy giant E.ON, Britain's second-biggest coal producer Scottish Resources Group and Scottish Power, one of the UK's largest electricity-generators, have been paying for the services of a private security firm that has been secretly monitoring activists.

Leaked documents show how the security firm's owner, Rebecca Todd, tipped off company executives about environmentalists' plans after snooping on their emails. She is also shown instructing an agent to attend campaign meetings and coaching him on how to ingratiate himself with activists. The disclosures come as police chiefs, on the defensive over damaging revelations of undercover police officers in the protest movement, privately claim that there are more corporate spies in protest groups than undercover police officers.

Senior police officers complain that spies hired by commercial firms are – unlike their own agents – barely regulated. (more)