"Whaaaadt?!... Hey, why don't you go see where you gotta go."

The CIA said Friday its internal watchdog found nothing wrong with the spy agency’s close partnership with the New York Police Department.

The agency’s inspector general concluded that no laws were broken and there was “no evidence that any part of the agency’s support to the NYPD constituted ‘domestic spying’,” CIA spokesperson Preston Golson said. (more)

"Al, we hardly knew you."

Russian Spy Chief Resigns

The chief of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU), Col. Gen. Alexander Shlyakhturov, resigned from his post on Saturday, the Kommersant business daily reported... Shlyakhturov has led the GRU since April 2009. The public knows nothing about General Shlyakhturov's biography and service record. Such tight secrecy implies that he is a career intelligence operative... The name of the future chief of Russia’s military intelligence is not known yet. (more)

"So, how often do journalists hack voicemail?"

Phone hacking appeared to be a "bog-standard tool" for information gathering, a former journalist for the Daily Mirror tabloid told the UK inquiry into media ethics overnight.

James Hipwell, who was jailed in 2006 for writing stories about companies in which he owned shares, told the Leveson Inquiry that phone hacking had taken place on a daily basis during his time at the paper.

He also threw doubt on former Mirror editor Piers Morgan's claim in evidence on Tuesday that he had no knowledge that hacking went on there.

"I would go as far as to say that it happened every day and that it became apparent that a great number of the Mirror's show business stories would come from that source. That is my clear memory," Hipwell said. (more)

The Cone of Silence is Coming... no, really!

FutureWatch - The Cone of Silence...

Many of the current experimental "invisibility cloaks" are based around the same idea - light coming from behind an object is curved around it and then continues on forward to a viewer. That person is in turn only able to see what's behind the object, and not the object itself. Scientists from Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have applied that same principle to sound waves, and created what could perhaps be described as a "silence cloak."

For the experiments, Dr. Nicolas Stenger constructed a relatively small, millimeter-thin plate, made of both soft and hard microstructured polymers. Different rings of material within the plate resonated at different frequencies, over a range of 100 Hertz.

When viewed from above, it was observed that sound wave vibrations were guided around a central circular area in the plate, unable to either enter or leave that region. "Contrary to other known noise protection measures, the sound waves are neither absorbed nor reflected," said Stenger's colleague, Prof. Martin Wegener (speaking from his secret lab in the South Pacific on "Nuthing Atoll"). "It is as if nothing was there."

While the plate is a small-scale proof-of-concept, the principles at play in it could perhaps ultimately be used to shield people in a "cloaked" area from loud background noises, or to keep eavesdroppers who aren't in that area from hearing those peoples' private conversations. (more)

North American Business Espionage Warnings

US - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said computer hacking aimed at stealing business secrets has "reached an intolerable level, and it's getting worse," in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday night.

Rogers made the comments after The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese hackers had gained access to the computers of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

He introduced a bill last month that would make it easier for companies to share information with the government about threats and cyberattacks. (more)

Canada - Corporate espionage - ranging from Dumpster diving for industrial secrets to plying vulnerable employees of competitors with booze, drugs and sex in exchange for information - is a common tactic in Canada for companies to get ahead, says a former CSIS spy and private investigator.

Tuesday, at the Canadian Industrial Security Conference, Ron Myles said Canadian companies often perceive corporate spying and infiltration as something out of Hollywood and insists the number of cases that are exposed is but a mere fraction of the problem in this country.

"I don't think even the tip of the iceberg is showing. (Corporate espionage) is more prevalent in small-and medium-sized companies because they're often just starting up and don't have massive (security) budgets." (more) (video)

Workers Warned to Keep Smartphones Safe at Christmas Parties

A new survey conducted by STS Digital has found that staff are risking data breaches by not taking care of their smartphones and tablet computers. 

The poll found that Christmas parties are particularly dangerous for staff as they are leaving themselves open to corporate espionage. 

A massive 98% of workers admitted to taking their smartphone devices to a bar and when asked about access to corporate data and sensitive information, 98% of respondents were able to access corporate information using a mobile device.

An alarming 91% of respondents revealed it was possible to access all corporate data including documents, contracts, emails and sensitive information regardless of location using the mobile device. (more)

Spybusters Tip # 645: Never loan your smartphone. It only takes a short time for a co-worker to load spyware onto it for their own evil purposes.

When Spy Worlds Collide - It's a Paranoia Ride - Hackers Stop to Shop

The intelligence operative sits in a leather club chair, laptop open, one floor below the Hilton Kuala Lumpur’s convention rooms, scanning the airwaves for spies.

In the salons above him, merchants of electronic interception demonstrate their gear to government agents who have descended on the Malaysian capital in early December for the Wiretapper’s Ball, as this surveillance industry trade show is called.

As he tries to detect hacker threats lurking in the wireless networks, the man who helps manage a Southeast Asian country’s Internet security says there’s reason for paranoia. The wares on offer include products that secretly access your Web cam, turn your cell phone into a location-tracking device, recognize your voice, mine your e-mail for anti-government sentiment and listen to supposedly secure Skype calls.

He isn’t alone watching his back at this cyber-arms bazaar, whose real name is ISS World.

For three days, attendees digging into dim sum fret about losing trade secrets to hackers, or falling prey to phone interception by rival spies. They also get a tiny taste of what they’ve unleashed on the outside world, where their products have become weapons in the hands of regimes that use the gear to track and torture dissidents. (more)

Did You Get Your Favorite Spy a Gift Yet? (Hint: International Spy Museum Store)

It's not too late. 

How about a nice set of books?

Secret Code: 17568

Product Facts: The perfect gift book set for curious, experimental, creative masterminds - - think cool science experiments, multi-function gadgets, computer science and other high- and low-tech inventions. In total you’ll be equipped with 250+ solutions, bonus applications, and resources at your disposal and be ready for almost any situation. Detailed step-by-step instructions and diagrams enable you to complete projects in just minutes.

 

A sample by volume of what you’ll be able to make amaze your friends with; Volume 1 (Sneaky): Craft a Compass and Make a Sneak Detector, Door Opener, and Power Ring/Room, Volume 2 (Sneakier): Make Invisible Ink, Sneaky Pockets, and a Metal Detector, Volume 3 (Sneakiest): Learn Scroll Message Encryption and Make Robots, Sneakbots, and Electrical Motors. This 3-volume book collection is a fun and valuable resource for transforming ordinary objects into the extraordinary. And as a bonus, you’ll be seen as a super-hero by your friends with the new and amazing, sneaky things that you can do!

 

Technical Data: Books are soft cover with B/W illustrations. Resource, recommended reading lists, and websites included, 157, 141, and 170 pages respectively, 5”W x 7”H. (more)

Seasons Greetings spies, where ever your are.

World's Smallest USB Stick, nah... Shtik

Psst... It's the thingy on the right.

Think it's hard to stop USB stick info-espionage now? Just wait. And, wait until they come as promotional give-a-ways. The urge to use them will be uncontrollable. Gee, what if they are pre-loaded with spyware? Losing them will be equally uncontrollable. What more could the spies of 2012 ask for?

The new 19.5 x 14.5 x 2.9 mm USB stick will be available in 4, 8 or 16GB capacity versions when it's launched. (more)

BTW, do you have a program to deal with USB vulnerabilities?

Security Director Alert: Law Enforcement Spied Upon Using Police-Level Surveillance Tactics... The Business Espionage Crowd Does It Too

Canada - Workers with the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada were spied on during an employee-appreciation event in June, according to a government intelligence alert issued the following month. 

Sample Room Bug

"While the true purpose of the surveillance is unknown," such spy tactics are often used by organized crime groups to "better know their adversaries, as well as to target individuals believed to be susceptible to co-option," according to the memo, issued by a CBSA intelligence officer... "It's not just a bunch of thugs trying to force their way in," he said. "They can employ tactics or equipment that match the level of sophistication that law enforcement can employ."

...The method of surveillance was not specified, nor was it clear how the government came to learn about it. (more)

What does this mean to you?

• Adversarial surveillance is very real. 

• This is a rare case of it being exposed. 

• Expect to be "sized up" before an espionage attack. 

• Expect the attack to use sophisticated techniques; including advanced electronic surveillance eavesdropping. 

• Realize that during this extended intelligence collection phase, you have an opportunity to detect and deflect, before the harm is done... if you conduct regularly scheduled TSCM inspections.

Anatomy of a Chinese Hack Attack

A group of hackers in China breached the computer defenses of America's top business-lobbying group and gained access to everything stored on its systems, including information about its three million members, according to several people familiar with the matter. The break-in at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the boldest known infiltrations in what has become a regular confrontation between U.S. companies and Chinese hackers. (more) 

How did they do it?

Click to enlarge.

Security Director Tips: On Checking Your Electronic Privacy Rights at the Border

"Our lives are on our laptops – family photos, medical documents, banking information, details about what websites we visit, and so much more. Thanks to protections enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the government generally can’t snoop through your laptop for no reason. But those privacy protections don’t safeguard travelers at the U.S. border, where the U.S. government can take an electronic device, search through all the files, and keep it for a while for further scrutiny – without any suspicion of wrongdoing whatsoever."

Thus begins the Electronic Frontier Foundation's new paper, Defending Privacy at the Border - A Guide for Travelers Carrying Digital Devices which is full of good tips for protecting your electronic information while traveling. Keep in mind, although the paper focuses on the United States border crossings, you will also be dealing with the country you are visiting. And, some of them are a whole lot more aggressive.

Random Tip #1 - Before your trip, mail your laptop to a trusted person at your final destination. Password protect your drive. Encrypt the data on the drive. Only have essential information on the drive. Wipe the drive before you return home.

Random Tip #2 - "On the most modern laptops, it’s possible to use an SD card like a hard drive; thus, you can choose to use an SD card in place of a conventional hard drive and keep your entire operating system and all your data on on it. (You should still use disk encryption for the data on the SD card.) Since you can keep the SD card in your pocket or wallet when it’s not in use, it’s considerably harder for someone to take it from you without your knowledge or tamper with it (although, since it’s so tiny, it’s much easier to lose)... it’s easier to send them in the mail or even easily erase or destroy a card when you no longer need it... You can even use the same SD card in a digital camera for taking photos, so that a single card serves both as your camera storage medium and your encrypted hard drive."

Safe travels. ~Kevin

Cautionary Tale: Sabotage by Wiretap - What if it were your phone call?

Russia - Boris Nemtsov, one of Russia's main opposition leaders has accused Kremlin agents of illegally bugging his phone after a newspaper released embarrassing recordings of his private phone calls.

The material was potentially damaging for Mr Nemtsov, one of the principal organisers of a recent spate of anti-Kremlin protests, as he can be heard insulting his fellow opposition leaders in obscene terms and belittling his own supporters as "internet hamsters" and "scared penguins." 

A deputy prime minister in the 1990s and a founder of the opposition Solidarity movement, Mr Nemtsov claimed the release of the recordings was a cynical Kremlin attempt to sabotage a big opposition protest planned for Christmas Eve by triggering internal squabbling among its organisers.

"Parts of these conversations are really genuine," he wrote in his blog. (more)

Tip: Periodically check for bugs and taps. (more)

Surveillance Quote of the Day - By 2020 You Will Be Archived for 25 Cents

"...by 2015 it will cost only two cents to store all phone calls made by the average mobile phone user. Now picture this, a city with a population of 12 million which has about 500,000 video cameras, one video cam for every 24 people. By 2020, the declining costs for digital storage will make it possible to store all of that video acquired, in high resolution, for about a quarter per person. As for other types of digital communication, don't count on encryption not to be cracked." ~ Darlene Storm (more)

FutureWatch: Big Brother's Ubiquitous Surveillance Circus

As the price of digital storage drops and the technology to tap electronic communication improves, authoritarian governments will soon be able to perform retroactive surveillance on anyone within their borders, according to a Brookings Institute report.

These regimes will store every phone call, instant message, email, social media interaction, text message, movements of people and vehicles and public surveillance video and mine it at their leisure, according to "Recording Everything: Digital Storage as an Enabler of Authoritarian Government," written by John Villaseno, a senior fellow at Brookings and a professor of electrical engineering at UCLA.

That will enable shadowing people's movements and communications that took place before the individuals became suspects, he says. (more)

"We all prisoners, Chicky babe. We's all locked in."