Former US President Jimmy Carter has said he hand-writes letters to foreign and US leaders in an effort to evade what he described as pervasive US electronic surveillance.
Mr Carter, 89, told the Associated Press he had "no doubt" the US monitored and recorded "almost every telephone call" and email.
His humanitarian efforts bring him in contact with a range of foreign and US political leaders. (more)
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Man Head-Butts 'Spying' CCTV Operator
UK - A man who thought someone was using a security camera to spy on his girlfriend tried to break the devices, a court has heard.
The man, 33-year-old Richard Hill, later assaulted the operator (Mr. Jordan) when confronting him over his use of the devices...
Peter Love, prosecuting, told Worcester Magistrates’ Court...
“He was swearing at him (Mr. Jordan) and punched him in the face.
“He then head-butted him in the nose and ran off towards the city centre.”
When Hill was interviewed about the offences he said he struck the camera because he was told Mr Jordan was using the device to watch his girlfriend. He said he assaulted him because he had made him angry. (more)
Peter Love, prosecuting, told Worcester Magistrates’ Court...
“He was swearing at him (Mr. Jordan) and punched him in the face.
“He then head-butted him in the nose and ran off towards the city centre.”
When Hill was interviewed about the offences he said he struck the camera because he was told Mr Jordan was using the device to watch his girlfriend. He said he assaulted him because he had made him angry. (more)
Monday, March 24, 2014
TSCM Quote of the Month
"It's a well-known fact that businesses world-wide invest thousands or even millions protecting themselves from hackers and perceived cyber threats, but often fail to protect themselves against the threat of technical surveillance." –Peter Rucinski of Assure Technical, speaking about lack of attention businesses pay to finding bugs, wiretaps, spycams and other forms of electronic surveillance. (source)
5 Cool Spy Gadgets and Weapons You Probably Never Knew About
What do you get when you combine 368, 5.0-megapixel smartphone cameras into a mosaic and then add some other classified parts?
The DARPA-funded Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (or ARGUS-IS) of course. According to PetaPixel, "ARGUS-IS is a 1.8 Gigapixel drone-mounted surveillance system that took 30 months and $18.5M to become a reality. The video above is a clip from a new PBS documentary titled 'Rise of the Drones'. It offers a fascinating peek at what the drone cam is capable of." (more)
The DARPA-funded Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (or ARGUS-IS) of course. According to PetaPixel, "ARGUS-IS is a 1.8 Gigapixel drone-mounted surveillance system that took 30 months and $18.5M to become a reality. The video above is a clip from a new PBS documentary titled 'Rise of the Drones'. It offers a fascinating peek at what the drone cam is capable of." (more)
Friday, March 21, 2014
Leaving us to wonder what everyone else said...
Wireless surveillance (company) iWatchLife today released the results of a new poll indicating that nearly one in three people are completely comfortable with the idea of using electronic surveillance to watch over their elderly parents who live alone.
The poll, commissioned by iWatchLife and undertaken by Persona Research on March 16, 2014, surveyed 500 people. Respondents were asked if they would ever consider using electronic surveillance to ensure that their parents were safe. Over 30 percent said yes. (more)
The poll, commissioned by iWatchLife and undertaken by Persona Research on March 16, 2014, surveyed 500 people. Respondents were asked if they would ever consider using electronic surveillance to ensure that their parents were safe. Over 30 percent said yes. (more)
A Business Espionage Front Line Warning - Pay Attention
While classified and clearly-defined national security information will always be sought-after by our adversaries, there is a rapidly growing interest in corporate America’s intellectual property.
By Doug Thomas, Lockheed Martin Corporation, a 2014 CSO40 award recipient
Throughout much of my 35 years of government service, I was focused on what many people are still focused on today: cleared people, classified programs, and traditional national security...
Yesterday’s spies were government employees or military personnel, stealing classified information... Today’s depiction of espionage takes on a very different picture.
Today’s spies also come from private industry -- financial institutions, industrial fabricators, defense contractors, members of academia, etc. ...stealing information on behalf of the intelligence service of a foreign nation state, or industrial espionage, where information is stolen to benefit a competitor, either foreign or domestic...
Today there is no difference between national security and economic security. By failing to safeguard the fruits of our innovative labor... we face the prospect of losing our position as a leader in the global marketplace.
The threat... is very real and growing at an aggressive rate...
I urge private industry leadership to take steps to counter this growing threat to our economic prosperity and national security. (more)
My two cents.
My other two cents.
By Doug Thomas, Lockheed Martin Corporation, a 2014 CSO40 award recipient
Throughout much of my 35 years of government service, I was focused on what many people are still focused on today: cleared people, classified programs, and traditional national security...
Yesterday’s spies were government employees or military personnel, stealing classified information... Today’s depiction of espionage takes on a very different picture.
Today’s spies also come from private industry -- financial institutions, industrial fabricators, defense contractors, members of academia, etc. ...stealing information on behalf of the intelligence service of a foreign nation state, or industrial espionage, where information is stolen to benefit a competitor, either foreign or domestic...
Today there is no difference between national security and economic security. By failing to safeguard the fruits of our innovative labor... we face the prospect of losing our position as a leader in the global marketplace.
The threat... is very real and growing at an aggressive rate...
I urge private industry leadership to take steps to counter this growing threat to our economic prosperity and national security. (more)
My two cents.
My other two cents.
From our "You can't make this eavesdropping stuff up" file...
A former Idaho lawmaker decided to hide in a Senate chamber closet for five to six hours on Tuesday, presumably to eavesdrop on her colleagues.
A rule in the Idaho Legislature allows floor privileges for former state senators. But the state Senate voted 28-6 on Wednesday to suspend that rule for one of their former colleagues—Nicole LeFavour. The day before, LeFavour—Idaho's first openly gay state lawmaker—had been discovered hiding in a closet behind the Senate chamber and was asked to leave.
"Closets are never safe for gay or transgender people," she told the Spokesman-Review. (more)
A rule in the Idaho Legislature allows floor privileges for former state senators. But the state Senate voted 28-6 on Wednesday to suspend that rule for one of their former colleagues—Nicole LeFavour. The day before, LeFavour—Idaho's first openly gay state lawmaker—had been discovered hiding in a closet behind the Senate chamber and was asked to leave.
"Closets are never safe for gay or transgender people," she told the Spokesman-Review. (more)
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Illinois Supreme Court – Audio Recording Law too Broad
IL - The Illinois Supreme Court this morning struck down the state’s eavesdropping law, one of the strictest in the nation that made audio recording of any person, even in public, illegal unless that person gave their consent.
The court ruled that the law "criminalizes a wide range of innocent conduct."
"The statute criminalizes the recording of conversations that cannot be deemed private: a loud argument on the street, a political debate on a college quad, yelling fans at an athletic event, or any conversation loud enough that the speakers should expect to be heard by others," the court said in its ruling.
"None of these examples implicate privacy interests, yet the statute makes it a felony to audio record each one. Judged in terms of the legislative purpose of protecting conversational privacy, the statute’s scope is simply too broad," the justices ruled. (more)
"The statute criminalizes the recording of conversations that cannot be deemed private: a loud argument on the street, a political debate on a college quad, yelling fans at an athletic event, or any conversation loud enough that the speakers should expect to be heard by others," the court said in its ruling.
"None of these examples implicate privacy interests, yet the statute makes it a felony to audio record each one. Judged in terms of the legislative purpose of protecting conversational privacy, the statute’s scope is simply too broad," the justices ruled. (more)
Business Espionage: AT&T May Pay 1.5 Million to Settle Eavesdropping Lawsuit
AT&T is reportedly about to shell out some $1.5 million, in payments of $4,000 each, to hundreds of class action plaintiffs who say they were victimized as a result of illegal conduct by so-called private investigator to the stars Anthony Pellicano.
The phone company is a defendant in civil litigation because rogue employees at AT&T's Pacific Bell allegedly helped Pellicano with illegal investigative techniques. including wiretapping, according to the Hollywood Esq. blog of the Hollywood Reporter. Pellicano was convicted in 2008 of crimes related to his alleged violation of wiretap laws. (more)
The phone company is a defendant in civil litigation because rogue employees at AT&T's Pacific Bell allegedly helped Pellicano with illegal investigative techniques. including wiretapping, according to the Hollywood Esq. blog of the Hollywood Reporter. Pellicano was convicted in 2008 of crimes related to his alleged violation of wiretap laws. (more)
Windows Spy Tool Also Monitors Android Devices
Researchers have discovered that a commercial Windows-based spy program now comes equipped with capabilities for spying on Android devices as well...
“The Android tool has multiple components allowing the victim’s device to be controlled by another mobile device remotely over SMS messages or alternatively through a Windows-based controller,” said researchers at security company FireEye who discovered GimmeRAT...
Remote access Trojans for Android are nothing new; Dendroid and AndroRAT are two that have been in circulation for some time. But this is the first time that a multiplatform Windows RAT featuring Android capabilities has been discovered. (more)
Remote access Trojans for Android are nothing new; Dendroid and AndroRAT are two that have been in circulation for some time. But this is the first time that a multiplatform Windows RAT featuring Android capabilities has been discovered. (more)
Former Microsoft Employee Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Windows 8 Trade Secrets
Alex Kibkalo, a former senior architect at Microsoft who most recently served as a Director of Product Management in 5nine Software (according to his LinkedIn profile), has been arrested for allegedly stealing Windows-related trade secrets while working for Microsoft.
Kibkalo was arrested on Wednesday, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
According to a complaint filed on March 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Kibkalo -- a Russian national and former Microsoft employee based in Lebanon -- passed on trade secrets involving Windows 8 to an unnamed technology blogger in France. (more)
Kibkalo was arrested on Wednesday, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
According to a complaint filed on March 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Kibkalo -- a Russian national and former Microsoft employee based in Lebanon -- passed on trade secrets involving Windows 8 to an unnamed technology blogger in France. (more)
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Facilities Managers: Everything You Need to Know about Counterespionage Bug Sweeps
You know everything about managing facilities, but a request from management to debug your building can throw even the most seasoned FM for a loop. With the help of an outside professional, you can ensure speech privacy and business security.
Business espionage is a growing concern, yet it’s mistakenly thought of as an IT department problem. The reality is that the information IT protects is vulnerable to theft long before it is put into the computer – what people talk about and with whom provides the most valuable information.
Electronic eavesdropping has also become cheap and easy. Spy gadgets, such as bug transmitters, micro voice recorders, and covert video cameras, were once expensive and hard to come by. All are now available online for under $100. Some even use Wi-Fi, Internet, and cell phone networks as communication conduits.
Because building owners are focused on physical security, the chances are slim that a corporate spy will be detected or caught. A technical information security survey, however, can put an end to electronic eavesdropping and remote surveillance. (more) P.S. If you like the article, please give it a nice star rating, and have it help others via a social media plug. Thank you.
Electronic eavesdropping has also become cheap and easy. Spy gadgets, such as bug transmitters, micro voice recorders, and covert video cameras, were once expensive and hard to come by. All are now available online for under $100. Some even use Wi-Fi, Internet, and cell phone networks as communication conduits.
Because building owners are focused on physical security, the chances are slim that a corporate spy will be detected or caught. A technical information security survey, however, can put an end to electronic eavesdropping and remote surveillance. (more) P.S. If you like the article, please give it a nice star rating, and have it help others via a social media plug. Thank you.
"OK, which one of you said 'coool'?"
The National Security Agency has built a surveillance system capable of recording “100 percent” of a foreign country’s telephone calls, enabling the agency to rewind and review conversations as long as a month after they take place, according to people with direct knowledge of the effort and documents supplied by former contractor Edward Snowden. (more)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
MIT's Crytophone Round-Up
Ever since Edward Snowden came forward with a trove of secret documents about the National Security Agency, business has been booming for Les Goldsmith, CEO of ESD America.
Goldsmith’s company sells a $3,500 “cryptophone” that scrambles calls so they can’t be listened in on. Until recently, the high-priced smartphone was something of a James Bond–style novelty item. But news of extensive U.S. eavesdropping on people including heads of state has sent demand from wary companies and governments soaring. “We’re producing 400 a week and can’t really keep up,” says Goldsmith...
For the most part, consumers haven’t joined the security rush. According to Gartner, a firm that tracks technology trends, few have even purchased antivirus software for their phones. Sales of mobile security software are about $1 billion a year, a fraction what’s spent on desktops, even though mobile devices now outnumber PCs.
Yet secure communication products could eventually have mass appeal as consumers tire of being tracked online. Some of the most successful apps of the past year have featured self-destructing messages or anonymous bulletin boards. (more)
For the most part, consumers haven’t joined the security rush. According to Gartner, a firm that tracks technology trends, few have even purchased antivirus software for their phones. Sales of mobile security software are about $1 billion a year, a fraction what’s spent on desktops, even though mobile devices now outnumber PCs.
Yet secure communication products could eventually have mass appeal as consumers tire of being tracked online. Some of the most successful apps of the past year have featured self-destructing messages or anonymous bulletin boards. (more)
Officer 'Bugged Force Office' Without Permission
UK - A Greater Manchester Police officer has been accused of bugging a force room without authorization, as the police watchdog begins an investigating a range of allegations.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating whether a GMP detective chief inspector bugged the office and whether their actions “put public safety at risk”. The force has confirmed the bugging took place, the watchdog said. (more)
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating whether a GMP detective chief inspector bugged the office and whether their actions “put public safety at risk”. The force has confirmed the bugging took place, the watchdog said. (more)
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