How a YouTube Video Could Infect Your Phone with Spyware

Researchers from Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley say cybercriminals could use hidden voice commands via popular YouTube videos to infect Androids and iPhones with malware.


Micah Sherr, a computer science department professor at Georgetown, says the research was inspired by the proliferation of voice-controlled systems. "Amazon Echo was coming out when we started this work," Sherr notes.

Since then, Google has launched Google Home, a similar always-listening device, and electronic devices lost in a messy bedroom can now be recovered by speaking “Okay Google” or “Hey Siri.”

The new research shows how keeping such devices on always-listen mode could lead to a cyberattack. Sherr says a cybercriminal could attempt to plant malware on the device using a hidden voice command. more

1970's CIA Dragonfly Spy - Ripley's Believe It or Not

In the 1970s, the CIA developed the Insectothopter, an unmanned surveillance drone disguised as a dragonfly.

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• The Insectothopter was the size of a dragonfly
• It was painted to look like a dragonfly
• It was powered by a small gasoline engine made by a watchmaker
• And jets of gas were used to propel it forward
• Because it was too difficult to control in even a slight crosswind, the project was abandoned

Former Basketball Coach / Choir Teacher - Locker Room Spy Pen

A former basketball coach is facing multiple felony counts after authorities say he was caught filming athletes in the shower using a camera disguised as a pen according to the Mankato Free Press.

Zachary Patrick Roberts was employed at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School as the choir teacher for six years before resigning in January...

According to the criminal complaint, an athlete discovered the pen following a game in December when he wanted to write down a play.

Teammates tried to access the files saved on the camera, but were unsuccessful. After the players turned the pen over to school officials, it was given to the police for investigation. more

The Open Microphone Strikes Again

The only thing more embarrassing than having to resign after a political gambit (the Brexit) blew up in your face? Getting caught on a hot mic singing a goofy tune immediately after you resign. Godspeed, David Cameron. more



Moral: Treat microphones like a poisonous snakes. Always know where they are and what they are doing. Always.

P.S. It has happened to him before, and before.

Scientists Create a Real 'Cone of Silence' UPDATE

A while back the original post, Scientists Create a Real 'Cone of Silence', highlighted the advancement in sound mitigation by Steven Cummer, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his colleagues at Duke University.

Jeremy Luscombe, of resonics.co.uk, wrote in to tell me about, "a more comprehensive look at future acoustic and soundproofing technologies."

Great progress is being made on many fronts, and Jeremy has written about seven of them. It is a fascinating read.

My favorite is the "Air Transparent Soundproof Window" (below).



While these technologies are being developed mainly for commercial use, the materials and techniques also have counterespionage potential.

World's Biggest Bug (You need it if you want to bug aliens.)

China Wants To ‘Eavesdrop’ On Aliens With This Giant Radio Telescope

Click to enlarge

China hoisted the final piece into position on what will be the world's largest radio telescope, which it will use to explore space and help in the hunt for extraterrestrial life, state media said.

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, is the size of 30 football fields and has been hewed out of a mountain in the poor southwestern province of Guizhou. more

Spies Gone Wild, or "Dude, where's MY car?"

This is the moment newly qualified Russian spies parade a cortege of black Mercedes Gelandewagens through the streets of Moscow while blasting their horns.


The cavalcade by recently-qualified 007s from Vladimir Putin's espionage ranks has stunned Cold War specialists schooled in staying in the shadows.

Veteran spies in Russia have reacted in horror after the show of strength by newly graduated agents from the foreign intelligence section of the FSB spy academy.

The FSB was once headed by Putin, who was also a KGB agent in Germany during the Cold War. more

US Federal Wiretap Report 2015

This report covers intercepts concluded between January 1, 2015,

and December 31, 2015, and provides supplementary information on arrests and convictions resulting from intercepts concluded in prior years.

Forty-eight jurisdictions (the federal government, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and 44 states) currently have laws that authorize courts to issue orders permitting wire, oral, or electronic surveillance. Table 1 shows that a total of 28 jurisdictions reported using at least one of these types of surveillance as an investigative tool during 2015. more

"Spy it out for three months. If you like, we get you court order."

Polish spies could be secretly eyeballing world leaders attending the NATO summit in Warsaw.

.. all thanks to a new law that came into force just last week.

The new anti-terrorism legislation was signed by Polish president Andrzej Duda on June 22. It came into force one week later. Under the law, secret surveillance may be carried out on any foreigner for up to three months without a court order. This includes undercover audio and video taping, bugging private premises, and accessing private electronic and phone communications. more

Spy Compound For Sale - "one million dollars..."

The Navy built Sugar Grove Station back in the 1960s out in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. Now they want to get it off their hands and sell it to the highest bidder.

The 120-acre spy base compound housed up to 400 Navy personnel and their families.

A press release for this expansive property more subtly calls it a “United States Spy Compound” for “advanced communications research.” After over 50 years of activity, the base closed down operations in September 2015.

The starting bid is $1,000,000. However, with all that powerful history and stellar views behind it, the final price could be substantially higher. The views of the surrounding hills alone could make this place worth the investment. more

Court: Using a Shared Password is Deemed Hacking.

A federal appeals court has affirmed the computer-hacking conviction of a former executive at a recruiting firm accused of using a shared password to steal headhunting leads from the company’s internal network after he left his job to launch a rival business. more

Spybusters Textbook Tip: Be Careful What You Say in Public

A man has exposed the cheating antics of a relative stranger after overhearing her making arrangements for a liaison with her lover in a petrol station.

Stevie Wilcock, 22, posted a description of the woman, her car and her license plate online in a post that has gone viral... (he) was on his way to work when he was in a queue for coffee in Chester's Shell garage when he overheard the conversation.

But while Mr Wilcock said he was acting in good will his decision to publicly shame the woman appears to have backfired with some.

One user said: "Maybe Dave is an absolute horror and she needs a little TLC. Or maybe Dave would like to try and repair the relationship. But he won't get the chance now because some' fine upstanding citizen' has decided to put Dave's private business out there for everyone to comment on."

Nevertheless Mr Wilcock stands behind his decision to take action. more

PS - Your confidential business discussions are also vulnerable every time you talk in public. Think your office is a safe location? When was the last time you had it swept?

Spy Demise? You Decide.

Russian intelligence officer, Aleksandr Poteyev, who was sentenced for treason in absentia by Russia after blowing the cover of a spy ring in the US, has reportedly died. Moscow, however, is not confirming the news or taking the defector of its wanted list.  more

The Most Dangerous U.S. Spy You Never Heard of... until now

She put American combat troops in harm's way, betrayed her own people and handed over so many secrets that experts say the U.S. may never know the full extent of the damage.
Ana Montes was the Queen of Cuba, an American who from 1985 to the September 11, 2001 attacks handed over U.S. military secrets to Havana while working as a top analyst for the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency.

But despite her crimes, Montes remains largely unknown.

You might not think Cuba could do much harm to a superpower like the U.S., said retired DIA official Chris Simmons, appearing on CNN's "Declassified." But you'd be wrong... more

Programming note: Explore untold stories of American spies: CNN Original Series "Declassified" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT only on CNN.

Business Espionage: A Brief History

by Daniel Corbett and Michael Disotell
...another early example of industrial espionage came about in the late eighteenth century, when France found itself attempting to compete with the emerging industrial strength of Great Britain. The French government surreptitiously placed apprentices in English iron and steel yards to abscond with production formulas. To maintain its market dominance, Britain became the first country to pass legislation aimed at preventing industrial espionage.

In the United States, American businesses employed former Pinkerton detectives to uncover employee theft after the Civil War. And during the 1920s, anxiety over Communist and unionist upheaval caused companies to hire double agents to expose internal threats. According to a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor, a majority of American companies had placed labor spies in their plants and unions around that time.

As labor-management tensions started to ease after World War II, American companies shifted their focus away from themselves and began spying on competitors. Industrial espionage began to follow one of two familiar patterns: (1) a former employee would misappropriate confidential information before departing for a competitor, or (2) a competitor would place a “mole” inside an organization to gain access to corporate secrets.

Industrial espionage became a global affair during the Cold War, as U.S. businesses faced threats from Soviet spies and multinational competitors alike. For example, in 1982 six executives from the Japanese firms Hitachi and Mitsubishi were arrested in Santa Clara, California, for allegedly trying to steal computer parts from IBM. Companies also became increasingly worried about executives overseas defecting to competitors. A dispute between General Motors and Volkswagen arose when a group of GM executives in Germany left GM to join VW. Upon seeing similar designs in VW’s car models, GM accused VW of using proprietary information gained from its former executives. In one of the largest industrial espionage cases ever, VW settled with GM for $100 million and agreed to buy at least $1 billion worth of car parts from the company. more