Why You Rarely Hear About Corporate Espionage

Corporations really hate publicity about their information security failures.
The smart ones sweep to mitigate the chances of failures.
The others just sweep the failures under the rug. 

Case in point...

Spanish power company Iberdrola is suing the holding company of business news site El Confidencial over coverage of an industrial espionage case, a move the site's director says threatens its survival.

The multinational energy firm, which is seeking $20 million in damages, said that for more than two years up to November 2021, El Confidencial published 225 stories on the espionage case, including 68 that harmed the company and 12 that were untrue.

The company contends the reports were a "violation of its right to honour," a term that in Spanish law refers to reputational damage. more

VR Headset Hacks Could Steal Sensitive Information

Researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick have published “Face-Mic,” the first work examining how voice command features on virtual reality headsets could lead to major privacy leakages, known as “eavesdropping attacks.”  

The research shows that hackers could use popular virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets with built in motion sensors to record subtle, speech-associated facial dynamics to steal sensitive information communicated via voice-command, including credit card data and passwords.

To demonstrate the existence of security vulnerabilities, Chen and her fellow WINLAB researchers developed an eavesdropping attack targeting AR/VR headsets, known as “Face-Mic.” more

Foreign Spies Use Dating Apps... to access government secrets

Foreign spies are using Tinder and other dating apps to recruit Australians with access to sensitive government secrets. ASIO boss Mike Burgess made the alarming revelation while delivering his annual threat assessment, in which he also warned identifying anti-vaccine activists who could turn violent was proving difficult. more

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The National Security Service of Armenia (HAAT) has detained 19 people suspected of being members of an "espionage network" in the South Caucasus nation. The HAAT said on February 10 that dozens of servicemen in different units of the the armed forces may have been involved in the activities of the spy network, which worked for an unspecified nation.

According to the security agency, recruitment took place via an online dating service through which Armenian servicemen who possessed classified data and documents would eventually join the spy ring. more

9 Potential Signs of Corporate Espionage

If you suspect that your business has been a target of corporate espionage, it's essential to take action immediately — from doing an in-house investigation to hiring a private professional. 

If you see any of the below signs, don't ignore them, but also take care not to make any unfounded accusations or statements. Keep your thoughts closely held and get the evidence first...

1. Unexplained or sudden changes in practices
2. Changes in business relationships
3. Unusual computer activity
4. Becoming defensive or secretive about work
5. Equipment or files go missing
6. Unexplained drops in sales or profits
7. Employees quitting suddenly
8. Accessing computer files without permission
9. Corporate secrets leaked to the press more

School Principal Arrested - Facing Felony Eavesdropping Charge

The Lee County Virtual School Principal faces charges for illegally recording a meeting.

It is an unusual case of consent because Florida Statute 934.03 talks specifically about the interception and disclosure of wire, oral or electronic communications prohibited. “Florida is a two-party consent state,” said FGCU Professor Dr. David Thomas. Lee County Sheriff’s deputies arrested (him) for recording a meeting without permission. more

Ford Wants to Hide Spy Drones in Autonomous Cars

Among the many challenges facing the autonomous car industry is how to keep an eye on the condition of the vehicles while they're out and about.

Interior cameras, like those installed in the latest Tesla models, can make sure passengers aren't damaging the cabin, but what about the outside of the vehicles?

Ford, which co-owns the Argo AI autonomous car company that's planning to launch a ride-hailing service soon, has now patented a way to do just that. more

Hidden Wisconsin Restaurant Serves Espionage Fun With Food

A truly exceptional themed restaurant needs to go further than some wall decor and select menu items, it needs to provide a full theme experience, something that the SafeHouse Restaurant and Bar in Milwaukee, Wisconsin seems to have nailed completely. Let's put it this way, when you arrive at the 'hidden' SafeHouse, you need to provide a password to gain entry, but once you get inside the real show begins. more

Personal recommendation... The Mission Impossible - Go rogue with this mission. A large fishbowl filled with Bacardi Superior Rum, Roaring Dan's Dark Rum, orgeat, lemon, orange, pineapple, and grenadine - serves 2 spies nicely or 1 brave agent. more

GSM Eavesdropping Bugs: A Recent Find in a Corporate Office

While on lockdown, businesses and individuals must think about their unoccupied premises and possessions. Now that we are coming out of this lockdown and going back to work, Gurpreet Thathy and Mike Moran give their thoughts and go through a recent case with a client last week...

Mike and his team conducted a ‘sweep’ of the offices in conjunction with our Cyber Audit. We identified a GSM eavesdropping device planted within a boardroom during the critical areas’ in-depth physical and electronic search. This device was cunningly disguised as a 3-way extension adapter which was fully operational.

A closer examination of the adapter revealed a SIM card and a microphone connected. The client was immediately informed, and as per our standard operating procedure (SOPs), the device was isolated from the infrastructure, bagged, tagged, and handed over to our internal forensic team to investigate.

The forensic investigation of the SIM card revealed dialled and received calls. more

What is a GSM Bug?  When was the last time your organization conducted an inspection for one?

Leaked Tapes Reveal Corporate Espionage

Testimony that Vatican officials engaged in corporate espionage sheds new light on the breakdown of the London property deal.

Luciano Capaldo is a property developer who was closely involved in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State plans for the London London property deal at 60 Sloane Avenue...

Capaldo told investigators that he had access to surveillance cameras inside Torzi’s offices for some time.  

So he passed information and images to Monsignor Mauro Carlino, a former official at the Secretariat of State currently indicted for extortion and abuse of office. The access, Capaldo said, came via a mobile phone app for which he had the login details. more

Investigation-driven Findings Identify Major Spikes in Industrial Espionage Incidents

 Key findings of the DTEX Systems 2022 Insider Risk Report include:

• The ‘Super Malicious Insider’ accounted for 32% of malicious insider incidents...

• 72% year-over-year increase in actionable insider threat incidents;

• 42% of actionable incidents were related to IP and data theft, including industrial espionage incidents related to the theft of trade secrets, source code, and active collusion with a foreign nexus;

• 75% of insider threat criminal prosecutions were the result of remote workers;

• 56% of organizations had an insider data theft incident resulting from employees leaving or joining companies;

• +200% year-over-year increase in data loss associated with users taking screenshots during confidential Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings; and

• +300% year-over-year increase in employees utilizing corporate assets for non-work activities.

For more than a decade, insider threats have been categorized as either malicious, negligent or compromised. Based on the findings of the DTEX i³ team, a fourth persona has emerged—the Super Malicious Insider. 

The Super Malicious Insider is a technically proficient employee who is acutely aware of an organization’s cyber security architecture, solutions, and processes and who understands both the technical and human analyst limitations in detecting insider threat indicators. more

It is time for your organization to implement a corporate counterespionage plan.

The Unnerving Rise of Video Games that Spy on You

Tech conglomerate Tencent caused a stir last year with the announcement that it would comply with China’s directive to incorporate facial recognition technology into its games in the country.  

The move was in line with China’s strict gaming regulation policies, which impose limits on how much time minors can spend playing video games—an effort to curb addictive behavior, since gaming is labeled by the state as “spiritual opium."

...video games are a natural medium for tracking, and researchers have long argued that large data sets about players’ in-game activities are a rich resource in understanding player psychology and cognition. more

US Indictment: Chinese Firm Stole Motorola Trade Secrets

A federal indictment unsealed Monday accuses a Chinese telecommunications company of stealing technology from Illinois-based Motorola Solutions Inc., in another case highlighting longstanding fears about China pilfering vital U.S. business secrets to bolster its own economy...

In a 2008 email cited in the indictment, one unnamed individual writes to another that, “We are trying to grab whatever we can. … Do you have anything in mind that you need while we are still here?” In another, someone writes “haha” after describing Hytera as copying Motorola technology...

A Chinese-born American software developer, Hanjuan Jin, was convicted in 2012 of stealing secrets from Motorola... At trial, prosecutors said Jin “led a double life” as an outwardly loyal company worker plotting to steal Motorola secrets. more

The "loyal" insider has the time and opportunity to steal information, plant bugs, and take advantage of lax security procedures. Periodic sweeps for covert eavesdropping devices, with an information security survey, are how smart corporations reduce this risk.

Burglar Steals $20K From Business Specializing in Security Cameras

Pro Systems is a communications company in South Nashville that has been around since the eighties and specializes in security cameras. But when employees arrived at work just weeks ago, they found their fence cut, and about $20,000 worth of items stolen.

The company, of course, reviewed their own equipment and handed over surveillance footage to the Metro Nashville Police. Within hours, officers were able to identify and arrest the suspect seen on the business’ security cameras.  more   in other surveillance camera theft news

2022 Spycam News... (so far)

 Japan - 'Bar set low for secret filming' The reason police in Japan commit voyeurism... It seems there is no end to police officers being subjected to disciplinary measures for taking sneak footage. As law enforcers who are in a position to crack down on camera voyeurs, why do they partake in such crimes? The Mainichi Shimbun asked an expert... more 

UK - Professional photographer Roy Strutt, 64, installed a USB dongle with a hidden camera in the bedroom of his second home in Walberswick, Suffolk. He later invited a couple - who his wife knew through a friend - to stay at the property to celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary. The couple saw the dongle and unplugged it - with Strutt later telling them to plug it back in because it helped improve the Wi-Fi for the surrounding apartments. more

LA - A Vidalia, Louisiana, man.. has also received additional charges... illicit videos involving a juvenile taken by way of a hidden camera... investigators found evidence of a video voyeurism set up by way of hidden camera, which illegally recorded inappropriate videos of a juvenile. more

Singapore - Domestic helper jailed 17 months for filming elderly man in shower, uploading clips to TikTok, WhatsApp... One video was re-posted by an unknown user on a Facebook page titled SG Dirty Fella where it went viral. more

UK - A senior Metropolitan Police officer who posed as an airline pilot and fake glamour photographer to picture up to 51 naked women has been dismissed from the force. Detective Inspector Neil Corbel, 40, took covert videos of his victims in hotel rooms, flats and Airbnbs... He 'used his anti-terror skills' to secretly film the women with spy cameras hidden in tissue boxes, phone charges, glasses and keys after contacting them under the guise of being an airline pilot named Harrison. more

China - A male doctor live-streamed a patient’s gynecological procedure on a China video-sharing website without her knowledge, raising a wave of questions on medical ethics and privacy violations. more

UK - Scots student warns pervert stepdad will always be danger to kids after dodging jail for spying on her when she was 13... It came after the creep smirked as he was spared prison last week for secretly filming his stepdaughter thr­ough a gap drilled in her wardrobe. The predator also recorded her through the keyhole of a chest and a lens hidden in an alarm clock while on a family holiday in the US. more

WY - A 33-year-old Campbell County man has been charged with nine counts of voyeurism after he allegedly set up a recording device in a bathroom and took pictures of a female getting in and out of the shower and bathtub. more

Canada - Durham Regional Police have charged a man in connection with a voyeurism investigation in Pickering, Ont... police were called to a Walmart store ... after a man was discovered videotaping a female customer as she was using the change rooms. Police said the suspect was confronted by the victim and her family and said he had deleted the photos from his cellphone before fleeing. However, police added there were other photos on his phone of other possible victims and are asking for the public’s help in identifying the man. more  more

LA - A Sulphur man was arrested after a recording device was found in the women’s restroom of a local restaurant Tuesday, according to information from the Sulphur Police Department. The device was found before anyone in the general public was captured on video, according to Sulphur officials. more

CT - A Vernon man is being charged after police say they discovered he put cameras in his home bathroom and secretly recorded his girlfriend and her children... a few years ago, two of the children, who were 13 and 18 years old at the time, discovered a bluetooth speaker in a bathroom that was actually a hidden camera... After the children found it, they secretly swapped out its SD card and delivered the card to a friend’s house for safekeeping, the warrant said. more

 FL - The businessman who filmed two naked women in an adjoining Key West, Florida hotel room has been sentenced to a year in prison for his felonious voyeurism, court records show... charged with sliding a tiny camera under the door separating his room at the DoubleTree Grand Key resort from that of two female vacationers, according to an arrest report... Cops found the spy camera hidden in a chair cushion. more

 WA - Former county fire marshal faces felony voyeurism charges... The charging documents allege Nicholson had hidden a camera in a sleeping area at the station, filming a female firefighter changing before getting into bed. When contacted by the detective, the firefighter that was depicted in the film stated she had not given consent to being filmed. The detective investigated the room and discovered an outlet that matched up with the angle of the video, although there was no recording device present when he inspected the outlet. more

UK - Robert Davies, 32, came to the attention of National Crime Agency investigators in 2019 after he purchased a number of cyber crime tools, including crypters and remote administration tools (RATs)... Davies was infecting his victims’ phones or computers with malicious software by disguising it with the crypters so their anti-virus protection would not detect it. He then used the RATs to gain remote access to their devices and steal any sexual images (mainly of females) they had stored on there. On at least one occasion, he used his illegal access to spy on a teenage girl through her webcam, turning the encounter into a number of indecent images. more  more

General - Laws on surveillance cameras at home can vary by state. As there’s no comprehensive set of regulations that govern residential security cameras or video surveillance, it’s essential to have a broad understanding of the concerns involved with these systems and devices. It’s just as important to know the laws at the state, county, and even local levels. more

The Epoch Times - Video Report: Spy Cameras, Blackmail Rampant in China more  

These stories are presented to raise awareness.

Spycam Facts:

• Only the failed video voyeurs make the news.
• Most spycam attacks go undetected.
• A few are discovered... almost all by accident.
• Only a few of these are reported to the police.
• Only a few of these cases are solved.
• Only few of these make it to my desk.
• I only share just a few of those with you.
• The problem is bigger than you think.
  

Any organization with expectation of privacy areas needs this to protect their employees, visitors and customers ... and themselves, from forseeability law suits.

 

 

Ex ‘Walked In’ on Man Retrieving Spy Tapes

Australia - A man allegedly hired to spy on the model ex-girlfriend of Ultra Tune mogul Sean Buckley was “caught red-handed” with listening devices inside the victim’s home, a court has heard.

Mr Buckley, 61, appeared in an online hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday facing multiple assault and stalking charges levelled against him by his ex-bikini model girlfriend Jennifer Cruz Cole.

The court heard Ms Cole walked in on Buckley’s co-accused, Wade D’Andrea, who was attempting to retrieve listening devices installed in her home...

There are further claims he later hired two others to plant listening devices inside her apartment and car. more

Ms. Cole was lucky.
#1 She caught the bugger in the act.
#2 She didn't get injured by doing so.
People in high profile legal cases, and corporate executives, are advised to have professional Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) inspections conducted on a regular basis.