http://www.spybusters.com/ Eavesdropping, spying trends, surveillance gadgets, privacy laws, espionage stories, TSCM, security tips, predictions and items from Kevin's travels, it's all here. All geared to keeping his client family at least one step ahead, and mildly amused. Feeder 1.2 http://reinventedsoftware.com/feeder/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us 2006 - Kevin D. Murray murray@spybusters.com security@stones.com Sun, 10 Sep 2006 10:32:26 -0400 Sun, 10 Sep 2006 10:32:26 -0400 http://www.contactlessnews.com/library/2006/08/15/electromagnetic-sleeves-protect-contactless-ids-but-is-the-eavesdropping-threat-real/ With a long workday behind him, Mr. Government Worker leaves the building, heading for the massive parking lot. He passes a gentleman (Mr. Man), but little does Mr. Government Worker know that beneath the stranger’s briefcase hides an RFID Reader with an antenna short enough to remain out of sight but long enough to communicate with a FIPS 201 PIV Card. Mr. Man captures the ‘free-read’ ID number from the card and now can in essence replay this information to the access control reader at the entry door to the building to gain access.

A preposterous scenario? Not really, says Walt Augustinowicz, founder of Identity Stronghold, though others disagree. “It’s called the ‘leech-and-ghost theory,’” says Mr. Augustinowicz, noting that a handful of white papers have been written on such topics. “It’s pretty realistic.”

The company is one of a handful of manufacturers of protective shields and sleeves designed to protect contactless cards from eavesdroppers. Identity Stronghold is marketing its electromagnetic smart card sleeves in consumer, financial, and government markets, including federal agencies shopping around for FIPS 201-compliant products. The electromagnetically opaque “Secure Sleeve” products help ensure that invasive communications such as relaying, eavesdropping, or cloning and tracking of ID, debit and credit cards, U.S. passports, and the new FIPS 201 PIV cards don’t occur.]]> Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:48:37 -0400 http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/2577089/
New York-based Verint Systems, a subsidiary of Comverse Technology, was chosen late December 2005 by the MCA to provide an interception system for the MSS.

Concerns over the choice of Verint have sparked alarm over its parent company’s notorious link to a major espionage investigation after the September 11 attacks, raising eyebrows over the company that will have its eyes and ears on practically all Malta’s emails, and mobile telephony and VoIP exchanges.

(Hummm, where have we heard the name Verint before? ]]> Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:25:47 -0400 http://www2.townonline.com/barnstable/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=562076 man faces wiretapping charges after allegedly taping a Yarmouth police officer who had responded to a child custody dispute. Sean K. Prunty, 38, of 4 Summer St., Yarmouth Port, faces two counts of possession of a device for wiretap and two counts of unlawful wiretap following Tuesday's arrest.

According to police, shortly after 9 a.m. that day Yarmouth Police Officer Christopher Van Ness responded to a child custody dispute at Prunty's Yarmouth Port home. There, Van Ness met with Prunty, who said that he had recently been served with divorce papers and was seeking police assistance as to the whereabouts of his two children.

Police say that, while discussing the matter, Prunty began yelling at his mother-in-law in an attempt to force her to report the location of his children. At that point, say police, Prunty told Van Ness that he had secretly recorded the entire conversation with a small tape recorder hidden in his pocket. The officer responded that such actions were illegal and Prunty shut off the device. ...

Yarmouth police arrested Prunty at 3 p.m. and seized the original recording as evidence. While there, police say, officers discovered a second, activated recording device in a different pants pocket. Police also seized that as evidence.]]> Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:18:27 -0400 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17103572&BRD=1719&PAG=461&dept_id=25271&rfi=6 A former Alton city jailer facing trial on a charge of eavesdropping claims she was harassed and intimidated, but a prosecutor said Wednesday she was under scrutiny for mistakes, including locking herself in a holding cell.

Christina A. Argyropoulos, of the 2900 block of Buena Vista Avenue in Alton, appeared Wednesday in Madison County Circuit Court asking a judge to dismiss charges against her and suppress the tape she made secretly.

She was charged with felony eavesdropping for recording a conversation involving three police officers on April 30, 2003.]]> Thu, 24 Aug 2006 09:25:37 -0400 http://www.alternet.org/story/40485/ Adamo Bove -- head of security at Telecom Italia, the country's largest telecommunications firm -- told his wife he had some errands to run as he left their Naples apartment. Hours later, police found his car parked atop a freeway overpass. Bove's body lay on the pavement some 100 feet below.

Bove was a master at detecting hidden phone networks. Recently, at the direction of Milan prosecutors, he'd used mobile phone records to trace how a "Special Removal Unit" composed of CIA and SISMI (the Italian CIA) agents abducted Abu Omar, an Egyptian cleric, and flew him to Cairo where he was tortured. The Omar kidnapping and the alleged involvement of 26 CIA agents, whom prosecutors seek to arrest and extradite, electrified Italian media. U.S. media noted the story, then dropped it.

About 16 months earlier, in March of 2005, Costas Tsalikidis, a 38-year-old software engineer for Vodaphone in Greece had just discovered a highly sophisticated bug embedded in the company's mobile network. The spyware eavesdropped on the prime minister's and other top officials' cell phone calls; it even monitored the car phone of Greece's secret service chief. Others bugged included civil rights activists, the head of Greece's "Stop the War" coalition, journalists and Arab businessmen based in Athens. All the wiretapping began about two months before the Olympics were hosted by Greece in August 2004, according to a subsequent investigation by the Greek authorities.

Tsalikidis, according to friends and family, was excited about his work and was looking forward to marrying his longtime girlfriend. But on March 9, 2005, his elderly mother found him hanging from a white rope tied to pipes outside of his apartment bathroom. His limp feet dangled a mere three inches above the floor. His death was ruled a suicide; he, like Adamo Bove, left no suicide note.

The next day, Vodaphone's top executive in Greece reported to the prime minister that unknown outsiders had illicitly eavesdropped on top government officials. Before making his report, however, the CEO had the spyware destroyed, even though this destroyed the evidence as well.

Investigations into the alleged suicides of both Adamo Bove and Costas Tsalikidis raise questions about more than the suspicious circumstances of their deaths. They point to politicized, illegal intelligence structures that rely upon cooperative business executives.]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2006 09:05:52 -0400 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2335066 Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:53:41 -0400 http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/2561110/ Italy - Telecom Italia, one of the major electronic communications providers in Italy is in the middle of a huge scandal regarding the illegal wiretapping and surveillance of the telephone networks.

The journalists from the weekly L'Espresso have proven that an entire system called Radar was capable of recording sensitive information about millions of Italians. The system was discovered by the internal audit, but also by the Milan Prosecutors that have opened an investigation against Marco Mancini, the deputy director and director of the first "foreign" or counter-intelligence division SISMI (Military Intelligence and Security Service) and his friends Giuliano Tavaroli former director of security in Telecom Italia and Emanuele Cipriani, owner of the private investigation company Polis d'Istinto. Tavaroli, who occupied the key national position to which were passed all authorized requests by magistrates to make wiretaps, has recently resigned and is under investigation by the Milan Prosecutors for association in violating privacy. In the computers of another central figure of the scandal, Cipriani, the magistrates have found a huge archive of files regarding magistrates, political persons, football players and referees - all the major figures in the recent scandals in Italy. Apparently, wiretaps that could have been used to blackmail them were also found during the investigation.

According to Telecom Italia's own investigation, their procedure and machines used for the legal wiretaps had a number of flaws and it was technically possible to spy on the telephone conversations, without leaving any trace. Moreover the interceptions were analysed with two special software programs: Enterprise Miner and Analyst's Notebook. ...

The situation has become much more complicated after the recent death of Adamo Bove, an investigation cop and a leading expert on electronic surveillance who apparently committed suicide by jumping from the highway. Bove had been hired by TIM to manage their Radar software system and had discovered a flaw in the system allowing people to enter the Telecom system without a trace. He announced the fact to the Milan magistrates, that has lead to the above-mentioned top-secret investigation. ]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:50:04 -0400 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1721505.htm Hundreds of Centrelink staff have been caught inappropriately looking up the records of friends and ex-lovers. The privacy breaches were uncovered using specially designed spyware software.

As a result of a two-year investigation, Centrelink has uncovered nearly 800 cases of what it has described as inappropriate access by staff to customer records. Nineteen staff have been sacked and nearly 100 resigned when they were confronted with the allegations.

Five of the cases have also been referred by Centrelink to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). ]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2006 07:58:51 -0400 http://www.spybusters.com A major Spy Phone advertising campaign is currently underway. What was once a hard-to-find, one model only item is now readily available in almost any model. A Google search now returns 135,000 URLs with the search phrase Spy Phone. The spam we receive shows sophistication in marketing.
Should you be concerned?
Very.
Here is an excerpt...

---------

Dear Sir,
We are so delighted to present you with our latest innovation, The GM-3000 Ultimate GSM Spyphone. The advancement in mobile phone surveillance has taken a massive leap in technology and we are very proud to announce a whole new range of fantastic features. LawMate utilizes the most powerful covert applications for remotely monitoring an individuals mobile phone activities from ANYWHERE in the world. Our powerful and highly advanced software is a world first and takes GSM communications to a whole new level.
Available on Nokia Models - 6600 / 3230 / 6260 / 6670 / 7610
Sample price on all models: USD$1650 (with phone)

Terminology
Target phone (TP) – Phone to be monitored.
Predefined Number (PN) - Phone number through which target phone will be controlled.

Main Features:
Call Interception
* Dial in and intercept BOTH sides of target phone conversations
* Immediate text notifications when the target phone places an outgoing or receives an incoming call
* Text notification shows landline, mobile or international number calling in
* Immediate text notifications when the target phone dials an outgoing call
* Text notification shows landline, mobile or international number being called
* Receive both incoming and outgoing text messages
* Dial in and listen to surrounding vicinity
* Immediate text notifications when the target phone is switched on
* Time and date stamping
* Covers all GSM coverage
* Change pre-defined number on SMS command
* Change stealth mode on SMS command
* Remote activation and de-activation of Spyphone feature on SMS command
* Remote activation and de-activation of Text Interception feature on SMS command
* Remote activation and de-activation of Interceptor feature on SMS command
* Remote activation and de-activation of Boot/SIM change feature on SMS command
* Remote activation and de-activation of text notifications on SMS command
* Remote SMS command to disable all feature
* No logging of forwarded text messages
* No logging of pre-defined number
* Intelligent auto delete feature
* Completely hidden software
* Bullet proof reliability
* Future proof technology

Text Interception with Remote Control
Receive duplicate copies of all incoming and outgoing text messages from target phone. Target phone automatically deletes all the logging folders of any duplicated messages and the pre-defined number so the end user will have absolutely no idea you are receiving secret copy's of all their SMS activities. This is a powerful monitoring tool to give your partner/spouse, children, employee, business associate, friend etc.. or whoever you wish to monitor completely anonymously.

The new Text Interception feature now includes a Remote Control Management Tool which means that once the pre-define number has been initially set up you never need to touch the target phone again. Any codewords, symbols or characters you specify (must be 7 digits long) can be used to remotely activate and de-activate the SMS Forwarding feature and change the pre-defined number on your command.

* Covers all GSM coverage
* Receive both incoming and outgoing text messages
* Change pre-defined number on SMS command
* No logging of forwarded texts
* No logging of pre-defined number
* Intelligent auto delete feature
* Remote activation and de-activation of Text Interception feature on SMS command
* Remote SMS command to completely uninstall spy software
* Features are completely hidden to phone user * Bullet proof reliability
* Future proof technology
* World leaders in spyphone development

Spyphone (Listening In Feature) Able to secretly dial in and listen to the sounds and conversations coming from around the target phone from ANYWHERE in the world completely without the end user knowing. Being able to simply dial the target phone from anywhere in the world and secretly listen to those important conversations and know exactly what they are saying and doing with absolutely no indication to the end user that you have called them.

The new Spyphone feature now includes a Remote Control management tool which means that once the software has been initially installed you never need touch the target phone again.

-------

Murray Associates Spy Phone Countermeasures Tips
1. Never accept a cell phone as a gift.
2. Mark your current cell phone so that you can identify it as yours. A scratch mark, UV paint, etc. should do.
3. Be suspicious if people tell you your phone was busy when you know you were not using it.
Note: Some model spy phones won't be busy when in spy mode.
4. Unusually short battery life may indicate spying.
5. Consider buying a blinky light. It can alert you to the phone transmitting when you are not using it.
Note: Most phones will cause the light to blink occasionally. Look for the light staying on for long periods of time.
6. Keep our information handy. Illegal eavesdropping can be discovered.

~Kevin]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:02:32 -0400 http://newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?newsId=14529 "The Case of the Double Leak" The chief technology officer of TimeWarner Inc.'s AOL division reportedly resigned Monday, less than a month after the company accidentally posted millions of keyword searches by 650,000 of its subscribers.

Maureen Govern, the chief technology officer, and two other employees in the company's research division, will leave AOL immediately, according to the Associated Press, citing an internal company memo.]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:06:49 -0400 http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=golfNews&storyID=2006-08-21T103036Z_01_SP300945_RTRIDST_0_GOLF-RYDER-SECURITY.XML a ban on mobile phones during all six days of the event and a ban on cameras during the match days of Sept. 22-24. A no-fly zone will be established above the event, authorities will shut down roads within a five-mile radius of the golf course for the entire week, and security checks will be held as fans enter the grounds, with security being provided by the Irish police.]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2006 12:33:53 -0400 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1719462.htm monitoring devices that have been placed in thousands of residents' bins.

He says the Council has failed to consult ratepayers about the installation of microchips in garbage bins and that residents need to know what is behind the "bin-bugging".

"I'm getting calls from other ratepayers who are asking what's happening with strange men late at night putting things on their bins."]]> Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:42:02 -0400 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=400310&in_page_id=1770 Terror plot suspects bugged by MI5 'sneak and peak' teams
UK - MI5 agents secretly infiltrated a bomb factory and found liquid explosives and detonators weeks before they foiled the plot to blow up America-bound passenger jets flying from British airports.

The covert raids on homes of key terror suspects were also used to plant bugs and gather hours of crucial evidence against them.

The carefully planned 'sneak and peek' operation involved members of the SAS and other surveillance specialists. It allowed the Security Service to eavesdrop on the suspected terrorists in the weeks before they were arrested.

Hours of tape recordings, photographs and video are now likely to be used as evidence against the men if they are charged for their part in the alleged plot.

Tiny eavesdropping devices picked up conversations involving various members of the suspected terrorist gang as they put the finishing touches to their plans to blow up a series of commercial flights over the Atlantic.]]> Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:37:49 -0400 http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/viewstory.aspx?storyid=330647&catid=30 private investigators allowed to carry out covert surveillance. (audio and video) ]]> Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:49:03 -0400 http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-12583.html Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:37:05 -0400 http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20106914-5006301,00.html Police have secretly entered the homes and listened in on the phone conversations of hundreds of suspected criminals in South Australia.

And the number of secret recordings is expected to increase following the introduction of laws which widen the powers of investigators. Under laws introduced by the Federal Government in March, anyone who has a loose association with a suspected criminal can be bugged by police and spy agencies.

This includes the friends and families of someone who has come into contact, even accidentally, with a suspect.]]> Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:49:48 -0400 http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=817 The News of the World's Royal Editor Clive Goodman is questioned by police over the alleged bugging of royal telephone calls, and I sympathise. I feel Mr. Goodman's pain. Because I've been there, I've done that. I was responsible for the first Royal phone bugging story.

The year was 1965. It began, as many disasters do, with a woman. At the time I was the Assistant Editor of the The Wiltshire Echo, a tiny weekly paper based in teashop-twee Marlborough.

One evening, in nearby Chippenham, I met a girl who had worked in the local telephone exchange. Encouraged by a number of vodka-and-limes, she told me this story: The staff in the Chippenham exchange frequently eavesdropped on interesting telephone calls - especially those emanating from a grand country house at which the Royal family stayed during the nearby Badminton horse trials.]]> Fri, 11 Aug 2006 07:02:15 -0400 http://itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10694951&PageNum=0 industrial espionage. On Thursday the public security department of Tokyo police announced a decision to submit to the Prosecutor's Office documents on two persons, including a former researcher of the Nikon company who are suspected of theft of samples of fibre-optic communication devices that are at the stage of design and handing them over to a personnel member of the Russian Trade Mission in Tokyo. His name has not been disclosed, only his age - 35 is quoted. It has also been reported that the man had left for Russia.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 17:40:31 -0400 http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,20078904%255E401,00.html Wienmann copied classified information while on the submarine, stole a laptop and peddled classified information to foreign agents in Manama, Vienna and Mexico City.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 17:38:29 -0400 http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=ZX927907R&news_headline=max_clifford_to_speak_to_phone_tap_probe_cops PR guru Max Clifford believes his phone has been tapped and is to be quizzed by police as part of the investigation into the interception of Royal phonecalls.

Mr Clifford revealed today he was told of "irregularities" in his phone records several months ago and learned yesterday he is to be interviewed by police - the same day the News of the World royal editor was arrested over claims of bugging at Clarence House.

The astonishing claim came as Scotland Yard confirmed the investigation into alleged interception of calls from mobiles used by Prince Charles's senior staff - in which three men were arrested yesterday morning - has been extended to celebrities and other public figures.

Mr Clifford said: "I think I'm one of them. I think my phone's been tapped.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:15:12 -0400 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2306347,00.html The Times - Clive Goodman, the News of the World royal editor, and another man were charged last night with phone hacking offences after allegations that mobile telephone calls from the royal household had been tapped.

Mr Goodman, 48, and Glenn Mulcaire, 35, were accused of a string of offences on the day that the investigation was widened to include the Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell and David Blunkett.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:12:59 -0400 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/10/ntabloid10.xml So far, a number of individuals have been identified. They are said by sources to come from "governmental and celebrity circles, and public life". No identities were released yesterday.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:08:22 -0400 http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20409-2305381,00.html
Nor do you have to be a member of the House of Windsor to attract unwanted attention: employers, potential employers, suspicious partners, fraudsters and even nosy friends might like to know what’s in your inbox.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:06:07 -0400 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/cfd865b2-27db-11db-b25c-0000779e2340.html The allegations that public figures have had their voicemail hacked into has highlighted the vulnerability of everyday communications. ...

Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks and Spencer, discovered two years ago that someone had accessed his records from his mobile operator. Mr Rose was fighting an acrimonious bid battle at the time with Sir Philip Green, who wanted to acquire the retailer, al-though there is no suggestion that Sir Philip or anyone on his team was in-volved. In general, though, tense takeover negotiations can be a fertile ground for nefarious activity. ...

Top-level espionage does involve monitoring phone calls. In Greece, it emerged that the communications of politicians, senior military officers, human rights activists, journalists and businessmen were intercepted over an eight-month period between 2004 and 2005. ...

Even as mobile phones have grown more secure, the proliferation of portable e-mail devices such as BlackBerrys have sparked fresh fears that confidential information could leak out, even though some IT experts believe the devices are as secure as they can be. So concerned was the French secret service about e-mails between BlackBerrys being intercepted that the government banned its diplomats from using the devices.

Investment banks, too, have attempted to restrict their use but the gadgets have become so useful in the middle of a bid battle that codewords are sometimes used rather than an outright ban. Whatever security measures are in place though, one monitoring method has stood the test of time. “There’s always good old-fashioned eavesdropping,” ...so, give us a call ...from a safe phone.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:03:23 -0400 http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2291952 What began as a case of a reporter suspected of eavesdropping on the British royal household has broadened into a probe of possible snooping on a wide array of politicians and celebrities, police said on Wednesday.

British police were questioning two men, one of them a reporter who covers the royal family for the country's biggest selling newspaper, after some of Prince Charles's staff said they thought someone was listening to their phones.

Police said phone companies were helping them check whether someone had been snooping on other rich and powerful people.

"We don't know the full scale of it yet," a police source said, asking not to be named. "We're looking at numbers: what other public figures might have been subject to the interception."]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:53:50 -0400 http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060805/NEWS01/108050086 Police won’t prosecute a man for using his home security system to record detectives on his front porch, Nashua Police Chief Timothy Hefferan announced Friday.

Michael Gannon was arrested June 27 after he made the videotape to record conversations among detectives who were at his door looking for his 15-year-old son, who was being investigated in connection with a mugging downtown. When Gannon brought the videotape to a police station to complain that a detective was rude to him, he was arrested on felony wiretapping charges.

The case attracted attention around the world, as news spread via the Internet. The Telegraph and city police received scores of phone calls and e-mails condemning the charges.

In addition to dropping the case against him, Nashua police also have concluded that Gannon’s complaint about the detective was justified, although the chief added that Gannon himself was “provocative” and “disrespectful.” The chief declined to say what discipline the detective might face.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:51:04 -0400 http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=8facfc6a-4306-4f88-a69c-327368331473 eavesdropping on the telephone voicemail messages of the Royal Family.

In a statement, police said one of the men was 48-year-old Clive Goodman, the royal correspondent for the country's biggest selling newspaper The News of the World.

They charged him and a 35-year-old named as Glen Mulcaire with illegally accessing voicemail messages on eight occasions between Jan. 3 and May 30 this year, and with conspiracy to intercept communications.]]> Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:47:20 -0400 http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/08/have-you-had-enough-song-for-change.html rejecting surveillance and voting for a government that won't spy on us and take away our freedom. This is handily the catchiest political song I've ever heard, and certainly the most danceable. MP3 Link]]> Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:14:21 -0400 http://www.courant.com/business/hc-kitchen0807.artaug07,0,596802.column?coll=hc-headlines-business Not Everyone Sees Humor In Workplace Video Spoofs... Fun, yes. But fun can be in the eye of the beholder. Video scenarios can be embarrassing to the employer, or even to other employees. They can violate trade secrets. And they're even potentially illegal.

Just when employers were getting a handle on workplace blogging - whether it's OK for employees to blog about the office and, if so, under what kinds of restrictions - companies are starting to call their attorneys about this latest online happening.

Matt Halpern, a partner in the Melville, N.Y., office of workplace-law firm Jackson Lewis LLP, says he has recently started getting a call about this issue every two weeks or so.

It's telling that even as technology is allowing employers to monitor and regulate employee behavior, it's also paving the way for workers to spoof - or even vilify - the boss or workplace. Some employers have begun to add yet another layer to their employee policy manual with the dos and don'ts of camera and video use in the workplace. ]]> Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:27:31 -0400 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6101610.html security tools.

"If you want all the CEO's calls to show up at your desk, that's what you would use," Dave Endler, director of security research at TippingPoint, said.

The tools were designed to help administrators determine the vulnerability of their telephony systems... Obviously, releasing any security tools is a double-edged sword in that you can't restrict who has access. ... "VoIP security is still in its infancy," he said."]]> Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:58:21 -0400 http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/0,,1838452,00.html
The Garda detective has vowed to lift the lid on alleged illegal bugging of criminal suspects in custody throughout the republic, including conversations between prisoners, lawyers and families. He will make his allegations of unlawful bugging public when the Morris Tribunal investigating Garda corruption resumes in the early autumn.]]> Sun, 06 Aug 2006 09:12:02 -0400 http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-10911.html Police, MIT, telecom firm all deny bugging army general...

The police yesterday denied claims that they bugged an army general's phone which resulted in him resigning from the military earlier this month.
]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 11:48:04 -0400 http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=49395 you can buy the technology of phone bugging equipment over the Internet.

A phone-bugging device that can be bought over the Internet starts recording when a phone line becomes active. It works indoors and has a minimum coverage of 500 meters and up to 3-5 kilometers depending on physical conditions. With this device, 25 phone lines can be bugged with one receiver. The bugging devise is sold for YTL 665 (≈ $450.00) on many Web sites.

Another method of phone bugging is to convert a mobile phone into a microphone. This operation costs YTL 5,250 (≈ $3,500.00, but, we've seen it for much less) and can be done in Israel. A mobile phone's software is changed. While the user is unaware of anything, the mobile phone conveys every conversation.

Long-distance bugging is possible: When the phone is called from a certain number, every conversation within a 5-8 meter radius can be monitored. Because this system is working through the GSM network, there is no limit to its range. Using this method, bugging is possible from long distance, for example from the United States. Changing the phone chip does not block this method. Mobile phones that are given as a gift and phones that lie on tables idly should be considered risky.

These devices are sold in Turkey as well as abroad. Endoacustica.com is one of these addresses. In their ads, the Web sites also suggest that their devices are perfect solutions for parents to monitor their children.

Another threat is software viruses that can read text messages (SMS) sent via mobile phones. An expert told Referans that phones with Bluetooth technology can be attacked by viruses. The viruses hide themselves in the memory of the phone. They record voice messages, conversations or SMSs and send them to a recipient. ]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 11:43:36 -0400 to prevent outsiders from bugging activities.

"We have periodically checked Indonesian Embassies for security reasons, as well as diplomats and staff, documents, communication system and others," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman, Desra Percaya said here on Friday.

He said that although there has been unusual indications, "we could not make direct conclusions." He made the remarks commenting on recent reports on bugging activities at eight Indonesian Embassies.

(Set up an inspection program at your company. Click here).]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 11:33:25 -0400 http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=22780&sid=8817760&con_type=3 which will allow the government to continue its warrantless wiretapping while pushing ahead with plans to have lawmakers vote its new snooping and surveillance bill into law on August 2.]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:59:54 -0400 http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/141611.html convicted for illegally wiretapping the phone conversations of civilians during the Kim Dae-jung administration.

Lim Dong-won, 72 and Shin Gunn, 65, who both served as director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), received three years’ imprisonment and four-year suspended sentences.]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:57:33 -0400 http://www.zaman.com/?bl=sports&alt=&hn=34885
Turkish State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin asked the Turkish Football Federation to draft a comprehensive report regarding the matter and said incidents of match-fixing will never be excused. The Turkish Football Federation alone is not sufficient to end match-fixing, assessed Mehmet Ali Sahin.

“We need the support of laws regarding this matter. For instance, we should have the right to tap telephone lines.”]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:55:46 -0400 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/04/thai_wiretap_scam/
According to local reports, crooks intercepted credit card data between merchants and banks in Phuket, the popular Thai resort town.

The fraudsters loaded this data onto MP3 players, which they sent to accomplices in neighbouring Malaysia. Cloned credit cards were manufactured in Malaysia and sent back to Thailand, where they were used to fraudulently purchase goods and services.]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:16:00 -0400 http://www.pr.com/press-release/15214
The Indiana investigator goes on to explain that, "Two-thirds of all eavesdropping devices found these days are cell phone bugs. Many of these bugs are basic cell phones that have been adapted to answer silently and automatically when called. Some are disguised by having been built into ordinary household or office items, like clocks and lamps." Although highly illegal, Americans have been buying them from overseas suppliers at great risk of being arrested.

Cell phone bugs are extremely difficult to find unless they have been activated. "Most PIs don't have the proper equipment to find them, and you can't buy an off-the-shelf device to detect them, although there are some equipment manufacturers who claim they have them ... these are frauds. Our firm is the only one staffed with investigators in Indiana who have the proper equipment and training to find a cell phone bug that is not activated, or receiving a call."]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:03:37 -0400 http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200608041908-1239-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia publishing prohibitions for wiretapped conversations, and set new penalties on the journalists who break the rules. That's what the wiretapping bill, green-lighted by the Cabinet today, envisages. All wiretapped telephone conversations not taken by the judge are to remain secret, kept in a special archive, under the responsibility of the DA. Wiretapped conversations not failling within secrecy cannot be published untile preliminary investigations are over. Further sanctions for journalists: the watchdog may set penalties from 3,000 to 18,000 euro, and up to 60,000 in the worst cases, to be paid for by the author of the article and/or the person in charge of information communication, as a violation of the ethical code of journalists.

Rome - June 22, 2006 - ...the Justice Ministry says the number of phones tapped more than tripled between 2001 and last year. It seems that Italian politicians have had enough. This week senators from both the left and right were howling in protest with rarely seen solidarity. A group of 53 senators signed a petition to form a commission looking into the practice; this is just one of five parliamentary initiatives to shed light on or curb phone tapping. (can't imagine why) Read more…

Rome - September 11, 2005 - Rampant wiretapping exposes some juicy secrets...
Antonio Fazio is not the type of man most Italians associate with corruption. Governor of the Bank of Italy, the 69-year-old father of five is the very picture of civic rectitude, with a loving wife and a reputation for fairness and scrupulous honesty. Or is he? When a transcript of an illicit midnight telephone call landed on the front pages of the country's newspapers last month, Italians couldn't get enough.

Eavesdropping on Italy's powerful elite has become a national pastime, and Fazio's late-night call was script-perfect:
"Did I wake you?"
"No, no," said Gianpierro Fiorani, chief of Banca Popolare Italiana.
"I've just signed it," said Fazio, referring to a legal document that, with his imprimatur, could be used to thwart a Dutch takeover of one of Italy's largest financial institutes, Banca Antonveneta.
Fiorani was delighted. "Ah, Tonino," he glowed. "I'm overcome with emotion. Thank you. Thank you. I have goose bumps. Tonino, I'd like to kiss your forehead."

The Fazio debacle is just the latest in a steady stream of investigative wiretaps leaked to the Italian tabloids and mainstream press in recent months. And thanks to what Justice Minister Roberto Castelli calls "total anarchy" with regard to electronic eavesdropping, there is definitely more to come. Read more… ]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:56:08 -0400 http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060804/GPG0101/608040645/1207/GPGnews he hid video cameras in a radio, a Lysol can, two fans and a Winnie the Pooh clock and secretly recorded the movements of two young girls.

The district attorney's office said more charges are expected.

Craig Baasch, 40, 154 E. Johnson St., remained in custody Thursday afternoon in the Fond du Lac County Jail under $5,000 cash bail.]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:12:47 -0400 http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/07232006/worldnation-23sun-deaths.html Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:49:21 -0400 break into people’s homes to install secret monitoring equipment in their computers, and have the right to register PC identity numbers, even if no crime has been committed.

It is claimed that is what could happen as part of tougher electronic surveillance powers being proposed by Sweden’s Justice Minister, Thomas Bodström.

His measures are designed to make it easier for the police to use bugging devices to solve crimes like murder, people smuggling and rape.

The proposals are being criticised by some as being a step too far.]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:30:20 -0400 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_listening_device covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug, is...]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:28:35 -0400 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Soviet_espionage_in_the_United_States By the mid to late 1920s, there were three elements of Soviet power operating in the United States...]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:26:25 -0400 http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,19762634%255E14787,00.html A spycam was discovered in a children's changeroom at The Strand Water Park on the weekend.

Cr Crisafulli wrote to the Mayor about a Canadian-based website which listed nine shopping centres, parks and public toilets in Townsville.

It also contains tips on how men can hide from police and spy on other facility users.

"We must undertake regular inspections of our public toilets by trained staff," he said. "Not expect hard-working cleaners to become part-time private eyes."]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:22:19 -0400 http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060729/COLUMNISTS13/607300359/1062/NEWS01
"More of it happens than you realize," he continues. "I look at the number of divorce cases I do where I'm pulling bugs and wiretaps off the phones . . . The husband taps the wife, the wife taps the husband.

"What's popular now are these new GPS (global-positioning system) devices. You take a device that's the size of a pack of cigarettes and you put it under the back seat or under the car, and it tracks everywhere that car goes and how long it was there."]]> Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:07:32 -0400 http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060804.H08&irec=6 wiretapping.

The court is examining the 2002 law establishing the KPK. The review was requested by Mulyana Wira Kusumah, who was convicted on graft charges last year.

In his petition, Mulyana said the law allowing the KPK to bug violated constitutional guarantees of the right to communicate and get information freely.

He argued it also violated the 1999 law on telecommunication, which bans wiretapping in any form.]]> Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:44:54 -0400 http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA080306.02B.Wiretapping_0803.1bfd5c3.html "Angry. Humiliated. Embarrassed. Scared."

TX - That's how Deanna Rickman felt in 2002 when she found out her husband had been taping her phone conversations as the two entered a rough divorce, she testified Wednesday in her ex-husband's felony wiretapping trial.

(Her ex, Richard) Green faces three counts of wiretapping, which is a second-degree felony with a sentencing range of two to 20 years, for taping the phone conversations of his then-wife in 2002.

She didn't know her husband was taping her calls — until she discovered that Green had turned them over to a psychologist who was making an evaluation in their custody battle.]]> Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:42:28 -0400 http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/NEWS/607300372/1004 illegal wiretapping. ... Erin Abercrombie turned herself in Thursday night on the same charge and was released on bail early Friday morning.

A warrant was issued for their arrest after they secretly videotaped a conversation they had with a developer about a month ago. ]]> Mon, 31 Jul 2006 07:43:32 -0400 http://www.sibgonline.com/public/userlisting/pdfupload/340_759_pr.pdf Eavesdropping detection instrumentation acquired by Murray Associates detects hidden bugging devices with greater accuracy and speed.

Oldwick, NJ (PRWEB) July 27, 2006 -- Imagine... Point, shoot and at the speed-of-light hidden electronic surveillance devices are discovered. Murray Associates announces that they have invested $40,000.00 in new instrumentation which does exactly that for their clients.

The new equipment is able to sense the presence of an electronic eavesdropping bug - at distances of up to ten feet. Previously, maximum detection distance for this class of instrumentation was measured in inches. The benefit for Murray's corporate and government security directors is twofold – a much more effective inspection, conducted in a shorter period of time...]]> Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:16:19 -0400 http://www.idm.net.au/story.asp?id=7341 monitoring emails of senior staff, claiming it to be part of its Records Management policy. News Ltd sources are reporting rumours that Telstra is monitoring staff communications.

The news surfaced after the abrupt departure of Andrew Johnson from the technology division...

Telstra declined to confirm if the email refers to Mr Johnson. The News Ltd report indicated Mr Johnson was accused of leaking information to the Australian Financial Review, after the paper published negative articles about Telstra business decisions.]]> Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:22:56 -0400 http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,19762634%255E14787,00.html
A spycam was discovered in a children's changeroom at The Strand Water Park on the weekend...]]> Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:19:28 -0400 http://www.oscodapress.com/articles/2006/07/11/news/news02.txt two felony eavesdropping counts as part of a surprise plea agreement entered in 23rd Circuit Court...

Bridson was charged in late 2005 with one count of using a computer to commit eavesdropping; three counts of divulging information obtained through eavesdropping, and three counts of eavesdropping last year. All counts, except two of the eavesdropping charges, will be dismissed on Aug. 7 if the judge accepts the agreement.]]> Tue, 11 Jul 2006 22:48:08 -0400 http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17350691%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26headline=world%2dexclusive%2d%2dmaccagate%2d%2dpaul%2ds%2dshock%2dover%2dphone%2dbug%2dtape-name_page.html "Any time, any day
You can hear the people say..."

A phone conversation between Sir Paul McCartney and his daughter Stella about the breakdown of his marriage and impending divorce has been secretly BUGGED, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

In the sensational private call fashion designer Stella launches a ferocious attack on the 64-year-old star's estranged wife Heather Mills.

The recording is believed to have been made while Macca was at his farmhouse on his 160-acre estate in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, in recent weeks.

The tape is believed to have come into Heather's hands at the end of last month. Furious Heather confronted Macca with the recording last week - and made the cringing ex-Beatle listen to it. The star is said to have been in a state of "utter shock" that he had been bugged.

It is not known who bugged Macca's call...]]> Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:58:30 -0400 http://anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=606 Peter Pan evolved gradually from the stories which he told to Sylvia Llewelyn Davies's five young sons. On one occasion, J. M. Barrie overheard Llewelyn-Davies castigating one of the children for bingeing on sweets.

"You'll be sick tomorrow, Jack, if you eat any more chocolates," she warned.

"I shall be sick tonight!" the child declared, helping himself to another.

So delighted was Barrie by this exchange that he incorporated it into Peter Pan - and paid the young Llewelyn-Davies a copyright fee of a half-penny per show.

]]> Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:35:58 -0400 http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=local&id=4341689 resigned as part of a plea deal in an eavesdropping case. But Michael Bridson will most likely avoid jail time and could end up as under sheriff again.

Bridson is accused of tapping phones inside the sheriff's department and then recording and listening to employees' conversations.]]> Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:58:17 -0400 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501717.html offering to sell Coke trade secrets, it went straight to its corporate rival.

Six weeks later, three people face federal charges of stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell it to PepsiCo Inc.

Other great moments in corporate espionage history...

• Proctor & Gamble pays Unilever 10 million dollars (2001) for trade secrets illegally obtained but voluntarily given back before they were used.

• Fruit of the Loom is suing competitor Gildan Activewear Inc., charging that Gildan stole trade secrets, according to reports last spring (2000).

• Johnston Industries Inc. in Columbus sued Milliken & Co. in 1998, charging theft of confidential information. The suit charged that one Milliken employee posed as a student researching a paper.

• Top executives at Avanti, a high-tech company in California, were the subject of criminal charges in 1997, accused of stealing lines of computer code from competitor Cadence Design.

• A former top official at General Motors Corp. was accused by rival Volkswagen AG of stealing confidential documents (1994).

]]> Thu, 06 Jul 2006 11:45:29 -0400 http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=309acf12-f73c-413c-964b-bc713e5ba1a1&k=88992 Every summer for the past seven years, espionage specialists from around the world have gathered in Ottawa for spy school. The teacher is the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The pupils are a state secret.]]> Wed, 05 Jul 2006 21:34:02 -0400 http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/07/05/1703993.htm an industrial espionage system that will provide the business sector with new war tools against competitors. The D4 system will combine knowledge and alerts about customers both inside and outside the enterprise system, knowledge on movement of customers to competitors, and tools for reducing bad debts and focused marketing, including cross-referencing of customer data. The system will provide an alternative to non-segmented knowledge or knowledge from many sources, which was previously collected through surveillance companies but not received in real time nor cross-referenced.]]> Wed, 05 Jul 2006 21:28:35 -0400 http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/06/stories/2006070604171300.htm Leaking crucial documents has become easy with new devices. Out of 8 "pen drives," only 3 were recovered and of them one had been erased

NEW DELHI: The "pen drive," the latest computer-aided device, is posing a new challenge to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the probe into cyber-leakage of crucial documents and information on defence. Highly placed sources in the CBI, who are connected to the ongoing investigations into the Naval War Room Leak case, said the agency's detectives and cyber crime unit officials were burning the midnight oil to proceed logically with the probe that has assumed "very wide" ramifications.

The sources said "leaking crucial documents" became easy with new pocket-sized devices, compatible with computer systems. "This is a new problem in ensuring foolproof cyber security."

The case also has an uncanny resemblance to the National Security Council Secretariat case in which a systems analyst S.S. Paul was arrested for allegedly leaking information to a U.S. diplomat. It is believed that the leakage from the NSC Secretariat also took place through the "pen drive."]]> Wed, 05 Jul 2006 21:02:03 -0400 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501142.html Three people were charged by federal prosecutors on Wednesday with stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell it to rival PepsiCo Inc.

The suspects include a Coke executive's administrative assistant, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag.

Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco said his company did what any responsible company would do in cooperating with Coke and the investigation.

Video surveillance showed Williams at her desk at Coke headquarters going through multiple files looking for documents and stuffing them into bags. She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of new Coca-Cola product sample before placing it into her personal bag, prosecutors say, adding that Coca-Cola later verified the sample was genuine and is in fact a product being developed by the company.

Prosecutors say "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents.

Later "Dirk" produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets of Coca-Cola and highly confidential. He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential product sample from a new Coca Cola project, prosecutors said.

Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret items for $1.5 million from "Dirk."

Coke's chief executive, Neville Isdell, said in a memo to employees Wednesday that the company is cooperating with federal authorities.

"Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company," Isdell wrote. "While this breach of trust is difficult for all of us to accept, it underscores the responsibility we each have to be vigilant in protecting our trade secrets. Information is the lifeblood of the company."

(Although not mentioned, we assume a full eavesdropping detection inspection is planned or has been incorporated into the overall security program.)]]> Wed, 05 Jul 2006 20:55:25 -0400 http://www.salas.com/weblogs/archives/001221.php what if I could bug IM conversations?

And as these thoughts go, I couldn't help musing about how one might actually do this.

Well we are here with 400 of our closest friends, with about 350 of us with laptop computers, all on an unsecure wireless network. Hmm. Interesting Rent-a-coder project?"

(This is, the initial 'wonder if' stage of eavesdropping, and the reason proactive eavesdropping detection inspections are necessary. If you ever wondered who's wondering about your business, call us.)]]> Tue, 04 Jul 2006 08:36:36 -0400 http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14960611.htm LOS ANGELES - A lawsuit filed Monday claims "Die Hard" director John McTiernan hired a celebrity private eye to illegally wiretap his ex-wife.

Donna Dubrow's invasion-of-privacy suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and seeks unspecified damages for what it calls a "reprehensible scheme." ...

In April, McTiernan pleaded guilty to making false statements to an FBI agent. Federal prosecutors said he had hired the private eye to wiretap Charles Roven, a Hollywood producer who worked with him on the 2002 box-office flop "Rollerball."

McTiernan, 55, could face up to five years in prison when he is sentenced later this month.]]> Tue, 04 Jul 2006 08:23:17 -0400 'Black boxes' in cars raise concerns about privacy
Most motorists not aware actions before accidents are recorded

WASHINGTON – A privacy battle is brewing over devices being installed in most new cars that record how drivers react in the seconds leading up to accidents.

Federal safety experts love the so-called black boxes because they can determine such things as whether drivers in a crash wore seat belts, exceeded the speed limit or accelerated when they should have braked. But privacy groups, consumer advocates and lawmakers say most motorists have no idea that the black boxes are recording their movements.

It's a big issue because the black boxes, which are small enough to hold in your hand, have been installed in an estimated 40 million cars since the mid-1990s.]]> Mon, 03 Jul 2006 10:09:37 -0400 http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/115145971650310.xml?pennnews&coll=1
Joseph Grabko of Lower Paxton Twp. had been charged with violating the Wiretap Act, resisting arrest and tampering with evidence after he recorded a Swatara Twp. police officer's conversation without permission at the site of a fatal accident on Paxton Street on June 8.

Peter Grabko, who wants to be a photographer, took pictures of the accident scene. Joseph Grabko picked up an MP3 player and began interviewing bystanders.]]> Fri, 30 Jun 2006 12:08:28 -0400 http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/NEWS01/106290121 violating state wiretap laws by recording a detective on his home security camera, while the detective was investigating the man’s sons.

Michael Gannon, 49, of 26 Morgan St., was arrested Tuesday night, after he brought a video to the police station to try to file a complaint against Detective Andrew Karlis, according to Gannon’s wife, Janet Gannon, and police reports filed in Nashua District Court.

Police instead arrested Gannon, charging him with two felony counts of violating state eavesdropping and wiretap law by using an electronic device to record Karlis without the detective’s consent. ]]> Fri, 30 Jun 2006 12:03:53 -0400 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062900915.html a phone tapping scandal that rocked the government this year said they found enough evidence that could lead to the culprits, according to a report seen by Reuters on Thursday. ...

"The report includes enough information that could lead ... to the eavesdroppers and those who conceived and put into place the entire phonetapping plan," the report said. ...

"(ADAE) feels that its findings so far are sufficient to lead to the solving of the phonetapping case," the report said. ...

The report also identifies several fixed and mobile phones that were used to communicate with the wire tap system. But it does not disclose specific names and telephone numbers, or otherwise point the finger at who was behind the phonetaps.

(Opa!)]]> Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:50:11 -0400 http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/833d/ ...just add a wireless microcam :]

ThinkGeek's Micro R/C Helicopter is fully assembled and ready to fly in less than 5 minutes. Piloting this mini copter is a snap and it can survive virtually any type of crash unscathed. With full flight control in any direction you can make the helicopter take off from your desk then land on your hand. It can hover in place almost motionless like some futuristic robotic insect. We had 3-year old children fly this helicopter without damaging it. It is like some kind of R/C space time continuum paradox.]]> Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:39:29 -0400 http://www.theind.com/cover2.asp?CID=313503798
Hundley is now facing charges that, six months after being named the city’s interim police chief, he conspired to place a secret listening device on Luque’s desk while she was working as his secretary in an adjacent office. ...

How Luque and others discovered her desk was bugged is still unclear. One source says the bugging device was uncovered when an unsuspecting officer overheard part of the crew that was indicted laughing about conversations they heard through the secret microphone.

When the officer questioned them about how they had heard conversations in Luque’s office — and the legality of eavesdropping on employee conversations – they allegedly responded, “It’s a government building, we can do what we want.”]]> Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:33:22 -0400 http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/converg/2006/0626converge1.html?ts the need for VoIP services to include "lawful intercept" capabilities supporting law enforcement. The FCC is responsible for enforcing the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, also referred to as CALEA.

In its ruling, the FCC noted it will require "that all carriers providing facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VoIP service to submit interim reports to the Commission to ensure that they will be CALEA-compliant by May 14, 2007." (For the full 84-page ruling, click on this PDF link.)

Now a few million-dollar questions about CALEA: Must Skype or other PC-to-PC call providers also comply with the FCC ruling? Must calls being controlled by a Unified Communications session controller over private data networks be available for call monitoring? What about calls using AOL, Yahoo or MSN voice capabilities?

So far, it looks like these kinds of "click to" calls will be exempt from monitoring, but then again...]]> Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:09:11 -0400 (Coincidence or leak? We'll never know for certain. This stuff happens all the time.)]]> Mon, 26 Jun 2006 17:37:35 -0400 http://www.voylent.com SecureGSM SP - designed to combat eavesdropping and interception by providing Military Grade security for your confidential mobile phone conversations and messaging. ...runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile enabled Communicators and Smartphones without affecting their original functionality.

NOW, for the Symbian-powered smartphones (Nokia Series 60) crowd...
Voylent Communicator: end-to-end encryption for smartphones. The Voylent Communicator provides privacy and security against communications eavesdropping and tampering.

Major features - Software implementation - Internet, IP, GPRS/EDGE/EDVO/UMTS are not required to establish a secure voice connection - Runs on Symbian-powered smartphones (Nokia Series 60) - Straightforward to use, easy to install - Uses the same address book of normal voice calls

Just remember...
- The first fax machine was useless.
- The second one was useful for a specific job.
- Once everyone had one...
now, that was a communications-coup! Same here. ]]> Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:41:21 -0400 http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5062275&nav=4QcS
Forty-four-year-old Investigator Michael Hildreth is accused of eavesdropping on next-door neighbor James Missel and changing information on Missel's computer last year.

He pleaded not guilty to third-degree computer trespassing, eavesdropping and official misconduct.]]> Sat, 24 Jun 2006 10:16:56 -0400 http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-06-23T224545Z_01_N23324678_RTRIDST_0_SECURITY-ATT.XML&rpc=66
..."It's a secret of the highest order," Keisler told Walker, referring to what role, if any, AT&T has in the initiative. ... AT&T will only say it follows the law.]]> Sat, 24 Jun 2006 10:08:39 -0400 http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=127825 The mayor of Greenfield, Minnesota (Larry Plack) which is located in western Hennepin County is facing some rather bizarre charges. He's accused of 'bugging' an employee's vehicle.

Plack is a private investigator and was elected mayor of Greenfield in 2004.

Plack admits he planted the bug, but according to a criminal complaint against him said, "she was an employee of his and he was following her due to the fact that she was meeting with middle eastern males at smoke shops and gas stations throughout the metro area attempting to establish relationships with them."
(...meaning what, exactly?)]]> Sat, 24 Jun 2006 10:00:23 -0400 http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=135&newsid=90848&ch=0 the number of phones tapped more than tripled between 2001 and last year.

It seems that Italian politicians have had enough. This week senators from both the left and right were howling in protest with rarely seen solidarity. A group of 53 senators signed a petition to form a commission looking into the practice; this is just one of five parliamentary initiatives to shed light on or curb phone tapping.
(can't imagine why)]]> Thu, 22 Jun 2006 14:43:21 -0400 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115085571895085969.html?mod=djemTMB Bugging of Nation's Leaders Points to Security Holes, Sets Off Multiple Probes
-- Technician's Mysterious Death --

ATHENS -- In early March 2005, George Koronias, Vodafone Group PLC's top executive here, contacted the Greek prime minister's office about an urgent security matter. Vodafone's network in Greece had been infiltrated by phone-tapping software targeting an elite group of cellphones: those assigned to many of the country's leaders, including senior police and defense officials, cabinet members and the prime minister himself.

The ensuing scandal -- which some investigators believe may also be linked to the death of one Vodafone worker -- has shaken this nation in the wake of one of its greatest sources of recent national pride: hosting the 2004 Olympic Summer Games. The bugging effort appears to have been active in the weeks leading up to the August games and wasn't discovered for seven months, potentially allowing eavesdropping on more than 100 cellphones, including one linked to the U.S. Embassy in Athens, according to the Greek government. The U.S. Embassy declined to comment.

Much about the affair remains a mystery. Government prosecutors, who continue to probe the matter, have yet to name any culprits. Nor have they uncovered a motive for the software's installation or confirmed that conversations were actually monitored.

The head of Greece's intelligence service, Ioannis Korantis, said in testimony before the parliamentary committee last month that Vodafone's disabling of the software before authorities could investigate hampered their efforts. "From the moment that the software was shut down, the string broke that could have lead us to who was behind this," he said. Separately, he distanced his own agency from the bugging effort, saying it didn't have the technical know-how to effectively monitor cellphone calls.

(Michael Frost-Beckner, Shaun Cassidy, Gail Katz and Wolfgang Petersen may want the rights to this.)]]> Wed, 21 Jun 2006 11:30:51 -0400 http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=5058668 planting an illegal eavesdropping device, Lafayette Police Chief Randy Hundley has resigned while maintaining his innocence.

Hundley and three other officers _ including Hundley's nephew _ are accused of trying to spy on others in the department through a microphone planted near the desk of the chief's secretary. All four officers have now left the department.]]> Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:57:54 -0400 http://upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060619-062742-6349r block digital video cameras from working in a specific area.

Once a scanning laser and photo-detector located a video camera, the system would flash a thin beam of visible white light directly at the CCD, overwhelming the target camera with light and rendering recorded video unusable.]]> Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:03:00 -0400 http://www5.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-06/uota-efb061906.php Eavesdropping fringe-lipped bats spread culture through sound

AUSTIN, Texas--Like a diner ordering a dessert based solely on the "oohs" and "aahs" of a customer eating the same dish the next table over, frog-eating bats learn to eat new prey by eavesdropping on their neighbors as they eat, report biologists from The University of Texas at Austin.]]> Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:00:42 -0400 http://www.spybusters.com Having "a reasonable expectation of privacy" doesn't work.

"Good" reasons clobber 'reasonable expectations' every time...
- Section 215 of the Patriot Act needed your travel, library, brokerage, retail (and other) records to fight terrorists along with a few other 'good' reasons.
- Credit bureaus needed your Social Security number for a positive ID.
- HIPAA needed greater access to your medical records.
- CALEA needed easy access to wiretap phone calls - landline, cellular and now Internet calls (VoIP)

Spot a trend?
Get smart...
Swap out reasonable expectation for reasonable need for privacy.
Frame your privacy defense this way and you will get better results.

Robert Ellis Smith (editor Privacy Journal) says...
"Can't the same be true about environmental protection?
We may not expect clean air and clean water, but we do need them...
We may not expect safe neighborhoods and cities, but we need them."

Remember...
Having a reasonable need for privacy is much stronger than having a reasonable expectation. ]]> Mon, 19 Jun 2006 16:15:05 -0400 http://patents1.ic.gc.ca/details?patent_number=2354113 FutureWatch - A patent for hidden video cameras in toilet bowels (showers, bathtubs and other bathroom fixtures)...

"Image based intelligent bathroom fixtures and systems help enhance the privacy of users by ensuring that law abiding users need not be disturbed by police foot patrols into the restroom areas, or by security guards entering simply to make inspections. An aquionics bathroom control system of the invention maintains the cleanliness, safety, security and privacy of the occupants in a smart bathroom environment."

~ Ahhh, I feel better now.]]> Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:42:02 -0400 http://www.baobab.or.jp/~oring/e_basis.shtml FutureWatch - Dr. Yoshiaki Omura devised the (very simple) Bi-Digital O-Ring Test. Basically, it detects a person's sensitivity to electromagnetic changes in their environment and has medical diagnostic applications.

If his test proves accurate, one logical extension would be electronic eavesdropping detection (TSCM) applications. Like we say here at Murray Associates, we bring the finest instruments to your defense. The top two on that list are our brains and eyes.

Will the BDORT ever join our list, or is it just a "pull my finger" gag? We don't know. But, at least we are thinking about it. Stay tuned.]]> Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:41:48 -0400 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-pellicano11jun11,0,1999768.story?coll=la-home-headlines Pellicano Won't 'Rat Out' Clients
From jail, the private eye to the stars calls the wiretapping case 'bogus' and defends his contacts.

Speaking by telephone from the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles one morning last week, a defiant Pellicano insisted that he would never cooperate with authorities or testify against a bevy of A-list lawyers, Hollywood executives, business moguls and celebrities who have hired him over the years to dig up dirt on their adversaries.]]> Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:37:24 -0400 http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/sub_wiretap/ 1970 - Capt. James Bradley convinces Henry Kissinger to authorize submarines to wiretap phonelines in Soviet territorial waters - The U.S.S. Halibut sets sail...

Unfortunately, he couldn't have picked a worse time. He was asking the Navy to assume that a five-inch-thick cable lay beneath the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, to utilize early 1970s diving technology to find it, and then use 1970s electrical technology to try to wiretap it. Crazy. Not just crazy, but foolhardy. Nuclear subs had a long history of colliding...

They placed the tap, recorded a few minutes to see if it would work, picked it up, and left. The original tap was a small three feet long, and could record a few phone lines of the scores hiding in the cable for a short time. It was designed to clamp onto the line, record a game of scrabble, and then get removed and stashed inside. It was used only on that one mostly renegade mission to prove recording was possible. The plan was to go back with a bigger tap that could record for a whole year.

This new one, built by Bell Labs, was nuke-powered, twenty feet long, weighed six tons, and could record dozens of lines for months at a time. With this operation, not only did divers in radiator suits have to think about manhandling a twelve thousand pound tape recorder in swelling sea currents and freezing temperatures, but the Navy had to wonder if it was wise to leave an obviously U.S.-made piece of wiretapping equipment untended in Soviet waters for months at a stretch. Being caught lurking about with a sub is one thing, leaving a Cadillac-sized lump of coal in the Soviet stocking was completely different.

The National Security Agency got ahold of the tapes after the sub took a break from other duties and went back to get a few months of recordings. The NSA managed to isolate 20 separate phone lines in the cable, and separate all of them into simple, uncoded Russian. There were a few lines they could use: the U.S. Navy learned about Soviet training missions, in which Soviet subs were being sent monitor U.S. activity and lots of other official business. It was tempting enough stuff to go back a few more times in 1974 and 1975.]]> Wed, 14 Jun 2006 10:34:21 -0400 http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16780846&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6 illegal audio recordings, as part of a video surveillance system installed at the Sloppy home, of their neighbors.]]> Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:08:44 -0400 http://www.epson.jp/fr/index.html Fly it by remote control. Built in camera broadcasts back to laptop computer.

“Power raising the super thin-shaped ultrasonic motor, when it improves largest lift to 17g, simultaneously, it loads the worldwide smallest most lightweight gyro sensor of mass of former 1/5, actualizing light weight conversion two CPU which include the Epson original 32bitRISC micro-computer “S1C 33Family” with high density mounting. It succeeded in building in power source. In addition you say that also attitude control mechanism is converted to high accuracy. Flight worthy time approximately 3 minutes. With prototype, there is no marketing schedule.” :(]]> Sun, 11 Jun 2006 12:12:04 -0400 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114986922749176233.html?mod=djemTEW Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:44:30 -0400 http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-domspy-4406,0,3656175.flash Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:29:32 -0400 http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14759723.htm
The six people from the Rocancourt case were among scores of victims listed earlier this year in a 112-count federal indictment accusing Pellicano and others of wiretapping and illegally accessing law-enforcement databases to gain advantage in criminal and civil litigation. Alleged victims included stars such as Sylvester Stallone and comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon.

Pellicano, 62, has pleaded not guilty.]]> Thu, 08 Jun 2006 09:14:50 -0400 http://voipsa.org/blog/2006/05/25/18/ VoIP eavesdropping, why it is different from the PSTN, what solutions are out there to help protect against it and more.]]> Thu, 08 Jun 2006 09:08:28 -0400 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/technology/08voice.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Federal authorities yesterday arrested a Miami man (and a man from Spokane, WA - see photo) who they said made more than $1 million in a hacking scheme involving the resale of Internet telephone service.

The case, representing an elaborate new form of Internet hacking, raises fresh questions about the security of phone traffic over largely unregulated networks.

To evade detection, Mr. Pena is said to have first funneled the calls through hacked network ports at other companies, including one run by an unsuspecting investment company in Rye Brook, N.Y

To date, most of the concern about the safety of Internet-based communications has focused on the ability of criminals to eavesdrop on calls, to generate fake caller ID's and to steal long-distance phone service.]]> Thu, 08 Jun 2006 08:54:29 -0400 http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-wh-nsawiretapping,0,1906650.flash Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:29:30 -0400 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06157/696123-51.stm
To make telephones more affordable to working-class families, Bell Telephone and other companies began offering party lines in 1891.

For some people living on isolated farms without a car or radio, the temptation to eavesdrop on another family's call was irresistible. Calls to doctors were apparently the most enticing, but those of in-laws, sweethearts and feuding families could also be lively entertainment.]]> Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:19:16 -0400 http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=5&id=30815 illegally recorded employee conversations is expected to be brought before a grand jury next month to determine if criminal charges are warranted, District Attorney Mike Harson said Tuesday.

Harson asked the State Police in March to investigate complaints he received that Hundley and some of his subordinates were secretly recording conversations.

"My understanding is that they did determine there was a listening device," Harson said after receiving the State Police report Tuesday.

Harson also said four of Hundley's subordinates are named in the investigative report as suspects for allegedly being involved in the placement, servicing or monitoring of a listening device.]]> Mon, 05 Jun 2006 15:41:39 -0400 http://tinyurl.com/s6345 Financial Times of London - June 2, 2006

- Last year Manchester United discovered that its dressing room talks about team tactics had been bugged...
- Similarly, the Japanese bank Sumitomo in London was alerted last year to its computers being physically bugged with keystroke loggers by a gang hoping to steal 220m Pounds; the bugs were thought to have been attached by cleaners...
- Boeing was stripped of US Air Force contacts worth Dollars 1bn when it was discovered that it illegally obtained documents from rival Lockheed Martin...

"Everyone's very keen to control who comes in and out of the building and protect cyberspace," says Crispin Sturrock, chief executive of information security company White Rock. "But there is a big hole in the middle. Far fewer companies prepare for industrial espionage."

Eavesdropping on businesses has become easier as bugs have become more available, cheaper, powerful and smaller. A concealed MP3 player, for example, can record days of conversation. A phone bug can be planted in a room and dialled into from anywhere: the call often escapes detection because it resembles an ordinary mobile phone call. They are, says Mr Sturrock, "the current bug of choice"...

Spies can be defeated. On the bugging side, counter-surveillance companies can sweep the premises and throw "electronic blankets" over rooms during secure meetings.]]> Sat, 03 Jun 2006 20:37:05 -0400 http://www.esupply.co.jp/tokusetu/EEBN-A-75279.asp?sku=EEBN%2DA%2D75279&bun%5Fid1=0 Save electricity by shredding your unwanted bank card applications manually with these Shredding Scissors. Combining the power of five scissors with one blue handle, these make short work of old credit cards (sic) and Christmas cards. You could even cut your kid's hair 5 times as fast. Available from Japan for 2,010 Yen ($17). Snip snip. – via Jason Chen (gizmodo.com)

And... for credit cards and CDs, the hand-crank model.]]> Sat, 03 Jun 2006 13:24:09 -0400 stingy-sams-shredder-scissors http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71022-0.html?tw=wn_technology_4 ...A Cautionary Tale About Eavesdropping in Public Places

Crystal City, VA - The dingy hotel corridor was populated with suits, milling about and radiating airs of defensive hostility. They moved in close-knit groups, rounding a stranger or a rival group conspicuously, the way cats do. They spoke in whispers. They glanced nervously over their shoulders as they took calls on their cell phones, then darted swiftly into alcoves.

They were government officials, telephone company honchos, military officers, three-letter-agency spooks and cops, all brought together by salesmen dealing in the modern equipment of surveillance. It was my job to learn what they were up to.

Later, at the bar, I sat beside three Americans: two cops and a civilian police employee. They bitched about how difficult RF interception is, how the equipment is complicated and its user interfaces mysterious, and the difficulty of getting adequate funds and properly trained personnel to carry out surveillance effectively.

On day three, the last day of the conference, I had nothing left to gain from working the periphery, hence nothing to lose from being tossed out, so I strolled past the android and the uniformed guard. No one challenged me. I chatted with vendors. I grabbed brochures from their tables and handouts in the conference rooms.]]> Sat, 03 Jun 2006 08:02:21 -0400 crashing-the-wiretappers-ballcrashing-the-wiretappers-ballcrashing-the-wiretappers-ballcrashing-the-wiretappers-ballcrashing-the-wiretappers-ball http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/03/washington/03settle.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin once suspected of espionage, yesterday settled an invasion of privacy lawsuit against the government for $1,645,000.]]> Sat, 03 Jun 2006 07:18:15 -0400 ho-ho-ho-all-the-way-to-the-bank http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14719140.htm wiretapping Hollywood celebrities said prosecutors can use evidence gathered in a search of his offices. ... Fourteen people have been charged in the government's wiretapping case. Six have plead guilty.]]> Sat, 03 Jun 2006 07:14:38 -0400 the-score-feds-6-taps-0 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C05%5C27%5Cstory_27-5-2006_pg7_8
The local carpet trader was attacked in Miranshah and he later died in hospital, a government official said. Witnesses said the assailants fled from the scene shouting that they had meted out punishment to a spy.]]> Sun, 28 May 2006 09:25:01 -0400 militants-kill-spy-or-why-good-humint-is-rare http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6077353.html?part=rss&tag=6077353&subj=news?asses lawsuit that accuses the company of facilitating a government wiretapping program, CNET News.com has learned.

AT&T's attorneys this week filed a 25-page legal brief striped with thick black lines that were intended to obscure portions of three pages and render them unreadable (click here for PDF).

But the obscured text nevertheless can be copied and pasted inside some PDF readers, including Preview under Apple Computer's OS X and the xpdf utility used with X11.

The deleted portions of the legal brief seek to offer benign reasons why AT&T would allegedly have a secret room at its downtown San Francisco switching center that would be designed to monitor Internet and telephone traffic. ]]> Sat, 27 May 2006 07:02:37 -0400 att-leaks-sensitive-info-in-nsa-suit http://www.theymightbegiants.com/mp3/NSA.mp3 ]]> Thu, 25 May 2006 18:08:09 -0400 spooky-ringtone-call-connected-through-the-nsa http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9227-physicists-draw-up-plans-for-real-cloaking-device.html render objects invisible to the human eye.

Visible light normally bounces off an object's surface making it visible to the human eye. But John Pendry and colleagues at Imperial College London, UK, have calculated that materials engineered to have abnormal optical properties, known as metamaterials, could make light pass around an object as so it appears as if it were not there at all.]]> Thu, 25 May 2006 18:01:41 -0400 futurewatch-invisble-man-espionage http://www.telecomskorea.com/ Samsung Bans its 8GB Phone in the Company, says CEO

"Even though we made it, SCH –B570 with 8GB HDD is not allowed within the company,” said Ki-Tae Lee, Samsung Electronics’ Telecommunications Network CEO. During the Wireless Broadband Forum in Seoul, President Lee explained the strict prohibition by saying, “8GB storage capacity is more than enough to steal all confidential data about our company.”]]> Thu, 25 May 2006 17:56:29 -0400 so-whats-your-company-policy http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/news/tibnews/display.var.772727.0.village_on_spy_alert_as_bugging_device_is_found.php UK - Rumours of espionage, subterfuge and unsavoury goings-on abound in the otherwise serene surroundings of a Dales village following the discovery of a sophisticated bugging device.

A typical surveillance device of this type with a transmitting range of between 400 and 600 metres could cost anything up to around £280, although examples advertised on the internet can be bought from as little as £40.]]> Thu, 25 May 2006 16:12:22 -0400 village-on-spy-alert-as-bugging-device-is-found http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=190262
Two weeks ago, the ODS warned the media in public that if any secret recordings are passed to it and published, it will be liable to criminal prosecution. (But, not if it happened in the US - see Extortionography.)]]> Thu, 25 May 2006 16:04:43 -0400 extortionography-bugging-from-koristka-case-sent-to-server http://www.suresafe.com.tw/series2.html?Frame=off Wed, 24 May 2006 18:32:11 -0400 they-be-jammin http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/NEWS01/605240349/1001/news
During his address, Bernero blasted the leadership of the public utility for a "serious lack of institutional control." The mayor attended the meeting after recently calling for an investigation into eavesdropping allegations at the city-owned utility.

"I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that all is not well here at the BWL," Bernero told the commissioners. "Swift and certain action must be taken to remedy the serious problems that plague this organization."

It was not clear Tuesday night who the BWL would hire or how much an investigation would cost. More details were expected later in the week. ...

The union had accused management at the public utility of eavesdropping on personal and union-related telephone calls within the customer service center in 2002 and 2004.

Those allegations led to the FBI inquiry.]]> Wed, 24 May 2006 18:00:06 -0400 mayor-calls-for-eavesdropping-investigation http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/21/AR2006052100167.html videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from a Northern Virginia investor who was wearing an FBI wire, according to a search-warrant affidavit released yesterday.]]> Mon, 22 May 2006 08:57:32 -0400 eavesdropping-chills-congressman-with-cold-cash http://www.networkworld.com/research/2006/051506-voip-guide-security.html?nltxv=0515voipalert1&code=nlvoipalert33676 Beware of phreakers, fraudsters, sniffers, RATS, SPIT, men in the middle, broadcast storms, Wi-Fi jamming.

VoIP (Internet telephones) has finally arrived as a mainstream application. Before you deploy VoIP, however, you need to be aware of the security risks and the countermeasures that you can take.

Security is important in every context, but especially when you're replacing the world's oldest, largest and most resilient and available communications network. While no individual security measure will eliminate attacks against VoIP deployments entirely, a layered approach can meaningfully reduce the probability that attacks will succeed.

The threats Enterprise VoIP customers and service providers are vulnerable to many of the same impersonation-based attacks "phreakers" attempt against traditional telephone and cellular services. The goals - identity and information theft and toll fraud (and eavesdropping) - are the same.]]> Mon, 22 May 2006 08:51:15 -0400 how-to-protect-your-voip-network http://www.globalsources.com/GeneralManager?design=clean&language=en&page=showarticle&action=GetArticle&article_id=9000000075028 Taiwan – The I-series-Green, a new release from I-Care Telecom Inc., is a remote monitoring mobile phone for children ages 4 to 9. Parents can monitor the surroundings and activities of the child without the latter knowing.]]> Sun, 21 May 2006 12:42:05 -0400 turn-your-kid-into-a-trojan-horse http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060510/celeb_private_eye_060510/20060510?hub=Entertainment Pellicano conspired with mobsters to place a "hit" on an associate who authorities say was hired to threaten a Los Angeles Times reporter, federal prosecutors said in court documents.

Investigators working a sweeping wiretapping probe obtained "corroborated information" that Pellicano recently sought a hit on Alexander Proctor, who is charged alongside Pellicano with threatening reporter Anita Busch in 2002, according to the documents.]]> Sat, 13 May 2006 08:17:08 -0400 hollywood-taps-hits-fits http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/business/news/tm_objectid=17047620&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=hotels-given-spy-bug-alert-name_page.html
North west industry specialist Talk Safe UK contacted a range of hotels throughout the region, including five based in Liverpool.

They said their inquiries revealed that none of the hotels they contacted could guarantee that meeting rooms were swept for electronic eavesdropping gadgets before confidential business meetings took place. ...

Ian Austin, managing partner at Liverpool law firm Halliwells, echoed Mr Bescoby's views and admitted: "I'm surprised at the findings.

"More and more business meetings are now taking place at neutral venues such as hotels.

"We would insist on a room being swept for bugs as commercially sensitive information needs to remain absolutely confidential. You can't take any chances," he said.]]> Thu, 11 May 2006 10:27:36 -0400 hotels-given-spy-bug-alert http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok.asp?cl=23317 attempted eavesdropping on a closed government meeting. The reporter, Václav Nekvapil, faces up to two years in jail, said Ján Packa, the head of the office for the protection of constitutional officials.

On Sunday May 7, during an open door day at the Government Office, Nekvapil used a sticky tape to attach a mobile phone under the table where PM Mikuláš Dzurinda sits.

Security found the mobile phone on May 10, the SME daily wrote.

"With a certain technical adjustment it could have been activated and [the people involved could have] eavesdropped what on was going on [during the session]," Packa said.

According to Packa, the journalist admitted having planted the phone under the table, but said he merely wanted to test the level of security at the Government Office.]]> Thu, 11 May 2006 10:21:28 -0400 reporter-accused-of-attempted-eavesdropping-or-one-gotcha-getcha-two http://www.pjstar.com/stories/050506/TRI_B9NOUP8I.050.shtml
Sheriff Bob Huston has said the latest auditing software, purchased without his knowledge, circumvents his attempts to secure the county's phone systems. ... The new equipment was purchased because Huston quashed access to a similar monitoring system already in place and operational at the Justice Center, which hosts the sheriff's department and county jail, Grashoff said.

The sheriff shut down access to the original phone monitoring system only after he discovered software had been installed that could have allowed eavesdropping and recording of phone calls. He said he wanted to ensure security measures were in place before anyone was allowed to access sensitive information. ]]> Fri, 05 May 2006 09:26:55 -0400 mission-creep-crimped http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060503-112347-2305r.htm wiretap permits issued by a special court has more than doubled since the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to a Justice Department report to Congress.

More than 2,000 wiretaps were approved last year by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to spy on suspects of terrorism or espionage, compared with a little more than 900 wiretaps in 2001.

In addition, more than 9,000 warrants were issued without court approval last year through National Security Letters to snoop through the records of more than 3,500 people, according to the report to the House Republican leadership. ]]> Fri, 05 May 2006 09:15:17 -0400 wiretapping-doubled-since-911 http://www.voip-news.com/news/calea-voip-050406/ CALEA serves as a "back door" for law enforcement agencies that need to intercept communications of suspected criminals. A joint petition filed by the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2004 was the impetus for the current application of CALEA to VoIP.

The deadline for compliance is May 14, 2007 for all facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VoIP providers and services, and they must show progress towards this end before the 90 days is up.

What this means to you...
Your internet phone calls (Vonage, Skype, etc.) will now be available for wiretapping by the US government.]]> Fri, 05 May 2006 09:13:39 -0400 futurewatch-calea-wiretapping-ordered-for-voip-providers http://www.adcr