Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 24 Nov 2001
To: Clients, colleagues and friends.
Subject: Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
====================================================
Kevin's Security Scrapbook® is published on an irregular
basis for a select audience. HTML versions are archived at http://www.spybusters.com/Security_Scrapbook.html
==================================================== SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
SPECIAL SECTION -- DIY Detective Tips
SPECIAL SECTION -- CIA Raves
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spy News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Silly Stringers ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Terrorism Response: Guidelines for Managers Although the recent terrorist events may have happened thousands of
miles away from you, there are many potential people-related business
problems that may occur at your workplace for some time to come... http://www.stpub.com/Newsletter/60425375/4.htm
Coincidence? Espionage? You decide...
11/26 - Time Magazine cover
Copy - "Inside the Manhunt"
Photo - bin Laden's face overlaid with a cross-hair and circle.
11/26 - Newsweek Magazine cover
Copy - "The Hunt for Bin Laden"
Photo - bin Laden's face overlaid with concentric circles.
Many things look "coincidentally" similar.
The US and Russian space shuttles, for example.
Quote of the week...
"I think employees, anytime they are interfacing with the office or
office equipment, should have the operating assumption they do not have
privacy rights," said Michael R. Littenberg, a New York attorney.
from 'Net Alters Worker Privacy' http://www.registerguard.com/news/20011120/3b.bz.
Ask us about those "Non-traditional Information Extraction Methods."
Ask any business manager how they define competitive intelligence (CI)
and you'll hear responses ranging from "that spy stuff" and
"industrial espionage" to "systematic collection and analysis of
competitor information" from those slightly better informed...
...CI is conducted by every company, against all competitors,
although I would qualify that by saying it is most often an informal
process, rather than one with an official staff and specific mission.
One must assume that his or her organization is under the scrutiny of
rivals, at least periodically, and that traditional (and some very
non-traditional) methods will be used to extract sensitive information
from the firm... http://www.kmworld.com/publications/magazine/
Considering VoIP? (Internet telephony) Consider this...
VoIP vulnerability requires different security methods. http://www.comnews.com/cgi-bin/arttop.asp?Page=c1101voip.htm
Law enforcement snares voice-over-IP carriers. http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?
The FBI requested carriers make network changes to assist law
enforcement agencies to tap packet-based phone calls. http://www.idg.net/ic_733265_1794_9-10000.html
With VoIP stalwarts like Net2Phone announcing major layoffs (cutting 43
percent to reach profitability) things are looking rather bleak.
Equipment makers like Nortel Networks, Alcatel, and Lucent have all
instituted layoffs this year, and convergence player Nx Networks filed
for bankruptcy earlier this month. Rumors are flying that Dialpad
Communications, a longtime provider of free PC-to-phone calls, is going
to file for bankruptcy any day now. http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columns/laura111601.htm
No more passwords! Whoopee!!!
Eye Spy Authenticam. An iris-scanning security camera. Works with a
computer. Doubles as a webcam too. Cheaper than most hardware and
biometric perimeter / computer security devices... $240. http://www.panasonic.com/medical_industrial/iris.asp
SPECIAL SECTION -- DIY Detective Tips
DIY Detective Tip # 723 - Google's Mega411 People, phone numbers, addresses, maps, and aerial photos!
Very cool.
To find listings for a US business, type the business name into the Google search box, along with the city and state. Or type the business
name and zip code. Entering the phone number with area code will also
return a complete business listing.
To find listings for a US residence, type any of the following
combinations into the Google search box:
- first name (or first initial), last name, city (state is optional)
- first name (or first initial), last name, state
- first name (or first initial), last name, area code
- first name (or first initial), last name, zip code
- phone number, including area code
- last name, city, state
- last name, zip code http://www.google.com/help/features.html#wp
DIY Detective Tip #812 - Rumor Control Check out rumors, inspirational stories, virus warnings, humorous tales,
pleas for help, urban legends, prayer requests and calls to action to
see if they are TRUTH! or FICTION! http://www.truthorfiction.com/
DIY Detective Tip #330 - Old web pages never die.
"Follow me Sherman... to the Wayback Machine!" http://web.archive.org
They're back... (Bob Woodward - Washington Post) The units are part of a highly secret
CIA capability, benignly named the Special Activities Division, which
consists of teams of about half a dozen men each who do not wear
military uniforms. The division has about 150 fighters, pilots and
specialists, and is made up mostly of hardened veterans who have retired
from the U.S. military. The division's arsenal includes helicopters and
airplanes and the unmanned aerial Predator drones equipped with
high-resolution cameras and Hellfire anti-tank missiles. http://www.iht.com/articles/39275.htm
They're ready...
A team of CIA paramilitaries is reportedly in position outside Kandahar
today awaiting the result of negotiations that could lead directly to
Osama bin Laden's secret hideout. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/
...and put the CIA between Scylla and Charybdis.
An Internet privacy firm (SafeWeb) has closed an anonymous Web surfing
service that had been partly funded by the CIA and intended to give Web
users in countries such as China and Iran a way to circumvent censors... http://www.reuters.co.uk/news_article.jhtml?
CIA, this is CBS. We have an idea for the next Survivor series...
Radio broadcasts and leaflets dropped from US planes are telling the
Afghans about America's offer of a $25m cash reward for the capture of
Osama Bin Laden. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/
Right, right sweetheart. One a week, for 13 weeks! Lovin' it!!! Caio baby.
The London-based Arab newspaper Al Hayat last Saturday quoted an
al-Qaeda spokesman claiming that bin Laden has recruited at least ten lookalikes... http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,185240,00.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spy News
Whatdoyathink? Do we pitch Touchstone or Buena Vista?
Australia -- A former spy supplied top-secret documents to a prostitute
to help her quit her life in the sex trade, a court was told Monday.
Simon Lappas, 26, handed three documents marked AUSTEO (For Australian
Eyes Only) to former prostitute Sherryll Ellen Dowling, also 26, in July
last year and told her she could sell the highly sensitive information
to a foreign embassy... http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/191101/dLFOR17.asp http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/2001/11/19/FFXEVZ977UC.html
Dowling said she had not had sex with Lappas when she stayed at his
Canberra unit from Sunday July 9 to Wednesday July 12 last year. She
said Lappas played mind games... "I felt so sorry for him." http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/2001/11/20/FFX9ZCSJ8UC.html
FedBell? Alarmed by the steady emergence of technologies that do not lend themselves
to traditional eavesdropping methods, the FBI is pressuring telecom providers to
allow more direct access to their communications networks. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172357.html
Hey... it was a small gang. India -- Espionage gang busted... Punjab police today claimed to have
busted a gang involved in spying by arresting two of its members,
including its Pakistani kingpin. http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/201101/dLNAT53.asp
See... everyone has a loose cannon brother-in-law. Muammar Gaddafi's brother-in-law, Abdallah Senoussi, deputy head of the
Libyan intelligence agency, has been put under house arrest. Two years
ago, Mr. Senoussi was sentenced to life imprisonment by a French court
for his part in the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989.
... informed sources are saying the move was indicative of closer
co-operation in the fight against terrorism between Tripoli and Washington. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1666000/1666951.stm
"222s3e4n5d666h7e8l9p111
222m3u4m555w6o7r8k9s111
222f3o4r555t6h7e8m999" **
Coded letters sent by a Second World War spy are to be auctioned after
they were found in an attic in Devon. Auctioneers Robin A. Fenner and
Company, said "A lot of it appears to be quite basic schoolboy codes.
... Captain Stibbard's mother is directed to destroy the letters from
the War Office, but she obviously didn't and I am delighted that was the case." http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_453893.html
(** Just delete the numbers.)
SPECIAL SECTION -- Silly Stringers
"I tried calling. You must have just dissed me." Mobile phones can be spied on with the help of an invisible 'pinging'
system rigged up by a German website. The service enables users to find
out whether another phone is within reach and turned on without the
seeker being spotted, so a caller will know post-ping if they're being
ignored. The application is expected to ruin many relationships,
particularly between chatty parents and harassed offspring. http://www.silicon.com/public/door?6004REQEVENT=&REQINT1
Diss-appointed...
Federal Judge Accused of Abusing Lawyers Takes Leave...
U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla, 54, has agreed to take a six-month
leave and receive counseling to avoid a hearing for alleged mistreatment
of lawyers, including a claim he grabbed an attorney by the lapels
during a courtroom altercation. http://www.stpub.com/Newsletter/60425375/13.htm
Spamouflage... Toronto computer programmer David McKellar has developed a Web site
called spammimic.com, which encrypts confidential messages to look like
junk e-mail in a bid to protect the privacy of Internet users. The
secret messages effectively become inscrutable to third-party viewers,
such as prying bosses or suspicious spouses. http://news.globetechnology.com/servlet/GAMArticleHTMLTemplate
Spooks Jenny Agutter is to star in a new TV series about MI5. She will appear
with Matthew Macfadyen in the BBC drama called Spooks. It promises to
lift the lid off Britain's secret services. (Get in line.) http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_456299.html
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 17 Nov 2001
To: Clients, colleagues and friends.
Subject: Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
====================================================
Kevin's Security Scrapbook® is published on an irregular
basis for a select audience. HTML versions are archived at http://www.spybusters.com/Security_Scrapbook.html
==================================================== SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spies in Suits
SPECIAL SECTION -- General News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Just for fun... ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Think alike... An Apple iPod Challenger. So soon? Just coincidence? Espionage?
For years Apple has kept ahead of the pack when it comes to software and
hardware breakthroughs. But a French company called Archos came to
Comdex recently and dropped a bomb called The Jukebox Multimedia, a
device they're calling "an entertainment center in the palm of your
hand." Guess what? They're right!
(Espionage is preventable. We can help.) http://www.macdirectory.com/4u/wire.fm$retrieve?
Think different... Any company still securing its systems with single Data Encryption
Standard (DES) encryption may want to rethink its security posture. Last
week, Cambridge computing students Michael Bond and Richard Clayton
devised a hack that revealed weaknesses in the Common Cryptographic
Architecture API, used by an IBM 4758. "Straight DES has been dead for a
year," Gartner security analyst John Pescatore says. "Triple DES is the
minimum you should be using currently, and now is the time to be moving
to" Advanced Encryption Standard. http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011114S0006
Think different too... (wireless networking)
Apple Computer Inc. announced on Tuesday the release of AirPort 2
software and hardware updates ... AirPort 2 will offer 128-bit (up from
40-bit) encryption, raising AirPort security to a level compatible with
some of the most stringent standards. http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011114S0006
Thinking different can sell security!
At the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
convention in Orlando, companies selling surveillance and monitoring
products were drawing unusually large crowds Thursday. Both MetaSignal
and SafeTzone developed their technologies for purposes other than
security: MetaSignal wanted to provide souvenir images of a visitor's
day in the park, and SafeTzone wanted to create a way for parents and
children to keep track of one another. "It's being put out there as a
security system that can produce revenue," said MetaSignal spokesman
Rakeim J. Hadley. http://www.uniontrib.com/news/computing/
Think ahead...
"Why does the United States elicit such extreme hatred in some parts of
the world?" ... Enter the Americans. Suddenly the eternal, stable order
of divine right and church authority was replaced by something far more
elusive, difficult, even intangible. Out of stability came the idea of
pursuit. To an older way of thinking, the very idea is heretical. The
pursuit of what? Where? By whom? Who authorized this? By whose
permission are you off on some crazy venture of your own? http://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/1203/014.html
Security Resource #783 Security and storm window protection films - free samples http://www.shattergard.com/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spies in Suits
EMC embroiled in spy case with ex-employee... EMC says he stole information and lied on his CV.
He says his house was broken into and his phone bugged.
Storage giant EMC is involved in a full-blown courtroom battle with one
of its former executives over allegations of spying and forgery. http://www.silicon.com/public/door?6004REQEVENT=&REQINT1
HP spy sabotaged test results... HP has taken out a lawsuit against one of its former employees alleging
he was paid by one of HP's competitors to sabotage performance tests of
its flagship Superdome server. Exact details remain unclear but a report
from the Associated Press overnight said HP was looking to force
ex-employee, Hock-Beng Lim to pay unspecified damages, as well as "give
up any money he may have made by boosting sales of competitors'
products." But which of its server rivals had the most to gain? http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&
SPECIAL SECTION -- General News
Attorney - Client - Government Privilege Sidestepping the principle of lawyer-client privacy, the Justice
Department is letting investigators monitor phone calls and mail between
some terrorist suspects and their defense lawyers. http://news.excite.com/news/ap/011109/08/news-attacks-monitoring
More Wiretapping v. Freedom of the Press A Florida couple recorded a cell-phone conference call in late 1996
among House Republicans -- including Boehner -- who were discussing an
ethics investigation of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). The couple
gave a copy of the tape to McDermott, the ranking Democrat on the House
Ethics Committee that was investigating Gingrich. McDermott gave the
tape to The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Roll
Call, a newspaper that covers Congress, all of which published stories
about the conversation. The appellate court must decide whether the
Supreme Court's decision in May in Bartnicki v. Vopper disposes of Rep.
John A. Boehner's (R-Ohio) lawsuit against Rep. James A. McDermott (D-Wash.). http://www.rcfp.org/news/2001/1101boehne.html
An oversight oversight... Croatia -- Last week, Durda Adlesic, president of the parliamentary
board for national security, sought that the National Service for
Electronic Monitoring (NSEI) be placed immediately under civil control.
...the exceptionally secret service for over ten years has been
functioning in a virtual legal vacuum, without any supervision or
accountability. ...the system can simultaneously monitor 40,000 mobile
telephones and record more than 100 conversations. Each recording is
automatically started with the mention of trigger words, for example,
bomb or president. http://www.nacional.hr/htm/293050.en.htm
Hidden Cameras. Hidden Microphones. The body of law that governs eavesdropping, recording, and the use of
hidden cameras is complex. In addition to federal law, nearly every
state has its own statute, each with case law that interprets the
statute in slightly different ways. Recent advances in technology, such
as the proliferation of cellular and cordless telephones, have raised
new questions about what is permissible... http://www.rtnda.org/resources/hiddencamera/olson.html
"SPY" - New merchandise section on Amazon.com.
The idea that this is a legitimate, mainstream category is more
interesting than the products currently being sold there. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/
"Dig we must."
An innovative camera that broadcast high-quality images of a University
of California-San Diego construction site over the Internet has been
taken offline amid concerns that it could allow users to peer into the
windows of campus apartments. http://news.excite.com/news/uw/011114/tech-328
SPECIAL SECTION -- Just for fun...
Potter's Field... Can't stomach Harry Potter this weekend?
Need wizard Emetrol?
Consider these videos instead.
(No... they're not for everyone.)
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 10 Nov 2001
To: Clients, colleagues and friends.
Subject: Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
====================================================
Kevin's Security Scrapbook® is published on an irregular
basis for a select audience. HTML versions are archived at http://www.spybusters.com/Security_Scrapbook.html
==================================================== SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Privacy
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Shape of Things to Come?
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
SPECIAL SECTION -- "GET READY TO RUMBLE!"
SPECIAL SECTION -- Two for the road
SPECIAL SECTION -- Odds & Ends ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Budget Booster #634 -- The Securing America Investment Act of 2001 Business deduction for purchase and installation of security devices.
... A taxpayer may elect to treat the cost of any qualifying security
device as an expense which is not chargeable to capital account. http://www.house.gov/weller/press/securing_america_investment_act_.htm
IT Security Tech Update -- New Kid on the Block It's science fiction now, but within the next year and a half, a
little-known technology named ultrawideband (UWB) could challenge 802.11
for wireless networking technologies. But UWB, which promises a powerful
combination of low power, high throughput, and better inherent security... http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/
Quote of the Week... "For a company like ours, there are two most valuable assets: our people
and our proprietary information. That's what drives senior management
and security here--protecting our information," says John Ambroseo,
Coherent's chief operating officer. http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010831S0014
SPECIAL SECTION -- Privacy
4th Amendment Refresher Course (You know, the search and seizure one.)
As security experts propose new forms of searches, seizures and
surveillance to combat terrorism, civil libertarians will rhetorically
rally round the Constitution. But that document does not quite say what
most libertarians -- or most judges, for that matter -- think it does... http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?
... and maybe a Federal ID Card too. (nudge, nudge, wink)
Federal authorities will be urged to develop biometric technology...
under a provision included in the anti-terrorism legislation passed by
Congress last month. The language expresses the "sense of Congress" that
the Justice and State Departments should strongly consider using
biometric technology to develop "tamper-resistant" documents for
immigrants and aliens entering the country. "It's a nudge rather than a
mandate," said Center for Democracy and Technology Deputy Director Jim Dempsey. http://www.computeruser.com/news/01/11/05/news14.html
More Extortionography and Snitch Culture News... Mark Crutcher has said he has thousands of "spies for life" working as
moles in abortion clinics, who tell him illegal activities plague the
field, but refused to divulge particulars. "We don't talk about our
intelligence gathering," he said. ...the site features "abortioncams" --
photographs of people entering and leaving family planning clinics.
(Photos and video not currently posted.) http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47963,00.html?tw=wn20011105 http://www.clinicworker.com/
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Shape of Things to Come?
They say, "Never trust a man who..."
1. ...parts his hair down the middle... Your days of doodling, dozing, and playing Minesweeper may be nearing an
end. Mubarak Shah, a professor of computer science and director of the
Computer Vision Lab at the University of Central Florida, is developing
software that can track and record what employees are doing while they work. http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011105S0003
3. ...or, has two first names. Measuring the amount of time an employee spends on a job is easy.
Measuring employee productivity is another matter ... Replicon Inc. says
it can help with an Internet-based application that tracks employee
productivity in real time. Replicon CEO John Eddy insists the software
will be well-received by both managers and employees. He says. "We've
found employees have a natural curiosity to compare their work
performance against peers." http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011101S0023
Moon lighting ...ok... and action! <clap> A peeping Tom in South Africa videoed his flatmate and her friend in the
bath using a hidden camera. He fitted a tiny camera into the bathroom
ceiling of their flats. The camera was linked to his computer in another
room. He faces either a fine or prison. Fanie Terblanche, 29, taped his
flatmate Chatal Hendricksen, 20, and her friend Zinzia Rader, 21, over
several months, Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger reports. He was fined
3,000 rand (around £215), but if he does not pay he will be sent to
prison for 15 months. Magistrate Arno Faber also ordered the tapes to be
destroyed. Terblanche is a computer expert who also installed security
cameras at casinos. http://www.news24.co.za/News24/South_Africa/WesternCape/ http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_444315.html?
Oh yeah?! My old man can whup your old man! Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia on Monday proposed a duel among
President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and its
leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. (Quick, call Vince McMahon!) http://www.unitedstates.com/news/content//778400/taliban
Not if I see you first, SUCKA! As part of its psychological warfare against the Taliban, the U.S.
military is dropping leaflets over Afghanistan showing a picture of
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in a set of crosshairs. The leaflet
also shows a close-up photograph of the license tag from Omar's personal
vehicle, also set against crosshairs. An unmanned drone has been
tracking Omar and took the photographs, Pentagon sources said. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0111/omar/popup6.omar.leaflet.jpg (Leaflet)
"The Editor says he is here to cover MullahManiaWinterSlam2001."
A Japanese journalist currently detained by the ruling Taliban in
Afghanistan is still being investigated to determine whether he is
really a reporter or a spy, Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to
Pakistan, told a press conference Monday. http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=152782
...and The Secretary disavowed any knowledge... and cancelled the calling card. The American Embassy in Islamabad said today that a man who the Taliban
announced had died in a hospital in Afghanistan was not an American
citizen, as the Taliban had asserted. The Taliban ambassador to
Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, said that the man was a spy and that
he was carrying a satellite phone and a map when arrested. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/06/international/asia/06AFGH.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Two for the road
Dudley, charter the jet... This warrant's a vacation! The wiretap authorization involving former B.C. premier Glen Clark was
illegal because it was approved by a vacationing judge in California who
had no jurisdiction to convene court outside of Canada, Clark's lawyer
told a pre-trial hearing Monday. The defense lawyer pointed out that
three police investigators, a special prosecutor and an agent acting for
the attorney-general of B.C. flew on an RCMP jet to visit B.C. Supreme
Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm while he was vacationing in
Palm Springs. http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?
"99 little bottles of Ozo on the hostess cart, 99 bottles..." Police in Greece have released 15 British tourists after they were held
on spying charges. They were held after allegedly taking photographs of
a military airport in Kalamata. Police have not identified any of the
Britons detained. Authorities say they were drunk at the time. They took
photographs at the Kalamata military airport following a Greek air force
celebration. They were all released after their films were confiscated. http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_445628.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Odds & Ends
...the highest being a 'Topless Magenta Alert' UK -- Security levels at GCHQ have been stepped up following new fears
over terrorist attacks. The spy bases at Benhall and Oakley are
currently on Bikini Amber Alert – the second highest security grading
given to military and government buildings. http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/scripts/edarchdisplay.asp?
"I can't recall," worked for the other guy...
A retired Air Force sergeant accused of obtaining secret images of
missile facilities in an attempted espionage scheme pleaded innocent
Monday in federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Lee in
Alexandria, Va. set the court date for March 4, 2002 for Brian Patrick
Regan, and also ordered him to be held without bail. http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/164400p-1569884c.html http://investor.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/
New book coming out soon... Fear Less: Real Truth About Risk, Safety, and Security in a Time of Terrorism
by Gavin de Becker
"...offers specific recommendations... help put fear into perspective."
- Can air travel be safe?
- What is the risk of biological or chemical attack?
- Can the government detect and prevent future acts?
- How to talk to children about what has happened and what might happen?
- What can individuals do to reduce fear and worry?
- What specific steps can individuals take to reduce terrorism?
- What are terrorists likely to do next?
- Most simply, is everything going to be all right? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316085960/
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 03 Nov 2001
To: Clients, colleagues and friends.
Subject: Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
====================================================
Kevin's Security Scrapbook® is published on an irregular
basis for a select audience. HTML versions are archived at http://www.spybusters.com/Security_Scrapbook.html
==================================================== SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Government Spy News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Global Spy News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Snitch Culture News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Stuff from under the bed ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
The Case of the Dead Canary in the Trade Secret Mine (Long, but worth it.) "...protection for Trade Secrets does not override the protection offered
by the First Amendment." DVD COPY CONTROL ASS'N v. BUNNER, No H021153 (Cal. 6th App. Dist. 11/1/01)
Background... A US citizen (and others) posted a computer program called "DeCSS" on
the Internet. The program allows encrypted DVDs to be played on
unauthorized DVD players. Result... DVD movies are now copyable.
An appellate court held that this computer source code is pure "speech"
protected by the First Amendment, and denied a trial court's injunction
order. In less than 24 hours, e-mail boxes were being spammed with
offers: "COPY ANY DVD WITH A CD-R OR CD-RW BURNER!"
The DVD Copy Control Association "only" lost their injunctive relief
blocking publication of their Trade Secrets. The actual case is still pending.
Does it matter?
No. DeCSS contains the "master key" for breaking the DVD copy protection
scheme. It is now public. The toothpaste will never be put back into the
tube... no matter how the case is decided.
What this means to you and your company... Do not count on Trade Secret protection laws to keep your confidential
business information off the World Wide Web, or out of other media.
Think... Is the DVD Copy Control Association still an effective
association? What if this happens to your company?
The trend... Two court cases in the last five months emphasize the First Amendment
when balancing free speech against privacy and confidentiality concerns.
Free speech won.
These decisions allow illegally gained private information,
conversations and/or video to be used against you - legally - to damage
your competitiveness or reputation. Murray Associates sees this
"malicious disclosure," legalized public eavesdropping and
Extortionography (see http://www.spybusters.com/Extortionography.html)
as important new corporate security concerns.
What to do?
Make sure you're not exposed in the first place. Revisit your
confidentiality training and eavesdropping detection programs to address
these new threats. Contact me. I can help you.
UK -- Government bodies can open people's post, listen to their phone
conversations or read their email if some senior person in a public
authority reckons it is necessary. The reasons are very diverse. The
snooping can be done by the "public authority" itself for that wide
range of pretexts, or it can instruct the postal service or telecoms
operator to collect the information. This is in the draft code of
practice to go with the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act passed last year which gave the surveillance powers to government.
There is little time for comment - the consultation ends on next Friday. http://www.money.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml
Germany -- The German government has rushed through proposals forcing
telcos to install cyber-snooping technology that would give police and
security agencies access to most German communications. http://www.computeruser.com/news/01/10/28/news7.html
US -- New guidelines from the Justice Department tell federal
prosecutors how to make the most of the government's expanded
surveillance powers under anti-terrorism laws. The guidelines, which run
more than 30 printed pages, describe when authorities may search a
person's home secretly, trace e-mail or seize telephone voice messages. http://msnbc.com/news/649716.asp?cp1=1
US -- The former F.B.I. official heading New York State's antiterrorism
campaign said yesterday that the state's 80,000 municipal law
enforcement officers would be tied into a new network providing
intelligence information intended to prevent new terrorist attacks. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/27/nyregion/27KALL.html
Et tu, Forbes? "Government computers should intercept and record all our Web traffic,
e-mails, digital phone calls--basically everything that civil
libertarians are getting so frothy about these days. We should be
turning our very best spying technologies inward, on ourselves. I'm
proposing a police state, right? Not at all." http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/1112/090_print.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Global Spy News
"Please effendi, they're Bruno Magli's. I swear it." Armed with new authority from President Bush for a global campaign
against al Qaeda, the Central Intelligence Agency is contemplating
clandestine missions expressly aimed at killing specified individuals
for the first time since the assassination scandals and consequent legal
restraints of the 1970s. One view, apparently a minority position but
one expressed in private recently by two senior managers in the
Directorate of Operations, is that the clandestine service should target
not only commanders but also financiers of al Qaeda. "You have to go
after the Gucci guys, the guys who write the checks," said one person
reflecting that view. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63203-2001Oct27.html
"No, effendi. I am not a spy. I don't even wear Versace. I swear it." The story has all the ingredients for a blockbuster - a high fashion
Italian family, allegations of mafia links, shady dealings and even
murder. But the tale featuring the Versace family is all damaging
fiction, a Sydney court was told. And the family is suing Sydney private
investigator and occasional bodyguard Frank Monte, 55, over his book
which they claim exploits their brand name and damages their reputation.
They also want the court to ensure Mr Monte's book, The Spying Game,
will never be distributed. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/story_21142.asp
"Yes, effendi. I have heard of your Judge Dread." In the not too distant future, this is how a world safer from terrorism
may look: a computerized airport camera snaps shots of passengers' eyes
to check identities. A ticket holder's iris identifies him as a
terrorist and a dozen armed guards nab him. Halfway across the globe, a
suspect stepping out of his desert hide-out is spotted by a local spy,
who radios U.S. commandos. Nearby snipers take him out with a single
bullet, all in a matter of minutes. In the secretive war against
terrorism, intelligence experts say, this is how tomorrow could shape
up: a smarter American spy network, better technology to track
terrorists and intelligence agencies working together across borders. http://news.excite.com/news/ap/011031/14/attacks-more-secure-world
Burpppp! Say, hallelujah. ...then shut up. A Village of Pewaukee man made threatening telephone calls Sunday to the
CIA in Washington, D.C., court documents filed Monday say. Police said
Jeffrey Remshek, 37, told them he called the CIA four times about 4 a.m.
Sunday after he had been drinking and watching a Catholic Mass on
television, according to a criminal complaint. http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/oct01/remshek30102901a.asp
The trials and tribulations of spies... A French journalist is to be tried by the Taliban on charges of
espionage, according to a newspaper report. The Pakistan Observer quotes
sources as saying Michel Peyrard was found with spying material. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_435245.html?menu=
Moscow -- The closed-door trial of a Russian scientist charged with spying for
China resumed on Tuesday in Siberia, another in the recent wave of espionage
cases against researchers and scientists with foreign contacts. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-1276593,00.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Snitch Culture News
Taliban's massive spy network. Haq's undoing: Children inform on families; neighbors betray neighbors.
Abdul Haq, the Afghan warlord executed by the Taliban last week, was not
betrayed -- he simply fell foul of the far-reaching intelligence network
erected by the country's fundamentalist rulers. Afghan experts yesterday
said the charismatic former commander was caught by a spy network that
extends as far as Pakistan and employs not only professional agents but
also hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens and an army of small
children. Children as young as five have been recruited to spy on their
own neighbors and friends. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?f=/stories/
New York's massive spy network. The 1,000-odd members of "Celebrity Sightings," one of thousands of
mobile messaging groups offered by New York-based UPOC Inc., submit
their celebrity bird-doggings on the firm's Web site or via their
wireless phones. Subscribers receive the dispatches as wireless text
messages on their phones. The cyber-paparazzi are given up to the minute
dispatches that, for example, veteran newscaster Walter Cronkite is
walking down 58th St. near Madison Ave. ("he looks good"), or that Kyle
MacLaughlin of "Sex and the City" is meandering south on 7th Avenue. http://news.excite.com/news/r/011031/13/net-column-livewire-dc
AOL's massive spy network.
"Have you ever had the feeling you were being watched -- that hidden
eyes were observing your every move? I do, whenever I log onto America
Online. I'm convinced whoever designed AOL was either a voyeur or a
Peeping Tom. How else can you explain the numerous features that allow
AOLers to snoop on each other so easily? With a click of a button, you
can find out whether another member is online, their personal profile
(if they have one) and even what chat rooms they're visiting. Then there
are those infernal "buddy lists," which allow the looky-loos to monitor
zillions of screen names at once to see who's currently online. Yahoo
and other Internet providers offer some similar features. Am I the only
person who finds it all disturbing? Didn't George Orwell warn us about
something like this? What really creeps me out is when the looky-loos go
beyond mere spying to actual contact..." http://news.excite.com/news/uw/011029/university-233
Spy an Illegal Eater on Metro? Change Cars and Call the Police! "Last night, on a brand-new Metro car to Greenbelt, I saw a woman board
with a fast-food bag and a small child. ... the woman dumping her fries
into a napkin and picking out the runts and flicking them onto the
carpet, then taking each fry individually and brushing the salt onto the
floor. She exited at West Hyattsville, squashing the fries with her foot
as she left."
Polly Hanson, a deputy chief of the Metro Transit Police, has this
advice for someone in your situation: Do not confront the violators.
Move to an adjacent car at the next station. Use the intercom to contact
the train operator. The train operator will call the control center,
which will summon Metro police. Or, if you have a cell phone, you can
call police directly from the adjacent car at 202-962-2121. Stay in the
adjacent car to help police identify the eaters. "Sometimes we'll get
there, and there'll be no witness and no food -- just crumbs," Hanson
said. If you have to leave and you don't have a cell phone, you can call
Metro police from pay phones on platforms. Metro passengers deserve
clean transportation, and the system is set up to provide that. You can
help by reporting violations. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3680-2001Oct28.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Stuff from under the bed
Security hinges on ingenuity... Some exterior doors have hinge pins which may be removed from outside,
thus allowing unauthorized entry. Here are two easy fixes...
Plan "A"... Drill a small hole into the hinge (exposed barrel part) and
pin. Screw a screw into the hole. Cut the screw and file flush with the
hinge. The pin can not be removed now... or ever.
Plan "B"... Remove one screw from each hinge. Put a screw or nail into
the door-frame-side hole. Let it stick out about 1/2 inch. Snip the
head. To allow the door to close, drill a hole 1/2 inch deep into the
door (just opposite the screw/nail). Now, even if the pin is removed,
the door will stay in place.
Last month terrorists, now pirates. What's next... Bridge Trolls? During the chase, the men aboard the small boat fired automatic weapons
and a grenade launcher, before giving up pursuit of the ship. "There
were eyewitnesses who saw the grenade being fired, skip across the water
and explode," said Richard Pittenger, director of marine operations at
Woods Hole. Pittenger added that "right now there seems to be an upsurge
(in piracy), and it has been dramatic. The Gulf of Aden/Gulf of Yemen
area is one of the highest (danger zones) in the world." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/
For kids of all ages... "Finger Spies turn your hand into an instant puppet...ANY TIME! This set
of plastic, brightly colored eyes slips over your index or middle finger
to form an instant face." (uh-huh) http://www.clownantics.com/puppets.html
Gag me with a spoon before I, like, start up-talking.
"Totally Spies" ... a cross between James Bond, Charlie's Angels and
Clueless, premieres today. Three Beverly Hills teenage girls as secret
agents. (Fox Family Channel)
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
11/26 - Time Magazine cover
11/26 - Newsweek Magazine cover