Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Sat, 26 May 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 -- Supreme Court's Eavesdropping Loophole.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Hanssen Update
SPECIAL SECTION -- The 1984 Rap
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Usual Nonsense =====================================================
*** SPECIAL *** IMPORTANT *** SPECIAL ***
Supreme Court Opens Eavesdropping Loophole.
Decision-in-a-nutshell -- If the media plays no role in obtaining
information illegally, they are free to use it.
The Story...
The Supreme Court decided an information-age controversy over privacy
rights in favor of the media yesterday, ruling that journalists may not
be prevented from reporting certain newsworthy material, even if they
have reason to know the information was itself first obtained illegally
by someone else.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote a dissent, joined by Justices
Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in which he notes that Congress and
most states have laws seeking to deter illegally intercepted
communications. He says there are 20 million scanners in the US capable
of intercepting cellphone calls.
The issue arose in a Pennsylvania case in which an undisclosed
individual intercepted and recorded a private cell phone conversation
between two teachers' union officials who were engaged in heated
negotiations with the local school board.
Security Directors -- What this means to you...
Batten down the hatches... "Anytime somebody leaks something that's
classified, that person is potentially breaking the law. But the press
isn't -- as long as they didn't steal it themselves," says Tom
Rosenstiel, executive director of the Project for Excellence in
Journalism. This includes: conversations / video obtained via wiretaps
and bugging.
If you hear... "I have tapes, and I'm sending them to The Press!"
...it's already too late.
Recommendations...
-- Remind employees... the "snoop" may still be prosecuted.
-- Advise your colleagues about this development.
-- Keep your eavesdropping audits current.
Security Director Alert -- KeyGhost
A spy behind every computer?
You can check for yourself. (see photos)
For the KeyGhost hiding >inside< the keyboard, you'll need us. http://www.keyghost.com/
Security Director Alert -- Get Sued for Something You Didn't Do...
Companies that don't have consistent and verifiably appropriate security
practices for protecting their IT assets are opening themselves up to
liability lawsuits... Increasingly, companies that fail to show due
diligence in minimizing their exposure to such threats will become
targets for lawsuits, agreed Margaret Jane Radin, a professor of law,
science and technology at Stanford University Law School. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47
SPECIAL SECTION -- Hanssen Update
Robert Hanssen v. Monty Hall... (April)
U.S. prosecutors and lawyers for Robert Hanssen ... (had) begun
negotiations on a possible plea deal ... officials were unable to say
whether the negotiations ... would result in an agreement before the
next scheduled court hearing. http://www.latimes.com/wires/20010509/tCB00a1701.html
Back at the court...
A federal grand jury indicted former FBI agent Robert Hanssen on
Wednesday ... one count of conspiracy to commit espionage, 19 counts of
espionage and one count of attempted espionage. He could face the death penalty... http://www0.mercurycenter.com:80/premium/nation/docs/spy17.htm
Another view...
(CIA Director) George Tenet is against a death sentence (for Hanssen)
...believes it necessary to save the life of Hanssen to have a
possibility of questioning him whenever new questions may arise in
connection with the damage he inflicted on the US national security. http://english.pravda.ru/usa/2001/05/21/5533.html
Do I have Alzheimer's... or were two Japanese medical researchers
(studying Alzheimer's disease) indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury on
charges of violating the Economic Espionage Act this past month? ...
"Here Carnivore... (bump, bump)..."
The FBI's Carnivore software (recently renamed DCS1000), while designed
to capture e-mails exchanged by criminal suspects, is capable of
intercepting a broad spectrum of e-mail traffic flowing through an
Internet service provider's (ISP's) network. http://currents.net:80/articles/2005,1,1,1,0501,01.html
"There ECHELON... (bump, bump)..."
ECHELON, operated by the National Security Agency (NSA) and intelligence
agencies in four other countries, nets virtually every kind of
telecommunication -- satellite, radio, microwave, telephone, TCP/IP
(Internet) -- through an automated global interception and relay system. http://currents.net:80/articles/2005,1,1,1,0501,01.html
"ETCHa, ETCHa, ECHELON... (da, bump)..."
At last, the leaked draft of a report to be published next week by the
European parliament removes any lingering doubt: Echelon, a shadowy,
US-led worldwide electronic spying network, is a reality. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4193270,00.html
"an' everywhere a CALEA arm... (bump, data, zep-zep)..."
...requires (US) telecommunications carriers to ensure law enforcement's
ability, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, to
intercept communications regardless of advances in telecommunications technology. http://www.ntca.org/leg_reg/calea/CALEA.pdf
"an' Greenland be a world server farm... (bump, data, data, zep-zep, bump)..."
The (UK) government is backing EU plans to extend the state's power to
snoop at private emails. ... (including text messaging... "the preferred
mode of communication for secretive teenagers, unfaithful spouses and
bored workmates.") ... all email communications will have to be retained
by ISPs for a seven-year period. "Only people who have something to hide
should be worried," said a spokesperson... http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/display_news.cfm?NewsID=1124 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=73188
((( After the song, Bernie rapped to the audience, suggesting that only
people that have something to hide themselves need to spy. "Why Spy?
Unless you've got to cover yourself. If you gotta cover yourself, than
you gotta spy, huh? Oh! Why you gonna spy? Cause YOU f***ed up!" ))) http://www.bernieworrell.com/review10.htm
Bugs Provide Chilling Historical Evidence...
...voices of soldiers of the Third Reich ... gossiping and chatting
among themselves, in what must be the most remarkable bugging operation
ever mounted by British intelligence. ...The transcripts are now among a
mass of CIA documents just declassified by the US National Archive. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4189327,00.html
Bugs Still Provide Chilling Historical Evidence...
FBI Agent John Steubing said it is standard practice to use wiretaps and
bugs because they typically yield the most damning evidence. (testifing
at an organized crime trial this week) http://www.accessatlanta.com:80/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/thursday/
The Pain of Glass...
NSA seeks new ways to gather intelligence -- including tapping undersea
cables. In the mid-1990s, the NSA installed one such tap, say former
intelligence officials familiar with the covert project. Using a special
spy submarine, they say, agency personnel descended hundreds of feet
into one of the oceans and sliced into a fiber-optic cable. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2764372,00.html
UFOs were not mentioned as suspects... yet
...mysterious outages disabled keyless remote entry systems on thousands
of vehicles in a roughly 50-square-mile area around Bremerton and Port
Orchard (Washington state) http://www.bremertonsun.com/news/2001/may/05131keyless.html
Jammin' for God...
ISS has released its Mobile Blocker jamming device that can block
wireless phone and pager signals... developed at the request of an
international customer, that wanted to block mobile phone and pager use
during religious services. http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/9856.html
Room to Let -- Ask for Walter...
The girls are still showering in front of a Web camera (ucanwatch.com),
even though Tarpon Springs started slapping down $800 a day in fines ...
"We're not asking that they shut down their business," said Walter
Fufidio, the city's director of planning and zoning, "just that they
relocate to a more appropriate place." http://www.sptimes.com:80/News/052001/TampaBay/Week
Ebay... Item #1136044456 -- Spy Plane
"This is USA spy plane that was in collision with my country Chinese jet
fighter. I part of the Chinese Military and have complete control over
plane. The buyer of plane responsible for picking up plane. There is no
sensative information on plane...it has all been taken off by my
peoples. Nose of plane broken...prop be mess up also... Some electronics
missing and othber be smashed. You by plane as is!!!" http://www.2ebay.com/spyplane.html
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Sat, 19 May 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 - Computer Education
SPECIAL SECTION -- The World of Spying
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Usual Nonsense =====================================================
Security Director News -- Wireless Microphone Problem -- SOLVED
You tell your meeting planners and presenters, "Wireless mikes are bugs.
They transmit up to 1/4 mile or more; eavesdroppers love them..." still
they will NOT give them up. Amazing! OK, you proved you're mentally
superior, but the problem still exists. "Kevin, what do I do?"
Keep us around anyway. Snoops crash your meetings in other ways too.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News - Computer Education
Security Director News - Computer Education - "ShareSniffer"
Just because your next-door neighbor leaves the front door of his house
wide open doesn't mean it's an invitation for everyone to pop in and
snoop. But what if a computer owner unwittingly leaves his machine wide
open on the Internet? Does that give Web surfers permission to rifle
through the files on the hard drive? ... a questionable new computer
program -- ShareSniffer -- which helps prying eyes find Windows machines
that have, either purposefully or mistakenly, been left wide open in
cyberspace. (Instructions for disabling too.) http://www.uniontrib.com/news/computing/20010515-9999
Security Director News - Computer Education - "Spyware"
Spyware, which is built into a number of shareware and freeware
applications, is designed to fetch, cache and show ads, and then monitor
and report on user behavior without informing users upfront that they
will be monitored. Spyware is definitely to be distrusted in any
situation. The problem with spyware is you often don't know you have it!
Many applications - usually those that have freeware versions - use
advertising delivery systems that contain spyware provided by third
parties. ... If you want to find out whether any applications on your
PCs have spyware embedded, check out http://www.spychecker.com/ http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2001/0514gearhead.html
Security Director News - Computer Education - "Sniffer Voice"
Sniffer Technologies, a division of Network Associates Inc., announced
the release Tuesday of Sniffer Voice, a new software package aimed at
easing and enhancing the management of VoIP (voice over Internet
protocol) traffic and other types of data for corporate networks and
service providers. http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=472478
Industrial Espionage... The Japanese point of view.
An incident has occurred that drives home the extent of the competitive
ethic in the United States. Two Japanese medical researchers studying
Alzheimer's disease in the United States have been indicted by a U.S.
federal grand jury on charges of violating the Economic Espionage Act.
... Many feel the United States' intention is to launch a pre-emptive
strike against an emerging rival. ... We recall the 1982 IBM industrial
spy scandal, in which employees of Hitachi Ltd. were arrested in a sting
operation as they attempted to buy IBM secrets from undercover FBI
agents. That furor came at a time when Hitachi and Fujitsu Ltd. were in
hot pursuit of Big Blue in the computer field. http://www.asahi.com/english/asahi/0514/asahi051412.html
Industrial Espionage... The American point of view.
The United States will ask Japan to extradite a Japanese scientist
charged with stealing genetic material related to Alzheimer's disease
and handing it over to a government-funded research institute, Kyodo
news agency reported. http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=25183
...and we thought the "Red" Cross would fool them.
A Russian intelligence official claimed Friday that foreign spies are
working under the cover of humanitarian relief groups in and around the
warring province of Chechnya. http://www.washingtonpost.com/
So... why not call New Eyes For the Needy?
Russia no longer has any photo-reconnaissance satellites in orbit
following the return to earth of two satellites in recent weeks. http://www.janes.com/aerospace/military/news/jdw/jdw010508
Send this man a CARE package...
A former Russian security agent (ex-FSB) announced Tuesday that he has
been granted asylum in Britain on the grounds that he faces persecution
in his homeland. http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2001/05/16/012.html
Funny... we were told they use humanitarian relief groups.
Zimbabwe has accused Britain of using spies disguised as
environmentalists, journalists and lawyers in an international campaign
to isolate and discredit the government. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_292808.html?menu=
But, there is only so much a humanitarian relief group can do.
U.S. spy cops are hampered by privacy restrictions in their efforts to
stem the activities of Russian agents working in the United States,
according to counterintelligence experts, who deem the foreign
operatives a "severe danger to the national security of this country."
As a result, counterintelligence agents are restrained from opening
mail, even if sent to a known foreign agent, and severe restrictions are
placed upon U.S. agents' use of wiretaps, according to Herbert
Romerstein, author and head of the Office to Counter Soviet
Disinformation at the U.S. Information Agency from 1983 to 1989. http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22818
Another SURVIVOR show ripoff...
Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein is offering cash prizes to any air defense
missile crewman who shoots down a U.S. or British warplane -- $3,000 for
an Iraqi and $10,000 plus a European vacation for a foreign operator and
his family, reports the international intelligence agency DEBKAfile. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22781
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Usual Nonsense
...but did little for the Touretts Syndrome suffers.
Four C.I.A. employees, fired for their involvement with a private and
unauthorized chat network (nicknamed Lunacy) on the agency's computer
system, said the agency had treated them far too harshly ... and
(Lunacy) had numerous tangible benefits. "Some of the agency's worst
stutterers and most terminally shy people were able to become
extraordinarily articulate within its bounds." http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/national/18CHAT.html
It's "F"... If "Q" were real, it would have been on "Q" Street...
A privately owned museum aiming to have the world's largest permanent
display of spy gizmos... Due to open next spring at 800 F Street N.W.,
close to FBI headquarters, the museum "will tell the story that the
James Bond movies never told" about the high technology that spies use
to steal secrets, said H. Keith Melton, an adviser to the project who
has displayed parts of his personal collection of spy whizbangery at CIA
headquarters in suburban Langley, Virginia. http://www.iwon.com/home/news/ http://www.iht.com/articles/19842.htm
... and items not ready for a museum.
That Mont Blanc pen really is a tiny video system. Those sunglasses are
also a surveillance camera. And that phone, well, it's not just a phone.
It's a device that lets you know when a caller's fibbing. ... technology
has grown cheaper so that, in an era of voyeurism, a world that's grown
addicted to tabloid talk shows can afford the products it needs to spy
on neighbor or spouse. http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/sunday/
This week's spy cam story "The Wonder Down Under."
A solicitor who was convicted and fined yesterday for secretly filming
female staff members going to the toilet at his law firm... Robert Alan
Harper, 52, was fined $1,056 in Liverpool Local Court after he pleaded
guilty to installing a video surveillance system in a toilet cubicle and
filming 10 employees between October 1 and December 24 last year. On
each tape Harper had written the initials of an employee and the tape
log time. Post-it notes were attached to some of the tapes with the
words "beauty", "great", and "best". http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/05/17/FFXVPPLETMC.html
Spy movie Scoop of the Week...
Action star Jackie Chan is formalizing plans for a film about an average
Joe who attains superhuman powers when he unwittingly dons a
government-made tux loaded with high-tech gadgets, designed for use by spies. http://www.canoe.ca/JamMovies/may11_chan-can.html
Littleton, CO -- (insert your own cheap teen joke here)
Police said Thursday that (a) teen managed to hack into the department's
computer-controlled radio system, program his radio to transmit on the
department's frequency. ... the teen talked to dispatch pretending to be
(an) officer ... called for backup that sent patrol cars speeding with
lights and sirens to the scene of a non-existent crash.
(But wait...)
The teenager was not satisfied with just the radio ruse. On April 6, he
allegedly took to the streets of Littleton dressed in a Denver police
jacket and driving a truck equipped with emergency lights and his radio.
The teen first told Littleton police he was an off-duty officer, but
later burst into tears and admitted that he had made the story up.
(But wait...)
On April 26, the teen allegedly called dispatch requesting
information on three license plates. ... An FCC agent used special
equipment to track the broadcast back to the teen's house during the
conversation. The agent confiscated nine radios from the home.
(But wait...)
The next day, a police informant called the teen and asked him
to reprogram the informant's radio so he could listen to Denver police
and transmit on their frequency. On May 1, the teen brought the
reprogrammed radio to the informant's house and was arrested. Police
found a computer and other radio equipment in the basement of his
grandmother's house. ... the teen was charged with a dozen felony and a
dozen misdemeanor crimes involving wiretapping, eavesdropping and
telecommunication fraud. http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/
Beam me up Scotty...
It all sounds too bizarre for anyone to take seriously, but for six
Bulgarian medical workers imprisoned in Libya, outlandish accusations by
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi about a plot to spread AIDS are no joke. http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/05/10/FFXUZX2ZHMC.html
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Fri, 11 May 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 -- Scary Stuff
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Directors, IT is slowly eating your lunch.
=====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Scary Stuff
Scariest Spy Technology of 2001...
(You really need to know about this.)
IBM - "The pocketable and portable 8mb USB Memory Key lets you store
large files in a device that is tiny enough to tuck away in a shirt-pocket or
attach to a key-ring." Reads the equivalent of a floppy disk in just 2 seconds!
Does NOT require software or batteries. Larger capacity 'keys' (up to 64mb)
are also available from other manufacturers.
An 'electronic hypodermic needle.'
VULNERABILITIES...
1. Quick and easy theft of files from computers.
2. Quick and easy download of virus's, and spy software.
Software + Your Hardware = Spyware. Beware. (see above)
MelCam turns the PC camera into a sensitive motion detector, initiates a
phone call and local alarm when movement is detected, saves all images
in detailed logs with a date and time stamp, and sends an immediate
e-mail notification to designated addresses, with selected pictures from
the event. It also has the ability to allow the owner to view a live
image of the monitored scene from any remote location. http://sf-web1.businesswire.com/
Scariest Spy Technology of 1946...
May is the 41st anniversary of Henry Cabot Lodge's (1960) United Nations
debut of the 'the mother of modern bugging' - The Great Seal Bug.
Check out the rare photos, an exclusive interview, and the surprising
history which links it to 'The Beach Boys' (How's that for a grabber?)
at... http://www.spybusters.com/Great_Seal_Bug.html
---
Security Director News -- Budget Booster # 543
Two Men Allegedly Steal DNA From Clinic ...according to federal agents, important medical research benefiting
the study of Alzheimer's disease was taken. Takashi Okamoto, a former
employee of the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, was
indicted in the thefts. He is believed to be living in Japan now and
working for a research firm that is highly funded by the Japanese
government. FBI agents also arrested Hiroaki Serizawa, a Kansas
University Medical Center employee whom agents said helped Okamoto
arrange to take the research items from the Cleveland Clinic to Japan.
The government brought charges against the men under the Economic
Espionage Act, which is designed to protect American trade, medical
research and development secrets. In this case, the dollar value on the
stolen Alzheimer's disease research was put at $2 million. But more than
that was lost, because when the Clinic and federal agents began their
investigation, critical research was stopped. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wews/20010509/lo/396821_1.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6965-2001
Lucent Spy Arrest follow-up... surprise announcement...
The Chinese company said to have been the intended beneficiary of
corporate espionage at Lucent Technologies said on Monday it was
"shocked" by reports of theft of Lucent's trade secrets. But the
company, Datang Telecom Technology, stopped short of denying it had
planned to sell the stolen technology through a company it controls. http://www.theage.com.au/business/2001/05/09/FFXB5WNJGMC.html
Our current clients are this smart, future ones will be...
Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology in Shanghai said...
The development of an information security system will play a decisive
role in the information industry of China. http://www.nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/
---
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Directors, IT is slowly eating your lunch.
Take back your turf. Become computer security savvy... soon.
Job security... IT managers could inherit more responsibility for corporate security, as
companies weigh up the value of converting closed-circuit television
(CCTV) images for transmission via the Internet Protocol (IP). http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2001/18/ns-22689.html
"The Ultimate Collection of Forensic Software"
All systems. All versions. Shareware / Freeware. Beware.
- Anti-virus
- Archiving Utilities
- Computer and Internet Crime
- Computer Investigation and Forensic Training
- Cracking / Lost Password
- Data and File Conversion Utilities
- Decryption
- Disk / File Wiping Utilities
- Email Tools and Utilities
- Encryption
- File System Utilities
- File Type Classification
- Firewalls
- Forensic Utilities
- GIS/GPS/Crime Mapping
- Hacking Tools and Utilities
- Image/Graphic/Video Utilities
- Investigative Tools
- Key Capturing/Session Recorders
- Packet Sniffers
- Personal Computer Security
- Recovery
- Steganography
and more... http://www.tucofs.com/tucofs/tucofs.asp?mode=mainmenu
...and don't forget the lead story above...
Scariest Spy Technology of 2001 -- USB memory keys.
---
We don't need no stinkin' Regis...
Bangladesh - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday
recovered a computer with a key surveillance software, which was earlier
stolen from the IT department of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
... the hacker had access to some very secret and important database and
analyses, proper application of which could have well made him a millionaire. http://www.dailystarnews.com/200105/10/n1051001.htm#BODY2
What ever happened to... "You're fired?"
Disgraced ex-President Alberto Fujimori gave spy chief Vladimiro
Montesinos a $15 million golden handshake to quit and leave the country
after he plunged Peru into political crisis last year. Peru is offering
a $5 million reward for Montesinos, who was last heard of in Venezuela. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010509/wl/peru_fujimori
... and the check is in your mail.
The FBI's Carnivore e-mail surveillance system won't snoop on innocent
Internet users, officials said Friday.
(So... if you're innocent until proven guilty, how do you prove them
guilty so you can find e-mail which proves they are guilty?) http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cti263.htm
Heads up!
Embarrassed Russian military officials said they lost contact with four
military satellites for part of the day Thursday after a blaze ravaged
an important ground relay station. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010510/wl/russia_satellites
Red eye...
The Navy continues to deny solid evidence that in 1997 a Russian spy
ship fired a laser beam at a Navy officer on a reconnaissance mission
and wounded him in the eye. The incident occurred in April 1997 in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca that separates Washington state from Canada. http://www.insightmag.com/archive/200105223.html
...and how do we know they were angry?
Members of a European Parliament committee who are studying whether the
United States engages in economic espionage angrily returned home
Thursday after U.S. agencies declined to meet with them. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010510/pl/eu_us_spying
Just a wee Leprechaun space observatory folks... go home.
An SAS spy nest was uncovered on the Black Mountain this week.
Birdwatchers stumbled on elaborate cameras and listening equipment
trained on homes in West Belfast. And just moments after the discovery,
the British Army launched a huge recovery operation involving scores of
soldiers and around a dozen vehicles. http://www.irelandclick.com/news/details.cfm?id=4571
Eavesdropping and Wiretapping an Employee Ruled Harassment.
In the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Sandra Flowers, a medical
assistant, claimed that her working environment changed dramatically for
the worse after her supervisor discovered that she was infected with the
human immunodeficiency virus. The supervisor, who up to that point had
been a close friend, allegedly ceased socializing with Flowers and began
intercepting her phone calls and eavesdropping on her conversations.
Southern Regional's president allegedly refused to shake hands with
Flowers, called her a "bitch" and discharged her. A jury found that
Flowers had been subjected to disability-based harassment that created a
hostile work environment.
Flowers v. Southern Regional Physician Services, No. 99-31354. http://www.law.com/
"So, who makes high end surveillance cams?"
Wescam Inc., which is in the business of developing the kind of
high-tech gadgetry normally associated with James Bond and then adapting
it to produce innovative camera angles for sports. Its list of products
is impressive: Cameras mounted on the wing of a glider for Monday Night
Football, on a NASCAR roll bar, on the side of a boat at the Olympic
rowing site, hanging from a cable above the ice at an NHL game and on
the helmet of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. http://www.thestar.com/ http://www.wescam.com/
Live... from GRIDLOCK city...
(New York City) There could soon be more spies in the "skies." The
Giuliani administration will ask the state Legislature for permission to
install cameras and, for the first time ever, radar guns on posts to
clock and photograph speeders. (SaveYerMoney.) http://www.nypostonline.com/news/regionalnews/30148.htm
Roamin' fingers tie Russian hands...
Seattle - Invita Security Corp. looked like a typical Internet company.
The only thing missing was the customers. ... it was a bogus company set
up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ensnare a pair of young
Russian hackers accused of breaking into U.S. Internet companies'
computers, stealing financial and other sensitive data, and demanding
extortion payments. ... the FBI used what amounts to computer
eavesdropping to gather the tools it needed to reach across the Internet
and break into the suspects' computer system in Russia. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2001/may
Come on Vince... Don't let this die... Forget XFL...
Think WHF... World Hacking Federation! Chinese computer hackers incensed over the US spy plane incident have
conceded defeat in a cyber war with American hackers, calling for a
"ceasefire" and increased Internet security on Chinese websites. http://www.theage.com.au/frontpage/2001/05/10/FFXDCRIEJMC.html
2000 U.S. WIRETAP REPORT
81.4% telephone / cellular (wiretaps)
04.6% microphone (bugs)
07.8% pager/fax/computer (data taps)
06.2% combination of above
03.0 arrests per intercept (average)
00.646 convictions per intercept (average)
Average cost of per intercept... $54,829.00
Average cost per conviction... $84,874.61 http://www.uscourts.gov/wiretap00/contents.html
Yet another "Man Busted For Installing Spy Cams" story... Police arrested a worker at a local spa company for allegedly spying on
female co-workers using hidden cameras under their desks. ... a female
office worker who was having a problem with her mouse, looked under her
desk to check the wiring. The woman discovered a small camera taped
underneath her desk and held with velcro. She traced the wiring and
found that it lead to other women's desks and fed into the man's office.
He also had a television in his office. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wdiv/20010504/lo/393528_1.html
Movin' the mail...
In the bowels of New York City a century ago ... there was the zip of
mail moving through pneumatic tubes at about 30 miles per hour. The
underground tubes (now "a lost system") extended about 27 miles.
Randolph Stark (26) has filed a patent application for the conversion of
the tubes and a right to the technology. He wants them as conduits for
fiber optic cable. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/07/technology/07TUBE.html
Just stuff 'um in your gas tank...
Former Government Employees Say It's Time to Reveal Evidence.
... a group of about 20 former government workers, many of them military
and security officials, ... say they had witnessed evidence of aliens
and unidentified flying objects and called for congressional hearings
about such sightings. ... Greer said extraterrestrials could provide a
new, plentiful source of energy that would supply the world's energy needs. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/ufo010509.html
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 -- International Spy News
SPECIAL SECTION -- The usual nonsense...
=====================================================
Security Director News -- Budget Booster Cautionary Tale #302
The arrest of two Lucent Technologies scientists and a third man on
charges of stealing key trade secrets has highlighted the high-tech
challenges companies face in countering industrial espionage. ...
Another method of obtaining valuable data is to bug computer equipment. http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/05/04/europe/espionage/
Security Director News -- Budget Booster Cautionary Tale #303
(ICG Scam Alert #7)
Sophisticated Head Hunting Initiatives
A fortune 500 company was the victim of a scam whereby an e-mail was
received by a company clerical employee requesting that employee records
be attached to an e-mail and sent to a company executive outside the
office to a non-company e-mail address. It was by chance that the error
was even detected and may be going on at other companies presently. The
ICG determined the IP address of the headhunting company and assisted
law enforcement in the preparation of the evidence gathering of a
prosecutable case.
To get on the email list for future ICG Scam Alerts contact:
Cameron H. Craig, President
Internet Crimes Group, Inc.
92 Nassau Street
Princeton, NJ 08542
(609) 683-1490 chc@icginc.com http://www.INTERNETCRIMESGROUP.com
"You Got Nailed" -- Wiretap Loophole of the Year.
When is email interception, not interception? Apparently, once it has
been read and stored, according to a recent federal court ruling. http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/01D0225P.HTM
The Annual U.S. Wiretap Report is Out...
... Wireless Snooping on the Rise ...
Wiretaps for cell phones and other wireless devices represented a
majority of all telephone surveillance requests approved by U.S. courts
for law enforcement agencies in 2000, according to the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts, an arm of the federal judiciary. The agency's
annual Wiretap Report said wireless devices accounted for 60 percent of
the 1,190 wiretaps authorized by the nation's state and federal courts
last year. The most common surveillance method was phone wire
communication, which includes landline, cellular, cordless and mobile
phones. Telephone wiretaps accounted for 81 percent (927 cases) of
intercepts installed in 2000, the report stated, with cellular or mobile
phones involved in 691 of those wiretaps. Electronic wiretaps -- which
include digital display pagers, voice pagers, fax machines and e-mail --
accounted for 8 percent (89 cases) of all intercepts. Microphones were
used in 5 percent of intercepts (52 cases), and a combination of surveillance
methods was used in 6 percent (71 cases), according to the report. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010504/tc/9489_1.html
The CIA out-sources...
The U.S. surveillance crew involved in the Peru incident is employed by
the Aviation Development Corp., a private firm based in Montgomery,
Ala., that has a CIA contract. http://www.nypost.com/04292001/news/nationalnews/29407.htm
Freeh at last...
Eight years into his 10-year term, FBI Director Louis Freeh announced
Tuesday that he would resign effective at the end of June. Freeh, 51,
did not say why he was stepping down. But it was widely speculated that
he would seek a high-paying job in private security so he can put his
six sons, ages 3 to 16, through private school and college. Freeh earns
about $130,000 a year at the FBI. http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/national/digdocs/
The Spy Suspect's Friend: Ex-Stripper Tells Her Tale...
Ms. Galey said, she believes Mr. Hanssen was grooming her to help him,
that the man alleged to be a double agent was testing her. http://www.iht.com/articles/18471.htm
Future Watch -- Get ready for Videophones... and videophone bugs.
The pictures were grainy, the movements jerky. But when CNN transmitted
live pictures by videophone of a U.S. spy plane crew taking off from
Hainan to freedom on April 11, it marked a pivotal moment for television
news technology. ... A museum that collects journalism artifacts asked
CNN to donate its videophone for display, if the network can get it
back. Chinese authorities confiscated it. http://www.worldnews.com/
SPECIAL SECTION -- International Spy News
Chinese Crackdown on Espionage... When Chinese police on April 8 detained author Wu Jianmin, a U.S.
citizen, he became the fifth Chinese-born intellectual with foreign ties
to be held in what Americans are calling China’s sweeping anti-espionage campaign. http://www.asianweek.com/2001_04_27/news4_chinesedetainees.html
The latest episode of Jackie "Controversial" Selebi...
Cape Town - National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi has declined to
comment on a newspaper report alleging he gave a bugging device
disguised as a cellphone to controversial former youth leader James
Nkambule to spy on former Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa.
(A year ago the National Commissioner denied that he called a policewoman
a chimpanzee... but later admitted he called her a baboon.) http://www.news24.co.za/News24/South_Africa/WesternCape/
Where Are They Now? ...
Top Amin Spy Lives In Libya
FORMER State Research Bureau (SRB) chief in Idi Amin’s regime, Lt. Col.
Farouk Minawa, lives in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. “The Great Leader
(Col. Muammar Gaddafi) granted him political asylum. He is here as a
special guest of the Libyan government,” said a source. “Amin stayed
with him here after the April 11, 1979 liberation war which toppled his
regime before he (Amin) went to Saudi Arabia,” he said. Amin now lives
in Jeddah. http://www.newvision.co.ug/national/nationaldetails.asp?id=14896
French Loose Chechen Drone...
An ethnic Chechen has told Russian security services that he spied for
French intelligence... http://www.iht.com/articles/18580.htm
French Loose German Drone...
An unmanned NATO spy plane that disappeared over southern Serbia has
been found shot down in the zone separating Kosovo from the rest of
Yugoslavia, a NATO spokesman said Thursday. The German-made drone
operated by French peacekeepers stationed in northern Kosovo failed to
return Tuesday from a mission over the buffer zone, where it was filming
images of ground activity. http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20010426_1318.html
New Zealand -- Monitors its own...
The booming popularity of security cameras means an Aucklander strolling
up Queen St is filmed about 80 times. On the 800m stretch of Queen St
from Downtown to the Town Hall, the Herald counted 77 cameras focused on
the footpath or on shop entrances. That does not include the 16
police-operated surveillance cameras in the central business district. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=186373
New Zealand -- Monitors others too...
Government takes covers off spy network. ... the GCSB "contributes to
the national security of New Zealand through the collection and
reporting of foreign signals intelligence." ... Opponents argue that
Waihopai is a foreign-controlled spy base that indiscriminately
intercepts innocent phone, fax and e-mail communications passing through
two satellites over the Pacific. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
New Zealand -- Monitors you too...
Next time you step off a plane at Auckland International Airport, smile.
You are being watched. And soon it could be much more than ordinary
observation. The Internal Affairs Department wants to link cameras in
the arrivals hall with computer technology to scan incoming passengers.
Facial recognition technology works by picking up unique features and
matching them against photos on wanted lists. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
New Zealand born spy reveals MI6 spy tool...
"I don't mind if no-one reads my book. The only people I want to read it
are MI6 and the police," says the 38-year-old New Zealand-born former
spy Richard Tomlinson. Has MI6 read The Big Breach: from Top Secret to
Maximum Security? "I am sure they have. The special police have - they
arrested me. One said it was very good, very funny." ... he writes
breezily about gizmos such as MI6's secret tool, the Pentell rollerball
for invisible writing: press blank paper on the script, sprinkle with
Ralph Lauren Polo Sport and, bingo, message received. ... are we being
bugged? "Oh, yes, absolutely. But they won't set the Australian police
on you. It's not you they want to catch. It's me, talking to my lawyers." http://www.smh.com.au/news/0105/01/features/features11.html http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970554788/
More Summertime Reading...
Remember The Puzzle Palace Book by James Bamford?
He's back... Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National
Security Agency: From the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century.
"The National Security Agency (NSA), writes Bamford, has made the United
States an "eavesdropping superpower," capable of capturing, deciphering
and analyzing "signal intelligence "communications in whatever form it
may exist and from whatever nation it may be transmitted." -- Publishers
Weekly. Also... a positive review in The New York Times Sunday Book
Review section, April 29, 2001. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385499078/counterespionage
So that's why N. Korean bugs look like Mickey Mouse...
... like thousands of other families flocking into Tokyo for the
extended spring holiday... The tubby man, wearing a short-sleeved shirt,
black trousers and unfashionable glasses, insisted his sole purpose was
to see Disneyland and other tourist spots. ... This was no ordinary
tourist. ... the man eventually admitted he was Kim Jong-nam, the eldest
son of North Korea's aging despot, Kim Jong-il. ... Kim Jong-il's
desperately impoverished country is still intent upon filching ideas
and/or equipment from Japan to build up its technological base. http://www.smh.com.au/news/0105/05/world/world4.html
Village Idiot or cunning statesman? You decide...
Thailand’s minister of interior, has an interesting idea about fighting
corruption in his country. He wants to use the wives of politicians to
investigate and expose the assets and wealth of their husband’s “minor
wives” and mistresses. ... Fortunately, no wife has gone to court over
this issue, probably because a prudent philanderer would know how to
make everybody happy, including his investigators and superiors. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2001/apr/29/top_stories/
Shear criminal genius...
Clayton-le-Moors, UK -- A solitary camera is used to monitor Barnes
Square and Pickup Street and is controlled by staff at Accrington Police
Station. ... residents and shopkeepers claim troublemakers have got wise
to the camera -- and committed crimes while it is pointing the other way.
(Imagine that.) http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/lancashire/accrington/news
SPECIAL SECTION -- The usual nonsense...
Yo! Bernie.
New York is NOT your freakin' lab animal...
Take your freakin'
Germ Subway warfare,
your freakin' HERF guns,
and stick 'um up your freakin'...
WASHINGTON -- This week, in a heavily protected military test chamber
near the nation's capital, scientists will demonstrate a small device of
a type many fear could bring the United States to its knees. ... the
device can disrupt or burn out electronic circuits with intense bursts
of radio frequency radiation. In the hands of terrorists, this kind of
radio frequency pulse emitter, hidden in a car or even a briefcase,
could "fry" unprotected computers, interfere with aircraft flight
controls and financial networks, shut down electric power grids, cell
phones, traffic lights, burglar alarms and car engines and even stop
pacemakers, U.S. officials and other experts said.
Schriner and Bernard thought about driving the van around Wall Street
in Manhattan, emitting radiation that would disrupt thousands of computers
critical to the nation's stock market and financial and communications networks.
"That could have been pretty exciting," Bernard said. http://www.nola.com/military/index.ssf?/t-p/military/computer29.html
R2D2 Me2 or... "Robo-Bug"
"Need to be in two places at once? Now you can. Introducing the iRobot.
Your physical avatar." http://www.irobot.com/
Pssst... He don't need no stinkin' surveillance camera.
A man prostrates himself on a busy sidewalk in midtown Manhattan,
praying to a security camera while foot traffic swirls around him.
"I Want God to See Me," says a large cardboard sign propped up behind him.
The man is Bill Brown, and he's protesting the presence of a
surveillance camera outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,43272,00.html
Psst... Employers need them.
Your employer could be watching you, according to a study by the
American Management Association in New York. The survey of 1,626 large
and medium-sized American companies found that nearly 80 percent
routinely checked their employees' e-mail, Internet or telephone
connections and that some regularly videotaped them at work. What is
more, active monitoring has increased by 35 percent since 1997.
(Not to mention the employee snooping binge.) http://www.iht.com/articles/18630.htm
"Cheers" ... The Reality TV Version.
In a new trend, bars across the country are installing webcams that
allow patrons to scope out the scene before they leave home. But some
bottle clubs are broadcasting images of clients and employees without
their knowledge. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,43467,00.html
Identity Theft... It's a growing problem.
Rosa Gaston allegedly used the identity of another woman to obtain
credit from a financing company. Gaston then had breast-augmentation
surgery. The victim, whose identity was illegally used, was unaware of
the situation until February, when she started receiving bills for
breast-implant surgery, which she had neither authorized nor had undergone. http://www.mycfnow.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-74
Food for Thought...
While at the NSA museum this week I picked up the following bit of
intelligence... "Go to a non-descript strip mall in Linthicum, MD. Look
for the 'G&M' sign." I arrived at 10:54 AM. The door was locked. Other
people were milling around waiting... waiting for their fix. At precisely
11:00 AM the door was unlocked. Everyone filed in and took seats.
According to the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, I had
just entered the home of "the best crab cake platter." ... After barely
finishing my baseball-sized crabcakes (you get two), I had to agree.
These are The Best! ... P.S. You can order them over the Internet.
Delivered FRESH (not frozen) by FedEx. http://www.gandmrestaurant.com/directions.php
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
