Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Sat, 30 Jun 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 -- Email Info
SPECIAL SECTION -- Peru's Ex-Spy Chief Caught
SPECIAL SECTION -- USA Spy News Wrap-up
SPECIAL SECTION -- World Spy News Wrap-up
SPECIAL SECTION -- Chih-peng takes a powder
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spying on the flip side
SPECIAL SECTION -- The EU Twist... shout & turn 180 degrees
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam Story of the Week
SPECIAL SECTION -- The usual nonsense... =====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News -- Email Info
Digitally signed e-mails have a well-known flaw that could allow the
message to be surreptitiously forwarded to another person. The problem
could allow the recipient of a signed and encrypted email to forward the
message to a third party, while making it seem as if the original sender
mailed the message directly.
(Why is this important to me?)
If the message contained, trade secrets and the third party was a
competitor, the technique could be used - among other things - to frame
a co-worker. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,s2090082,00.html
Security Director News -- Interesting Product -- Disappearing Email
Email is easy to distribute and nearly impossible to erase. For every
message you send, hundreds of copies are created. Inappropriate use,
uncontrolled distribution, or sensitive data can put your corporation at risk. http://www.disappearing.com/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Peru's Ex-Spy Chief Caught
(...oh the Dylan-irony of it all...)
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue...
Peru's disgraced spychief, Vladimiro Montesinos, caught this past
weekend in Venezuela after a months-long international manhunt involving
a secret bathtub tunnel and reports of plastic surgery, has led a life
that reads like a spy thriller. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010624/wl
Knockin' on Heaven's Door...
Ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos has gone on a hunger strike to protest
his transfer to the maximum-security prison he helped design for
guerrilla leaders, his wife said Friday. http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/breakingnews/International/
Let's just byte them to death... Fears of Cold War tensions are finding new life in cyberspace, as the
threat of Internet espionage shifts the nuclear-age doctrine of
"mutually assured destruction" to that of mutually assured disruption.
China and Russia pose the deepest threats... http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2780523,00.html
That'll teach him...
Tampa, FL -- A retired Army man was found guilty Tuesday of selling
Cold War military secrets to Moscow over two decades, becoming the
highest-ranking U.S. officer to be convicted of espionage.
George Trofimoff, 74, could get up to life in prison. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010626/aponline153756_000.htm
Lookin' for thugs in all the wrong places...
...the government is monitoring your e-mail, looking for information
about potential terrorist attacks. ... The trouble is, most world-class
criminals and terrorists aren't sending incriminating plain-text
e-mails. They're using other methods to communicate, such as
steganography (hiding files within a file). http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20010628/tc/
Vait til Mester Big hears aboot dis, Natasha. Ho boy...
(actual text from Pravda...)
Spy equipment producers arrested in the city of Saransk. ... accused of
illegal production and spreading of sound and video-recording equipment.
4 camcorder not smaller than a match box with 1-millimetre diameter were
seized from the young men. This cameras belong to special equipment for
secret obtaining information, therefore spreading such equipment is
forbidden by proper law of the Russian Federation. ... they sold
cameras, which are completely compatible with videotape recorder and TV
set, for 2 thousand rubles each (about 69 dollars), though it is not
clear till now, whether criminals used them to struggle with their competitors. http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/06/27/8868.html
Number Six, meet Number One...
Secret agent George Blake - to Russia a legendary hero, to Britain a
notorious traitor - emerged from the shadows on Thursday to extol
departed colleagues and lament lost passions. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/06/29/014.html
Officer Barbrady, meet the FSB...
Moscow -- The FSB security service said on Tuesday a U.S. student jailed
in Russia for drugs possession was an interrogator for the FBI. Charges
of distributing drugs were dropped. ... Tobin said the drugs were
planted on him after he rejected FSB attempts to recruit him as a spy.
... he may soon be charged with spying. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010626/wl/russia_usa_student_dc_3.html
Scathing Moscow Times editorial. FSB called "tin-plated bureaucrats." http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/06/28/005.html
"...I don't care if he was more twisted than an acacia nut..."
Egyptian investigators who probed the 1999 crash of Egyptair Flight 990
privately agreed that it was probably caused by the co-pilot committing
suicide ... U.S. intelligence agencies secretly monitored communications
between Cairo and the investigators who were in Washington at the time. http://news.excite.com/news/r/010624/10/news-crash-egyptair-dc
The Peter Principle v. Whatever Goes Up, Must Come Down...
The late Panamanian dictator, Omar Torrijos, worked as an informant for
U.S. military intelligence... recruited to work for U.S. military
intelligence in 1955, captain in the national guard... He was paid $25 a
month and continued after he was demoted from his captain's position in
1959 for lack of productivity and irregularity in his reports. ...
Eventually, his salary as an informant was increased to $300. ... He
seized power in a 1968 coup and ruled Panama until he was killed in a
plane crash in 1981. (hmmm.) http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/breakingnews/International/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Chih-peng takes a powder.
Scene One - The oxy-moron speaks...
TAIPEI - A former Taiwanese 'intelligence' officer said yesterday he plans
to defect to Beijing after Taipei ignored his appeals for compensation
over business losses he suffered because of his spying work. A weeping
Mr. Chang Chih-peng, 78, told reporters he had booked a flight to
Beijing tomorrow. http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,53691,00.html
Yo, ol' spy dude! 'telegraphs' ???
Australia -- A powerful, secretive and extensive spy network is wiretapping
various Japanese diplomatic telegraphs, including those about Japanese
fishing operations in the South Pacific and plutonium-carrying vessels. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/all/firstp.jsp?news=japan&an=&
Leave them alone, they're only tapping 'telegraphs'.
In an historic move, Australia's international spy organisations may
soon be brought into the open with new laws requiring parliamentary scrutiny. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2001/06/item20010627070118_1.htm
No, no, no... It's these guys you really want...
...the Singapore Government, SingTel's majority shareholder, had a
record of listening in on phone conversations of its citizens.
- Kerry Stokes, chairman, Seven Network / Cable & Wireless Optus (Australia) http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/22/biztech/biztech1.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- The EU Twist... shout & turn 180 degrees
Can't beat 'em?
The European Parliament's temporary committee on Echelon is due to close
up shop ... Many will remember the committee for backing off from
accusing the United States of using the alleged satellite-based
surveillance system for industrial espionage. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44721,00.html
Join 'em!
The reasoning is simple enough: If the United States and its partners
are monitoring telephone calls, faxes and e-mail through Echelon, can
anyone be surprised if other governments covet similar capabilities? http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44689,00.html
You be the judge... (must read whole story)
A tiny camera hidden above a women's toilet in an Edmonds (WA) pizza
parlor (Romeo's Pizzeria Restaurant) could be either a case of video
voyeurism or internal intrigue within the restaurant's management,
police said. ... It wasn't clear how long the camera had been in place. http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display
More SpyCam stuff...
You can't all be the "World's Smallest."
(Our top two amazing picks...)
Job Search - Check the chat groups...
"Let's be frank - we want spunky people who can captivate others as they
manipulate and lead them along to provide secret information to the
state" The theme of the newest recruitment campaign by the Mossad. http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/06/22/News/News.28895.html
Job Search - "Show me the money."
Fugitive Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, wanted for attacks against
American targets across the globe, has launched a fresh drive to recruit
volunteers to fight for the cause of Islam. http://www.dailystarnews.com/200106/23/n1062313.htm#BODY2
"Listen up gerbils!
This person is a terrorist.
This is a terrified person.
Got it?"
MI5 considered using a team of highly-trained gerbils to detect spies
and terrorists flying into Britain during the 1970s. The plan was based
on the ability of gerbils to detect a rise in adrenalin from changes in
the scent of human sweat. ... The system was never put into practice ...
they found that the gerbil could not tell the difference between
terrorists and passengers who were scared of flying. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=003100565149417&rtmo=axaJ3J2L
Have a safe holiday! (US readers)
Remember...
"Toss after lighting."
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Sat, 23 Jun 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 -- The usual crud and corruption...
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird Science
=====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- The usual crud and corruption...
Corporate Restroom SpyCam flushed... (legal decision)
An employee (Cramer) at the Consolidated Freightways Mira Loma terminal,
brought a class action suit in state court alleging invasion of privacy
- where there was a reasonable expectation of privacy - while using
Consolidated's restrooms.
A second Consolidated employee, and 281 others brought a separate suit
seeking damages for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional
distress. They also sought injunctive relief to end the use of the
surveillance devices. (No "relief jokes" please.)
The court held that the two-way mirror bathroom surveillance of truckers
- to control drug use - was not preempted by a collective bargaining
agreement when:
...other restroom cameras were placed in the ceiling,
hidden from view in a fake sprinkler head.
...the presence of visible cameras does not imply
the expectation of or consent to additional secret cameras.
Cramer v. Consolidated Freightways, 9th Circuit http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/
Moral... No surveillance television where privacy is expected. No exceptions.
Pit Stop SpyCam flushed...
A truce has been called for by Formula1 teams to halt the regular use of
'spy' cameras to record the goings-on in rival pit garages. http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/010614/113/bv7sm.html
The Gods Must Be Crazy Cam...
South Africa -- Company "agents" ... wired with hidden "button" video
cameras have been accused by angry Grahamstown store workers of unfairly
orchestrating their dismissal. (interesting story) http://allafrica.com/stories/200106180581.html
Good idea... but not yet available.
Developers say the Cryptobox system sends information within a stream of
fake data, making it difficult for eavesdroppers to pick out genuine
messages. ... "From the information that we've been seeing, Cryptobox
would have no problem circumventing all of Carnivore's attacks," Bobic
said on his Web site. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/11281.html http://cryptobox.sourceforge.net/
Pssst... In polite company it's called Competitive Intelligence.
"... it's more important than ever to keep tabs on your rivals. But you
don't need 007 to run out and commit corporate espionage for you. I've
got seven sites that will help you spy on the competition -- without
landing you in the clink..." http://searchhound.iz.com/Howl/Articles/Display/0,,articleId=1495,00.html
Because... "To be idle requires a strong sense of personal identity."*
The number of identity thefts reported by banks and other financial
institutions more than doubled in 2000 from the previous year.
(*Robert Lewis Stevenson) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,27533,00.html
Now in 'The Company's' store...
In-Q-Tel, the CIA's unclassified venture capital fund, announced a $1.4
million investment in Intelliseek, a Cincinnati company that offers
products and services that help companies gather intelligence
electronically. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166998.html
Hey, Oyster Bay costs...
A confidential informant told the FBI that he sold investigative
information to organized crime members and other criminal targets. He
obtained the investigative materials from just-arrested Las Vegas FBI
employee (James J. Hill). The informant, a New York private investigator
(arrested in Oyster Bay, N.Y), said he paid Hill $25,000 for criminal
files since November 1999. (So... whatdayathink the resale mark-up was?) http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/
Na nanna na na, da da da...
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Sat, 16 Jun 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 -- Thermal Imaging
SPECIAL SECTION -- Follow-ups
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spy Trial News...
SPECIAL SECTION -- South African Wiretapping News
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam Stories
=====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Supreme Court -- Thermal Imaging
Security Director Alert -- SANTA* is coming to town...
New software by AltaVista Co. will let workers scour corporate networks,
e-mail accounts and personal computers by stitching together valuable -
and sometimes embarrassing - information scattered on far-flung office
systems. "...would tempt some employees to snoop for office gossip and
possibly promote interoffice espionage among rival workers..." said
Richard Smith, of the Privacy Foundation in Denver.
(Useful business tool? Useful investigative tool? Can of worms? You decide.)
*SearchAnalyzeNoteTellAll (Our name, not theirs.) http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/altavista_wire010612.html
Paris Air Show Travel Advisory... highlights spying.
"Show attendees should be aware that all communications at the air show
may be monitored, starting with the portable radios and cellular and
satellite telephones for hire at the show. ... in the past ...
electronic eavesdropping, wiretaps and interception of facsimile
traffic, and surreptitious entry of hotel rooms and meeting areas to
gain access to unattended documents and laptop computers."
Excerpted from a June 2001 Fortune 100 company security bulletin.
Reprinted with permission.
White hat... and a rare Black hat interview. John Nolan, whose Huntsville, Ala. - based Phoenix Consulting Group is
one of the best-known competitive intelligence (CI) firms in the
business, says he only does the James Bond stuff to show companies their
vulnerabilities. But according to Nolan and others in the field, a
growing number of intelligence gatherers regularly transgress ethical
and even legal boundaries on behalf of corporate clients both here and
abroad. ...Marc Barry is one of the bad guys. He says so himself.
Barry, who is a founder and president of a CI firm - C3I Analytics - in
New York City, says he regularly uses false pretenses to get information
on his clients' competitors. And he knows a lot of other intelligence
gatherers who do likewise. ... he notes. "But when it comes to things
like profiling a competitor's R&D - like finding out Pfizer's formula
for a drug it's developing for arthritis - you're not going to get that
without deception or trickery." http://www.idg.net/ic_551538_1794_9-10000.html http://www.intellpros.com
The strong, handsome, silent types are still hard to find...
An agent of the most secret service of the U.S. said, ''We were aware of
every step of Abdullah Ocalan after he was expelled from Syria. He is a
talkative person. We determined his whereabouts by tapping his cell phone.'' http://www.hri.org/news/turkey/anadolu/2001/01-06-04.anadolu.html#01
SPECIAL SECTION -- Follow-ups
Last week's contest... "What is Fly Tipping?"
Answer... "The practice of Fly Tipping is the unauthorsied dumping of
rubbish or other prohibited refuse, in an area not designated for
tipping. For instance in Wales and England there are domestic refuse
landfill sites where you can dump stuff but Fly Tipping (usually done in
the dead of night ) is normally done by companies or individuals who
can't dispose legally of this stuff so they just dump it anywhere they can."
"Just ship him to the American office, mate." A former Australian government intelligence analyst who tried to sell
classified U.S. documents, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for
attempted espionage. ("So what," I hear you say. Read on...) http://uk.news.yahoo.com/010608/80/buhcu.html
Interesting... an Australian government intelligence analyst; who is
actually a French citizen; obtains classified U.S. documents; tries to
sell them to Singapore; they snitch; the FBI stings; a US court
convicts.
-- His attorney says, "It's almost comical the mistakes he made. It's
really hard to imagine someone doing a worse job of being a spy."
-- An Alexandria Friends Meeting member (Quakers have been visiting him
in jail) says, "He is not only intelligent but a caring individual. The
goodness in him is very much apparent. It just adds to the sadness
and poignancy of the situation."
After negotiating for a month... and getting nowhere... a brain storm!
The Justice Department has decided not to seek the death penalty in the
spy case of Robert Hanssen if Hanssen cooperates with prosecutors... http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com:80/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/
Is that cigar smoke I smell?
If the Bush administration chooses to pursue it, the Cuban
espionage convictions could provide a framework for the murder
indictment of Fidel Castro... http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/krmiami/20010610/lo/indictment
Israel - 1 off, 1 down
An Egyptian engineer accused of spying for Israel has been acquitted in
Cairo. But his fellow defendant, a Russian whereabouts unknown, was
found guilty and sentenced in absentia to 25 years' hard labour. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1386000
Israel - 0 off, 1 down
Lebanon -- The Military Tribunal on Wednesday sentenced Palestinian
Khaled Mahmoud to 15 years in prison for spying on behalf of Israel. http://www.dailystar.com.lb:80/15_06_01/art20.htm
Must of forgotten something...
Lawyers acting on behalf of Hiroaki Serizawa (charged last month with
economic espionage after allegedly stealing genetic material on
Alzheimer's disease) filed a petition to postpone his trial. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20010609wo22.htm
Amazing... in The Moscow Times...
(written by a retired KGB lieutenant colonel)
"Over the last year, Russia has taken one step after another in the
direction of becoming a police state. ... The latest move ... is a grave
assault on the freedom to exchange ideas and information. The Academy of
Sciences ordering all members to report any contacts with foreigners to
the Federal Security Service, or FSB, will lead to nothing less than the
destruction of Russia's academic intelligentsia. ... In recent months,
much has been written about the cases of the diplomat Valentin Moiseyev
and the researcher Igor Sutyagin. Both of these men conscientiously
reported their contacts with foreigners to the FSB. Now they are in
prison, held on flimsy charges of espionage. ... The KGB had a golden
rule: "Investigating a report begins with an investigation of the
reporter." The FSB has inherited this mentality..." http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/06/09/008.html
"... and remember the rubber hose we kept in the freezer?"
A former Radio Moscow correspondent who came to spy on the United States
-- then rose to a top-level position in the KGB -- returned to warn U.S.
nuclear security workers about Russia's continued stake in spying.
"Putin's three ways to deal with people are vodka, blackmail and the
threat to kill," Kalugin said. "Russia today is run by Soviet KGB
officers who are nostalgic about the old, glorious days." http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Jun-11-Mon-2001/news/16273974.html
The Big Prize...
Peru's vice president-elect David Waissman charged Monday that fugitive
former intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos is receiving protection
from "senior Venezuelan officials." http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010611/1/vcy6.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- South African Wiretapping News
Eavesdropping revelations bring a cover-up bribe.
South Africa -- The Mail & Guardian has obtained documentary proof that
Umgeni Water (a person's name), has illegally tapped the telephones of
serving and past senior employees - as well as members of the National
Education Health and Workers Union. The illegal telephone bugging
operation was carried out at a cost of R51 000 - an amount that appears
to have been entirely paid for by the taxpayer. ... Less than an hour
after asking Umgeni Water for comment on the letter – and faxing a copy
of it to Umgeni Water’s offices - an unidentified person phoned the Mail
& Guardian and offered R5 000 in cash for all copies of the document.
... the telephones were tapped by paying Telkom employees to attach
listening devices to the lines of those to be monitored. ... A trawl
though the internet revealed three South African companies openly
offering to bug telephones. ... "most bugging operations (in general)
were conducted by unscrupulous private investigators acting in
partnership with rotten Telkom employees."
via Van Staden and Associates http://www.vanstaden.co.za
Introducing one of those "unscrupulous private investigators"...
South Africa -- The high-profile owner of a Durban electronic shop was
arrested this week on suspicion of illegally tapping the telephones of a
major shipping company. (Andrew Brophy owns the Spy Shop in the Durban
pavilion, and advertises that he supplies electronic surveillance and bugging.) http://allafrica.com/stories/200106140457.html
Oh... shut up, Rik...
America's multi-billion-dollar stealth bombers could be rendered
obsolete by a British invention... "We use just the normal phone calls
that are flying about in the ether ... It's remarkable that a stealth
system that cost 60 billion ($A160 billion) to develop is beaten by
mobile phone technology ... It's almost impossible to disable a mobile
phone network without bombing an entire country, whereas radar
installations are often knocked out of action with a single bomb or
missile." Mr. Lloyd said. http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/2001/06/12/FFXEXWM4TNC.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam Stories
SpyCam Story of the Week. Maryland - An Elkridge man accused of covertly videotaping his two young
female tenants was convicted Tuesday of violating a relatively new state
law that makes it illegal to be a video peeping Tom and, in a surprise
move, was sent to jail pending a July sentencing date. Howard County
District Court Judge C. James Sfekas found Edward George Campion III,
58, guilty of two counts each of secretly videotaping the women in their
private rooms and of doing so for lewd purposes. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/spot/20010613/lo/guilty_verdict_in_video
History's Bugging Mysteries...
MI5 bugged the London home of General de Gaulle and was ordered to
detect him leaving Britain at the height of the second world war,
documents discovered in the public record office reveal. http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,505334,00.html
Well, if it wasn't a carcass before...
A Russian airline says that it has won a tender to remove the American
spy plane from China's Hainan island. http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/0609/china.html
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Thu, 07 Jun 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 -- Unabashed Self Promotion
SPECIAL SECTION -- Cell Phone Eavesdropping -- Hear It Live!
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spies on Trial
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird World =====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Unabashed Self Promotion
*** 1-hour Espionage TV special ***
"Secrets For Sale"
Blackmail-quality footage of me discussing corporate espionage, and a
demonstration of our Thermal Emissions Spectrum Analysis®... Our new and
better way to detect hidden cameras and bugs. See "Handouts" for a sneak
preview. This weekend. FOX NEWS Channel (FNC on cable or satellite)
Saturday 6/9 at 9:00 pm ET
Sunday 6/10 at 3:00 pm ET http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,26683,00.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Cell Phone Eavesdropping -- Hear It Live!
LIVE cell phone calls, from Canada, via Internet audio feed... http://www.cellphonescanner.com
Threat Level: Low, for now. But... if the idea catches on...
Countermeasure: Upgrade to a digital cell phone for adequate privacy.
When digital phones become rebroadcast targets, we'll let you know. http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-06-07-0033.html UPDATE 6/8/01... Cell Snooper Driven Off Web
Mike Smith, the driver of the Ottawa-based Web site that
broadcast live cellular phone calls across the information highway,
was pulled over yesterday after only three days of scanning.
Smith's voyeuristic joyride was cut short by his primary Internet
service provider, Travel-Net Communications of Ottawa.
Yesterday, Smith, 22, was contrite: "I would like to issue an
apology to the city of Ottawa for creating this Web site." http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-06-08-0053.html
Russia begins trial of "British Spy"
Obukhov, who underwent compulsory treatment for mental illness while in
custody, is accused of passing secrets to Britain's MI6 foreign
intelligence agency. He denies the charges. http://www.excite.co.uk/news/story/UKOnlineReportTopNews/
Russia postpones trial of "Japanese Spy"
The second trial against Grigory Pasko was postponed till June 20.
Russia's fleet intelligence service accused him of espionage, saying he
passed secret materials to Japan. http://www.allnews.ru/english/2001/06/04/pasko/
US ends trial of "Cuban Spies"
Jurors began deliberating Monday in the case of three Florida-based
Cuban secret agents accused of conspiring to commit espionage by
gathering U.S. defense information. http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/breakingnews/US/
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
Hidden cameras to spy on Welsh fly tippers...
The camera equipment which will be used to catch fly tippers is the
latest in spy camera technology. The cameras will be as small as a
twenty pence piece, can work in the darkest of places and can be
operated by remote control. http://www.newswales.co.uk/?F=1§ion=Environment&id=4146
SpyCam Story of the Week... The world's first live Internet broadcast from inside a jail...
Some have praised the e-casts as the "Scared Straight" of the Web age.
... But the 3 million to 10 million hits daily come not just from
inquisitive youths but also from online voyeurs who access the site via
hardcore pornography sites. link... "You fantasize about the cops or
prison life?" http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0123/haddon.html
Not if the porno sites get wind of it...
Japan -- A "community security camera system" ... 50 video cameras
...anyone partying in Tokyo's Kabukicho district runs the risk of having
their drunken antics caught on police monitors. ... A 25-year-old
massage parlor barker said the system may disrupt business. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010605m1.htm
"Point it at her(him)." "Come on, turn around!" "ooh, whatabod!"
Indiana -- Mischievous swimmers and a potential lawsuit led to a
decision to install cameras at Memorial Park pool this summer.
Director... "It's not really to spy on people or invade their privacy." http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/krindianapolis/20010604/lo/cameras_will_record_
In other news...
How can they tell? All digital phones "sound" encrypted... A cellular phone that offers consumers military-grade privacy. ...
That concerns many law enforcement officials ... Robert Buccino, a
retired New Jersey organized crime investigator, said almost all his
department's investigations of New Jersey mobsters involved wiretaps.
... no information on whether police or intelligence agencies had been
given a "back door" or key to monitor TopSec phone conversations. http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSTechNews0106/05_phone-ap.html
While you're at it... check the Easter eggs... Ukraine's government buildings are riddled with electronic bugs ...
placed not by foreign spies but by jealous colleagues, a security
service officer was quoted as saying. http://news.excite.com/news/r/010604/07/odd-bugging-dc
We're still trying to verify the phone bug part...
Boeing and McDonnell Douglas are said to have beaten France to a $6
billion contract to supply Airbus jets to Saudi Arabia, thanks to
Echelon intercepts of faxes and phone calls. ... The MEPs were alarmed
to learn that their mobile phones were being used to track their
movements and could be transformed into bugging devices. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=193599&thesection
Australian Law Enforcement Now Offering Services Abroad...
East Timor claims Australian telecommunications carrier Telstra is
spying on East Timorese leaders on behalf of the Australian Government.
... Telstra says it doesn't confirm or deny monitoring but only monitors
communications as directed by law enforcement agencies. http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newsdaily/s307448.htm
Bogus Bucks Bomb
Feds Fried at Flick
Filmers Flee The Secret Service wants moviemakers to return bogus money that looks so
genuine some people are spending it. Bills with phony face values
totaling about $1 billion were blown up during recent filming of the
action movie Rush Hour 2 in Las Vegas. ... "This is yet another reason
for people to say, 'Well, we're going to take our production to Canada."' http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_318049.html?menu=
Super Secret Heros Unite...
Web hosters have been hiring retired agents from the FBI, NSA, SS, RCMP,
Scotland Yard, etc. to build private cybersecurity divisions. What has
emerged is a powerful, albeit clandestine, industry within an industry,
with an unsurpassed access to otherwise classified security information
... to make the virtual business world safer for commerce. http://msn.zdnet.com/msn/zdnet/story/0%2C12461%2C2767657-hud00025nl%2C00.html
Pssst... Don't believe every fax that comes in.
The United States Secret Service has provided the Nigerian government
with a list of secret foreign accounts operated by highly-placed
officials, a report said Monday. http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php?click_id=79&art
Capricorn Two...
A Derbyshire housewife has sold what she says is a video of a flying
saucer to a Hollywood producer. ... NASA asked to examine the tape,
because they believe it shows the same type of craft once spotted by the
space agency's own cameras during a space shuttle mission. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1363000/1363848.stm
Then, take them to a movie... (in 12/2001)
Rowan Atkinson and Ben Elton join forces for spoof spy film...
Johnny English: A Touch of Weevil, will star Atkinson as a cowardly,
incompetent spy. http://www.melbournemovies.com.au/film_december.html
Gas 'um, Danno!
British police sought a flatulent officer Wednesday after a family
complained that a policeman broke wind in their London home during a
drug raid and failed to apologize. http://news.excite.com/news/r/010606/11/odd-wind-dc
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy news of the week.
Sat, 02 Jun 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 -- New Eavesdropping Detection Technology
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director Ammo -- Corp. Espionage
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCams and "Extortionography"
SPECIAL SECTION -- World News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Odd Ball Items =====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- New Eavesdropping Detection Technology
Murray Associates featured in 1-hour "Espionage" TV special.
Fox News Channel (FNC on cable or satellite) Saturday, June 9th.
Exact show time will be posted on June 7th at... http://www.foxnews.com/other/schedule_sat.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director Ammo -- Corp. Espionage
'Industrial spying is alive and well'
(quotes from Gerhard Schmid at a press conference this week.)
Brussels - ... "So my message to European industry is that the risk of
having information intercepted, particularly in the award of contracts,
is high," he said. "Companies should protect their own
communications."
Schmid, whose committee has been investigating Echelon for some nine
months, said not a single European country had come forward to complain
about being spied upon by the Americans.
"One explanation for this is that companies, when they find they are
being spied upon by the competition, don't want to talk about it. It's a
question of prestige ...of embarrassment."
"Industrial espionage has existed for a long time," Schmid told AFP.
"It's not new. My talks with heads of security of big companies show me
it happens, either from other companies or other states."
"Russian secret services, for example, are committed to stealing
technology because there is a gap between development in the West and in
Russia and they want to close it without investing money in research and
development," he said. "This is known." http://www.news24.com/News24/Finance/Features
Corporate Espionage -- Intelligence gathering and analysis techniques
can help with business problems. ... In the business version of spy
versus spy ... ask yourself what information would be of most interest
to your competitors and how they might acquire it. That's your starting
point. What's at issue, of course, isn't the possibility of a terrorist
attack -- it's the life of your business. http://www.destinationcrm.com/km/dcrm_km_article.asp?id=867
Security Director News -- More computer security knowledge...
The tale of the tail-less mouse v. the man-in-the-middle who attacked it...
Moral... No wireless keyboards, etc. on sensitive computers. http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2001-05/0161.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCams and "Extortionography"
SpyCam Story #1 -- "Extortionography"
Surveillance team targets Gay Days at Disney World...
Martin Mawyer and Phillip Vaught tried to blend in with the gay men
at a Downtown Disney nightclub. They weren't here to celebrate the Gay
Days, and neither is gay. The self-described "Christian guerrillas"
instead aimed hidden video cameras at the sea of shirtless men...
Security Directors... Last week's Supreme Court ruling (BARTNICKI et al. v. VOPPER) set the
stage for the "Christian guerrillas."
A very sharp attorney I know, Aimee Farr, calls this activity
"surveillactivism" and "terrortapping." I like "Extortionography."
You'll probably just use a four letter word when it happens to your
company. Please review last week's warning and recommendations. http://www.spybusters.com/SS015.html
Detect SpyCams secreted in offices, boardrooms, and conference centers. http://www.spybusters.com/Infrared.html
SpyCam Story #2... (No excuse. TV puts everyone to sleep.)
Jersey City, NJ (USA) -- A gunman shot out a police surveillance camera
in a high-crime neighborhood early Wednesday while two civilians paid to
monitor the system were sleeping. The $2 million surveillance system
also includes a camera that records the actions of the civilians in a
control room who are supposed to monitor the outdoor cameras. http://1010wins.com/StoryFolder/story_214673643_html
SpyCam Story #3... (Hackneyed excuse of the ages... Blame your boss.)
Japan -- A Japanese cow inspector has been arrested for allegedly using
a pocket spy camera to film up women's skirts. Toru Nakamura, who
inspects livestock for Japan's ministry of agriculture, was seen
fiddling with his jacket while behind a woman on an escalator. Nakamura
said he filmed up the skirts to relieve the stress of kowtowing to
government bosses in Soka, Saitama Prefecture. http://ananova.com/news/story/sm_304513.html http://ananova.com/news/story/sm_303606.html
M&S calls in the spy catchers...
London -- The troubled high street giant Marks & Spencer has taken the
unusual step of hiring a security specialist in a bid to stop sales
figures being leaked to the press. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/28-5-19101-0-7-56.html
Call to come clean on 'spying system'...
UK -- MP David Bowe has called on the Government to lift the lid on a
secret spying system following a critical report. ... the report by a
special European Parliament committee ... highlighted concerns that
Echelon is largely being used to eavesdrop on private and commercial
communications, including telephone conversations. http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/richmond/news
Cut the price by ten, and you'll take over the world... Now available worldwide, the TopSec GSM phone offers business
executives, government officials, and law enforcement officers the
ability to talk via a secure connection even while on the move.
Rohde & Schwarz is marketing it at a list price of $2742. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,51368,00.asp http://www.rohde-schwarz.com/
Wake up call... Lucent's Bell Labs is a US security treasure.
Their business portfolio includes anti-submarine warfare technology
and software that secures super-secret government computer networks.
Lucent Technologies has long provided federal agencies with vital tools.
(We almost lost them to French-owned Alcatel this week.) http://www.economictimes.com/today/01tech29.htm
Runner-up excuse -- "Just checking the 'ol eyelids for holes..." Maine Twsp., IL (USA) -- Township Supervisor Mark Thompson suspected
that a building inspector was shirking his duties; he hid a tracking
device on the car issued to the inspector. The data ... showed that the
employee had spent as many as six hours a day at home instead of
patrolling the township for code violations. ...they fired him.
The building inspector said, "Any job has a certain amount of slack
time, everybody knows that." http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/metro/northwest/article
...and who could forget great hits like "90883" or "27900"!!! For more than 30 years Shortwave radio spectrum has been employed by the
worlds intelligence agencies to transmit secret messages. These messages
are transmitted by hundreds of "Numbers Stations".
THE CONET PROJECT: the first comprehensive collection of Numbers
Stations recordings released to the public. This Quadruple CD is an
important historical reference work for research into this hitherto
unreported and unknown field of espionage. The CDs contain 150
recordings spanning the last twenty years. (Not sold in any store.) http://www.ibmpcug.co.uk/~irdial/conet.htm
Weird Science...
Will your marriage last forever?
Scientists believe they have developed a test which could give a good
indication of which unions are doomed to failure. It is based on an
analysis of hormone levels.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1361000/1361903.stm
Weirder Science...
Updating their original inconclusive 1994 cell-phone-health-hazard
report with further research... the GAO concluded, "the research to date
does not show that mobile phone radiofrequency emissions have adverse
health effects but there is not enough information at this point to
conclude that these products are without risk." http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01545.pdf
Big Brother watches Big Brother
Big Brother TV show contestants were searched by anti-espionage experts
to ensure they did not smuggle any banned items into the house. The
latest anti-espionage technology was used in the search, and no phones
or pagers were found. But the security team (no, not us) made some
unusual finds... http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_305015.html?menu=
Trade ya my mint Smith for your Jones Twins...
PeopleCards makes trading cards that feature... people. Each pack of
PeopleCards contains: 7 real people, 1 real artist and 0 celebrities.
Nominate some 'card' you know to become a PeopleCard... even yourself! http://www.peoplecards.net/becomeone/index.html
"Can-Can special in Aisle 4..."
Two men have been arrested after allegedly clearing a New Jersey
ShopRite supermarket armed with a can of fart spray. ... they had
previously been spotted by staff carrying a fart machine which mimicked
the sound of flatulence. http://ananova.com/news/story/sm_310205.html
NYC cabbies already have them... Protected by its bulletproof glass, electrified door handles, percussion
grenade launcher, laser gun, close range pepper spray, smokescreen, oil
slick, front-and-back dazzling lights (which are so bright that the
enemy cannot look directly at the vehicle), and by dropping hundreds of
tacks from the truck's tail, the Army's new SmarTruck is a vehicle that
may even be admired by James Bond.
(Add a Fart Sprayer, and you can really "Be a One Man Army.") http://www.worldnews.com/?action=display&article=7483788 http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999822
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
