Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 29 Sep 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 -- This week's two best questions.
SPECIAL SECTION -- WTC related news.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Communications Eavesdropping.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spycam News.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Dust in the drawer. ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- This week's two best questions.
A security director in NYC writes... Q. "Our executives now want secure, emergency wireless communications.
What are our choices?"
3. Private Radio Communications
- Can be encrypted.
- Can be used within buildings.
- Limited range, connectivity. (unless a repeater and phone patch are added)
- Simplex communications, point to point.
Idea... http://www.mot.com/LMPS/iDEN/addl_info/faq/provider_contacts.html
See if you can set up your own iDen system (like Nextel) with direct
2-way and phone system interface. Perhaps you could own/run your own
local cell, and interface with the rest of the Nextel system for
expanded coverage.
Bonus... If you agree to let your system handle traffic, it might pay
for itself.
Via our "Your questions answered..." page. Q. "A friend of mine's wife was able to get an email he received at
home. If it is the "SnapShotSpy" stuff, how do we find it on the
computer?"
Book of the month. "Bin Laden book proves best-seller in Mideast. The book, Bin Laden,
Al-Jazeera - and I by Jamal Abdul Latif Ismail, has sold out across book
stores in the Mideast, prompting some readers to borrow and photocopy it
from friends." http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=6583&Sn=WORL
(No, it is not available from amazon.com.)
Book of the month... club.
Terrorism Today, (1999)
by Clifford E. Simonsen and Jeremy R. Spindlove
New $25.00 - A 3-5 week backorder as of now, but get on the list anyway.
Used $35.89 - Two available as of this date, on Amazon.
(Full disclosure... I know Cliff. Good man.) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0023017317/ http://www.terrorism-today.com
Help wanted here...
Dari speaking super-spy to catch master terrorist.
To recruit anyone who speaks the languages of Afghanistan and Central
Asia, the CIA, FBI and US military are turning to email requests for help. http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=10&si=528245
Hear here...
Our spies can't speak their languages. Our satellites don't track their
movements. Our intelligence chiefs, in many cases, have never set foot
in the Middle East. http://www.suntimes.com:80/output/news/cst-nws-spy23.html
We hear you...
The CIA has been inundated with CVs from would-be spies since the US
terror attacks. The agency usually receives 500 online CVs a week but in
the past week there have been over 3,000. A spokeswoman says the number
of people applying for elite overseas assignments has tripled to 300. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_409364.html
Did we hear... "kissing his ___ good-bye," 007?
British intelligence agents have discovered the position of terror chief
Osama bin Laden. http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/4326959
John P. O'Neill, who left the F.B.I. last month to become chief of
security for the World Trade Center, died in the collapse of the center
on Sept. 11. He was 49. Mr. O'Neill spent the last several years heading
major investigations of the Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, a prime suspect
in the attacks at the trade center and the Pentagon.
(He warned us in 1997.) http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/obituaries/23ONEI.html
British journalist Yvonne Ridley is to be tried for spying after being arrested in
Afghanistan by the Taliban, according to Pakistani press reports. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_411686.html
If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere...
The New York Legislature Monday convened an extraordinary session where
lawmakers overwhelmingly enacted a broad anti-terrorism package that
creates six new penal law offenses, expands the scope of the death
penalty and loosens restrictions on eavesdropping. http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer? http://www.discoverynet.com/ (play music while reading article)
Senator, I don't care what New York did. About Section 105... The House Judiciary Committee on Monday put the brakes on legislation
that would greatly expand law enforcement's wiretap authority. http://www.rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=510
President Bush's proposal to permit Internet surveillance without a
court order drew sharp questions from senators on Tuesday. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47111,00.html
Cavebusters... ...new cave busting "earth penetrator" bombs... GBU-28 weighs 2000
pounds. In no mood to leave any stone unturned during the possible
attack to nab Bin Laden, wanted 'dead or alive' by the US, troops likely
to participate in the attack are being armed with latest weapons... http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/240901/detFOR06.asp
Litter Bugs...
Disposable cell phones come pre-loaded with a finite number of calling
minutes, and are meant to be used, then tossed in the trash. FBI
Director Robert Mueller indicated that disposable phones are one of the
reasons they want to give the U.S. law enforcement community more legal
power to fight terrorism, using techniques such as tapping phones. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5097046,00.html
Thus explaining the empty "Little Caesar's Godfather's Pizza Pizza" van.
In the old days, the FBI would need a telephone truck thinly disguised
as a pizza delivery van to listen in on a suspect's phone calls. But new
technologies let law enforcement tap into the nation's fiber-optic phone
network to monitor home - and cellular - phone conversations remotely --
without so much as a pair of alligator clips. http://www0.mercurycenter.com/business/top/020925.htm
Lots of scuffed shoe toes...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission granted telephone companies
an extra seven weeks to comply with making their networks capable of
certain electronic surveillance. New compliance date... June 30, 2002. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010919/tc/telecoms_fcc
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spycam News.
In 1928 Justice Louis D. Brandeis made a prediction... Someday, he wrote in a dissent to a Supreme Court decision on
wiretapping, the government may find ways to reproduce documents in
court without removing them from "private drawers." Such methods, he
warned, will expose "the most intimate occurrences of the home." The
dawn of computer technology, especially the Internet, has proved him right. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/27/technology/circuits/27PRIV.html?
Florida, spycam legal rulings. Split decision... 9/22 Tampa, FL -- Voyeur Dorm, an Internet company, can continue to film
from its Tampa, Fla., site, a federal appeals court ruled. http://www.azcentral.com:80/offbeat/articles/0923NET-MEDIA-
9/23 Tarpon Springs, FL -- The owner of ucanwatch.com, a voyeur Web
site, says he will move the entire operation out of a Tarpon Springs
home by Oct. 1. If he does not keep his promise, a judge said Wednesday
he would issue a temporary injunction that would allow the city to shut
down the business. http://www.sptimes.com:80/News/092301/TampaBay/Metro_review.html
What's wrong with this picture? Two Dutch men filmed their four female housemates in the shower for more
than six months. They installed a webcam in a drain pipe and turned it
on every time one of the women had a shower. They admitted the offense
and are due to be sentenced. (Two men living with four females!?!? OK,
maybe. A "web"cam in a drain pipe. I'll 'check and advise'.) http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_401579.html?
Remember the Ybor City spycam controversy? http://www.spybusters.com/SS017.html http://www.spybusters.com/SS018.html
One sharp security director (and fellow reader) writes... "Just a
thought. Perhaps Ybor City can come out of this way ahead of the curve.
I'm sure the Feds would be more than happy to provide the faces of
known/suspected terrorists (what, terrorists in Florida?), which could
be loaded into their face recognition system, then cheaply advertise the
fact that it has been done (national press coverage can cut both ways).
Could be a promotions coup; a "terrorist-free zone" to relax in.
Wouldn't even have to call it that. The trendy crowd who frequent such
locales are smart enough to recognize the "advantages" of the new
technology they were just calling an infringement to their freedom.
Maybe time to think about investing in this technology."
Tampa -- "You're only a stranger here once."
Spy Bugs... forget Japanese Beetles.
Japanese boffins at Tokyo University are developing a 'robo-roach'
remote controlled insect that could be used to carry a miniature camera
and microphone. Only the American cockroach, Perplaneta Americana, can
be used in the research because it is the biggest and hardiest of the
species, capable of carrying 20 times its own weight. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1125614
Russian President Vladimir Putin has returned to the German city of
Dresden where he once worked as a Soviet spy. Putin is there to see how
the city where he spent five years gathering intelligence on West
Germany and Nato has fared since the fall of communism. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_409352.html
The highest-ranking US soldier ever accused of spying has been jailed
for life. Retired colonel George Trofimoff, a civilian intelligence
chief for the Army in Germany at the height of the Cold War, showed no
reaction as he was sentenced in Tampa, Florida. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_409755.html
New Jersey inventors: transistors, lights, weird patent 5,890,907, and ... There could be a day, maybe soon, when a computer will match your face
against those of known terrorists before you board a plane. Soon you may
never see your pilots, because of an impenetrable cockpit door.
Visionics Corp. of Jersey City has developed a computer scanning
identification system. Galaxy Scientific Corp. in Egg Harbor Township,
has another approach to airplane security: Build a cockpit door so tough
it will withstand bullets. http://www.bergen.com:80/news/airsecure200109252.htm http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/ (weird patent 5,890,907)
"Now, where did I put my defense documents?"
Hiroaki Serizawa, a Japanese researcher charged with industrial
espionage involving the theft of genetic material on Alzheimer's
Disease, on Friday asked for a postponement of his trial, which has been
set for Nov. 5, due to a delay in the preparation of defense documents. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010923a8.htm
Espionage goes Hollywood... With three new hour-long spy dramas debuting this season on three
different networks, the espionage trend was easy to spot. http://detnews.com:80/2001/entertainment/0109/27/c01-304060.htm
Kevin's instant review on "The Agency"...
"Dim story over compensated for by mega-Rembrandt lighting. Say U.N.C.L.E."
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 22 Sep 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 -- Current Events
SPECIAL SECTION -- The 802.11b banshee cry for privacy
SPECIAL SECTION -- Follow-ups
SPECIAL SECTION -- Killer Radio Waves
SPECIAL SECTION -- Bin bottom stuff ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
In the wake of attacks against the USA,
electronic eavesdropping detection (TSCM)
becomes more important.
Surprising new reason why...
MATA (Mobilization Against Terrorism Act) is about to become law.
One of the eavesdropping / wiretap provisions affects you dramatically...
"Use of extraterritorial interceptions by foreign governments."
(Sec. 105)
Foreign bug and other electronic surveillance "evidence" will be
allowable in all US judicial proceedings, not just terrorism-related
proceedings. (price fixing, foreign sales, antitrust, etc.)
Imagine the possibilities for abuse! ...
A foreign government, intelligence agency, bureaucrat, or
freelancer eavesdrops on your top executives.
They hear / see / or even fabricate some "dirt".
Q. What do they do?
a. Dutifully (and happily) report it to the US government.
b. Quietly sell or give it to your competitors or their local interests.
c. Break your corporate arm with blackmail, extortion, coercion, bribes,
favors-on-demand, infiltration, local control, in exchange for NOT
turning the evidence over to the US government.
d. All of the above.
RECOMMENDATION…
Inspect for electronic surveillance and information leaks regularly.
Create a priority list. Create a schedule. Budget for it.
Eavesdropping and espionage are preventable.
Your perimeter security can't stop this... "Ethical Issues in the Employer - Employee Relationship" (a survey)
20% of employees don't believe "revealing proprietary company
information" is a violation of business ethics (let alone a crime).
SURPRISE... 11% of top executives agree with them! http://www.financialpro.org/ http://www.walkerinfo.com
Very high tech, too high tech, or both? US spy satellites have been given new instructions to concentrate their
attention on Afghanistan and the search for Osama Bin Laden, and groups
associated with him. Sigint satellites monitor electromagnetic signals
and send them to sophisticated listening posts scattered over the globe
where they are relayed to supercomputers in the US for analysis. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1548000/1548860.stm
Whispering and note writing can do it too... Bin Laden, associates elude spy agency's eavesdropping.
Encrypted calls may keep NSA off track. http://www.sunspot.net/bal-intel15.story
Close, but no cigar...
An analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency has been charged with
conspiracy to spy for Cuba. Authorities said Ana Belen Montes was
charged in an FBI complaint with conspiracy to deliver US national
defense information to Cuba. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_405061.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- The 802.11b banshee cry for privacy
Get wired...
"Even as you read this, some of your corporate gear-heads are installing
wireless base stations and network interface cards (NIC) behind your
back. They may not know it, but they're essentially broadcasting the
message "Here I am" to the world around them... http://web.lexis-nexis.com/more/cahners-chicago/11407/7559388/7
Get wired... It's true that adding rogue devices to eavesdrop on (LAN) traffic and
gain access to available computing resources on the network is easy.
It makes little difference if you're gaining network access via an RJ-45 jack in
an empty conference room or by using airwaves in the parking lot. http://www.networkcomputing.com/1218/1218colmoskowitz.html
Get wired... Anyone who assumes 802.11b wireless local area networking (WLAN) systems
are inherently secure will get a wake-up call next week with the release
of a report that claims there are significant weakness in the RC4
encryption algorithm used to secure such systems. http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010807S0002
Get wired... ... wireless infrastructure vendors still struggle to deliver secure and
manageable enterprise products. Their customers are trying to figure out
how to respond to internal demand stimulated by home users -- and they
worry that rogue access points will start popping up at the departmental level... http://update.techweb.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=hEZm0BDGn30Ie0QvW0Af
SPECIAL SECTION -- Follow-ups
The corporate espionage soap opera... "If you think it's a recent development that companies such as Procter &
Gamble Co. have spied on their competitors, check the court records for
1943. ... The episode makes it clear that competitive intelligence, a
multimillion-dollar industry, is a fact of life for big corporations and
will continue to be long after the latest P&G-Unilever brouhaha has
faded from memory ... Corporate espionage has been around for decades
... the increase in activity prompted Congress to pass the Economic
Espionage Act in 1996, which carried criminal penalties for theft of
intellectual property." http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/09/09/fin_corporate_espionage.html
The corporate espionage soap box... Durban - Controversial Umgeni Water CEO Cromet Molepo was suspended on
Friday, pending the outcome of an official disciplinary hearing called
to investigate whether he is guilty of bugging the phones of colleagues
and former board members. Under the Interception and Monitoring
Prohibition Act of 1995, it is a criminal offense to monitor phone
conversations, although Telkom spokesperson Ed Tillett said illegal
listening devices are rife in South Africa in the corporate world. http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/
About Face! UK - Spy bosses at GCHQ are refusing to let giant corporations use their
eavesdropping services for industrial espionage. The stand comes after
the security service MI5 admitted it "openly invited representatives from
industry and finance" to tell them what it could do to boost their business. http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/page.asp?t=editorial/news/local/
... Like plotting all the 'nature camps'.
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO): For 40 years, the agency that
built and operated the nation's spy satellites remained in the shadows.
These days it's declassifying some early projects. http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.nro08sep08.story?
"We try harder" run amuck. Onboard spy gives rental firms remote control over hire cars. AirIQ,
based in Toronto, has sold 15,000 telematics units to car rental firms
since the product was launched a year ago. http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/09/09/
Forget Felix. Remember Lumumba's toothbrush... The CIA trained 'spy-cats' to secretly gather information on suspects,
declassified secret documents have revealed. Project 'acoustic kitty'
saw the pets fitted with hi-tech listening equipment and being trained
to wander into secure areas. But the project never went any further than
the testing stage after the first spy-cat was run over by a taxi. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_400975.html?menu=
SPECIAL SECTION -- Killer Radio Waves
Invented a "killer ap" radio. Who is she? She invented a high-tech method that ensured radio transmissions could
not be jammed or scanned by eavesdroppers. Today the concept is used on
every digital mobile phone and employed on all military planes and
warships as well as defense satellites in outer space.
(Movie star, Hedy Lamarr.) http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010922/ http://colitz.com/site/2292387/2292387.htm (the patent)
The latest "killer ap" radio waves... Time Domain's "ultra wideband" radio pulse technology, used for
communications but applicable to radar. Even through building materials,
it can locate movements as small as the rise and fall of a chest cavity
as somebody breathes. http://www.timedomain.com/ http://www.redherring.com/story_redirect.asp?layout=story_generic
Until then, donate to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation ... http://www.ndsdf.org
More killer radio waves... Mobile phones may cause damage to health ... a recent study showing an
alarming rate of brain cancer in some cellphone users is helping swing
scientific opinion in Britain. http://news.excite.com/news/r/010921/11/science-health-mobile-dc
If killer radio waves fail, give them a tooth brush...
In 1989, when the United States military was trying to persuade Gen.
Manuel Noriega, Panama's dictator, to surrender, troops blasted loud
music at the Vatican compound where the general was holed up in Panama
City. Reports at the time were that he had an aversion to rock 'n' roll
and that the military was trying to drive him nuts so he would leave.
Those reports may not be true. (Later accounts said the music had been
meant only to prevent eavesdropping on negotiations over the general's
surrender and succeeded only in infuriating the Vatican ambassador.)
Scientists at Purdue University Calumet have taken a similar approach to
another unwanted guest: zebra mussels. Instead of bombarding them with
Guns N' Roses, however, the researchers use low-frequency radio waves. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/04/science/04OBSE.html?
SPECIAL SECTION -- Bin bottom stuff
Just one question... Why? Three former bodyguards sued television talk show host Rosie O'Donnell,
saying she recorded their conversations without their knowledge in her
Star Island mansion. Steven Rubino, Chris Delia and Ted Van Rijn said
they were fired when they confronted O'Donnell about the monitoring of
the room they used as an office. Florida law (and federal law) prohibits
audio recording of people without their consent. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010908/
Background... Bubbly comic Caroline Rhea said Friday she will take over Rosie
O'Donnell's talk show when she retires from the program next year. http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/tv/2001-07-27
When in NJ visit the White Mana... urrrp!
Introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair: a round, white-tiled
restaurant built as the nation's first fast food eatery -- an experimental
idea back then. Still open for business. 470 Tonnelle Avenue (Route 1),
Jersey City, NJ http://www.nj.com/dinercam/info.html http://www.roadsidemagazine.com/d2d/26/26_mana/
Pssst! Wanna buy a 'real' spy camera?
Here is a major source of Minox 8 x11 mm "spy" cameras (buy, sell or
trade). Minox cameras are marvels of engineering and have been standard
tools for intelligence operatives all over the world from before WWII to
the present day. Micro sized; extremely high quality. The real thing.
Still being made today by the original factory in Germany; film and
processing... readily available and reasonably priced.
http://www.swssec.com/minox.html
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 15 Sep 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 -- World Trade Center
SPECIAL SECTION -- In other news... ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- World Trade Center
The WTC buildings were home to many clients. We visited them often over
the past 20+ years. Exactly 48 hours before the attack, we were in the
area for an assignment and I captured this...
(http://www.spybusters.com/)
The visual haunts me... forces me to think... think about all the people
affected; about how life is too short; about rearranging personal
priorities. I am sure you have been thinking the same thoughts. Good luck.
P.S. -- Thank you to everyone who emailed and phoned to make sure all of
us here were safe. We are.
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sun, 09 Sep 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 -- Everyday Spy Chat
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
SPECIAL SECTION -- The unusual, novel and weird ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Cell Phone Gun -- The Movie We first reported on the cell phone gun back in December and received
many requests for additional information. We now have the infamous movie... http://www.spybusters.com/SS0012.html#cellphonegun
Call it intelligence, or call it spying... it's here to stay. "Executives beware: corporate supersleuths aren't going to stop picking
through your garbage any time soon. Trying to stay a step ahead of the
competition, companies are increasingly toeing a fine line between
market intelligence and corporate espionage." http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2001/09/02/rtr344643.html
Interesting Interview.
Topic: Bugging.
Target: Big Companies "Hans-Georg Wolf gained most of his insider knowledge on the secret
service world during his work for the GDR foreign office. 'We must
assume that secret services are involved in industrial espionage and
that many companies are taking their corporate security too easy.'" http://www.heise.de/ct/english/99/04/182/
Idea of the Week - Get your Big Brother to fight your battles.
MI5 has told some of Britain's biggest companies that it may be prepared
to provide intelligence on their business partners and rivals abroad.
For the first time, the security service this week openly invited
representatives from industry and finance to its headquarters in
Millbank, London, for a seminar called Secret Work in an Open Society.
Among the companies invited to attend were BT, Rolls-Royce, HSBC, Allied
Domecq, Consignia, BP, Ernst & Young, Cadbury Schweppes and BAE Systems. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?
SPECIAL SECTION -- Everyday Spy Chat
eBlaster backfires... Livonia, MI -- When Steven Paul Brown and his wife separated,
authorities say he installed spy software on her computer that would
allow him to track her every keystroke and read every file and message.
Brown, 41, was charged with installing an eavesdropping device,
eavesdropping, using a computer to commit a crime and having
unauthorized computer access. The program (eBlaster) caused all her Web
surfing and Internet communication to be e-mailed to Brown as frequently
as every 30 minutes without her knowledge. http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010906/06/hackers-charged
Michigan Attorney General: http://www.ag.state.mi.us/index.asp
I feel a bad moon rising...
"Today at work, we don't always know who or what inside the computer is
watching our every move on the Internet and reading our e-mail.
So, whatever happened to your right to privacy in there? ..." http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/06/gal.00.html
It's not the Russian version of Pepsi...
The Federal Government Communications and Information Agency - FAPSI -
is one of the most closed Russian special forces. They engage in global
radio-electronic reconnaissance, cryptography, scrambling of talks going
through special communications. ...
"Foreign communication channels controlled by us are providing large
amounts of objective reconnaissance information."
Alexandr Staroviotov - FAPSI General Director http://www.aif.ru/aif/old/show.php/48/starovoitov_e.htm
Sometimes it is the security guard... A security guard is in custody after facing charges of stealing Nato and
defense secrets from British Aerospace. Raphael Bravo, 29, from Scrubs
Lane, Willesden, West London, was charged under the Official Secrets Act
of illegally obtaining four documents "useful to the enemy". http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1522000/1522981.stm
A veritable verbiage Cuisinart... U.S. encoding devices are prized items in international espionage.
Smaller than a Tom Clancy hardback. Each can scramble messages like eggs
in a blender and unravel codes at cyber-age speed. They are sold by the
thousands each year to professional secret-keepers in government and the
U.S. military. The KIV-7HS encoding devices -- the gadgets that a Blue
Springs man is accused of trying to smuggle to China -- are also
typical of the booty foreign spies ache for. http://www.kcstar.com/
US Customs have arrested two men for trying to sell top secret
encryption devices to China. The devices; known as KIV-7HS are used to
secure and safeguard classified communications. http://www.silicon.com/public/door?6004REQEVENT=&REQ
It's still good to be king. "In an unusual move, Saudi King Fahd has fired his intelligence chief
according to a royal decree announced over the weekend.
The decree did not elaborate." (Decrees are cool. Issue one today.) http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2001/september/09_04_6.html
...by waving a newspaper, and pointing to the 3-line ads in the back. Sen. Richard Shelby, ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, put off his drive to criminalize all leaks of classified
information Wednesday after the Bush administration signaled it would
not support the bill. http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/national/digdocs/098422.htm
Could be why Karachi cops don't have cars...
Pakistan has offered $130 million to Russia for developing and launching
a spy satellite capable of 'keeping an eye on India and other
neighboring countries', a Russian daily reported. http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/050901/dtLFOR13.asp
Note to Mr. Big... put spy satellite on back-order.
Two Pakistani brothers, one of them a naturalized U.S. citizen, have
been sentenced to prison for attempting to illegally ship spy cameras to
Pakistan, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. http://www.pittsburghfirst.com/rc/news/docs/10004494.htm
Hey, spying is not cheap! Code-breakers and spy masters would receive more money under an
intelligence bill approved Thursday by the Senate Intelligence
Committee. The intelligence budget finances the CIA, National Security
Agency and other intelligence agencies and is secret, although it is
widely estimated at more than $30 billion. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010906/
...and intelligence is priceless...
NASA scientists put a remote-controlled plane through its paces,
fitting it with heat-sensing infrared cameras and lighting a small fire
for it to track from 3,000 feet above the Mojave Desert. The planes
(civilian versions of the military's Predator spy plane) would cost
about $2 million each. (The current fire spotting plane of choice -
Cessna 310 - costs about one tenth of that.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010907/
What if they don't know how it works?
An investigation into a mob-linked sports betting operation allegedly
run by the son of a jailed Philadelphia mob boss now threatens the
national security of the United States. That was the argument federal
authorities presented here yesterday in explaining why they could not
provide defense attorneys with an explanation of how a top-secret
electronic monitoring device was used to surreptitiously record the
keystrokes on a privately owned computer during a 1999 gambling
investigation. The computer was owned by Nicodemo S. Scarfo, who was
indicted after FBI agents used a password picked up by the device,
called a keystroke logger, to gain access to suspected gambling records
Scarfo had stored on an encrypted program. http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/08/front_page/JMOB08.htm Let's see how secret these things really are...
Now we will need... The 'Knee' CAP Index.
An armed robber has been jailed for a string of hold-ups – after being
identified by his knobby knees. Mark Harris, 35, disguised himself with
sunglasses, a cap and a surgical mask for his hold-ups. But he made one
crucial mistake: He wore shorts and his knees were captured by a bank
security camera. http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057 (photo)
For the best in crime statistics and forecasts (very helpful) contact
the real CAP Index folks... http://www.capindex.com/
...and obviously there is more to this story.
UK -- Town centre spy cameras are being hailed a success, despite
missing a student being almost beaten to death in a late night attack.
"Obviously they're not 100 per cent foolproof," said Council spokesman,
Coun David Lancaster. http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/content.cfm?story=121429
Norway's Funniest Home Videos.
or... Why is this man laughing? Norwegian thieves smashed an electronic store's window to steal a video
camera not realizing it was wired up to a separate recorder. It is
reported they smiled into the £1,200 digital camera before taking it.
Police are searching for the duo with close-up footage of the whole incident. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_389972.html?
See like Superman.
Look like Roy Orbison. X-Ray Vision glasses are back...
and this time they appear to work!
"X-Reflect Goggles." http://www.spy.th.com/goggles.html
Hello, other Washington... There oughta-be-a-law!
I was interviewed this week by the Seattle Times newspaper for a spycam
story. During the interview, the reporter advised me (!!!) that the spycam
voyeurs of the world were now organized. And... have a website where they
trade technical tips, etc. Scary stuff. http://bb.voyeurweb.com/messages/5/5.html?970653492
SPECIAL SECTION -- The unusual, novel and weird
Sponge Bob Gets A Job. For years, area police departments have used beanbag guns or plastic
bullets to diffuse situations that call for less-than-lethal force; but
the latest technology used by the Corona Police Department, the sponge
launcher, is cutting edge. http://www.nlectc.org/inthenews/newssummary/02082001.html#story3
New Technology Could Eliminate Need for Strip Searches The Rapiscan Secure 1000's ability to see items under clothing and in
body cavities may eliminate the need for prison guards to perform strip
searches. (priced between $100,000 and $130,000) http://www.rapiscan.com/documents/Secure.htm (Cool photo. No, it's not me.)
Build a better rat trap, and the CIA will...
Two US research teams developing software that can recognize and analyze
facial expressions have caught the attention of the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), as a potential tool to build a better lie
detector. Professor Terry Sejnowski, who leads one of the research teams
in the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies in California, calls the new facial technology an
"emotion detector". http://www.vnunet.com/News/1125097
Eavesdroppers can be heroes too... A Dutch radio ham illegally listening to police calls saved a mother and
child from a burning house nearby. Wolter van Pijkeren was scanning the
air waves of the emergency services when he heard a frantic call to the
fire service from the woman. He raced round to the house in Zuidlaren
with a pair of ladders and carried the woman and her daughter to safety.
Police will not prosecute him for listening in to their radio frequency. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_389068.html?
This just in... Your Competitive Intelligence, Moment of Zen...
(by someone who prefers anonymity)
Executive: "Who else knows about this?"
CI Guy: "Everybody that wants to."
Executive: "How is that a competitive advantage?"
CI Guy: "Because I am the great super-analyst! I can tell you what it
MEANS!"
*executive mind-mice running in executive brain-wheel*
$80,000 - $120,000 yr. analyst - $15,000 one-time spy-guy w/ primary
source = $65,000 savings. Plus, the spy-guy is more fun, and he makes me
feel like a powerful master-mind, instead of stupid, and his stuff is
tainted with evil.....*ponder*
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sun, 02 Sep 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 -- Wireless LAN Spy News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Extortionography
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
SPECIAL SECTION -- The unusual, novel & bizarre ====================================================
"At noon on Monday, December 24, 2001, ordinary people all over the
world will call into question the growing and dehumanizing effects of
increased video surveillance, automated face recognition..." http://wearcam.org/wsd.htm
Monitoring and Privacy: Is Your Head Still In the Sand? An excellent article (long) which addresses the legalities of workplace
electronic monitoring. A must print-read-save, 'bring you up to speed'
piece with an attached Reader's Poll. Do you know the limitations of the
federal wiretap statute 'business exemption'? (That's what I thought.) http://www.networkcomputing.com:80/1213/1213f1.html
French toasted... The Renault-owned Benetton team has revealed that computer hackers
invaded the company's systems over a year ago, accessing top-secret
information about this year's radical new Renault engine. The French
manufacturer is blaming this industrial espionage for the disappointing
performances of the B201 so far this season. http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/010717/113/byfqs.html
Stock the Count Chocula at kiddy eye level...
A Minnesota grocery distributor (Nash Finch) has sued an anonymous
writer accused of divulging the company's trade secrets while
participating in a Yahoo message board forum. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169361.html
Territories still available... Bugging operations on data lines and computers are a profitable
business. In the business world, industrial espionage has always been a
part of everyday life. Generally, industrial espionage has become the
main right to exist for secret services since the the end of the Cold
War. Industrial espionage in these circles has 'risen dramatically'
between 1990 and 1995, according to Heribert Hellenbroich, the former
head of the German secret service, Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).
(There is a Van Eck / Tempest demo in this article.) http://www.heise.de/ct/english/99/04/174/
E-Vendetta... An Iowa student (female) is accused of tapping into a former friend's
e-mail to turn down a highly-paid job for him. Math student King Chong
Iris Fung, of Iowa State University, allegedly impersonated the unnamed
man and rejected the $200,000.-a-year technology job. Fung got access to
the man's email account by guessing his password "after numerous attempts"... http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_387590.html
Code Red... Two men have been arrested and accused of scheming to smuggle military
encryption technology to China. The technology, two devices known as
KIV-7HS units, are used to encode classified government communications. http://www.sltrib.com:80/08302001/nation_w/127269.htm
E-911. Searching thoughts. Consumer Convenience and Emergency Assistance or Privacy Invasion?
Bennett Z. Kobb takes a thoughtful look at the coming cellular telephone
911 location system and the privacy issues surrounding its use. http://www.civilrightsforum.org/connectsept2001.htm#tech
Just like commuter aircraft... A pilotless U.S. surveillance aircraft was lost early Monday over
southern Iraq. The unarmed plane, which is 27 feet long and has a
wingspan of 48 feet, cruises at speeds ranging from 80 mph to 140 mph at
altitudes up to 25,000 feet. By comparison, a U.S. F-15 fighter can fly
at more than 1,300 mph. http://www.journalstar.com:80/nation?story_id=5787&date=20010828&past=
Yo, spy guys. Remember what happened last month? The FBI on Friday arrested two (more) Cubans charged with conspiring to
infiltrate U.S. military installations in Florida and conduct
surveillance on a powerful Cuban exile group. http://www.sltrib.com:80/09012001/nation_w/127891.htm
Paging Dr. Whack... Avi Rubin did not mean to hack into the hospital's computer network; it
practically begged him to. Mr. Rubin, a computer security expert at AT&T
Laboratories in Florham Park, N.J., had accompanied his wife, Ann, to
the nearby Morristown Memorial Hospital while she had minor surgery last
month. He brought along his laptop so that he could do some work while
she napped during recovery. But as he sat in her room, he noticed a
green light blinking on the card that he ordinarily used to connect his
laptop to the wireless computer network installed in his home... http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/19/technology/19WIRE.html
...by a snot-nosed little whacker.
A new program called AirSnort, released on the Internet this week, lets
enterprising hackers easily grab passwords and other sensitive data as
they are transmitted through the air unless certain precautions are taken.
http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/2001/08/24/eavesdropping.html http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,46187,00.html
10 Step Whacker... "Hello, my name is Timothy, and I am addicted to sniffing 802.11...
Do you think that no one is sniffing your traffic? Think again. If a
'Johnny-come-lately' like me is doing it, then you can bet your bits
that the hard-core sniffers out there have been looking at your traffic
since it first hit the airwaves. It may be more common than you think.
In fact, in recent months, I have become an Airopeek-aholic. I'm not
proud to say it, but I've searched for SSID's in Singapore, horked
hashes in Hong Kong, and even sniffed SMTP in Seattle." http://www.securityfocus.com/frames/?content=/templates/column.html%3
Whack back... IBM Research Thursday said it has successfully created what it believes
is the first automated auditing tool that can monitor 802.11 wireless
networks, which would significantly improve security for users of Wi-Fi
who want to combat "drive-by hacking." http://www.internetnews.com:80/prod-news/article/0,,9_800221,00.html
Espionage or Sabotage?
A former Bush campaign media adviser was sentenced yesterday to a year
in prison and fined $3,000 for mailing a Bush debate practice videotape
to Al Gore's campaign and then lying about it to a grand jury. http://inq.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2001/09/01/national/TAPE01.htm
French farce... Two Frenchmen have been found guilty of blackmail after mistaking a
married couple for a pair of illicit lovers. The men conjured up the
scam after stealing a video of an office manager in a compromising
position with what they thought was one of his female employees. They
had come across the video cassette of the couple when they burgled the office. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_386720.html?menu=
Not available in any store... A videotape released in Belarus added new weight to allegations that a
government-sponsored death squad murdered two major political opponents
of President Alexander Lukashenko. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/08/29/012.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
Public opinion throws the book at them... London - Borders, the high street bookseller, has been attacked by human
rights organisations for using high-tech surveillance equipment to spy
on their customers. The company is to become the first retailer in the
world to introduce a controversial security scheme, normally used to
trap football hooligans, pedophiles and terrorists, to photograph
customers as they enter stores. SmartFace -- known as FaceIt in the USA
-- keeps a database of 'unique digital face-maps' that will check
customers' pictures against those of known shoplifters. http://www.sundayherald.com/18007
Later in the week... Borders Group Inc. has temporarily suspended a trial plan to implement
FaceIt face recognition software in two stores in the city, pending a
review of legal and human rights issues. http://www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47_STO63359,00.html
If I have to stop this car... In one frame, a man is holding a gun to the cabdriver's head while a
second passenger jabs a knife at the driver's ribs. It's a robbery in
progress. It's also the first time a camera installed by a Washington
area taxi company has produced sharp images for police to use in
catching suspects. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43236-2001Aug21.html
Head scratcher...
Never mind James Bond's hi-tech gadgets - according to a newly published
second world war training manual, a spy's best weapon was his itching powder. http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,543178,00.html
Medicine cabinet e-peeking... Canada - Five pharmacists have been disciplined and fined by the College
of Pharmacists of B.C. during the past two years for spying on the
medication records of colleagues, relatives, friends or acquaintances. http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/news/010829/673440.html
Car-Rental Companies Install Devices That Monitor Driver's Whereabouts AirIQ Inc. of Toronto, has established contracts with licensees of Ford
Motor Co.'s Hertz Corp., Budget Group Inc.'s Budget Rent A Car Corp.,
Cendant Corp.'s Avis Group Holdings, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group
Inc.'s Dollar Rent A Car Systems Inc. and Thrifty Car Rental, ANC Rental
Corp.'s National Car Rental, Rent-A-Wreck of America Inc., U-Save Auto
Rental of America Inc. and some independent rental operators.
RentalTrack.com, an Irvine, Calif., fleet-tracking company, is targeting
another market: parents who want to keep tabs on their teens.
It offers a consumer version of its tracking system through
its parent company, Aircept.com LLC. Aircept's tracking box costs $595
to install plus a $5 to $35 monthly fee that varies with the amount of
tracking an individual wants. Aircept's device also has a $49 add-on
that creates a special tracking boundary. When the driver moves outside
the programmed boundary, the system's user -- a parent, spouse, boss or
whoever -- is notified by e-mail, fax or however he or she chooses, the
same way rental car companies are notified of a car's location or
direction, for example. http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB998947200313143048.djm
"Yes, master." A Swiss businessman has asked the courts in Ecuador to investigate his
partner who allegedly tricked him out of the profits of their business
using "strange mental powers". He warned the police to be extra
vigilant. "I'm sure he will try to escape from prison by hypnotizing the
guards or by using his paranormal powers," he said. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_386743.html
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
