Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Mon, 27 May 2002
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
====================================================
***BONUS DOUBLE ISSUE*** SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Robert Hanssen Book - Sneak Peek
SPECIAL SECTION -- "Retail Ethnography"
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Usual Nonsense... just more of it. ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Budget Booster #492 - "Spooked - Espionage in Corporate America" The book "Spooked" highlights some recent American corporate spy cases.
Cliff's Notes short, and Reader's Digest fascinating, this lightweight
read is an instant education on the corporate infotheft scene. Whether
you want to become the office-espionage raconteur, or place a short
sheet of cautionary tales under the boss's nose at budget time, this
book will help. Documented cases include: Motorola's CI successes, Avery
Dennison v. Four Pillars, the Bristol-Myers Taxol case, Gillette's
Mach-3 razor rip-off, Kraft v. Schwan and The Great Pizza Pilfer,
Picture-Tel v. VTEL v. Polycom, and more. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738205931/
P.S. We can help you stay out of books like this.
Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws (all-new 2002 edition)
Privacy Journal has just published the newest edition of its highly
useful Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws (106 pages, $35
from 401/274-7861, privacyjournal@prodigy.net ) It describes and cites
more than 1400 laws on electronic surveillance, telephone use, and
access to personal information. http://www.privacyjournal.net
Security Science - Spotting fraud by glancing at numbers. Numbers which are assembled randomly are not spread out randomly.
Certain digits appear more frequently than others. The digit "one" - for
example - will appear as the first non-zero digit 30% of the time. This
is called Benford's Law. Now, let's see those expense accounts again. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BenfordsLaw.html
When was your last 'quarterly' inspection?
South Africa - Three staff members in the office of the Western Cape
director-general have been suspended after allegations of a bugging
conspiracy surfaced. ... The find, which included telephone tapping
equipment, micro-transmitters for bugging offices and listening devices,
was the result of a routine NIA sweep of government installations. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=13&click_id=13&art
Benchmark inspections are very valuable... Security service MI5 is sweeping the new Scottish parliament building
for bugging devices and bombs under floors and behind walls.
Surveillance experts are carrying out the security sweep during
construction of the building in a bid to reassure MSPs they can work
without fear their conversations will be listened to. http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/scotland.cfm?id=515702002
Infoloss via wiretaps; no more excuses. Telephone encryption units are now smaller, clearer sounding,
unobtrusive, portable and have one-button activation! Idiot-proof. Even
though a unit is needed at each end of a call, the relatively low price
these days keeps them very affordable. Equip your top strategic phones.
Keep a few spares for emergency deployment. Don't forget... sweep these
areas regularly for other types of surveillance devices too.
Sources... http://www.l-3com.com/cs-east/programs/infosec/privatel.htm http://www.copytele.com/
Infoloss via wireless microphones at meetings; no more excuses. Standard wireless microphones used by presenters at meetings are
designed to broadcast up to a quarter mile with excellent fidelity. Do
you really want your private meetings or presentations to become the
talk of the town? Time to junk your current wireless microphones. An
encrypted wireless microphone system is available... http://www.telex.com/PSE/WebPages.nsf/
Now being offered via e-mail... "Hi, how are you! My name is TEO ... I wish to inform you of my new
technology breakthrough ... The product is call 'CDE Spy Phone' using
the GSM network which it allows you to monitor any conversation you want
to, with any telephone number of your own choice. This mobile phone will
be able to make and receive calls normally and is good for as a gift to
spouse, parents/children and Company usage. We are now offering at a
very special promotion price and hope you do not miss out this
incredible offer. Pls send me a mail regards of this product and my
others products and I will get back to u ASAP. We also have other
product to fulfill your needs, pls let me know your requiry and I find
every means to get it for you. remarks: Normal selling price US $1500.00,
now we are offering at US $1100.00! You save US $400.00. (prices excluded
shipping cost)" Yours sincerely
TEO (CDE) Singapore
"Retail Ethnography" by Jim Hightower
...is a bit of corporate gobbledygook that essentially means spying,
prying, snooping, and generally intruding into the private lives of us
consumers. It sprang from a simpler, more honest process called "market
research," involving taking consumer surveys and asking customers
directly about their opinions of products and such. But now, this
research has gotten sneakier and darker.
Instead of being aboveboard with shoppers, retail ethnography is the
underhanded art of surveillance, using all of the latest technological
gadgetry to monitor shoppers clandestinely. Hidden video cameras and
microphones are computerized to "track" individual customers as they
move through a store, identifying them by their body temperature and
mapping their movements by passing them from camera to camera. If a
customer lingers over a product, the cameras zoom in to record facial
expressions.
The latest advance in the "intrusion explosion," as columnist William
Safire has dubbed it, is a recently-opened Minneapolis boutique called
Once Famous. Stephanie Simon of the Los Angeles Times reports that this
inviting shop, filled with artsy, upscale home furnishings is really not
in the business of selling ... but of spying. It's a front, set up by
Omnicom Group Inc. -- a global advertising giant.
Once Famous looks like a real store with clerks selling products to
customers. But it's really a surveillance lab that's totally wired so
analysts can watch the shoppers from a hidden control room.
Manufacturers pay a fee to put a product in the store, then watch the
video of customer reactions to the product. Most shoppers have no idea
that their every movement is being recorded, analyzed ... and sold. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13123
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Usual Nonsense... just more of it.
SpyCam Extortionography - Caught putting the ogle in google. A teen-age computer wizard has won his legal battle to get the label
"hacker" removed from his school record, but now the label
"eavesdropper" may be added to his criminal record. Nicholas J. Suchyta,
19, allegedly recorded his roommate and her boyfriend having sex and
also beamed live broadcasts of the activities on the Internet early this
year. The couple told police they had no idea that the five computers in
the living room were rigged with a Web cam. http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/
Taps up in 2001! State courts authorized a dramatic increase (40%) in the use of
electronic surveillance last year, mostly to listen in on cell phones,
pagers and other wireless devices, according to a government report
released yesterday. In its annual Wiretap Report, the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts said state courts approved 1,005 wiretap
applications last year, up from 711 in the previous year. ... Though
authorities issued 300 more wiretaps last year than in 2000, the number
of convictions obtained through intercepts declined.
(Note: Cases from 2001 taps may not have reached the courts yet.) http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176750.html
Taps up in 2002? Citing Internet danger to children, the House voted Tuesday to expand
wiretap authority to target molesters who find young victims online...
The wiretap measure, approved 396-11, would allow investigators to seek
wiretaps for suspected sexual predators to help block physical meetings
between molesters and children they meet via the computer. http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=661
For the Benefit of Mr. Kite... Corporations invent people to rubbish their opponents on the internet.
Persuasion works best when it's invisible. The most effective marketing
worms its way into our consciousness, leaving intact the perception that
we have reached our opinions and made our choices independently. As old
as humankind itself, over the past few years this approach has been
refined, with the help of the internet, into a technique called "viral
marketing". Last month, the viruses appear to have murdered their host.
One of the world's foremost scientific journals was persuaded to do
something it had never done before, and retract a paper it had
published. While, in the past, companies have created fake citizens'
groups to campaign in favor of trashing forests or polluting rivers, now
they create fake citizens... http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,715159,00.html
Panopticon High... the franchise. European school pupils against surveillance... A strike broke out at the
European school in Luxembourg on Friday. Students held the spontaneous
up-rising as a protest against plans to heighten the fence around the
school and to erect surveillance cameras. The students themselves fear
that the raised wall and the possibility of surveillance cameras – which
have yet to be approved – will give the school a prison atmosphere. http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?selected_topic=9
Call me when you can tell what a woman is thinking,
by her glowing good looks. Marcus Kuhn, an associate professor at Cambridge University in England,
presented research Monday showing how anybody with a brawny PC, a
special light detector and some lab hardware could reconstruct what a
person sees on the screen by catching the reflected glow from the
monitor. The results surprised many security researchers gathered here
at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE)
Symposium on Security and Privacy because they had assumed that
discerning such detail was impossible. (Relax...) LCD monitors activate
a whole horizontal line of pixels at once, making them immune to lightswipe
attacks. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-912785.html
From "can't spit a spud" to "Hey, let's go to Mars!"
... good CI or espionage?
Chairman Mao, like the British and the Americans, was stunned when the
Soviet Union launched the space age in 1957 with Sputnik 1. "How can we
be considered a great power?" he asked. "China cannot even put a potato
in space." ... But now Chinese scientists have promised the ultimate
great leap forward: a Chinese astronaut in orbit by 2005, a manned
landing on the moon by 2010 - followed by a permanent lunar base to
exploit the new high frontier of commerce. ... Chinese scientists also
predict that Mars will be the next target after the moon. A "Mars
Explorer" is now on show in Beijing, modeled on NASA's Mars Ranger. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/physicalscience/story/l
Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they are out to get you
...or does it? "My wife, Sheryl WuDunn, and I had just moved to Beijing. While I was on
a ladder hanging pictures in our new apartment, I found a cubbyhole
covered with wire mesh. Taking a hammer, I smashed the mesh and found a
nest of electrical devices. On one of them was a row of Chinese
characters that translated literally as 'electric sound-carrying
device.' ... So our apartment had been bugged! Sheryl and I disappeared
into the bathroom, turned on the shower to drown out the bugs and
whispered into each other's ears. Should we smash the bugs? No! We would
leave them there to feed disinformation to Chinese State Security. ...
As Sheryl and I discussed our plans to release disinformation to the
Chinese, a friend arrived at the front door, and we learned the
colloquial meaning of 'electric sound-carrying device.' It's 'doorbell buzzer.'" http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/14/opinion/14KRIS.html?today
al Qaeda Cam... As visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island board a ferry from
Manhattan, a new surveillance system is taking their pictures and
comparing them to a database of terror suspects compiled by the federal
government. The system was installed just ahead of the Memorial Day
weekend, days after the FBI said it had received uncorroborated
information that terrorists had threatened New York and some of its
landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-1761634,00.html
One man's trash is another man's... billion dollars? Hollywood producer Steve Bing sued MGM magnate Kirk Kerkorian for
$1 billion-plus today over some used dental floss allegedly fished out of
the trash, the latest aspect of a child support payment battle.
(...genetic testing.) http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/article/1109082
Ask Mr. Rub R. Stampe in Accounting... Officials* still aren't sure who, or how, someone snatched 13,000 credit
reports through Ford Motor Credit Co.'s Grand Rapids office. "We're not
sure how this happened, to be honest," said Melinda Wilson, spokeswoman
for Ford Motor Credit. "We thought we had a tight system." ... The
thefts occurred between April 2001 and February, according to a
statement from Experian (the credit reporting agency).
* Don't you just love that moniker? Next to 'experts' it's my favorite. http://www.mlive.com/business/grpress/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
Things just haven't been the same since Superman left Metropolis.* Providence, RI - The judge in the federal corruption trial of Mayor
Vincent A. Cianci Jr. said he'll issue a ruling Monday on whether
prosecutors can play a controversial surveillance tape. The tape is said
to feature two of Cianci's former top aides, Thomas Rossi and Frank
Corrente, discussing a range of charges against the mayor as well as
Cianci's sex life. ... They have pleaded innocent to a 29-count
indictment that charges them with bribery, extortion, racketeering,
witness tampering and mail fraud.
* The Daily Planet building is still in Providence, however. Don't write
to me about LA City Hall or The New York Times Building. http://www.projo.com/trial/content/projo-20020517-ruling.96054611.html
Attack of the Phone Clones... Before now, copying, or cloning, a handset typically took about eight
hours. By contrast, the method developed by a team of engineers from IBM
and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology takes barely a minute to
capture the data. ... Mobile users can protect themselves against the
possibility of such an attack by ensuring they keep their phone with
them and refusing to lend it to strangers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1984000/
Bugs at Hojo's?!? Norwalk, CT - A lengthy conversation in a bugged Boston motel room
between a former suspect in the Martha Moxley murder case and his
ex-wife - who was working for Greenwich investigators - was brought to
life in court. http://www.newstimes.com/cgi-bin/dbs.cgi?db=news
After trying Gummi keys in the lock... A Japanese cryptographer has demonstrated how fingerprint recognition
devices can be fooled using a combination of low cunning, cheap kitchen
supplies and a digital camera. First Tsutomu Matsumoto used gelatin (as
found in Gummi Bears and other sweets) and a plastic mould to create a
fake finger, which he found fooled fingerprint detectors four times out
of five. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25300.html
New Urban Assault Vehicle: The Creepeep... Designed by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Va., the
Dragon Runner is a flat, remote-controlled dune buggy that resembles the
type of toy found at many hobby shops. Just like an unmanned air vehicle
(UAV), the mini-buggy contains radio gear and a camera that allows a
soldier to wirelessly control the vehicle and spy out suspicious areas
from safe distances. http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/cuttingedge/ Dragon Runner photo... http://media.abcnews.com/media/SciTech/images/
... not to mention the actions of the zoo or its employees. Washington, DC - The National Zoo told a Washington Post writer that she
cannot have some medical records on a dead giraffe because it would
intrude upon that patient's privacy. http://www.rcfp.org/news/2002/0506natzoo.html
Big Brotherism... The Big Brother 3 contestants will enter the house with 'spy-proof'
designer luggage. The aluminum Xylem cases were used by Pierce Brosnan
in the last 007 movie The World Is Not Enough. The cases are being used
because they have no secret compartments and are highly secure. Bosses
are clamping down because 'Nasty' Nick Bateman broke the rules by
smuggling in a pen and paper in the first series. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_594096.html?menu=
Vacation Idea: Want to really BE a Spook? Live the life you have only seen in movies or read about in novels. Each
trainee at COVERT OPS will experience all the thrills and excitement of
the clandestine life... High speed evasive driving both on and off road,
combat pistol shooting, unarmed self-defense, espionage techniques,
counter-surveillance, explosives and boobytraps. http://www.incredible-adventures.com/covert1.html
The Pen is Mightier than the Efu tachi...
Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony Music's
elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech
method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip marker. http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?
The eavesdrop of the year... "...walking along in the Seattle-Tacoma airport last week. A group of
three young women were approaching us from behind. We couldn't help
overhearing the following fragment of their conversation:
YW#1: So, how'd she pick her nose?
YW#2: I don't know, with a Q-Tip, I guess.
YW#3: Eww, gross!
YW#1: No, I mean how did she tell the doctor what she wanted her nose to
look like after the surgery?" http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jan/nosepick.html
Tapping their way into your hearts ...and minds.
THE WIRE - premieres June 2nd on HBO
Eavesdrop back... http://www.hbo.com/thewire/
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 11 May 2002
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 -- The Usual Nonsense
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Most Important Thing You Will Read Today
SPECIAL SECTION -- Sitcom Success Secret ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Secure BlackBerry E-mail... "Created for all Blackberry users, Assurency SecureMail is the first in
a series of high-performance security solutions that provide advanced
security for a broad range of mobile computing platforms..." http://www.kastenchase.com/news/releases/pr020128.htm
The Vivendi Stockholder Vote Debacle.
Wireless Hackers,
Sour Grapes...
or mixed signals?
WHACKER?
Media giant Vivendi Universal will file a court complaint seeking
criminal charges over suspected hacking of (wireless) computer voting at
its turbulent shareholders' meeting last week. Vivendi said the vote
manipulation "could have been carried out by a small team armed with a
transmitter-receiver and detailed knowledge of the procedures and
technical protocols of electronic voting." (WHACK - Wireless hack) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64981-2002Apr29.html
Sour Grapes?
Allegations by French media group Vivendi Universal that an embarrassing
flop in a shareholder vote last week was down to hacker sabotage make
little sense, security experts said on Monday. ... The abstention rate
in many of the votes was an uncharacteristically high 20 percent...
"This incident is extremely serious," a Vivendi Universal spokesman
said, adding that the voting equipment had been checked both before and
after use and found to be working. ... the Vivendi meeting was attended
by 5,000 shareholders. http://216.239.51.100/search?
Mixed Signals?
Testing each wireless voting device - individually - would be the obvious
method of testing, but what happens when 5000 voting buttons transmit
simultaneously? Simplistically speaking, isn't it just possible that some
of the transmissions will interfere with each other?
Before suspecting a hacker conspiracy, or a corporate smoke screen,
perhaps a serious look at "technical difficulties" is in order. We can help.
Moats... time tested, effective and cheap. The boss of a haulage firm has dug a trench around part of his yard to
deter thieves from stealing any more of his lorries. (In the last three
years he has lost six trucks, worth a total of £500,000, to thieves.)
Security cameras filmed the two rare lorries being driven out of his
yard. Their immobilizers and satellite tracking systems had been
dismantled or removed. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_583065.html? http://www.castlewales.com/moat.html
Defense Lawyer Sues to Overturn Federal Eavesdropping Regulation
A New York defense lawyer Wednesday filed a lawsuit to overturn new
regulations that allow the government to eavesdrop on conversations
between lawyers and terrorism suspects. ... Al'-Owhali's lawyer,
Frederick H. Cohn, echoed the concerns over attorney-client privilege
and meaningful representation voiced by numerous attorneys since the new
regulations came to light. "The monitoring of counsel's conversations
with a client, whether on notice or without notice, chills the
attorney-client relationship and deprives the plaintiff herein of the
right to discuss any aspect of his case with his attorney and receive
honest advice in return." http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Usual Nonsense
As if there was ever a good time... New York City - Some City Council members are curious and possibly a bit
anxious over how prosecutors will use the 100 audiotapes investigators
made during the investigation of Councilman Angel Rodriguez, D-Brooklyn,
for alleged extortion. "Of all the times to have your phone tapped,"
says one Brooklyn politician. http://www.crainsny.com/news.cms?newsId=2903&bt=Angel+Rodriguez
Oh, shut up. FBI agent Robert Hanssen who became a Russian spy has been jailed for
life without parole. The sentencing closes a chapter in one of America's
most-damaging espionage scandals. Hanssen told the courtroom: "I am
humbled by your generosity, your goodness and your charity. I apologize
for my behavior. I am shamed by it. I have opened the door for calumny
against my totally innocent wife and children. I have hurt so many deeply." http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_585329.html
The new "We Mean Business Class"...
Lockheed will design sensor systems to go on the Army's fleet of
business-class jets, the type that would normally carry corporate
executives. The planes would fly over enemy camps to help military
troops survey the situation and act appropriately... Using
high-resolution cameras, radar systems and infrared and hyper-spectral
sensors, the planes could map terrain, detect heat from tanks, pick up
communication signals and even detect harmful chemicals... http://globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/020424-lmt.htm
Well, there are about 20,000 of the little buggers, and they do procreate...
It's a tale only the best conspiracy theorist could dream up. Eleven
microbiologists mysteriously dead over the span of just five months
(11/12/01 - 4/25/02). Some of them world leaders in developing
weapons-grade biological plagues. Others the best in figuring out how to
stop millions from dying because of biological weapons. Still others,
experts in the theory of bioterrorism. Throw in a few Russian defectors,
a few nervy U.S. biotech companies, a deranged assassin or two, a bit of
Elvis, a couple of Satanists, a subtle hint of espionage, a big whack of
imagination, and the plot is complete, if a bit reminiscent of James Bond. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam
"Search your feelings Luke. You know it to be true.
...make the 'smiley face.'"
Mailbox bomb suspect Luke Helder made a crucial mistake while on the
run: He turned on his cell phone. As soon as he activated it, FBI agents
quickly triangulated his position between two rural towns and had him in
handcuffs within an hour. ... told police he was attempting to map out a
giant "smiley face" across the heart of the nation. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,52396,00.html
Shouldastoleawallet...
A suspected thief was caught by police because he hadn't properly turned
off a stolen mobile phone. Police called the phone when they found out
it had been stolen along with a handbag in Hartford, Connecticut. The
suspect thought he'd turned it off, but the phone turned into a homing
beacon that led officers straight to him. Officer Robert Russell said
they could hear him talking to people in a shop and they eventually
tracked him down by a process of elimination. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_584717.html?
Soon to be a John Waters movie?
Drug investigators in Baltimore reached an agreement Thursday with
Nextel Communications after the two clashed over how the carrier was
shutting off stolen cell phones used by drug dealers, despite court
orders to keep the phones turned on. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-904259.html?tag=fd_top
Politically Incorrect Extortionography...
A local election candidate says her campaign was sabotaged by leaflets
showing her naked alongside Keith Chegwin. They show Lib Dem Helen Swain
during an appearance on Channel 5's The Naked Jungle. Police are
investigating. The keen naturist was standing for a seat on the council
in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. The photo from the show appeared on
leaflets which were posted to homes. She came third with 479 votes. The
TV show involved naked competitors chasing fig leaves for prizes. Helen,
37, a mother-of-three, told the Daily Mail: "The picture doesn't bother
me - it's the fact someone has been vindictive enough to use it against
me. Just because I was photographed naked doesn't mean I'd be a bad
councilor. "I make no apology for being a naturist. I have nothing to
be ashamed of. There is nothing shameful about the human body." The
naked photo featured strategically placed asterisks over Mrs. Swain,
Keith Chegwin and other contestants. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_584139.html?
"My son is a card-carrying model student at Panopticon High" (bumper sticker)
A new invention called the "smart locker" would allow principals across
the country easy access to lockers and even monitor how often students
use them. Opened with "swipe cards," rather than padlocks, these lockers
can be operated from a computer in the central office where they can be
opened individually or all at once. It would even be possible to conduct
a "schoolwide lockdown." http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0507/p02s02-ussc.html
Tax break?!? Where do I sign?
Michigan - Supporters for a Sims Township clerk accused of eavesdropping
have taken a stand, circulating petitions that urge Arenac County's
prosecutor not to force their elected clerk from office. Police allege
that Maser listened in on two private telephone conversations last
November. According to investigators, Maser overheard the victim talking
by telephone about the clerk's role in a township sidewalk project.
During the conversation, the speaker suggested that Maser had accepted a
bribe for the project. http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Most Important Thing You Will Read Today
Make Dad a dope... or a doper. The Honeymooners
The Flintstones
The Cleavers
The Bradys
The Cosbys
The Simpsons
The Osbournes... where Ozzy "The Prince of Darkness" attempts to pop
corn in a microwave oven, is totally befuddled by the buttons, and gives
up. "Bloody space-aged crap!" Funnier than all his predecessors combined. http://www.mtv.com/onair/osbournes/ http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,9766,00.html?tnews
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
Sat, 04 May 2002
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 -- Scams
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird World of Spying
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News ====================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
When you think 'you' have it bad, read this... The Daily Corruption News...
A press review of corruption related stories from around the globe. http://www.transparency.org/press_moni.html
The eCommunity for Retail Loss Prevention - LPTODAY.com Breaking news, resources, career listings, discussion forum, etc. http://www.lptoday.com/index.php
Equal time...
Competitive intelligence fights 'espionage' criticism by showing it
gives companies an edge... "The CIA and other government intelligence
agencies have been known to work outside the law," Combs says.
"Corporate competitive intelligence does not operate this way." -
Richard Combs, president and founder of Combs Inc., a Chicago-based
corporate intelligence consultant.
...and did you know?
Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accidentally
posted vital trade secrets on its Web site submitted by Jerome Stevens
Pharmaceuticals Inc. The posting basically gave Jerome's competitors the
secret formula it used to manufacture its thyroid drug, Unithroid -- a
complex process that took Jerome Stevens decades to develop. The
projected cost to the company? Over $1.3 billion in lost sales over 10
years, according to company lawyers. "A company with a good CI program
in place would have vetted any filing such as this before it even went
out the door," Combs said. "It should never have happened." http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business
A Practical Guide to Taping Phone Calls and In-Person Conversations in
the 50 States and D.C. http://www.rcfp.org/taping/
You should be familiar with the long-running Nigerian Money Scams. We
are now starting to receive variations on the theme, and new countries of
origin as well. http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.html
Scam of the week...
A woman reports that she has subscribed to a new cell phone text message
service. It alerts her whenever an eavesdropper intercepts one of her calls.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird World of Spying
Thank you, Bob. That's very reassuring. A Japanese scientist pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to the FBI about
the alleged theft of research materials from the Cleveland Clinic.
Hiroaki Serizawa, a researcher at the University of Kansas Medical
Center, and former Cleveland Clinic scientist Takashi Okamoto, a friend
of Serizawa, were accused of stealing biological materials used for
research on Alzheimer's disease. ... Bob Hallinan, spokesman for the
University of Kansas School of Medicine, confirmed that Serizawa is
still employed there as a researcher, but "he is working under increased
oversight." http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-economic
Let's talk about 'branding' first...
Government lawyers told a federal judge Friday they intend to seek the
death penalty against a retired Air Force master sergeant accused of
trying to spy for Iraq, Libya and China. The government accused Brian
Patrick Regan, 39, of creating a "grave risk of death" to U.S. military
pilots patrolling the no-fly zone over Iraq. ...also accused Regan of
using the threat of the death penalty as a "marketing tool" when he
demanded $13 million in Swiss currency from Saddam. http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,50766,00.html
It was the ultimate deception...
"The Defense Security Service has released to AntiPolygraph.org portions
of the U.S. Government's handbook for polygraphers, formally titled the
Federal Psychophysiological Detection of Deception Examiner Handbook."
(I checked. All the good stuff was left out.) http://antipolygraph.org/documents/federal-polygraph-handbook.pdf
Still reaching out to touch someone... AT&T Corp. has received a patent for the monitoring and surveillance of
internet telephone voice calls. The patent was one of 56 issued to New
York City area inventors and organizations this week by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office. Patent #6,381,220 Issue Date: 04/30/2002 http://www.crainsny.com/news.cms?newsId=3046
Black Water Talent Pool... The CIA has been overrun with applications from would-be spies in the
aftermath of September 11. The agency has been flooded with more than
75,000 CVs in the eight months since the attacks, compared with 50,000
in an average year. ... The FBI said it has also experienced a recruiting surge
since the World Trade Center atrocities. More than 27,000 applications have
been received since September 11, compared with 7,200 in the previous year. http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_577346.html
Alleged bugger bugged... An alleged victim of priestly sexual abuse said Wednesday he wore a
hidden recording device to confront the cleric in an effort to help
prosecutors and detectives develop evidence against the priest. ... Jeff
Griswold, 31, who asked that The Times publish his name, said he made
his story public because he is frustrated by state statute-of-limitation
laws and the possibility that his complaint against an Azusa priest
won't be prosecuted. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-050202probe.story?coll=la%2
Righteous Extortionography House and Senate conferees received especially memorable packages this
week: a videocassette featuring gruesome footage of laboratory mice and
rats being experimented upon. The film was taken by a spy who
infiltrated a University of North Carolina animal research facility with
a hidden camera and documented apparent violations of federal
animal-care guidelines. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/
... or about 2.5 new taps every day. The government requested and won approval of fewer warrants last year
for secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists and spies,
attributing a slight decline to streamlined procedures that became law
after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The government received court
approval for 934 of the secret warrants, down from 1,003 in 2000. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002
Moral of the story first... Paying for professional advice is worth every penny. Example: The
following 'free' advice breaks federal and state eavesdropping laws.
Criminal and civil penalties apply.
DEAR ABBY:
My son's baby monitor is picking up conversations from my neighbor's
cordless phone. On more than one occasion, my husband and I have heard
my friend "Mary's" husband, "Pete," talking suggestively to a woman late
at night. It's obvious it's not Mary he is talking to. Mary just told me
they are selling their home and Pete has asked her for a divorce. He
said he "just doesn't want to be married anymore." I feel tremendously
guilty over this and am dying to tell Mary that Pete is not as innocent
as he's making himself out to be. I want to expose him for who he really
is. Two problems: I don't want to cause Mary any more heartache, and the
way we found out is sort of sleazy. I know their divorce is none of my
business, but I feel that Mary should know the truth. Should I tell her
what I know? -- HEARING "BABY" TALK IN THE BABY'S ROOM
DEAR HEARING "BABY" TALK:
The marriage is over. Why protect the guilty? I see no reason to conceal
the truth from your neighbor. Tell her that you've been hearing more
than baby-talk over the baby monitor -- and that her husband has been
having one heck of a party on the party line. http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/viewda.cfm?uc_full_date=20020410
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
PPTV... Cafe owner accused of planting camera in toilet bowl. A student spotted
a hidden camera in a toilet bowl in a Malaysian cafe. Police arrested
the owner of the internet cafe and confiscated several videos from his
office. If found guilty the 30-year-old owner could face five years in
jail for insulting a woman's modesty. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_578291.html?
Now we know, "Who watches the watchers." Police in Holland are installing security cameras to monitor their speed
cameras. They are acting after losing a fifth of all speed cameras in
the province of Brabant to attacks from vandals and irate drivers. The
new security cameras will be placed high up, looking down on the speed cameras. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_567932.html?
America's Dumbest Home Video... A Philadelphia teenager has been jailed after filming the aftermath of a
burglary with the video camera he stole. Joseph Rios and two accomplices
recorded footage of money and Christmas presents they took. The
10-minute video also shows them laughing and bragging about their crime.
They even filmed Rios's driving license, moments before an accomplice
used it when he bought cigarettes. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_574536.html
Well, maybe the second dumbest... Connecticut police have arrested a teenager after watching a video of
burglars talking about their crimes. Officers in Shelton say an
informant gave them the tape. They say it solves at least eight
burglaries and plan to make more arrests. A 19-year-old has been
arrested and charged with burglary. Police say the suspects identify
themselves by name on the tape and discuss their next burglaries. It
also includes footage of their crimes. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_567345.html
View Chicks With Better Webcam! Jersey City, NJ -- The webcam, installed last year atop the 40-story
office tower at 101 Hudson St., allows anyone with internet access to watch... http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/peregrinecam/
DVD of the week... Cartoon Crazys - Banned & Censored (2000) - "See many of the cartoons
which were censored and banned forever from theaters and television with
a full description of why and copies of the laws and resolutions which
made the screen safe for America." (Includes "Spies" and "Booby Traps"
with PFC Snafu.) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000541UL/
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
