Thu May 15, 2003
Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
To: Clients, colleagues and friends.
Subject: Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
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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 -- Eavesdropping News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Knock, Knock. Who's there?
SPECIAL SECTION -- Emerald Isle News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird Science
SPECIAL SECTION -- Electronics in the Arts
SPECIAL SECTION -- Lawn Pirates
SPECIAL SECTION -- ***CONTEST*** and stuff... ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News (budget building bullets)
Irony of the Week... Spying to get spy contracts?
Lockheed Martin's local rocket plant could come out ahead in a fierce battle for business if investigators decide its chief competitor used corporate espionage to win a multibillion-dollar contract. Boeing Co. revealed last week that U.S. Air Force and U.S. Department of Justice officials are investigating whether Boeing employees used sensitive Lockheed Martin documents to sell rockets to launch key spy government satellites into space. http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~1384917,00.html
Quote of the Week... "There's a fine line between competitive intelligence and industrial espionage. You need to know the difference." - Juliette Salvati, an analyst for Frost & Sullivan. http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~1384917,00.html
Another reason why you need a Counterespionage Budget... Sweden - A former LM Ericsson engineer charged with espionage for giving Russian intelligence agents 2,700 internal company documents in exchange for money, jeopardizing Sweden's national security, prosecutors said at his trial. Afshin Bavand, 46, received tens of thousands of dollars from Russian agents in return for computer files containing secret information about Ericsson's telecommunications technology... http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story
Your Case for a Counterespionage Budget... in book form.
"Annual Report to Congress on
Foreign Economic Collection
and Industrial Espionage - 2002"
Key Findings... - The United States was a prime target...
- Calculating US losses from the technology outflow is difficult...
- Indication are efforts to acquire industrial secrets will intensify...
- Foreign collectors targeted business secrets for purely commercial reasons...
- Technologies and proprietary information were not the only items...
--- Confidential marketing information.
--- Information contained in contract bids.
--- Personal information on individuals who could be recruited.
Foreign collectors continued to employ a whole array (of techniques) including legal and illegal methods, as well as human ...and electronic tools. http://www.ncix.gov/news/2003/may/Annual_Economic_Report Next click... http://www.spybusters.com
SPECIAL SECTION -- Eavesdropping News
Scary Eavesdropping Innovation of the Year... The 1mm x 1mm * chip microphone! (Stop, and think about that.)
Akustica's Chips combine the basic ability to capture and reproduce sound with integrated, on-chip microelectronics and software. (Be sure to watch their informational video.) http://www.akustica.com/technology.asp
* According to promotional movie.
Press release says 3mm x 3.65mm x .5mm
But, hey... it still fits under your fingernail. http://www.akustica.com/pdf/ASOC_Final.pdf
Just make sure it's not being used against you...
SpectorSoft offers a pair of products that allow an IT department to observe virtually all activity on individual workstations - Spector Professional Edition and e-Blaster 3.0. From industrial espionage, to sabotage and workplace harassment suits, it’s not hard to understand the strong financial incentives that may exist for keeping tabs on employees' workstations. http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/05/09/19TCspector_1.html
Phreaks threaten VoIP security...
Increasing use of voice-over-IP technology could result in a return to "phreaking" - hacking of telephony systems to make free calls. ... Mr. Barrie, a lecturer in security at the University of Sydney and former manager of the Packetstorm security portal, said telephone network operators had spent years coming to terms with security issues in voice transmission, which could re-emerge as VoIP grew. (This has been a concern of ours as well; however, we see that the major players like Avaya and Cisco are taking steps to build in security measures.) http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/
Drug Tracks Smacked... In a ruling that helps clarify the limits of digital eavesdropping, an appeals panel says a group of Web surfers can sue a company that gathered certain data without their consent. ... The lawsuit alleges that a now-defunct Web traffic analysis company violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) by intercepting communications without permission. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/cnet/stories/1001081.htm
CoolCam... The Snoop will record images in JPEG format onto a memory card whenever it is triggered by motion via its built-in video motion detector or by an external trigger if you choose. ... To view the recorded images, remove the flash card from the slot on the Snoop enclosure and insert it into the reader which you connect to your PC via USB. http://www.carolproducts.com/Pages/snphome.htm
Spy v. Spy
Hacker how-to instructions for spying on your covert wireless video cameras at work, and... http://rhizome.org/RSG/RSG-X10-1/
...there could be strangers watching your kids as they play or sleep right in your own home. All over the country parents use wireless video cameras called baby cams or nanny cams to make sure their children are safe. But that extra set of eyes can be an open door for eavesdroppers and predators, to see what's inside. http://www.nbc-2.com/News/stories/051403-baby_monitors.html
Yes Virginia, there is another Sanity Clause... A bill in the California state legislature would protect the anonymity of Internet users by requiring Internet service providers to send customers copies of subpoenas seeking to learn their identities. ... Virginia passed a similar statute last year. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,58720,00.html
Eavesdropper's earprint does him in...
Police officers in Belgium believe they have caught a burglar after two years - thanks to an earprint on a bedroom door. The print was left during a burglary in July, 2001, when police believe the intruder put his ear to the door to make sure the people inside were asleep. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_779396.html?
SPECIAL SECTION -- Knock, Knock. Who's there?
Eavesdropping... Washington - The government disclosed Thursday it requested and won approval for a record 1,228 warrants last year for secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists and spies, a reflection of aggressive efforts to prevent terror attacks in the United States. ... The FBI often uses these specialized warrants -- issued under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- to record the telephone calls and e-mails of citizens and immigrants believed to be agents of a foreign power... http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/
Eavesdropping who?
Washington - Law officers investigating suspected spies or terrorists could wiretap lone foreigners even if they can't be linked to a government or terror organization, under a bill passed by the Senate. http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/
He's-dropping back in to spy on you... (This may be our Weird of the Year.)
Maryland - A man thrown out by his roommate returned to the home and hid in an attic crawl space for nearly six weeks, spying on the roommate through a telephone tap and hidden baby monitors, police said. The secret surveillance was discovered Saturday when someone investigating strange noises pushed a screwdriver into a hole in the ceiling, and the screwdriver was pushed back, police Sgt. Andy Dewese said. After he was discovered, Robin E. Lewis fled in a stolen vehicle, then returned Sunday and left his ex-roommate a note reading, "I will always be watching you," police said. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
...police removed 12 trash bags (from the crawl space) filled with beer cans and bottles and wrappers from fast-food meals, snack cakes and candy bars. The space also contained a chair, laptop computer, videocassette recorder and television, according to the police report. Lewis apparently had tapped into Smith's cable and telephone lines, using a telephone receiver to eavesdrop on his calls, police said. Police also found baby monitor transmitters hidden throughout the home and a receiver in the crawl space, suggesting that Lewis tracked Smith's household activities and roamed the town house freely while Smith was at work. http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-roommate
SPECIAL SECTION -- Emerald Isle News
Cut & Snitch... Ireland - Two Irish schools are testing a new scheme ... a database records the names of absent students each day and automatically sends out a text message to parents notifying them if their child missed roll-call. "If the absenteeism is legitimate, parents can ignore the message. If not, they can contact the school," said David Sweeney, principal of Dublin’s Portmarnock Community School. http://www.msnbc.com/news/910922.asp?0si=-
Did we hear the IRA say, "Fork him?" The British Army's top agent inside the IRA has gone into hiding after his cover was blown in an exposure that rocked the republican movement to its core. Senior security sources confirmed the man identified as 'Stakeknife' was Alfredo 'Freddie' Scappaticci, military intelligence's most powerful spy, who had initially resisted warnings to get out of the province because his security had been compromised. http://www.itv.com/news/2018312.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird Science
Would have helped Tiresias ...see into the future. A "bionic" eye that can help the blind to see has restored partial vision to three people who lost their sight because of incurable disease. ... Each patient had an operation to have the implant fitted over their own damaged retinas. They wore spectacles fitted with miniature video cameras, which transmitted signals to the implanted device. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/
...so they nicknamed it the Dur-Anti. An electronic nose can identify people with lung tumours simply by sniffing their breath. While some cancer experts are sceptical, the creators of the e-nose at the University of Rome hope it could lead to the development of a simple breath test for the early detection of the disease. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993702
It all became too much for him when
they started singing "Yellow Submarine." It was just one voice at first, loud and male, coming from the ceiling, saying, ''Hi, John,'' calling him by name as if they were buddies. But after a while, the voice, which he came to know as the ''evil genius,'' urged him to steal other people's brain cells and told him that he had a cancerous tumor in his head. Eventually, other voices joined in, maybe 50 of them... Recently, a small group of scientists has begun studying auditory hallucinations more intensively. The research has led to new theories of what may cause such bizarre alterations in perception and has spawned at least one promising new treatment... http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?
SPECIAL SECTION -- Electronics in the Arts
Book of the Month...
JOURNEY TO PEKING: A Secret Agent in Wartime China by Dan Pinck, Naval Institute Press, April 2003
Readers with a penchant for real-life cloak-and-dagger stories won’t be disappointed with this memoir. Dan Pinck’s adventures behind the lines in war-torn China resulted in some vital information being passed along to the Allies, and his up close and personal look at the world of covert military operations in that country will fascinate many. But the author’s engaging writing style and self-deprecating wit do not focus on the heroics typically encountered in spy stories. Pinck ignores the glamour to give a totally candid view of events. ... “Dan Pinck has written one of the best autobiographies on the life of the secret agent in the field that I have ever read: lively, amusing, true, and well-written. What more can one ask for?” – Robin Winks (Townsend Professor of History, Yale University) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591146771/
...and how did we miss this?!?!
3rd Annual Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.
For future reference...
The Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is held each year on the last Sunday in April. http://www.pinholeday.org/
...and this! Radio DOM
(No, not the, "You must listen to me, or I'll [yourfearhere]" kind.)
An automatic radio-station located on the Dom tower in Utrecht... Radio DOM got its inputs from six computer-controlled surveillance microphones installed on the Dom tower, which constantly scanned the inner city area. http://iaaa.nl/radio/domE.html
This is not for everyone... Peam2003 is an international festival of contemporary electronic-based art, coordinated in Pescara City, centre-east of Italy. The meeting is organised by Artificialia. Main subject of the meeting is "Electronics in Art and Art in Electronics." The focus is on the new interaction of electronics and human in art and culture. http://www.artificialia.com/peam2003/
Spring is here and the Lawn Pirates are cruising the green bounding main on their prairie schooners - sweat bands soaked and blades a-flashing!
"Blown Beard" from the Port of Elmira, NY... A New York man has pleaded guilty to shooting a neighbor because he mowed his lawn too often. Kevin French shot his neighbor in the head with an air rifle, as the man drove his riding mower in Elmira. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_775585.html?
"Knight Rider" and "Hoosier Daddy" from the Port of Bristol, IN... One man was killed and another injured when they were riding a Ranch King lawn mower on Indiana 15 at 2:37 a.m. Sunday and were struck by a semi-truck. http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2003/05/12/local.
He’s known simply as "Yard Man"...
In 1999, Brad Hauter, a 37-year old soccer coach at Rose-Hulman College in Terre Haute, Ind., set a world record by driving a Yardman riding lawn mower across America, logging more than 4,000 miles. This year, Hauter is planning to break his record by riding his yellow-and-green mower 5,500 miles, ending at Battery Park in New York City on June 5. ... his mower was stolen during a stop in San Antonio. http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2003/May/05/news/CoachMower.html
So, uhh... What do you call yourself?
Let us know.
...but to be really bugged, you need to be PowerPointed... "Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely."
Hate PowerPoint as much as I do?
Send your evil PowerPointer this link... http://www.edwardtufte.com/1784810720/tufte/books_pp
"You're not in the deck..." Former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf is attempting to surrender to US forces... Americans have refused to arrest Mr. Sahhaf - who became a familiar face during the war with his upbeat assessments of Iraqi military "successes" - because he does not appear on their "most wanted" list of 55 former regime officials. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2986459.stm ...so he found work as a 404 spokesperson. http://www.rini.org/error2.php
World's Sharpest Portable TV... The new 15-inch LCD TV operates on a 2.4GHz wireless system and can be taken absolutely anywhere you like without trailing a mess of wires behind you. http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/030418-1.html
For everyone... Always remember to whisper 'I love you' in your loved one's left ear. According to an American psychologist a person is more likely to remember emotional words that he/she hears in the left ear. This is because the left ear is connected to the right side of the brain in which our emotions are processed. http://www.youth.hear-it.org/forside.dsp?forside=yes&area=456
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