Mon Jul 28, 2003
Subject: Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
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 -- SpyScraps
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
SPECIAL SECTION -- More Summer Fun ===================================================
As if zappers weren't enough, how about Sousveillance?!?! Sousveillance: Inventing and Using Wearable Computing Devices for Data Collection in Surveillance Environments -- This paper describes using wearable computing devices to perform "sousveillance" (inverse surveillance) as a counter to organizational surveillance. Visible sousveillance often evoked counter-performances by front-line surveillance workers. The juxtaposition of sousveillance with surveillance generates new kinds of information in a social surveillance situation. http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/articles1(3)/sousveillance.pdf
Kinko's spy case: The Juju in the PC New York -- For more than a year, unbeknownst to people who used Internet terminals at Kinko's stores in New York, Juju Jiang was recording what they typed, paying particular attention to their passwords. Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's copy shops, software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 user names and passwords, and used them to access and open bank accounts online. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/23/cybercafe.security.ap/
So, what juju will thwart a Juju
when you use public computers? "Twingo Systems has a solution. Its virtual secure desktop allows users to establish a secure, encrypted 'sandbox' on any computer. Working in the sandbox is just like working on an ordinary Windows computer -- all the programs, Internet connections, and peripherals are available -- but everything you do in the sandbox is written to a special encrypted file on the computer. When you log off, the file is wiped clean and then erased (two different procedures), so nobody using the computer after you can see what you were doing." http://www.business2.com/articles/web/0,,50983,00.html http://www.twingosystems.com/product/default.asp
Important Shredder News...
Technology to reconstruct documents that have been conventionally shredded is finding niche in espionage and other industries; shreds are first scanned, then reconstruction process begins; some programs concentrate on shape, color and perforations of shreds, while others opt for semantically driven systems that look for keywords and likely text matches. ... Advanced scanning technology makes it possible to reconstruct documents previously thought safe from prying eyes, sometimes even pages that have been ripped into confetti-size pieces. ... A Houston-based company, ChurchStreet Technology, already offers a reconstruction service for documents that have been conventionally strip-shredded into thin segments. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html? http://www.churchstreet-technology.com/
Reality Check - Spy Voice Recorders look different.
Time to update your thinking on hidden tape recorders. First, drop the word 'tape'. Then, take a look at the photos and specifications shown on this site. These voice recorders are available to everyone, and you probably won't be able to discover them without our help. http://www.telesys.ru/en/products/dvr/index.html
FREE Counterintelligence Safety Booklet...
(We know _you_ know. Give copies to the executives.)
The counterintelligence awareness booklet Be Alert! has been updated and reprinted and is now available for distribution. The document focuses on the foreign intelligence collection threat to both US official and business travelers. Summary...
Miniature electronic surveillance equipment has become a relatively low-cost, effective tool, readily available to foreign governments and businesses around the world. An intelligence activity directed against you will probably be conducted in an unobtrusive and non-threatening fashion. ...Travelers need to be aware of these common spying techniques:
EAVESDROPPING
- Listening to other people's conversations to gather information. Eavesdropping activities can range from the strategic positioning of an unobtrusive bystander to the use of concealed, sophisticated audio and visual devices.
- Frequently employed in social settings where attendees feel secure and are more likely to talk about themselves and their work.
- Frequent venues include public and host-provided transportation, restaurants, bars, and meeting facility restrooms.
- Concealed devices are cost-efficient, low risk, and can be used in conjunction with overt devices such as traffic and pedestrian monitoring cameras.
INTRUSION OPERATIONS
- The physical entry into a room, security container, or piece of electronic equipment to steal or make reproductions of documents, magnetic and audio media, and/or the installation of electronic eavesdropping equipment.
ELECTRONIC INTERCEPTION
- The legal or illegal intercept of electronic communications. Increasingly conducted against modern telecommunications systems and personal electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDA).
- Foreign telecommunications carriers are particularly vulnerable because most are government controlled.
- Office, hotel, and portable telephones are key targets.
- Facsimile, telex, and e-mail can be electronically monitored.
- Many countries have the ability to intercept and possibly break commercially available encryptions. http://www.ncix.gov/pubs/misc/pub_be_alert.html
47 Years Ago in Business Espionage History... "Is business able to combat espionage? -- Yes, if the proper experts are employed. ... The best step that a firm can take to avoid espionage would be "the appointment of a properly trained and qualified security officer, supplying him with an adequate staff and complete counter-intelligence equipment." Dr. Worth Wade (quoting Louis E. Garner, Jr. from "Business Counterspies", Fortune Magazine, June 1956) We've been doing just that for about 30 of those years... http://www.spybusters.com
Tap Flap Saps Merger Yap Hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber-optic cables snake across ocean floors and along railways carrying masses of phone calls and data. But preventing other countries from tapping the lines -- while ensuring that U.S. intelligence services can still do so -- is such a high priority for the U.S. that the government may kill a high-profile telecommunications merger to guarantee it. That could spell bad news for Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd, whose bid for ailing U.S. telecommunications concern Global Crossing Ltd. has run into serious opposition in Washington. http://cryptome.org/nsa-seatap.htm
Eight Tips for Creating Teflon Passwords - Use keywords related to a theme.
- Substitute numbers for letters based upon their appearance.
- Substitute numbers for letters based upon their location on the keyboard.
- Consistently capitalize the nth letter(s) of your password.
- Avoid predictable week-to-week or month-to-month changes.
- Store passwords in Counterpane Labs' Password Safe tool.
- Check the quality of your password at SecurityStats.com
- Adopt ISO17799 password quality guidelines.
For additional details on creating teflon quality p-words... http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyScraps
New Kind of Snooping Arrives at the Office
Corporate executives are becoming increasingly aggressive about spying on their employees, and with good reason: now, in addition to job shirkers and office-supply thieves, they have to worry about being held accountable for the misconduct of their subordinates. Even one offensive e-mail message circulated around the office by a single employee can pose a liability risk for a company. Not only that, but a wave of laws — including the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the anticorruption and corporate-governance Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 — have imposed new record-keeping and investigative burdens on companies. Not complying with some laws can result in the personal liability of officers and directors. As a result, employers have stepped up their surveillance of employees ... while companies still use cameras and phone taps to track down the bad eggs and sometimes even send detectives into the office to poke around for evidence after hours, most scrutiny focuses on computers, the weapon of choice for corporate wrongdoers. A growing band of specialists in a field called human-resource forensics are using the latest technology to record everything from the Web sites employees visit to the files they delete to the data they download, even as workplace and legal experts are raising red flags about some of those efforts. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/business/yourmoney/13EXLI.html
Ad for Reverse Engineering seen on the net last week... Response Deadline 07/26/2003
Budget $10,001 to $50,000
Name Reverse Engineering-Liquid Soap
ID 35808
Description We are looking for someone to assist us with the reverse engineering of 1/2 dozen different liquid soaps. The project will be to analyze the first 5-6 major ingredients and a couple of minor ingredients to determine which raw materials are being used and the margin of mark-up of these materials.
Weird Science... Competitive intelligence professionals from major pharmaceutical companies get together each year to discuss how best to keep an eye on each other... "The Third Annual Pharma & Biotech Business Intelligence Summit will cover the latest issues in competitive intelligence..." September 18 - 19, 2003 - Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village - Princeton, NJ http://www.srinstitute.com/part_iter_site_page.cfm?
Snap, Crackle, Pop ...and Nada...
What was recorded during the 18 1/2-minute gap of one of President Nixon's White House tapes will remain a mystery - at least for now. The National Archives said audio experts were unable to recapture unintelligible words from test tapes designed to simulate the recording made famous in the Watergate scandal. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/27/politics/main565298.html Well duuuuh, dudes... Everyone - like knows - it was Arlene singing "I Honestly Love You." http://www.celebritywonder.com/movie/1999_Dick61.html
Senator, what if we called it Tiny Insignificant Awareness?
The controversial Terrorism Information Awareness program (formerly known as Total Information Awareness), which would troll Americans' personal records to find terrorists before they strike, may soon face the same fate Congress meted out to John Ashcroft in his attempt to create a corps of volunteer domestic spies: death by legislation.
(Perhaps it has just been moved elsewhere to keep funding amounts secret.) http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59606,00.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
"Is that a camera, or are you just happy to see me?"
San Francisco - Police said James Rich, 56, was nabbed at a classic car show on Sunday when someone noticed that he had little interest in cars and a particular focus on skirted woman attending the event. A camera lens the size of a pinhead was discovered placed on his shoe laces and linked via a wire in his pants to a video camera, police said. http://news.excite.com/odd/article/id/336261
Video Vigilantes... Tokyo - A campaigner for Japanese men who complain they've been falsely accused of molesting women on trains has been arrested for allegedly taking photos up a woman's skirt, police said Wednesday. Mitsuru Nagasaki, 46, was detained by passengers who claim he aimed his camera-equipped cell phone at a woman sitting in front of him on a Tokyo subway. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030716/D7SALHDO1.html
...and it's gonna get worse...
Camera phones could become outdated very soon as the enhancement of mobile phones' multimedia functions continue. The latest offering is Samsung's Anycall SCH-V330, a mobile phone with a camcorder function embedded. http://www.forbes.com/2003/07/16/cx_jk_0716tentech_print.html
"Are you lookin' at me?"
Southeast Airlines said it plans to install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times, as a precaution against terrorism and other safety threats. http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59652,00.html
...or until you fall off. Artist Sam Easterson's "Animal, Vegetable, Video" project offers a bizarre take on the reality TV craze: the world as seen by a buffalo, tarantula, armadillo or even a lowly tumbleweed. Cameras as tiny as half an ounce are mounted on animals or plants. There's no specific length for the feature; it lasts until the camera falls off. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/07/16/
Spam Cam Ad Received This Week... "Introducing the World's Smallest Truly Wireless COLOR Video Camera. Measuring about the size of a quarter, concealing this camera is not a problem. Hide the camera virtually anywhere you can imagine! ...tons of uses: spouse checker cam, employee cam, all purpose spy cam. Available with sound!" (Apparently being sold in flagrant violation of United States federal law. Less than $100.) http://www.youcansave.com/webcamsv.html
Shrunken Heads... ...an actual US quarter that has been "shrunk" by powerful magnetic fields! In my high voltage laboratory, I created an invisible, but extremely intense, pulsed magnetic field which "hammered" the outer rim of the coin inwards, evenly shrinking it to the diameter of a dime! The whole process only took 20-25 millionths of a second, and was accompanied by an explosion and a blinding blue-white flash! http://205.243.100.155/frames/shrinkergallery.html
James Bond had one...
So did The Walt Disney Co.'s Rocketeer. And, most recently, teen star Frankie Muniz was seen soaring across the sky in a jetpack as agent Cody Banks. Trek Entertainment announced that it will be selling the proof-of-concept prototype Solotrek in an attempt to repay developmental debts. The catch: The prototype was rendered flightless in 2002 and its new owner must agree not to attempt to use the vehicle. ... Trek, based in Los Altos, Calif., has set a minimum price of $1 million, but Moshier says it could bring in much more. Bids on the 800-pound machine will be accepted at the company through August 15. http://www.forbes.com/2003/07/21/cx_zc_0721tentech.html
Date: Sat Jul 12, 2003
Subject: Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
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 -- Brothers & Friends
SPECIAL SECTION -- Wide World of Privacy
SPECIAL SECTION -- Techno NoNo's
SPECIAL SECTION -- Summer Spy Fun ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News (budget building bullets)
Espionage Cautionary Tale #772 - The Case of the Multiple Wheels... Every year, secrets worth billions of dollars are stolen from U.S. companies by men and women seeking money, new jobs, revenge or a leg up on competitors. So it should have come as no surprise last week when Boeing Corp. revealed that some of its employees may have used a competitor's trade secrets to help win a lucrative government contract in 1998. After all, in the world of business, corporate espionage is about as old as the wheel itself. Imagine the surprise on its inventor's face when he saw a fellow in the next cave selling an exact replica. Information thievery takes many forms... http://tinyurl.com/gl3v
Espionage Cautionary Tale #773 - The Oracle declined to comment...
- Ex software analyst accused of spying.
- $5.1 billion U.S. lawsuit launched by foe. http://tinyurl.com/gl48
Espionage Cautionary Tale #774 - That's a lotta dough... The owner of a Greensboro (NC) bakery has been arrested on charges he stole $30 million in secret recipes from a major national competitor earlier this month. Mazen Fathi Said, owner of Famous Pita Bakery, faces 60 counts of stealing trade secrets... Police said Said entered a Morabito Baking Company factory in Norristown, Pa., and stole 60 formulas for the company's rolls and specialty breads. ... Said returned the next day to watch the company's production process, presumably to help his own business. "It was a classic case of industrial espionage," Capt. Gary Hastings of the Greensboro Police Department said. ... Said, who is an Israeli citizen, was held in Guilford County jail on a $2 million bond... http://www.wsoctv.com/news/2298016/detail.html
Espionage Cautionary Tale #775 - An ounce of prevention...
Labor law attorneys say the federal government rarely enforces criminal statutes that prohibit companies from stealing sensitive information from one another. http://tinyurl.com/glkw
Espionage Cautionary Tale #776 - While you read this, others train...
"Our Intense Hacking Workshop, taught by former hacker turned security consultant, Kevin Mitnick, and his long time colleague, Alex Kasper, will teach you why people are your greatest vulnerability...
During this course you will learn: (selective listing)
Why many security professionals underestimate the threat of SE
How to identify many serious security weaknesses that are typically overlooked in most organizations - including, but not limited to:
Telephone and Voicemail system vulnerabilities
Intercom, Paging and Radio System surveillance
Bypassing mechanical and electronic lock/control systems
Video Surveillance
Dumpster Diving
How to destroy sensitive data
Learn the importance of conducting employee background checks - and how to do it effectively." http://www.intenseschool.com/bootcamps/security/mitnick/
Espionage Cautionary Tale #777 - What!!! MY corporate directory for sale?!?!
((Remember, the following is their text, not mine.))
"Looking for internal corporate phone directories to source for candidates? These directories are an excellent way to recruit within your industry or from your competitors. Stan Grubman has been selling internal corporate phone directories for since 1988. His directories typically list an employee's name, direct phone number, job title and email address. The average price for a directory is $100. Stan has access to over 600 corporate directories including many of the Fortune 500 companies. To check for their directory availability and ordering info contact Stan at (301) 587-1819. Also contact Stan to sell and trade corporate phone directories. Mention you are a Recruiters Network member and receive a 10% discount." http://www.recruitersnetwork.com/resources/directories.htm
Espionage Cautionary Tale #778 - ...and your policy is?
Samsung Electronics, the world’s third largest maker of mobile phones, has banned the use of camera phones in some of its factories, fearing they could be tools of industrial espionage. The decision is an embarrassing admission by the South Korean company of the potential misuse of one its fastest-growing products. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030707/323/e3u89.html
Espionage Cautionary Tale #779 - A 'mouthpiece' for spies?!?!
"Espionage is a crime that may carry a lasting social stigma as well as serious legal consequences. In some states, the laws governing this crime have become more rigid, and the punishment for a conviction can often be quite severe. Because of this, it is extremely important that you entrust your case to an attorney with a strong history of winning espionage cases. Doing so is the best way to keep yourself out of jail, or even prison. The lawyers at Crime Attorneys have successfully defended clients against espionage charges, earning acquittals or getting their charges dropped altogether. Please call us IMMEDIATELY if you, or someone you know:
HAS BEEN CHARGED , or
IS UNDER INVESTIGATION , or
MAY BE UNDER INVESTIGATION for espionage
If you think you MAY need a criminal attorney to defend you against espionage charges, don't wait. Call us today at (800) 841-1881." http://www.fightforme.com/espionage.html
Espionage prevention 'elevator speech' for your boss...
"Snoops collect intelligence quietly before they use it.
They size up their target;
evaluate the probability-of-success;
then steal information to fuel their goals.
Eavesdropping is a key component of pre-attack intelligence gathering.
Eavesdropping is the one early-warning sign which can be detected.
When eavesdropping is identified, the attack can still be thwarted.
Proactive eavesdropping audits are cheap insurance." - K. Murray
How to tell if you are being tailed... Surveillance is required for successful terrorist planning. Experience has taught us that terrorist attacks are generally preceded by pre-operational surveillance in which terrorists gather target intelligence. ... All training programs designed to protect individuals from becoming victims of terrorism recommend that people be alert to surveillance. This is excellent advice, but, unfortunately, in most instances it is insufficient, because people have had no training in detecting surveillance, and terrorist organizations are often relatively sophisticated in their surveillance methods. Detecting surveillance conducted by trained experts is not as easy as most Hollywood films would lead us to believe. Fortunately...
(Excellent tutorial on detecting surveillance. Distribute to traveling colleagues.) http://bogota.usembassy.gov/wwwsc093.html
Physical surveillance and corporate espionage detection similarities... - Detect the surveillance and you can thwart the terrorist.
- Detect the early stages of espionage (eavesdropping / wiretapping) and you can thwart the spy.
One important difference... - You can learn how to detect physical surveillance.
- You need help detecting eavesdropping.
Sortalike, "What's the difference between the Macarena and pea-green soup?" (answer at the end))
SPECIAL SECTION -- Brothers & Friends
Big Brother... The Pentagon is developing an urban surveillance system that would use computers and thousands of cameras to track, record and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a foreign city. ... Police, scientists and privacy experts say the unclassified technology could easily be adapted to spy on Americans. ... The project's centerpiece is groundbreaking computer software that is capable of automatically identifying vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, or drivers and passengers by face. http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/6211959.htm
Little Brother... It once was just Big Brother that privacy-minded people had to worry about, but now "it's Little Brother," says Howard Rheingold, a technology watcher and author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution . ... These days, miniature spycams are so small and inexpensive that they could be anywhere: someone pointing a cell phone or a pen at you might have one; they can even be hidden in sunglasses. Tiny cameras can be purchased in stores or over the Internet for as little as $100, and easily hidden in boom boxes, Kleenex boxes, and other items. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-06-15-little-brother_x.htm
...and then there's Eddie Haskel.
Government Information Awareness (GIA) is a research effort by the Computing Culture group of the MIT Media Lab. It aims to provide software and data to help citizens understand the complexities of their government. We were motivated by the Defense Advance Research Program Administration (DARPA) program, Total Information Awareness, which seeks to gather, consolidate, and analyze information about Americans and foreigners. We see such research as possibly helpful, and probably dangerous to the democratic process. http://opengov.media.mit.edu/GIA/FAQ.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Wide World of Privacy
Passive eavesdropping is not always passive eavesdropping... Boston - Think you've heard more than enough about war driving and Wi-Fi insecurity? Two days of electronic eavesdropping at the 802.11 Planet Expo in Boston last week sniffed out more evidence that most Wi-Fi users (88%) still aren't getting the message... Passive eavesdropping is undetectable, but AirDefense (the vendor who ran this survey) picked-up 149 active scans from war driving tools like Netstumbler, 105 denial-of-service attacks, eight probes for known exploits against access points, and thirty-two attempted man-in-the-middle attacks -- three of them successful. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/31567.html
Stuff never to bring to the airport... If you conduct security screenings, consider passing this to the security staff. http://lb.wnd.com/FBI-weapons.pdf
You know those 5-button combination locks...
All the possible combinations for them are posted here. http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/locks_and_security
Recommendation: Use 5-button locks for secondary (while the area is occupied) security only.
Anatomy of A Blown Wiretap... June 25 - Boston - RICHARD SCHNEIDERHAN, age 69, of Holbrook, Massachusetts, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Keeton to 1 year and 6 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. ... SCHNEIDERHAN was charged on November 16, 2000 along with his co- conspirators, brother-in-law Edward Duff, age 71, who resides in Stuart, Florida and Quincy, Massachusetts; and Duff's daughter, Linda Reardon, age 44, of Quincy, Massachusetts. Both Duff and Reardon previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the obstruction of justice and each was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edward F. Harrington to 1 year of probation. Evidence presented during the eight-day trial proved that, Reardon, who was employed until recently by Bell Atlantic in Taunton, Massachusetts as an administrative assistant responsible for the processing and assignment of work orders to telephone technicians, became aware of an FBI investigation employing "pen register" orders to capture all telephone numbers called from certain South Boston telephone lines in an attempt to gather information to assist in the apprehension of fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger. On or about September 21, 1999, Reardon provided the information she had concerning the FBI's electronic surveillance efforts to her father, Duff, who in turn on the same day, provided the information to SCHNEIDERHAN. For over 40 years SCHNEIDERHAN, a retired Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant, had been a close personal friend of Stephen Flemmi, who was charged in a 1995 indictment along with Bulger. On or about September 22, 1999, SCHNEIDERHAN conveyed to Kevin Weeks the information concerning the specific South Boston telephone lines which were the subject of the FBI's electronic surveillance efforts. That same day, Kevin Weeks passed the information he had received from SCHNEIDERHAN on to the targets of the electronic surveillance. http://tinyurl.com/f9mw
James Bond Spy Trick # 205
Find One Word
In a Solid Week's Worth
of Your Bug and Wiretap Recordings
in less than 5.6 Seconds. "With our unique phonetic technology, you can retrieve any word, name or phrase from voice data, regardless of speaker or dialect, with up to 98 percent precision. We enable you to search your digital assets 100,000 times faster than real time, or 30 hours in less than one second." http://www.fast-talk.com/
Fast Talk - The movie! http://www.fast-talk.com/downloads/WSB_Local_HQ3.mpg
Do you think the crowd was 'phased'?
Hong Kong - A march by 500,000 people here on July 1, followed by the indefinite postponement early Monday of a strict internal-security bill, appears to have been a humiliating fiasco for Chinese intelligence. ... At the start of the July 1 rally, a balcony running the length of a nearby skyscraper was lined with men in uniform along with a half dozen cup-shaped devices that appeared to be remote eavesdropping equipment for listening to conversations in the crowd below. http://tinyurl.com/gpbv
Privacy Mash
"The Coffin Bangers were about to arrive,
With their vocal group The Cryptkicker Five..." Moscow - Mobile phone providers switched off their encryption systems for 24 hours on a government order, allowing the Federal Security Service and the police to eavesdrop on all calls. An alert notifying callers that their conversations could be listened in on popped up on cellphones around Moscow at 9 p.m. Tuesday and lasted until 9 p.m. Wednesday on an order by the Communications Ministry. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/07/10/012.html
The Tripp / Lewinsky Wiretapping Case Court Transcripts... The phone tapes are ALL transcribed here. The depositions. The sordid details. Why read trashy fiction this summer when you can read even trashier true stories!?! Up for auction on eBay - now! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3617596301
Lance Armstrong's latest gear assault on the Tour de France... To keep tabs on Tour rivals and plan tactics, Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team will use credit-card-size Alinco DJ-C5T dual-band two-way radios. This year the radios were specially configured (the team isn't saying how) to avoid eavesdropping. http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,12543,462473,00.html
More 'Snitch Nation' news...
The latest cheap trick comes as an automated e-mail from a site called word-of-mouth.org . Purporting to come from the "Word-of-Mouth.Org Report Awareness System" it informs the reader that some unnamed person has posted information about them at the web site for others to see. It doesn't say what that information is. Couched in pseudo-legalisms it implies that the e-mail is some sort of legally-required disclosure. http://security.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,3973,1111983,00.asp http://word-of-mouth.org/
Snitch Bot. A 'black box' for your car... With the basic CarChip, the data logger will store up to 75 hours of trip details before you'll need to download. If you drive, on average, two hours a day, that's over a month's worth of driving data!
Time and date for each trip
Distance traveled
Speed (recorded every 5 seconds)
Hard breakings and quick accelerations
You can view all of this graphically on your computer screen, giving you a moment-by-moment picture of how you—or perhaps your employees or the teenagers in your household—are driving. http://www.davisnet.com/drive/products/
Press Button, Go Directly to "Cell" Phone... Boylan, 19, is in a cell because of his cell phone, police say. It seems Boylan accidentally hit the redial button on his cell phone during a burglary - providing the break-in victim with a voice-mail recording of the crime in progress, said Detective Lt. Steve Skrynecki. http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/2178.htm
FutureWatch - [pick a quote] "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it." - William Arthur Ward
"Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge." - Paul Gauguin
"H.O.P.E. is a waking dream." - Aristotle (updated)
"How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares if there seemed any danger of their coming true!" - Logan Pearsall Smith Capital punishment for personal computers? Listen up! http://www.factsquad.org/radio/2003-06-19.mp3
20th Century - "Take a polygraph."
21st Century - "Take a Chance." University of Pennsylvania biophysicist Britton Chance demonstrates the latest in lie detection technology. (Brain blood flow.) http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/demo0603.asp
Telemarketercide... Two minutes on-line and you'll be free from most telemarketers.
The government "Do Not Call" list is now a reality.
Registering your phone numbers is easy. http://www.donotcall.gov/
Why did this not surprise the government? Critics of a German law allowing authorities to eavesdrop on conversations in private homes took their case to the supreme court Tuesday, arguing that the five-year-old measure is unconstitutional. http://heraldsun.com/nationworld/international/23-367409.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Summer Spy Fun
KGB 101: Two Evenings with a Soviet Spy Master Wednesday, 16 & 23 July 2003; 6:30 pm
Two-Part Series - Meet the youngest general in the history of the KGB—here to share tradecraft secrets that kept the CIA on its toes for over 50 years! - The KGB: It intimidated its enemies and awed its allies—and Major General Oleg Kalugin was one of its stars. Formerly KGB Resident in Washington DC and head of KGB worldwide foreign counterintelligence, Kalugin offers a rare opportunity to hear first-hand the theory and practice of Soviet espionage. In this two-part seminar, you’ll find out how the KGB selected and trained its intelligence officers—and how Russia’s new Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), is continuing the job. General Kalugin currently serves on the International Spy Museum’s Advisory Board of Directors and is a Professor at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies. - Tickets: $40 for series - Space is limited – advance registration required! http://www.spymuseum.org/
Had it with repurposable, value-added
knowledge capital and robust, leveragable mindshare? Political speeches and corporate reports may never be the same again. A computer program that sifts the bull from business jargon and exposes politicians' empty rhetoric has been developed by management consultants. Called Bullfighter, the jargon buster was developed by Deloitte Consulting after it noticed that Enron's documents became more indecipherable as it slid further towards bankruptcy. (Download this FREE program and transform your rhetorical 'Foggy' Gremlins into Laconic Lingo.) http://www.dc.com/insights/bullfighter/downloads.asp
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
