Sat Aug 23, 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 -- Spy News of the Week
SPECIAL SECTION -- Cringe County
SPECIAL SECTION -- Intelligence
SPECIAL SECTION -- Surveillance Follow-ups
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Light Brigade
SPECIAL SECTION -- Sawdust Sallies ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Security In A Can #023 - Secure Your Wireless LAN 1. Keep access nodes away from your perimeter.
2. Change the default SSIDs.
3. Turn off SSID broadcasting.
4. Turn on Windows XP secure wireless settings.
5. Turn off user computer's ad hoc mode.
6. Turn on MAC address filtering.
7. Turn on WEP.
8. Hunt down rogue nodes. Extra credit... 9. 802.11x authentication.
10. Personal firewalls.
11. Subnets with network firewalls.
12. Virtual Private Networking (VPN).
13. Migrate to 802.11i/g.
We can help you with all of these, especially #8 - which you should have us do at least quarterly. http://www.spybusters.com
Open Systems Stink... This is one detector being used by drive-by wi-fies to sniff out open 802.11b/g systems... http://www.smartid.com.sg/prod01.htm
Security In A Can #024 - Root Canal Your Bluetooth A new software tool could allow sensitive data to be pilfered through the air from laptops, mobile phones and handheld computers. An eavesdropper can use the program to identify nearby devices that use the Bluetooth wireless protocol. If the gadget's default security settings mean the device is unprotected, data can easily be stolen. Bluetooth connects devices within a range of 15 metres and is now a standard feature on many devices. Ollie Whitehouse, a UK-based researcher with computer security firm @Stake, created the tool "Red Fang", to highlight the potential dangers of running poorly configured Bluetooth gadgets. He says many people may be unaware that they have Bluetooth installed and that security features are often switched off. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994041 http://www.atstake.com/ Red Fang - The Blue Tooth Hunter http://www.atstake.com/research/tools/info_gathering/redfang.tar.gz
Security in a Can #025 - Purge Your Word Your Microsoft Word document can give readers more information about you than you might think. Examples... During the hunt for the Washington sniper the police allowed the Washington Post to publish a letter sent to the police that included names and telephone numbers. And analysis of hidden information in the so-called Iraq "dodgy dossier" showed, among other things, the names of the four civil servants who worked on it.
Beware of the hidden text you might be passing on...
1. Text from other documents open at the same time
2. Previously deleted text
3. E-mail headers and server information
4. Printer names
5. Data about the machine where the document was written
6. Where the document was saved
7. Word version number and document format
8. Names and usernames of document authors http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3154479.stm
Spybusting Tool Alert #855 - The Under $50. Crosscut Shredder Cross cut paper shredder. Shreds 1-5 sheets at a time. Wastebasket included. Turns on automatically when paper is inserted. Model S9855W / S9542W (Tip: Place one at executive and admin desks, photocopy machines and executive home offices.) http://www.mastersalesonline.com/brinksshredders/
Spy Tool Alert #855 - The 5/32" Microphone
"It's so small that you and your audience may forget you're even wearing it! ... The ECM-88 mic extends its frequency response to the full 20Hz–20KHz range, and can be used for many high-quality applications requiring a mic that can be easily concealed." (Imagine that!) http://www.capturemarketing.com/ecm88/index.html
Security Alert #634 - Area codes that lie... What if phone numbers could have aliases like email addresses? They can! That 212 (New York City) number you dialed just might ring in 213-land (Los Angeles). Phone aliases cost less than $5. per month. Just thought you should know. http://www.vonage.com/features_virtual_phone_number.php
All the news, without the jokes... Delivered to your desktop each business week, Privacy Weekly, produced by Privacy Council, recognizes that you do not have the time or resources to cull through hundreds of Internet sources each week for important news. The newsletter's editors search all those sources to bring you the latest, most complete industry news. http://www.privacycouncil.com/kp_privacyWeekly.php
For the man who has everything...
...and wants to keep it. "Hidden Safes, Inc. specializes in the design and installation of custom "hidden" safes, vaults and saferooms anywhere in the U.S. Since 1980, we've installed over 4000 hidden safes in 32 states and over 350 of our customers have been burglarized and not one hidden safe has been discovered!" http://www.hiddensafes.com
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spy News of the Week
Republican rejoinder...
"Sounds like someone is aggressively tapping the Marriott minibar." Albuquerque, NM - After rumors swept the ranks of Texas Senate runaways that arch-foe Tom DeLay had been in town, the Democrats swept their Marriott hotel rooms Wednesday for electronic bugs. (Smart.) http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/
"Look Ma, no visa." A former University of Michigan graduate student charged with multiple felonies related to unauthorized use of a computer and eavesdropping may also face deportation to his native China, his attorney said Wednesday. Ning Ma, a 24-year-old student enrolled in the financial engineering master's program, was expelled from the university because of the charges... http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/
Thus proving that "talking to the press"
and "expectation of privacy" can be
stuffed into the same suit. The Communications Workers of America's lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, says Verizon and the two executives violated federal wiretapping laws by accessing the call (a press-conference conference-call with 27 media reporters) and failing to announce their presence. ... Verizon called the lawsuit "ludicrous," said the company officials "identified themselves and were admitted," and there were no prior restrictions put on their participation. http://washingtontimes.com/business/ http://www.nypost.com/business/3628.htm
SPECIAL SECTION -- Cringe County
The Activists' Guide to Security... "There are many reasons for the development of security-conciousness in our movements - activists are watched, bugged and monitored more frequently that we care to know about." http://security.tao.ca/
Stamps that lick back... A government report that urges the U.S. Postal Service to create "smart stamps" to track the identity of people who send mail is eliciting concern from privacy advocates. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5062617.html
What?
Washington, PA - With his private investigator's license scheduled to expire today, Michael D. Tarbuck appeared before Washington County Judge Katherine B. Emery Wednesday in an effort to renew the license for five years. Instead, Emery renewed Tarbuck's license for six months, at which time he can reapply for another renewal. Emery did grant Tarbuck's request for an amendment to the company name of Tarbuck Security Inc. The company now will be known as Tarbuck P.I. and Associates Detective Agency. ... There was no objection to the renewal by District Attorney John C. Pettit. Pettit, however, said he would like to investigate questions regarding Tarbuck raised several months ago by South Strabane Township police. ... Tarbuck, 45, of 208 Tara Drive, South Strabane, currently has six criminal cases pending in Washington County Court, including assault charges and violations of the wiretap law. His next court date is in November. Tarbuck was convicted last August of making false reports to police following a nonjury trial before a senior judge from Beaver County. He was sentenced to 2 to 12 months in jail in late September, but the sentence was immediately suspended on the condition he submit to a mental health evaluation, following which he was to be on 12 months' probation. Tarbuck said Wednesday he filed an appeal in July. The misdemeanor conviction would not prohibit the renewal of Tarbuck's private investigator's license, Pettit said. http://www.observer-reporter.com/374681948878688.bsp
Wantoness Soup... Jennings, LA - A former Chinese restaurant owner will stand trial in November for allegedly hiding a video camera in the women's restroom of his business. Bunkong "Alex" Chanthavongsy, 38, faces a maximum of 7 1/2 years in prison if convicted of attempted video voyeurism and obstruction of justice, Jefferson Davis Parish District Attorney Michael Cassidy said. Chanthavongsy remains in the parish jail on $1 million bond. http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/
Coming to a sky near you... Drones. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted a national Certificate of Authorization (COA) to the U.S. Air Force to routinely fly the Northrop Grumman-produced RQ-4 Global Hawk aerial reconnaissance system in national airspace. The certificate is the first national COA granted for an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) system. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-03zl.html
We applaud the Kearns, and ask why it took 11 hours... Videotapes from a wireless home security camera that accidentally captured images of a mentally handicapped boy being beaten next door will be allowed as evidence against the kid's foster parents, a DuPage County judge ruled Wednesday. Judge Robert Anderson's ruling was a big victory for prosecutors, who want to use 11 hours of the videotapes in their case against Frank and Marylynnette Barney, charged last October with beating and abusing their 15-year-old foster child. The Barneys' next-door Lombard neighbors, Loretta and Richard Kearns, taped the boy being struck and punched after the Barneys' wireless "nanny cam" broadcast the images to the Kearnses' home-security system, according to authorities. http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-camera21.html
Edison Carter, is that you? Beijing - Practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement commandeered China's major television satellite twice this week - the latest satellite hacking by the outlawed group. Sino Satellite, known commonly as SinoSat, was "taken over by illegal TV signals" transmitted by Falun Gong at 21:05 on Tuesday and at 20:23 on Wednesday, the Ministry of Information Industry said. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Intelligence
Book of the Month... "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World"
by Bruce Schneier
"Schneier invites us all to move beyond fear and to start thinking sensibly about security. He tells us why security is much more than cameras, guards, and photo IDs, and why expensive gadgets and technological cure-alls often obscure the real security issues. Using anecdotes from history, science, sports, movies, and the evening news, Beyond Fear explains basic rules of thought and action that anyone can understand and, most important of all, anyone can use." http://tinyurl.com/ky98 http://www.schneier.com/
Book of Next Month... "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spies and Espionage"
by Rodney Carlisle
Free Book Signing and Author Debriefing
Thursday, 18 September 2003; 12 noon – 1 pm; 202-393-7798
The International Spy Museum, 800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC http://www.spymuseum.org/siteintro.asp
New Digital Photo Enhancement Technique... High-end digital cameras and digital medical imaging equipment become more ubiquitous, and low-end applications such as store surveillance systems, videophones, web cameras and mobile phone cameras have also. ... To counter this problem, AGFA has developed an interesting software application that smoothes out the jagged, pixelated edges (called "staircasing") created by the limited resolution image capture but without reducing sharpness. ... This software can be applied in a wide range of uses, including consumer and commercial digital photography, medical imaging, surveillance, process monitoring, astronomy, and any digital image captured with insufficient resolution. (Excellent "before and after" demo photo.) http://www.yet2.com/app/insight/techofweek/24472?sid=200
Ant Art for IT Nerds... Focused on an original design, performance and cost savings: the new ultra broadband SENCITY™ ART indoor antenna from HUBER+SUHNER revolutionizes wireless applications from 806 MHz to 5.9 GHz. With its appealing curved form and a choice from several colors, the SENCITY™ ART antenna gives the impression of a modern interior decoration object rather than that of a purely functional indoor antenna. http://www.hubersuhner.com/p-rf/p-rf-ant/p-rf-ant-sencity.htm
SPECIAL SECTION -- Surveillance Follow-ups
It is with sadness we note
the demise of our favorite city motto...
Tampa - "You're only a stranger here once." August 2003 - Tampa police have scrapped their controversial security camera system that scanned city streets for criminals, citing its failure over two years to recognize anyone wanted by authorities. History...
July 2001 - The Tampa City Council took a fully-informed look at Ybor City's controversial high-tech face-scanning software. When the dust settled, the council split down the middle with a 3-3 vote on whether or not to do away with the face-scanning software. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA44DE5LJD.html http://www.spybusters.com/SS018.html (search word: Ybor)
Who Bugged B.B.?
The legal battle is over -- for now, at least -- but the mystery remains. Who installed a video camera in the bathroom of a hotel room at the Knoxville Marriott and why? Attorney K.O. Herston had hoped to glean the answer through a lawsuit filed on behalf of businessman Bryan L. Brewer, who claimed he discovered the elaborate, self-contained video-recording system in a light fixture in the bathroom of the Marriott room where he was staying in July 2002. http://nl.newsbank.com (Article: 416489275)
This week in Espionage... August 23, 1986 - Gennady Zakharov was arrested by the FBI and charged with espionage.
August 24, 1987 - Sergeant Clayton Lonetree was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a military jury for giving US secrets to the Soviet Union.
August 25, 1819 - Born this day, Allan Pinkerton, first private preventive. Died in 1884.
August 26, 1992 - A mistrial was declared in the Iran-Contra cover-up trial of accused CIA spy Clair George.
August 27, 1990 - The US State Department ordered the expulsion of 36 Iraqi diplomats.
August 28, 2003 - Nothing historical, but espionage will occur today in several US corporations.
August 29, 1973 - US President Nixon was ordered by Judge John Sirica to turn over the Watergate tapes. Nixon refused and appealed the order.
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Light Brigade
From the city that gave us John Waters, Frank Zappa, and Philip Glass... Dr. Hugh Francis Hicks, a dentist who collected light bulbs... about 50,000 light bulbs. He started his collection when he was eight years old and stopped when he died in 2002. In 1963 he opened his own little museum called Mount Vernon Museum of Incandescent Lighting. Today his collection resides with the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Admission is free. The Museum is located at 717 Washington Place in Baltimore, at the corner of Charles and Madison Streets. You can see some of it on-line here... http://www.bulbcollector.com/index.html
More light reading...
We at DualGlo Limited have developed a brand new type of plastic additive (DualGlo) which allows regular plastic to take on a bright daylight colour with incredible glow-in-the-dark capability. This is non-radioactive, harmless and has also been tested and approved for use in children's toys. It glows at least 3 times brighter than your average 'glow-star' and keeps glowing for over 8 hours. By simply absorbing light in order to glow, it can be recharged time and time again - scientists are estimating that its glow capability could be unchanged after 10 years! http://www.glotorch.com/ ...for your next blackout (hint, hint) http://www.dualglo.co.uk/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Sawdust Sallies
Need a pocket camera? Casio EX-S3. 11.7mm thick.
Cool. Handy. Stylish.
Ultra-slim. Functional. Sleek.
Futuristic. Wicked. Slick. http://www.exilim.co.uk/pictures.htm
More Lawn Pirate News...
A Wisconsin man has been charged with drunk-driving on his lawnmower. Barry Davis admitted to drinking a six-pack of beer but said he didn't know driving a lawnmower while intoxicated was illegal. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/
Fri Aug 15, 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 -- Spy School
SPECIAL SECTION -- YASCR (yawn)
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Police Blotter of Eavesdropping
SPECIAL SECTION -- Yakety Yak
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spies Dropping Like Flies
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird Spyence ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Cautionary Tale #866 - Foreign 'exchange' Students Two Chinese students studying in the United States supplied China's military with American defense technology that allowed Beijing to produce a special metal used in sensors and weapons, according to a Pentagon report. "This is a classic example of how the Chinese collect dual-use military technology," an FBI official said. "Students come here; they get jobs; they form companies." The espionage, subject of an ongoing investigation, allowed China's military to develop a version of the substance known as Terfenol-D, which cost the Navy millions of dollars in research to create. ...The FBI official said China's government uses people who study advanced technology in the United States to infiltrate U.S. companies to gain access to sensitive information. The collectors then return to China and set up their own companies or provide the information to the military, the official said. ... About 50,000 Chinese students currently study in the United States. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030804-112043-2685r.htm
Cautionary Tale #867 - Foreign 'exchange' Professionals More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet superpower, Russia's military intelligence continues to maintain a presence in all corners of the world, a top espionage official said in a rare interview. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/07/17/012.html
Laptop anti-theft tracking software and hardware list... ...your last line of defense against permanent loss of your laptop and data. Unlike other security and locking devices, these come into play after your laptop is taken.
(A listing of vendors - just FYI. We are not promoting any of them.) http://www.stolenlaptop.com/
Security for Instant Messaging (IM) "Protects your instant messages from being monitored. Secures IM communication even between different client programs, as long as they communicate over the same service."
(Another web site sales pitch - just FYI.) http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/
BugWatch #253 - Micro Digital Voice Recorders
"We continue introducing new models of the most unique digital voice recorders in the world. Edic-mini recorders are interesting to those who appreciates (sic) extremely small size, very long battery life, long recording time and quite wide range of features and accessories. The recorders are perfectly fitted for everyday use and for any special purposes in audio recording field." http://telesys-market.com/edic-mini_menu.htm
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spy School
Course #101 - Wiretapper Lab Experiment... You can pick up the signal from a twisted-pair wire telephone line or from other unshielded analog lines without piercing the insulation. No line test can prevent the clip's presence, and it leaves no evidence of having been attached.
(Yes, we have a countermeasure for this.) http://tinyurl.com/k219
Course #301 - SMS Snoop Trick... A bug in Verizon's text messaging system created a means for crackers to snoop on SMS messages, or worse, a security research firm warned last week. Verizon, while not admitting that anything was amiss, reportedly closed the security loophole. The bug created a means to "easily view mass lists of SMS messages sent to Verizon Cellular customers, including the telephone number and the text in the messages", according to security researchers at ThreeZee Technology. The previously obscure New Jersey-based ThreeZee said it was withholding full details of the bug "due to security concerns." http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/32049.html http://www.threezee.com/
Course #401 - Social Studies - Eavesdropping in England... Eavesdroppers, including stalkers and jealous spouses, are listening in on hundreds of thousands of private conversations in Britain every week because of a legal loophole, BBC News Online has discovered. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3067643.stm
Course #501- Bar Code Bogie... "Check it out!" It was a fast trip to Home Depot. In and out. A quick walk to the tool department and the customer had what he'd come for: a $600 DeWalt sliding miter saw. With only one item, he skipped the long line at the regular counter, opting instead for the self-checkout lane. By himself he scanned the price code, inserted a credit card, signed on the screen and took the receipt. He was on his way. The transaction underscored the ease of the modern self-checkout system, a high-tech convenience for both retailer and consumer. ... a little too convenient. The credit card was stolen and the customer was a thief, according to police. Within a week he repeated the process, using six cards to fraudulently charge $12,000 in merchandise at the Home Depot on Sacramento's Folsom Boulevard. http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/crime/story/
Extra Credit - Watch 'Spy School' on TechTV! Spy School: Secret World of Crime, Intrigue, Surveillance, and Gadgetry.
Excellent production work. Surprisingly educational. Minimum misinformation and fluff. Lorna is a believable student with a promising second career if she ever wants one.
Every Wednesday 9:30 p.m. (Eastern) Much more spy information at... http://www.techtv.com/spyschool/index.html/
SPECIAL SECTION -- YASCR (yawn)
(Yet Another SpyCam Report)
Trojan Horse Story #012 - A little light TV watching. IL - Police say a Gurnee man planted a spy camera, hidden in a lamp, to videotape a neighbor in her bedroom over several months time. Robert Faber, 33, is accused of giving his neighbor the lamp and then spying on her, authorities say. ... The lamp was purchased over the Internet, police said. ... Faber is charged with child pornography, unauthorized taping and eavesdropping. He could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story
Trojan Horse Story #13 - Geek Goes Greek
UK - A man accused of storing child pornography on his computer has been cleared after it emerged that his computer had been infected by a Trojan horse, which was responsible for transferring the images onto his PC. ... This is thought to be the second case in the UK where a "Trojan defence" has been used to clear someone of such an accusation. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39115422,00.htm
Don't walk... Sprint!
NJ - A quick-thinking 15-year-old boy used his Sprint cell phone camera to take pictures of a man who allegedly tried to lure him into his car, leading to the man's arrest, police said. The boy, who escaped from his alleged captor after a struggle, gave pictures of the man and his car license plate to police in Clifton, New Jersey, after the incident Tuesday. Armed with that evidence, police arrested William MacDonald, 59, of Passaic, on Wednesday. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/08/01/camphone.abduction/
Don't sprint... Run! A cutting-edge gadget is raising questions about privacy. Is it a cool way to communicate or another way for voyeurs to victimize? Target 5's Lisa Parker reported on "phone spies." ... Two willing, but uninformed, participants recently hit the gym with a camera crew. The subjects didn't know what the crew was up to, even when an undercover producer started clicking away. ... "I think it's outright rude," said one health club client. "It makes everyone a paparazzi." http://www.nbc5.com/money/2353767/detail.html
Don't run... Call a cop! No, wait...
Tokyo - A policeman in western Japan is facing disciplinary measures after he was caught photographing up a young woman's skirt with a hidden camera while on duty. The 42-year-old police sergeant, whose name was not released, used a digital camera to surreptitiously snap the shots when the woman was reporting a stolen bicycle at his station in the western city of Takarazuka. ... Newspapers reported that police will ask prosecutors to charge the sergeant with violating public nuisance laws, but the spokesman said the punishment was still under consideration. http://www.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/2003/08/13/159955-ap.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- The Police Blotter of Eavesdropping
"Pssst.... Ixnay on the VoIPnay."
Internet telephone calls are fast becoming a national security threat that must be countered with new police wiretap rules, according to an FBI proposal presented quietly to regulators this month. http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5056424.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop
"Pssst.... Ixnay on the CALEAbreechnay" The Federal Bureau of Investigation administers the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which was passed by Congress in 1994. CALEA was a response to advances in digital communications. It was a way for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to go beyond old-fashioned phone taps and listen in on mobile phone calls, pagers, the Internet and any other form of electronic messaging that might be used by enemies of the state. CALEA made the phone companies and pager companies and Internet companies responsible for building into their equipment the capability to tap all types of communications... it can be hacked. And it has been. Israeli companies, spies, and gangsters have hacked CALEA for fun and profit, as have the Russians and probably others, too. They have used our own system of electronic wiretaps to wiretap US, because you see that's the problem: CALEA works for anyone who knows how to run it. Not all smart programmers are Americans or wear white hats. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20030710.html
...and you thought this only happened in movies... KS - When an 11-year-old Lenexa girl peered into her closet this month to investigate a noise, she found a mysterious pair of men's shoes under her hanging clothes. The girl reached for one of the shoes, she told police later, and it moved, sending her screaming downstairs for help. Police said today that the girl had caught Jose Meza-Morales, a friend of her family's who had stashed cameras under her bed and was hiding in her closet. Meza-Morales, 36, of Overland Park, was charged in Johnson County District Court with aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and eavesdropping. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/6386106.htmom
Eavesdropper dropped...
IL - Paul J. Cada, 37, of 5306 Briarfield Lane, Lake in the Hills, was arrested Friday and charged with eavesdropping. Police said he was arrested at his home following an investigation into a July 10 incident. http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/
Video Peeper Gets The Book... CA - A Healdsburg man convicted of secretly and repeatedly videotaping a San Rafael woman and teenage girl avoided a state prison sentence and instead yesterday was given a lengthy and apparently unprecedented term in Marin County Jail. Dennis Saunders, who has been arrested on peeping charges numerous times in the past, was convicted of 48 misdemeanor counts of videotaping the victims in their San Rafael homes and received consecutive sentences totaling eight years and eight months in jail for privacy invasion and annoying or molesting a child under 17 years old. The victims were 45 and 16 at the time of his arrest in November 2001. http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~1504610,00.html
Un-Sportsmanlike Spectators... South African rugby spies secretly filmed a Wallaby training session in Cape Town, according to a claim published in an Australian newspaper. ...according to the report in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, the Wallaby training was filmed with a secret camera positioned in one of the Newlands stadium's private suites. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=4&art
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spies Dropping Like Flies
Buzzzzzit, thunk... MN - An alleged spy for ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein may be sent to a Minnesota prison hospital to recuperate from heart trouble... Khaled Dumeisi, 61, was too ill to appear for arraignment on charges of serving as an unregistered agent of a foreign government... Federal officials say Dumeisi was trained in the craft of a secret agent in Baghdad by the ousted Iraqi regime's intelligence service, and came back carrying a pen that concealed a camera and a microphone. http://www.wbbm780.com/asp/ViewMoreDetails.asp?ID=25423
Buzzzzzit, thunk... KY - A civil trial involving a western Kentucky man accused of putting a hidden camera lens in his tanning salon has been delayed until Monday after the defendant became ill. Glen Riley, 66, a former McCracken County commissioner, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday morning before he had a chance to testify. An ex-customer, Kim Duncan of Reidland testified Monday that she first noticed the lens while tanning in the nude on Feb. 15, 2000, after hearing a thump on the wall. When she uncovered the plates of two electric outlets, Duncan said, she saw the lens and was able to see through to Riley's office. http://www.myinky.com/ecp/gleaner_news/article/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Yakety Yak
The FCC says take a number... On Nov. 24, new Federal Communications Commission rules are set to take effect that will require companies to let customers take their cell phone numbers with them if they change carriers. http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/
The WOZ tells you where you are... Steve Wozniak, the guy who brought us the personal computer, has another idea. His new company has created a wireless network that he says can help you find almost anything -- lost keys, lost dog, lost child. His Los Gatos company -- Wheels of Zeus (WOZ, get it?) -- has designed tags that you can attach to a child, a dog or just about anything. A handheld monitor uses global-positioning-system satellites to show where the tagged items are. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6349353.htm
The CEO tells you to get lost...
The pressure on employers to monitor their employees' computer activity has increased dramatically in the last few years. ... The most obvious consequence has been a sharp upsurge in the use of surveillance technology. A 2003 survey by the America Management Association found that 52 percent of companies engage in some form of employee e-mail monitoring (and one in five have fired an employee for e-mail misconduct). http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story
The DIY just tells on you... Suspicious husbands and wives who once might have hired a private eye to find out if their spouses were cheating are now using do-it-yourself technology to check ... a new market for electronic spying has developed. Web sites such as Catcheaters.com and InfidelityCheck.org describe an array of surveillance products capable of tracking a cheating spouse's e-mails and online chats, including some that can monitor each key stroke in real time. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/31/spy.spouse.ap/
And when you finish doin' that
Bring in the dog and put out the cat
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
SPECIAL SECTION -- Weird Spyence
"Part A of my master plan, Pinky!" Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a simple concept with enormous implications. Put a tag - a microchip with an antenna - on a can of Coke or a car axle, and suddenly a computer can "see" it. Put tags on every can of Coke and every car axle, and suddenly the world changes. ... The Auto-ID Center is designing, building, testing and deploying a global infrastructure - a layer on top of the Internet - that will make it possible for computers to identify any object anywhere in the world instantly. http://www.autoidcenter.org/aboutthecenter.asp
"Part B of my master plan, Pinky!" The cameras are already in place. The computer code is being developed... And the trial runs have already been planned. Everything is set for a new Pentagon program to become perhaps the federal government's widest reaching, most invasive mechanism yet for keeping us all under watch. The military is scheduled to issue contracts for Combat Zones That See, or CTS, as early as September. It's the Pentagon's plan for tracking everything that moves. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0328/shachtman.php
"Part C of my master plan, Pinky." It may seem Orwellian to some, but the first major commercial service that traces people’s locations using their mobile phones is designed more to ease the minds of worried parents and suspicious bosses than to enable unauthorized spying. The mapAmobile service, unveiled last month in Britain, claims accuracy to within 50 yards. http://www.iht.com/articles/105503.html http://www.mapamobile.com/
If you could have a third ear, where would you put it? A group of artists is looking at prosthetics as a means of enhancing the body's form and functions. The Australian-based Tissue Culture and Art (TCA) project is growing a third ear fashioned out of the skin and cartilage of Stelarc, a performer who plans to implant it on his forearm. ... At the heart of all his work is the artist's belief that the body has become obsolete and seriously needs to be re-engineered. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3096623.stm
Don't spycam the SpyKids... Headed to the movies? Get ready for a new campaign aimed to educate movie goers about the problems of spycam piracy. MC Theaters will attach the ads to new movies including "SpyKids 3-D."
See the ads... http://www.respectcopyrights.org/hear-artists.html
Current ad for PDA spy software... 'Fun Cam' adds exciting features to your PDA's camera and voice recorder. Control them with ANY infra-red remote, use the time-lapse feature to convert your PDA in a spy camera. If you ever wanted to... Watch how your kid or baby sitter behaves when you are out (Spy Cam). See what happens when you are not around. http://www.pdagreen.com/palmpilotfiles/
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
