Sat Sep 27, 2003
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 -- Just Coincidence, or Corporate Espionage II
SPECIAL SECTION -- This Week in Spy Court
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spookyland
SPECIAL SECTION -- Cell Phone News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Guest Headliner -- Robert Palmer
SPECIAL SECTION -- Our Own Special X ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Scare your boss! Buy this book!
The Spy's Guide: Office Espionage (From the publisher's promotional material.) In today's business world, information is everything - and no one gathers information more effectively than spies. So why not bring real spying techniques into your workplace? The same tactics used by CIA and KGB agents can also be used at offices and corporations of any size - and these techniques will help you get ahead fast! The Spy's Guide: Office Espionage features illustrated step-by-step instructions on:
- tapping phones,
- sending anonymous e-mails,
- disguising your identity at a trade show,
- how to bug a meeting,
- how to booby-trap your briefcase,
- how to infiltrate the competition,
- and a list of firms "recognized throughout the United States for their excellent work" ... "to safeguard your business by sweeping for bugs and other surveillance devices."
...and much more
The authors also share real-life stories about how these tactics have been employed by professional spies in the CIA, KGB, Fortune 500 companies, and other settings. Advance your career with espionage!
About the primary author...
H. Keith Melton is one of the world's foremost experts on the history of spying. He serves on the board of directors for The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
Paperback: 180 pages; ISBN: 1931686602
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931686602/counterespionage
NOTE: If you are one of our clients, call me for your FREE copy. 908-832-7900
Eavesdropping Alert #723 - SpyWare Attack
Researchers from iDefense, who found new attack software being distributed from a Chinese website said it was already being used to break into vulnerable computers and implant eavesdropping programs. They said they expect widespread attacks similar to the Blaster infection within days. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60480,00.html
Boss too cheap to buy digital wireless stage mikes?
How about a NSA Wannabee Baby Monitor! The 900MHZ Premium Privacy Link Monitor is a compact and portable monitor designed with the active parent in mind. Light weight receiver is convenient to carry anywhere. Patented voice encryption technology provides maximum privacy. (Hey, it provides better security than your current FM wireless stage mikes.) http://www.babyage.com/product_details.asp?productid=1574204
FutureWatch - New eavesdropping vulnerability? Two companies have recently been demonstrating a new type of mobile-phone headset they hope will challenge Bluetooth by supporting existing mobile phones and cordless home telephones. ... Aura has developed a technology it calls Libertylink that operates in the much less crowded 13.5 Ghz range, which is more widely used for industrial and medical applications. (We'll check and advise for you.) http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/22/cx_ah_0922tentech.html
Just a thought... Have your HR department look for sequential or semi-sequential employee Social Security numbers. Fake ID is often stolen / produced with sequential numbering. Apparently, still an active trick, last used by a "Security Director." http://tinyurl.com/ou3g
Bug Find #435 - Sweeps Work Cypress - Telephone-tapping devices have been found in the office of a government minister in Cyprus responsible for the police force, officials said yesterday. The find, discovered in a sweep almost four months ago, was kept quiet by authorities pending inquiries and was only publicly confirmed yesterday. “I cannot lie about this. I am compelled to confirm it,” said Justice Minister Doros Theodorou, who discovered the device concealed in an electricity socket behind his desk in June. There were reports that a private security firm found the bug after the actions of a lone policeman in the minister’s office aroused suspicion. But officials gave little detail on the unprecedented incident. http://tinyurl.com/ou0o
SPECIAL SECTION -- Just Coincidence, or Corporate Espionage II
Last week it was Sony v. Panasonic.
This week's headlines...
"Spying is part of corporate world"
"Corporate Spying Is A $2B Industry"
"Espionage is common tool in business"
"Some call it spying, others call it business"
"Competitive intelligence and spying can overlap"
"It's no surprise rivals get others' secret products" When Schick-Wilkinson Sword officially announced its four-bladed shaving product Quattro in August, rival Gillette already knew all about it - enough to slap Schick with a patent infringement lawsuit hours after the press release. Two weeks later, Gillette filed court papers in which a company engineer shared the results of scientific tests conducted on 10 Quattro cartridges obtained by the company. Solid, shoe-leather research, or unsavory espionage? Gillette won't say exactly how it acquired the cartridges... Experts in the field insist they are engaged in legitimate market research, not spying... (Who's zoomin' who in this one? How come both parties have each other 'secrets'? And is everyone really going to buy the 'competitive intelligence' spin? SCIP to my loo.) http://www.nypost.com/business/5681.htm http://www.alphamusic.de/clip/6234609/9.mp3 (Sing along!)
What to do? Pro-active eavesdropping / information security inspections are THE cheapest tool for preventing everything from severe embarrassment to multi-million dollar losses. If eavesdropping is identified, you know _positively_ that intelligence gathering is underway. Alerted, there is still time to prevent a disaster.
Once the opposition uses the collected intelligence to attain their goals, the damage is done. No amount of spending will put things back in order. Think 9/11 - no concerted effort to detect all the intel-gathering taking place years before the actual attack. Prevention looks like a bargain now. Put quarterly inspections in your budget now.
...and they haven't stopped trying. The Air Force translator, Ahmad I. al-Halabi, accused of espionage at the terrorist prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was likely working for Islamic extremists connected to Al Qaeda... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98374,00.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- This Week in Spy Court
Thus proving... Ignorance of the lawyer is no excuse. PA - A former Chester County lawyer who pleaded guilty yesterday to bugging his ex-girlfriend's bedroom was sentenced to five years' probation. The attorney also was ordered to have no contact with the victim, Kim Nguyen, or her family. ... he pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and two counts of violating state wiretap laws, all felonies. ... She told police she suspected her apartment was bugged. When police searched the bedroom, they found a hidden listening device attached to a phone line. Police learned that he had paid for the phone line, according to an affidavit. Police believe he broke into Nguyen's apartment to plant the bug. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/6806442.htm
Did he say, "Whew, glad I'm not a lawyer." A Lake in the Hills man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a reduced charge stemming from allegations he illegally recorded his wife's phone conversations. Paul Cada, 37, admitted guilt to a misdemeanor charge of attempted eavesdropping as part of a plea bargain struck with McHenry County prosecutors. Under the deal, Cada will spend one year on conditional discharge - a less restrictive form of probation - and pay a $500 fine. Cada was indicted last month on a felony eavesdropping charge accusing him of secretly attaching a recording device to a telephone in his home July 3 to log his wife's phone conversations. http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=3788893
What did hizonor know, and when did he know it? Idaho - Gary Lyman, the top assistant of former Boise Mayor Brent Coles, has asked a judge to throw out 10 of 13 felony charges filed against him... Charges against Lyman include illegal wiretapping... http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/story.asp?ID=49813
SPECIAL SECTION -- Spookyland
ISO-007 ?!?! The CIA is midway through a process to set up an in-house certification program for project managers to improve the success rate for its hundreds of overt and covert projects. ... Project managers handle a wide array of projects, from the development of data mining software to eavesdropping equipment, as well as working on leading-edge technologies and sciences, and even the basics—disguises for spies. http://gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/23637-1.html http://www.iso.ch/
Thus proving... when spy projects go 'black', they never come back.... A Pentagon office that became steeped in controversy over privacy issues and a market in terrorism futures was shut down by Congress today ... the Senate says that the office, the Information Awareness Office, which had been headed by Adm. John M. Poindexter, should be "terminated immediately" while a few projects under its control could be shifted elsewhere within the Defense Advanced Research... Projects Agency. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/26/politics/26SURV.html?th
Moolah for Mullahs... The CIA paid Mullahs and created fake Islamic religious leaders to preach a moderate message and counter anti-American sentiment in the Arab world after the September 11 attacks, a new book said... The CIA at War - written by Ronald Kessler. ... http://tinyurl.com/otw4
SPECIAL SECTION -- Cell Phone News
Inscrutable... South Korea - Despite the government’s assertion that mobile phone conversations cannot be tapped because local cellular phones use the code division multiple access (CDMA) technology, Seoul has been working to develop a new technology that would stop attempts to eavesdrop on conversations. http://tinyurl.com/ou01
Titantic that creepy peeper camera cell phone... A technology that allows camera phones or digital cameras to be disabled in a localised environment. Iceberg Systems, a developer of Internet and mobile systems, claims its Safe Haven technology effectively prevents the misuse of camera phones. ... The snag is that Safe Haven technology needs to be integrated at the time of manufacture into new devices or installed as a Java download update to suitable equipment already in the market. http://www.icebergsystems.co.uk/safe_haven.html
My phone already sounds like I'm talking underwater... Many people tend to do other things like walking, reading or even cooking, when they are on their mobile phone. But does that mean you are not really concentrating on the conversation itself? Researchers have come up with a device that effectively shuts out the outside world, leaving you to focus on what you are saying. The Isophone is a gadget that blocks out all peripheral sensory stimulation and distraction, letting you talk in a quiet and calming environment. "The Isophone is a cross between a flotation tank and a telephone," said James Auger, who came up with the device, together with his colleague, Jimmy Loizeau. "The helmet is basically the telephone device. That fits over the user's head, and then it's attached to three floats that can be adjusted to provide the perfect floating position." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3103616.stm
FutureWatch - Soo. How is zee weather in Phil-lee? Imagine a walkie-talkie whose range is so wide it reaches halfway around the world. Seem far-fetched? Fastchat software promised to deliver instant communication with my friend in Paris from my desk in Philadelphia, I was a bit skeptical when I first powered up my handset and pressed the talk button now doubling as a walkie-talkie button. But after a relatively short delay, my Parisian friend was talking right back to me... http://apnews.myway.com/article/20030922/D7TNEIGG0.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Guest Headliner -- Robert Palmer
Addicted To "Love" UK - Paedophiles are to be electronically tagged in the UK for the first time in a move that could prompt a revolution in the treatment and monitoring of sex offenders. ...the new device uses global satellite positioning technology. This will allow probation services and police to pinpoint the wearer anywhere in the UK to within three metres. http://tinyurl.com/o3n6 http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetjLPc/artists/ (RIP)
Simply Irresistible The Grand Canyon series of computer displays from Los Angeles-based Liebermann. Anyone who's ever felt constrained by their computer display will see the appeal and share a bit of the longing right away. ... Available in three different sizes, 76 inches, 81 inches and 92 inches, they come in resolutions ranging from 3,840 pixels by 1,024 pixels to 6,400 pixels by 1,200 pixels. http://www.go-l.com/monitors/index.htm http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetjLPc/artists/ (RIP)
FutureWatch - You're Gonna Get What's Coming PICTURE THIS: You're attending a trade show in Las Vegas. Strolling around the city one evening, you happen upon a sex shop and pause for a moment to snicker at the curious items in the store's window. Then you continue on your way. However, unbeknownst to you, the store's Customer Identification System has detected a radio identification signal emitted by a computer chip in one of your credit cards, and is recording your identity and the date and time of your brief stop. A few weeks later, your spouse is surprised to find in the mail a lurid solicitation from the store mentioning your visit. You've got some explaining to do. The technologies enabling that scenario already exist... http://www.cio.com/archive/092203/steinhardt.html http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetjLPc/artists/ (RIP)
SPECIAL SECTION -- Our Own Special X
Anthropromorph-eyes... Australia - Estranged couples are using tiny spy cameras hidden in children's toys to watch each other on custody visits. Teddy bear cams feature a pen-sized camera that peeks through the nose, eyes or a button... http://tinyurl.com/otpy
"You needed an 'expert' to to tell you that?" Soon your sunglasses could help you capture all the important moments of your life. A prototype pair of sunglasses with a camera built into them has been created by Hewlett Packard researchers. "It means you now have a wearable camera which nobody will notice and can take pictures while being involved in events," said Huw Robson from Hewlett Packard. But experts say there could be privacy implications if this sort of technology becomes part of everyday life. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3111004.stm
At The International Spy Museum... Free Book Signing and Author Debriefing
The Women Who Lived For Danger: The Women Agents of SOE in the Second World War
by Marcus Binney -- Thursday, 9 October 2003; 12 noon – 1 pm
IMagine that! Flirting with colleagues, scheming against the boss and gossiping about co-workers are among the most common Instant Messenger, or IM, missives circulating around the office, according to a new survey on Monday. So-called "IMing" -- the act of sending quick message exchanges to other Internet users -- has become a popular workplace pastime. http://tinyurl.com/otpd
What was that middle part again? Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
More Lawn Pirate News... Two Austrian men managed to catch a cross-dressing bank robber by following him on a lawn mower. http://tinyurl.com/ou2i
Sat Sep 13, 2003
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 -- Just Coincidence, or Corporate Espionage?
SPECIAL SECTION -- Double-edged Sword Alerts
SPECIAL SECTION -- Satclops
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
SPECIAL SECTION -- FutureWatch
SPECIAL SECTION -- Potpourri ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
Simple Formula Justifies Boosting Your Security Budget Take this simple test.
Use your company's figures...
Your Total Company Value (TCV) = Tangible Asset Value + Intangible Asset Value
1. What percentage of TCV are your Tangible Assets?
(building, equipment, etc.)
2. What percentage of TCV are your Intangible Assets?
(intellectual property, goodwill, etc.)
3. Determine what percentage of your security budget covers each of these.
The answer will probably surprise you.
Here's why... Intangible Asset Value is greater than Tangible Asset Value in most companies. Yet most of the security budget goes to protecting Tangible Assets.
Weird, huh?
Here's the Budget Booster... You have already justified - and have - your budget for Tangible Assets.
The ratio clearly shows bean counters you need an increase for Intangible Assets, not a reallocation of current funding.
(Hey, Intangible Assets are more valuable, right? And they are harder to protect.)
Once you do this, call me for some additional advice on wise spending.
- Kevin (908-832-7900)
GSM phone encryption "can be cracked"... The encryption system that protects the almost 900 million users of GSM cell phones from instant eavesdropping or fraud is no longer impregnable, cryptologists claim. Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa say they have found a way to defeat the security system, exploiting a flaw in the way the encryption is applied. http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99994130
Scariest SPAM of the Week...
(The following is from their promotional copy. Unverified.)
Spy on Anyone by sending them an E-Greeting Card!
"Lover Spy is a spy program that monitors and records the complete computer activity of a computer user. It is designed to spy and monitor EVERYTHING there is to monitor on a computer, and report back to the spy all the recorded information, via e-mail.
Through our service, you compose and send your lover a normal-looking "Greeting Card" saying "I Love you" or a similar message. Because the e-mail appears to be a regular greeting card, the recipient will open the e-card and LoverSpy will be automatically and silently installed!
The program begins monitoring them IMMEDIATELY, there is no delay. It records and sends you all e-mails they view, including Hotmail, Yahoo, and Outlook emails. All the Passwords they type into their web browser are also recorded and sent to you. Every single Chat conversation they have on the internet. In fact, every Key stroke they type into the computer is recorded and sent to you in an organized report. Every single web site they visit, whether using AOL, Internet Explorer, or Netscape. EXACT copies of every Hotmail e-mail viewed, Yahoo, Excite, AOL, and even Outlook emails. All these e-mails are Forwarded to you in the background, in real-time! After they read their email, you will have a copy of it - seconds later.
LoverSpy will even extract all the Passwords stored in the computer being monitored, such as passwords for Outlook email accounts, and passwords saved inside Internet Explorer, and send these to the spy.
And that's not all... LoverSpy opens a "Remote Connection" from their computer to yours, letting you SEE what THEY are seeing on their computer remotely in real-time, TURN ON their Web-Cam and see them remotely in real-time video, and even get complete access to the files in their computer."
($89. to monitor 5 computers) http://lover-spy.com/
--- Back to us talking again... The program also claims these hazordous-to-your-health "features"...
- Auto-destroys itself - for short-term spying. (Just nail the final bid.)
- Deletes itself upon remote command. (They're suspicious. Poof!!)
- Change spying email delivery address remotely. (Blame it all on someone else.)
Scary huh?
Doesn't have to be. Solving these issues is all part of a day's work for us.
New TV show - "Corporate Spy" "CORPORATE SPY" (Working Title), to be written by Erica Beeney, is about a young woman who is co-opted by her sexy corporate spy mom in order to reconcile their estranged relationship, and becomes a reluctant partner in the mother's work. Viacom Productions has signed filmmaker Gale Anne Hurd and her Valhalla Television to an exclusive development deal to executive produce the television series. http://tinyurl.com/n8vd
Note... Corporate Espionage is a very hot, very mainstream topic. Make sure we're plugged into your security program before your boss sees this show and asks, "What are we doing about this?"
Security in A Can #026 - Help Bill "Since Microsoft can't get security right, it's up to you."
Here's an action list:
-- Use firewall software on every computer.
-- Use antivirus software and update it daily.
-- Back up data every day.
-- Keep system software patched.
-- Be suspicious. Encrypt Wi-Fi connections whenever possible (see Security In A Can #023 - Secure Your Wireless LAN). Use the free Spybot Search & Destroy program to whack sneakware that installs itself without your knowledge and "phones home" with data about you. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0915/128.html http://www.spybusters.com/SS0308.html (Security In A Can #023)
Fake drugs force makers to play spy games... Drug companies are turning to spy novel gizmos — invisible inks, tiny radio-frequency antennas and the like — to help stop counterfeiters from faking or adulterating prescription drugs... http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-08-17-fakedrugs_x.htm
New Security Newsletter Targets Mexico... "The Mexico Intel Report (MIR) is a daily summary of security related information for enterprises to maintain an advantageous knowledge of current events occurring in Mexico. It also provides the subscriber the raw data to support the protection of in-country and traveling employees."
Sample issues and subscription information... John@Rodriguez-Zagal.com
Useful Information Links for Mexico... http://www.rodriguez-zagal.com/links.htm
Keep an eye on Wi-Fi "i" Another letter is set to drop into the Wi-Fi alphabet soup late this year or early next year. 802.11i will be a new standard aimed at making the wireless network more secure from eavesdropping and unwelcome guests. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/
SPECIAL SECTION -- Just Coincidence, or Corporate Espionage?
You decide...
"The world's smallest movie camera."
Sony DCR-IP1 MICROMV released. Tuesday, September 02 @ 11:15:00 PDT
"Sony has introduced the DCR-IP1 MICROMV Handycam camcorder - the smallest and lightest tape-based camcorder in the world. Weighing just 8 ounces with pint-size measurements of 1 9/16 inches x 3 5/8 inches x 2 3/4 inches, the new camcorder is about the size of a deck of cards and slips into a shirt pocket with ease. Release date in Japan: October 18, 2003." http://news.designtechnica.com/article1123.html http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/handycam/
"The world's smallest movie camera." Panasonic SV-AV100 camcorder debuted. Friday, September 05 @ 15:30:00 PDT
"The new SV-AV100 D-SNAP SD Video Camcorder from Panasonic. Measuring a mere 1.25 by 2.125 by 3.5 inches, it's designed to be truly the world's smallest high-quality camcorder and literally drops into a pocket, purse, or briefcase for instant on-the-go videos. It will be available in October." http://news.designtechnica.com/article1170.html http://tinyurl.com/n43k
In any case...
Imagine the the fan splatter if one of your competitors scooped you like this.
SPECIAL SECTION -- Double-edged Sword Alerts
A NEW type of eavesdropping... BuzzMetrics - The company's technology systematically harvests, codes, and analyzes conversations on message boards and community sites on the Internet, allowing companies to understand what's being said about their products and competitors... The technology is simple. BuzzMetrics sends out code that scouts the Web, looking for any discussion relating to specific products, companies, or brands (similar to how some search engines work). It then codes and organizes the information. ... Online discussion forums, email lists, and blogs are critical channels through which information, ideas, and opinions are transmitted among consumers and stakeholders. Individuals offer feedback on new products and technologies, express attitudes towards emerging crisis situations, react to marketing campaigns, and plan activist programs... BuzzMetrics launched client services in late 2001 ... The Company has been cash flow positive since three months after launching its services. http://www.buzzmetrics.com/ http://www.clickz.com/mkt/emkt_strat/article.php/1145861
An OLD type of eavesdropping.... "Thought transference or the radio-activity of the mind based on the newly discovered laws of radio-communication between brain and brain, by Edmund Shaftesbury. A complete and up-to-date system of lessons in the science and practice of thought-interpretation for all uses in life, preceded by 36 lessons in the study of mind and thought by the same author. Meriden, Conn., Ralston University Press, 1926." http://tinyurl.com/n8x4
Mental Telephone Tapping.
Know how to do it.
Know when it is being done to you. To find the best business intelligence, you must know who to ask and what to ask. You also must know how to ask. Interviewing the experts - the people who provide the clues to your intelligence puzzle - is an art that is often overlooked. ... Here are some pointers to help you get better intelligence about your competitors, industry, markets, and any other topic you can imagine.
-- First impressions count. Set a positive tone for the entire interview.
-- Be optimistic and positive. Assume they have info, and will give it to you.
-- Be complimentary. Sincere compliments increase commitment to help.
-- Be persistent, patient. Rethink, rephrase. Don't give up on sources too soon.
-- Be personal. People like to help nice people.
-- Be flexible. Conversation instead of a rigid survey.
-- Reciprocate. Information gathering is not a one-way street. http://www.washingtonresearchers.com/public/phone.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Satclops
Do electronic monitoring,
leak electronic monitoring,
get electronic monitoring... Boston - A Weymouth man was sentenced yesterday in federal court for leaking wiretap information to bookies in exchange for relief from his gambling debts while he was an employee of Bell Atlantic. ... Richard H. O'Brien, age 66, of 79 Donald Street, Weymouth, Massachusetts, was sentenced yesterday by Senior U.S. District Judge Morris E. Lasker to 5 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release, the first 5 months of which are to be served in home detention with electronic monitoring. http://tinyurl.com/mzz1
Find electronic monitoring,
steal electronic monitoring,
get electronic monitoring... Wisconsin - A 40-year-old man was arrested Wednesday and charged with stealing a computerized tracking device that uses a global positioning system to keep track of jail prisoners on home detention. To track down this alleged thief, all police had to do was flick on a computer. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/
...thus making a back-seat driver look positively welcome... Olympia, Washington - The police cannot attach a Global Positioning System tracker to a suspect's vehicle without a warrant, the Washington Supreme Court said today in the first such ruling in the nation. ... "Use of G.P.S. tracking devices is a particularly intrusive method of surveillance," Justice Barbara Madsen wrote in the unanimous decision. ... Attaching a tracking device to a car is "the equivalent of placing an invisible police officer in a person's back seat," Mr. Doug Honig (ACLU spokesperson) said. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/national/12GPS.html?th
...but in the United Kingdom... DRIVERS were reeling last night at Government plans to put a computerised spy in EVERY car. The hi-tech gadgets will record each time a motorist DRIFTS over a speed limit, WANDERS into a bus lane or even STOPS on a yellow line. ... The Big Brother-style system, called Electronic Vehicle Identification, is outlined in an 85-page dossier. It was drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers on the orders of Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. The scheme would force car makers to fit the microchip in all new vehicles. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2003391098,00.html
Meanwhile back in Seattle...
If we can't follow your car, we'll follow your cell phone... Seattle, Washington - Just about any parent of a teenager would envy Seattle attorney Pat Char. She can track her son's whereabouts without even having to make a phone call. All it takes is a glance at her cellphone. ... All because Matt carries a cellphone that broadcasts where it is. Unknown to many Americans, most of our cellphones are capable of doing the same thing. Nowadays these ubiquitous little communicators quietly and persistently signal their location like electronic beacons. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/030908/tech/8bigbro.htm
SPECIAL SECTION -- SpyCam News
Let's go surfin' now
Everybody's learning how
Come on a safari with me... Some Abercrombie & Fitch customers were secretly photographed in various stages of undress in a dressing room, according to a lawsuit filed against the clothing store chain. The photos of an as-yet unknown number of unsuspecting customers in the Midland, Texas store were posted on the Internet. The pictures were allegedly taken by former store employee Kaung Tang, and then downloaded onto a computer by the store’s former manager, Will Rhoads. The situation came to light when The Midland Reporter-Telegram reported on August 30 that the lawsuit had been filed by a 20-year-old woman. http://www.cwfa.org/articles/4573/CFI/cfreport/index.htm
Can't-ID Camera... Camera technology designed to spot potential terrorists by their facial characteristics at airports failed its first major test, a report from the airport that tested the technology shows. Last year, two separate face-recognition systems at Boston's Logan Airport failed 96 times to detect volunteers who played potential terrorists as they passed security checkpoints during a three-month test period, the airport's analysis says. The systems correctly detected them 153 times. The airport's report calls the rate of inaccuracy ''excessive.'' http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030902/
Quick - call Black's...
"Justifiable Spyocide" Australia - A Perth man who installed a spy camera in the female toilets of the bar he managed was fined $2000 today by a magistrate. Nathan Brett Hodder, 28, was told he had committed a gross breach of privacy when he placed the camera in the ceiling of the toilets at the Lucky Shag bar in Barrack Square. Magistrate Paul Heaney accepted Hodder had not installed the camera in the toilet for his own gratification, after he had said he was trying to stop graffiti and drug deals in the toilet. http://www.thewest.com.au/20030822/news/ http://www.lawbooks.com/50324.html (Black's Law Dictionary)
Blade Runners Off CCTV... UK - Tesco has ended a trial of new technology that tracked customers buying Gillette razor blades. ... Tesco's store in Cambridge was testing tags which triggered a CCTV camera when a packet of Mach3 blades was removed from the shelf. A second camera took a picture at the checkout. Security staff then compared the two images, raising the possibility they could be used to detect theft. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/
Prosecutor v. Prosecutor Korea - Prosecutors on Tuesday night apprehended and took into custody 37-year-old prosecutor Kim Doo-hun for allegedly leading the secret videotaping of a presidential aide being entertained at a posh nightclub. http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200308/
You've read the stories...
Now Get the T-Shirt! SHIRT-CHIKAN Japanese T-shirt "Beware of Perverts"
A bizarre image of a man touching a woman on a train, it warns you to "Beware of Perverts" (Chikan chuui) "Dangerous Persons are in this Area." http://tinyurl.com/n8tz
SPECIAL SECTION -- FutureWatch
FutureWatch - Gotham's main squeeze loses it tail... ...new data shows cell phones will overtake traditional land lines as most-used means of communication in New York within next two years... http://www.cellular-news.com/story/9590.html
FutureWatch - Wallet-scanners at shop doorways? This week, Hitachi announced the release of a tiny wireless ID chip that can be "easily embedded in bank notes." Rumors have swirled that the European Central Bank has been looking to embed such chips, called RFIDs, or Radio Frequency Identification Devices, into Europe's paper money in another year or two. The ECB hopes the chips will thwart both counterfeiters and money launderers. http://slate.msn.com/id/2087976/
On the plus side...
The schools are not buying them Chong-bong kits. (Direct quote from their web site for teachers.)
"CK171 Telephone Conversation Transmitter - Listen to those 'private' calls! This is a very popular kit, and you know why. It transmits both sides of the conversation of a telephone call to any FM radio. Comes with all the necessary quick connections to make hook-up fast. No batteries needed!! It takes its power from the telephone line. 100 foot range even through walls. Build one today and let the fun begin! Can be ordered assembled. - Mail your School Purchase Orders to: Gibson Tech Ed, Inc." ...from a web site that sells electronics kits to educators for in-school training. http://www.gibsonteched.net/CK171.html
FutureWatch - Sound bites and causes runs... HyperSonic Sound, or HSS, is about to hit the mainstream in a very big way. ... Elwood (Woody) Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp. has developed a system which will whisper into the ears of individual shoppers, or send sound to pinpointed individuals in other situations - like allowing one person to sleep while the other watches television. ... Even cooler, but scarier, is HSS' amped-up cousin, the Long Range Acoustic Device. A ship seeking to warn off a suspicious dinghy can use the device to loudly hail the vessel from 500 yards away. If it gets closer, sailors can target it with 120 earsplitting decibels of siren sounds that cause spontaneous diarrhea, long-lasting migraines or nausea.
(BTW - Any method of moving sound also has interesting eavesdropping possibilities.) http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0915/122.html
FutureWatch - Why your next computer might be a Mac... (See around the corner before it is turned.)
Confessions of an IT guy...
"...the Mac does everything I need. It replaced the Linux server and one of the PC clients, and I’ve mainlined the keyboard and mouse directly into the Mac. My experience with OS X at home felt like crossing a chasm. Now, you might ask: What does this really have to do with enterprise IT? The answer is simple: I used the Mac running OS X to replace a PC client and Linux server; the level of functionality was raised; and I did more with less." http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/05/35OPconnection_1.html
SPECIAL SECTION -- Potpourri
Honeypot... The CIA says actress Jennifer Garner, star of ABC's espionage thriller "Alias," has what it takes to be a real-life spy, and will soon be helping to lure new recruits to the intelligence agency. The 31-year-old actress has agreed to appear in a recruitment video that the CIA plans to produce and screen for prospective applicants at job fairs and college campuses, said Chase Brandon, the CIA's liaison with the film industry and a consultant for "Alias." http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?
Smudgepot... Spy School - CIA Directors: Working Under Fire
Monday, 22 September 2003; 7 pm
Hear what it was like to head the Agency from Judge William Webster, the only man to direct both the CIA and FBI, and the strategies he used to stay the course in the shifting crosswinds of power and politics.
(Not much different than being a corporate security director, eh?) http://www.spymuseum.org/do/programs.asp
Cheapshot... The under $20. Bio-Scan™ Room Security System... Our high-tech "hand-scanner" deters enemy intruders (and little brothers) from entering high-security bedrooms. Hang it on the door, then program your personal fingertip code. When unauthorized "moles" try breaking the code, alarms sound, lights flash, and trespassers hear "Access Denied!" An electronic tracker alerts agents that security has been breached. http://tinyurl.com/mhwj
Eavesdropping Detection Services
United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
