Security Scrapbook - Espionage & Privacy News of the Week.
October 9, 2004 ===================================================
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 -- Recent Bugging Events
SPECIAL SECTION -- Related Surveillance News
SPECIAL SECTION -- Off the Wall and Out the Door ===================================================
SPECIAL SECTION -- Security Director News
A window for legal eavesdropping opens... (beware) "Internet service providers would be free to access the private e-mail of their customers without criminal liability (and) criminals and corporate spies could monitor private e-mail without violating the Wiretap Act," warns the government's brief. "Under the rule adopted by the panel, (digital) phone calls could be captured without violating the Wiretap Act." ... The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a full appeals court to review a controversial ruling saying an e-mail provider did not violate federal wiretapping laws by allegedly reading messages meant for customers. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5347251.html 1st Circuit Holds Wiretap Act Does Not Apply to E-Mail in Storage http://www.techlawjournal.com/topstories/2004/20040629.asp Appeals Court Re-Opens E-Mail Snooping Case - Dec. 8 http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3418381
While other windows are closing...
Window 1 - Video Voyeurism Washington DC - Calling video voyeurism the new frontier of stalking, the House on Tuesday approved legislation to make it a crime to secretly photograph or videotape people, often for lascivious purposes. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6066225/
Window 2 - Computer Spyware bill passed in Congress Washington DC - The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a second bill targeting perpetrators of computer "spyware" that hides in users' computers and monitors their activities. The House voted 415 to 0 to stiffen jail sentences for those who use secret surveillance programs to steal credit-card numbers or commit other crimes. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml
Window 3 - Computer Spyware law signed in California California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an anti-spyware bill on Tuesday banning unauthorized installation of deceptive software that hides in personal computers and secretly monitors user activity. The bill clears the way for consumers to sue responsible parties for actual damages, said state Sen. Kevin Murray, a Democrat who introduced the legislation in February. (Life is weird.) http://tinyurl.com/6bhqw
Crippled-411 for Cell Phones In October, most major cellphone carriers plan to start compiling a publicly accessible listing of wireless phone numbers. Being listed in the new cellphone directory will be strictly voluntary... Of the six major national mobile phone carriers, five have agreed to participate. But the largest carrier, Verizon Wireless, said it would not allow any of its more than 40 million customers to be listed, even those who want to participate. http://tinyurl.com/6cjnw
SPECIAL SECTION -- Recent Bugging Events
One Law Nails All,
or... Price Fixe for Price Fixers UK - The Office of Fair Trading, will have carte blanche to order the bugging of hotel rooms, private homes, vehicles and office premises during urgent price-rigging inquiries, it was disclosed yesterday. ... The OFT’s new cartel-busting powers — which came into force last year — put the competition watchdog on the same standing as the intelligence services as far as covert surveillance is concerned. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-5-1241312,00.html
Sinn Fein is Bugged... Sinn Fein has put on show a "sophisticated bugging device" which it said was found in the home of a party member in west Belfast. Party sources said it was found by workmen in the Andersonstown home of a woman who works at party president Gerry Adams' constituency office. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3631750.stm
Now they're pissed... Sinn Fein 'finds second bug'... Sinn Fein has put on display another bug it claims was found in one of its headquarters in west Belfast. According to the party, the listening device was found in a floor at Connolly House in Andersonstown on Monday night. ... the seven-section listening device had two microphones - one directed at an office, the other at a meeting room. ...the Sinn Fein delegation (said they) would bring the device to Leeds Castle to Prime Minister Tony Blair to seek an explanation from him. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3656104.stm
Wiretapping inspires a yen for a takeover... Newbridge Capital, the private equity fund, today moved a step closer to buying a third of Takefuji, Japan’s largest consumer finance group, after Japanese prosecutors demanded a three-year jail sentence for the company’s founding chairman. Prosecutors also demanded that Yasuo Takei, the chairman, pay a ¥1 million fine on wiretapping and defamation charges. http://tinyurl.com/4h9yt
A takeover inspires a yen for eavesdropping... UK - The takeover battle for Marks & Spencer, Britain's largest food and clothing giant, has begun to resemble a suspense thriller.The saga took a twist last week with news of tampering with phone and bank statements, suspicious stock dealings and bug sweeping at the company's headquarters. ... company headquarters on Baker Street in central London, were searched for bugging devices. Other offices and meeting rooms in the headquarters have also been swept. http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2004/07/04/story245864158.asp
Six of One now Prisoners ...of course. UK - Six men - including a serving Metropolitan Police officer - have been arrested today concerning the alleged illegal interception of private phone calls carried out for clients of a central London detective agency. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/29/phone_tap_arrests/
Careful 'whoyagonna' call... GA - DeKalb CEO, Vernon Jones, seeks probe of snooping... State records also show GBI officials in January searched the offices of Boyer and Commissioners Hank Johnson and Judy Yates at the county government complex after the officials thought they were being bugged. ... In November, GBI agents also swept for eavesdropping devices in Jones' office, as well as those of his assistant and the director of the water department. No eavesdropping devices were found. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/0904/09jones.html
Wiretapping in South Korea increases... Bugging of fixed-line phones rose 5.4 percent, while tapping the Internet rose by 24.5 percent and wiretapping of cell phone voice messages soared by 42.3 percent. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040911-014854-6800r.htm
"Oh yes they call him The Sneak. bug-ady, bug-ady..." TX - The five members of the Weatherford Men's Business and Professional Club gather weekly for lunch at a local restaurant... Apparently their conversations are also of interest to someone else. The group discovered a tape recorder on the underside of their table at the Chuckwagon Restaurant. Parker County District Attorney Don Schnebly is reviewing the case. "We were shocked to find the recording device," said retired Weatherford College teacher Merle Bull. "We don't know for certain who planted it, and we believe it's probably not the first time it's happened." Kent Miller discovered the device, with its red recording light on, stuck under the table. Bull said he detached the device. "After making a few derogatory remarks ... I punched the 'off' button and the red light went out. ... It had two layers of double-sided tape, which had held it to the bottom. (Don't look, Ethel.) http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/9607715.htm What to do when you find a bug... http://www.spybusters.com/Found_A_Bug.html
When his new Mal du Mer cologne didn't win her over... NY - A Nassau County Court jury Monday convicted an Elmont man of murder for shooting and killing his former girlfriend's brother last year. ... In addition to murder, the jury found Oriley Grayson guilty of second-degree burglary, two counts of eavesdropping and three counts of possession of eavesdropping devices. ... Grayson waged a campaign to reunite with Catherine Harvey by sneaking into her basement apartment, using a telephone handset to eavesdrop on her telephone conversations hoping to catch her with another man. http://tinyurl.com/4fwoh
Beerspionage... Most commercial breweries have yeast they consider to be proprietary...
(Let's eavesdrop on some yeast rustlers.)
...while Steve poured the homebrew, Maribeth began to tell me about yeast. But first she diverted to the beer we were going to drink. "This is Dougweiser," she said. "It's essentially a really strong Budweiser at 9 percent alcohol by volume. ... The official Anheuser-Busch position is that the yeast it uses today is from the original strain acquired by founder Adolphus Busch and is indeed proprietary. ... "Now it's hard to get good Chimay yeast." So where did she get hers? Maribeth smiled. "I can't give you all my secrets," she said. http://tinyurl.com/5naou http://tinyurl.com/6984y (Amazon.com)
From the book "TRAVELS WITH BARLEY: A Journey Through Beer Culture in America," by Ken Wells
Hey, you're a LAND-lord, not the freakin' Eye of Ra! IL - A landlord and former chaplain faces a felony charge he allegedly videotaped a female tenant with hidden cameras. Police found video equipment in a Knox County rental house owned by Rick Anderson, 47. ... Anderson, until Sunday, was employed as a full-time chaplain at Kewanee Youth Center. http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=2241829&nav=1sW7QQwU
"Wrong chick." Canada - A 26-year-old shopper was shocked to find a man secretly filming under her skirt but managed to grab him by the lapels and yell for help. ... "The whole five stages of grief passed through me in five seconds," said Dorianne Bamber, who was wearing a skirt without underwear. ... Though Bamber considers the incident a sexual assault, the only charge police say they could file was mischief. "It's in that grey area," said Sgt. Gawlinski. "Sometimes the Criminal Code can't catch up to technology." Don Hardie, 57, has been charged with mischief. There are no laws governing the misuse of hidden cameras, although a federal bill that would create a new crime of voyeurism to combat electronic-age peeping Toms has passed first reading in Parliament. ... "I was not going to let him turn me into a victim," she said. "Wrong chick." http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2004/10/02/652812.html
Detectives are working hard on this case... GA - Cobb County police have arrested a 27-year-old man (Melvin Jelani Davis, of Austell, GA) and charged him with eavesdropping after a woman said he videotaped her without her knowledge. ...Davis had sent her photographs of the two of them in intimate situations that the woman was unaware were being taken. Detectives found evidence that Davis had videotaped intimate situations with other women. Detectives would like to talk to any women who think they may have been videotaped by the man. http://www.wgcltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2185223
Spy School Workshop: Disguise 101 Sunday, 24 October 2004; 1:30 - 3:30 pm
There's more to disguise than meets the eyes!
Skip the plastic surgeon. Hang up the Halloween costume. Never mind the witness protection program. You'll learn how to transform your appearance and, yes, change your identity at this amazing session. Former CIA "Masters of Disguise," Tony and Jonna Mendez, will share their expertise by demonstrating the tricks of the trade, and how seemingly subtle changes in dress, gesture, posture, speech, and facial expressions can create dramatic results. http://www.spymuseum.org/calendar/prog7.asp
M$ Windows XP: Professional Bugging Device? "If you have ever wondered, if;
1. Microsoft, was secretly spying on end-user machines?
2. Big Brother deployment scenarios were real?
3. M$ Windows was a type of bugging device?
Then this, is for you my friend, the 'Top-47 Windows bugging functions', and then some." http://www.techfocus.org/comments.php?shownews=4640&catid=13
A shot in the dark pinpoints the mark... ShotSpotter. The company makes a system that can locate gunshots nearly instantly and with very high precision. Since firing a gun in a city is usually a prima facie illegal activity, ShotSpotter may just be the kind of surveillance that we could all accept. http://tinyurl.com/6q3af http://www.shotspotter.com/
Security Alert #423 - Spy Tool - Voice Recorder Wrist Watch This innocent watch can record your most important conversations for up to 9-hours, and... you can store up to 256 megabytes of files from a PC or MAC using a USB cord. http://www.gadgetuniverse.com
Security Alert #424 - Just don't try to answer it... The Taser Phone decoy is an Air Taser with a faux cell phone cover. It disguises your weapon so you can carry it with you in the open without drawing attention. http://www.taser.org/phonetaser.html
Cell Phonies "SounderCover - hide behind sound, make it your alibi."
Card that you are, these downloadable background sounds place you 'everywhere you want to be'. http://www.simeda.com/soundercover.html
Rebounding from the disappointment of Parabolic earrings... Researchers say they have invented an antenna that captures visible light in much the same way that radio antennas capture radio waves. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6029947
Just in time for Christmas.
"It sees you when you're sleeping..." This innocent-looking plushie seems like a nice soft toy you could buy your newborn nephew. But oh, how wrong you are. Bring it home and a creepy spy emerges, designed to harrass you out of bed when you sleep late. http://www.engadget.com/entry/2622953428663728/
Spy Pager... Spys worldwide often get their secret messages from HQ via short-wave radio. One-time number cyphers are used and are transmitted by voice, usually in 5-number groupings. Here is what it sounds like... http://eiu.org/experiments/limelight/audio/Number%20Station%201.wma
Ripped-off? Want justice? Rip-off Report™ is a worldwide consumer reporting Website, by consumers, for consumers, to file & document complaints about companies or individuals who ripoff consumers. http://www.badbusinessbureau.com/
The ultimate anxiety mood ring? "The anxiety of our new world demands our vigilant attention. The solution is a personal tactical system capable of diligently and automatically monitoring complex local and global threat conditions, constantly updating its awareness of these hostilities, and presenting an ambient display to the local user of the current threat level: Limelight." http://eiu.org/experiments/limelight/sensors_local.htm http://eiu.org/experiments/limelight/video/Limelight.wmv MOVIE
On Display... thru - October 16, Chelsea Art Museum, NYC
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United Kingdom Eavesdropping Detection Services
