Windows XP is One Giant Bug (opinion)

One person believes the Windows XP computer operating system is just one big eavesdropping / bugging device. Mark McCarron writes...

"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. There is also an appendix on forensic methodology and Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM)." (more)

Royal Dutch Shell Wants Alleged Eavesdropping Investigated

Independent Mayo TD Dr Jerry Cowley says he intends to ask the Circuit Court judge who acts as the State’s complaints referee in relation to phone tapping, to investigate alleged surveillance of telephones held by himself and six prominent members of the Shell to Sea campaign. ...

Dr Cowley told The Irish Times that he would be pursuing this avenue immediately, as the Minister’s failure to rule out possible phone tapping had compounded his fears.

He claimed a “series of unusual coincidences” had alerted him to the possibility of surveillance of landlines and mobile phones of those involved in opposing aspects of the Corrib gas project.

“I am not the only one to hold these fears.

“People who have taken a particular stand on the Corrib gas dispute approached me on a number of occasions expressing their suspicions,” Dr Cowley told the Connaught Telegraph this week.

“They are convinced their telephone conversations are being monitored because there is compelling evidence of it happening.

“I am genuinely concerned that I am one of the people under surveillance.

“If it is proven that a member of the Oireachtas is having his phone tapped, it would be a scandal of the highest order,” he added. (more)

Mobile Phone Glitch Allows Eavesdropping

Australia - Optus is battling to find the cause of a fault in its network, which allows customers to eavesdrop on others' phone calls.

The issue was originally thought to be limited to the Optus pre-paid mobile service, but smh.com.au readers have subsequently described the issue occurring in Optus' landline network as well.

It has customers fearing their privacy has been compromised.

Users reported having to physically demonstrate the issue to Optus before they committed to looking further into it. (more)

Korea to enact new Wiretapping Laws

The National Assembly is likely to pass a revision to the Protection of Communication Secrets Act that would permit wiretapping of mobile phones on April 2. (more)

New Canadian Wiretap law

"The purpose of this Act is to ensure that telecommunications service providers have the capability to enable national security and law enforcement agencies to exercise their authority to intercept communications, and to require service providers to provide subscriber and other information, without unreasonably impairing the privacy of individuals, the provision of telecommunications services to Canadians or the competitiveness of the Canadian telecommunications industry." (more)

UPDATE - Tommy Sheridan - Bug Hunt

Scotland - Police specialists swept Tommy Sheridan's Holyrood office for electronic bugging devices yesterday.

And they also searched the Solidarity leader's Glasgow office and his home after a bug was found in his car last week.

Party spokesman Hugh Kerr said no other devices had been found. (more)

Police find what's bugging Tommy

Scotland - Left-wing MSP Tommy Sheridan may have been under surveillance from a secret bugging device in his car for more than three months.

The bug - capable of transmitting pictures as well as sound - was discovered yesterday after the Solidarity leader called in police and an independent security expert. It was pulled out from under the back seat of his Honda Civic.

But today a source close to Mr. Sheridan revealed his car was also searched three or four months ago, but nothing was found. (more)

This is an excellent example of the value of quarterly TSCM inspections. They limit your window-of-vulnerability. They alert you to spies before they can use your information against you. Call us, to begin your quarterly inspections.

Blue chip firms find bugging is now big business

Blue chip companies in Scotland are spending thousands of pounds on anti-bugging devices, which "sweep" their offices and prevent rival firms from stealing trade secrets.

Private investigators say some organisations are paying up to £10,000 to have their premises checked to keep sensitive information under wraps.

Stephen Grant, a partner with the Edinburgh-based investigators Grant & McMurtrie, deals with about 150 companies each year which have concerns about lapses in security.

He said: "People are becoming more aware of the technology available. Bugs are very cheap and can be bought for less than £100. We provide counter-surveillance and de-bugging equipment. We check merchant banks and the boardrooms of blue chip companies."

Privacy International, a watchdog on government and corporate surveillance, estimates that more than 200,000 bugging devices and covert cameras are sold every year. (more)

Bugging offices is not a crime, say experts

Bugging offices in the UK is not a criminal offence, according to surveillance and legal experts speaking to OUT-LAW Radio. While recording a phone conversation is a criminal offence, someone could place a recording device in an office legally, they said.

In an investigation into corporate surveillance techniques, the weekly technology law podcast OUT-LAW Radio discovered that no offence is committed by placing a bug in a workplace to secretly record conversations.

"There's nothing in any piece of legislation that stops you from putting a physical bug in a room, an office or something like that provided you are there lawfully and you haven't committed any criminal offence to get access to it," said Victoria Southern, a lawyer at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW. (more)(podcast)(transcript)

Now have your home swept for spy bugs...

...police tell Sheridan.

Scotland - Police have recommended that Tommy Sheridan has his home checked for bugs after a listening device was found in his car, the MSP said yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Sheridan said that following the discovery of a bug in his Honda Civic at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday afternoon, he would be acting on this advice "for peace of mind".

He said that the police were now carrying out a thorough examination of the device found in his car. "It will be sent for further tests including forensic and DNA." (more) (earlier reports here)

Colombia's former spy chief freed

Colombia's former intelligence chief has been freed by a court weeks after being charged with helping paramilitaries accused of carrying out atrocities in the country's conflict.

Jorge Noguera, the ex-head of Colombia's Administrative Security Department and an ally of the US-backed president, Alvaro Uribe, was freed on "procedural grounds". (more)

Man accused of spying for China

As a top engineer at a major U.S. defense contractor, Chi Mak helped develop some of the most advanced and closely guarded naval technology in the world, including silent-running propulsion systems that can make submarines virtually undetectable.

Now, in a case that experts say could have serious implications for U.S. security, the Downey resident is accused of stealing those secrets for the Chinese. (more)

Ten dangerous claims about smart phone security

Many common assumptions about the security and privacy of smart phones or other handheld converged devices are off-base or just flat-out wrong.

For any high-value target -- whether that's a political candidate or an organization with valuable financial or personal data -- a little more thought ought to go into the process of selecting and deploying any device handling important data.

It makes sense, then, to challenge the more widespread assumptions, and consider how to handle oft-ignored risks. (highly summarized, more here)

1. It's just a phone with cool features, right?
No, it's not.
2. It's stable, just like any other purpose-built appliance.
No, it's not.
3. Communications are encrypted from end to end.
No, not entirely.
4. The connection's secure unless I use Wi-Fi in a café.
Guess, again.
5. E-mails and messages are secure from prying eyes.
Not if you're interesting.
6. Using a mobile phone constitutes out-of-band communication.
Who are you? No one knows for certain.
7. I trust the integrity of data and applications on a smart phone.
Not 100%, we hope.
8. Information deleted from a smart phone is gone, right?
No, just marked for overwrite.
9. Spying on my smart phone is hard.
I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
10. Abuse is minimal because the network and phones are constrained. :]

Surprise Twist in Hollywood Wiretapping Case

Anthony Pellicano Set To Remarry Former Wife...
Ceremony will be held in courtroom where he is being tried for wiretapping. (more)

Judge withdraws from lawyer wiretap case

VT - A state judge has stepped down from handling a case in which she allowed police to record phone conversations with a defense lawyer to determine whether she was obstructing an investigation. (more)

Bullies With iPods

UK - Playground bullies are deploying iPods and social networking sites such as MySpace and MSN Messenger to wage increasingly hi-tech campaigns against victims, according to new research.

Academics studying the growth in so-called cyber-bullying discovered that youngsters, particularly girls, who were twice as likely to be affected as boys, ruthlessly exploited every new technological gadget.

Victims reported feeling more lonely, having fewer friends and being less liked. Among the findings was a growing trend to circulate video clips of young people getting changed after PE sessions. The images are captured on mobile phones and passed onto classmates' video iPods. They are often accompanied by sound tracks of critical comments from laughing bullies. Others found images of their abuse on the MySpace and Bebo sites, although the researchers said operators were quick to remove offensive entries. There was also evidence that that the instant messaging service MSN Messenger was emerging as a hurtful new weapon. (more)

'Bugging device' found in Sheridan's car

Police in Scotland are investigating a complaint by the politician Tommy Sheridan that his car has been bugged.

A device was found in the Honda Civic belonging to the MSP in Edinburgh yesterday morning, and has now been removed by police.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We received a report of a device being found in a car at the Scottish Parliament. The device was located and we are making inquiries." (more) (more)

UPDATE
Politician Tommy Sheridan has cleared security services of any involvement in bugging his car.

He dismissed speculation that he was being monitored by the authorities as "garbage". The left-wing politician also disclosed that police believe the device found in his silver Honda Civic was wired for pictures as well as sound.

Mr Sheridan, leader of the Solidarity Party, called in police after a member of his staff found what they thought was a piece of eavesdropping equipment in the car. (more)

FURTHER UPDATE
Politician Tommy Sheridan has been told by police that a suspected bugging device found in his car was "viable". (more)

Private eye avoids jail in spying scandal

CA - A Melbourne (Florida) private investigator implicated in a spying scandal at Hewlett-Packard Co. will avoid jail time after his lawyer tendered a "no contest" plea Wednesday to a misdemeanor charges in California.

Lawyers for the local investigator, Matthew DePante, manager of Action Research Group, and three other defendants in the case entered no contest pleas to misdemeanor charges of fraudulent wire communications in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

The judge dropped the charges against former Hewlett-Packard Co. board Chairwoman Patricia Dunn, who was accused of fraud in the company's boardroom spying scandal.

Like DePante, former Hewlett-Packard ethics chief Kevin Hunsaker and private investigator Ronald DeLia also will avoid jail time. (more)

Moral... Don't depend on the legal system to deter spies. Depend on your own proactive counterespionage efforts.

Oracle's claims highlight more corporate spying

Oracle's newly-filed lawsuit against rival SAP is only the latest in a slew of recent allegations that make it seem that business leaders are still willing to seek out ways to circumvent technological security systems.

In its suit -- which accuses enterprise applications giant SAP of fraud legislation, unfair competition, and civil conspiracy, and charges the German company of "corporate theft on a grand scale" -- Oracle claims that SAP workers illegally accessed its own computerized customer support systems and stole "thousands of proprietary, copyrighted software products," as well as other confidential materials...

...the accusations follow a string of other instances where corporate leaders have intentionally bypassed systems meant to protect sensitive data. (more)

Yet Another SpyCam'er

CT - A man landed in hot water after police say he hid a tiny camera in a shampoo bottle to watch two of his female roommates as they took showers.

A male roommate, curious why the shampoo wasn't moved for some time, found wires protruding from the back of the bottle, then called police, authorities said.

The camera recorded through a pinhole, and the images were sent to Steven Thibodeau's television, police said. Thibodeau, 25, had placed the camera to record the women showering and made a video of one of them changing clothes, according to police.

Thibodeau was arraigned Wednesday on 15 counts of voyeurism and one count of evidence tampering, which alleges he tried to delete some images. ...

It wasn't yet known how long the shampoo had been wired. (more)

When Sneaky Spy Tactics Fail...

...Use a Ray Gun.

Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators, are a line of immensely dangerous yet simple to operate wave oscillation weapons.

Meticulously built to the exacting standards and plans of Dr. Grordbort, these weapons, bespangled in fine detail and with various (most likely quite dangerous) moving parts are the perfect addition to a gentleman's study or a deterring centerpiece for a lady's powder room or chiffonier.

Ammunition not supplied (Phlogiston and Compressed Aether phials may be ordered through the Doctor's upcoming Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory) (more)

Italy arrests 12 more in T.Italia wiretap case

Italian authorities have arrested 12 more people in connection with an investigation into illegal wiretapping by Telecom Italia... Magistrates accuse those arrested of illegally obtaining information through wiretapping and computer hacking. (more)

Vodacom 'spying' on workers

South Africa - A Vodacom worker's dismissal has raised questions about spying at the company.

The employee, Portia Sithole was dismissed last Friday after attending a union activity while on a doctor-mandated sick leave. ...

The company monitored her location using her mobile telephone.

"The company offers employees a phone as a company benefit. Now they are using it as a tracking device to see where one goes and when. I think it is a total invasion of privacy," said Sithole. (more)

Our New Instrumentation Wins Multiple Awards

Tektronix, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced that its RSA6100A Series Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers received the Editor's Choice Award in Electronic Engineering Times-China (EE Times-China) Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Awards for the most significant technical solution in the past 12 months. ...

The awards, sponsored by EE Times-China, received 224 entries from 83 companies. The editorial team of EE Times-China reviewed these entries to evaluate their impact on the electronics industry in China. Based on its unique capability and innovative features, the editors of EE-Times China selected Tektronix's RSA6100A real time spectrum analyzer for the Editor's Choice Award.

"The RSA6100A Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer stood out as the most significant technical solution in the last 12 months," said Yorbe Zhang, Editor in Chief of EE Times-China. "The RTSA's ability to visually display the live RF spectrum, showing the spectral activity in real-time, is a stunning engineering accomplishment... (more) (even more awards)

Murray Associates is the only private-sector TSCM firm to own an RSA6100A. A view of it's screen can be seen here.
In short... It lets us see bugs no one else can see.

Wiretap Service & DIY Wiretaps

New York based call recording company 2ReCall just recently launched their initial call recording product last week. The new service lets you record any US domestic outgoing call by first dialing into an 800 number and then number you want to call.

The old fashioned way of recording calls consisted of Spy-vs-Spy type tape recorders and suction mics. VOIP changed that a bit, making it dead simple to grab the conversation as it passes through your phone client, although it leaves you chained to the desk.

2ReCall’s 800 number means you can record an outgoing call on any phone. Over the coming year the service will be able to record inbound calls as well, with the ultimate goal being a completely seamless solution that records all calls on the number. (more) DIY wiretap. (more)

FartCam Sniffs Out Trash Tippers

UK - A council is to hide cameras inside baked bean tins and brick walls to catch residents who put rubbish in the wrong bins.

The covert surveillance has been ordered by Ealing council to target 'enviro-criminals' an Evening Standard investigation has found. (more)

UPDATE... EALING council was rubbished' in national and London press this week over its decision to use hidden cameras in bags of rubbish. ... (reply) "We make no apology for taking the toughest action against those few who continue to blight our borough without any thought of the impact on the majority of residents." (more)

Ump's Bugs

Major League Baseball fans might get to eavesdrop on players and managers arguing calls this season as Fox and ESPN put microphones on umpires during telecasts for the first time. (more)

VoIP Mixes SIP with Security

Switzerland - Telecommunications provider Amitelo today launches a new release of its softphone AmiVois that because of excellent features is superior to its competitors. AmiVois comes with a new kind of encryption that makes wiretapping virtually impossible. (more)

Double Czech for Wiretaps

Police have thus recorded the calls between Frantisek Kinsky and his lawyer, which are considered inviolable.

A Czech court approved the wiretapping. Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil (Civic Democrats, ODS) said that this was in accordance with law. (more)

...meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Tomas Almer, head of the Czech police unit in charge of wiretapping, will not be prosecuted over sending the parliament a secret report saying that police wiretapped some politicians and journalists. (more)

Spy Agency Resorts to Wiretapping More Often

S. Korea - The National Intelligence Service (NIS), the country’s spy agency, is wiretapping more and more fixed-line phones and tracking the e-mail messages of Koreans.

The Ministry of Information and Communication on Tuesday said the NIS traced a total of 8,440 phones or messages last year, up 4.4 percent from 8,082 in 2005. (more)

Equipment Spy Finds Nike's Sumo2 Driver Illegal

Nike calls it a "voluntary product return", ...

How could this happen in the dog eat dog world of golf equipment?

They were ratted out by a competitor.

And how would they gain by this bit of corporate espionage?

For whatever reason, even before this golf manufacturing "spy" committed corporate espionage, Nike’s product hasn’t been getting the same respect or publicity as Callaway. Even Tiger Woods doesn't have the new Sumo2 in his bag. How bad is it when your top spokesplayer snubs your product? (more)

Spy Agency Posts Windows, OS X Security Guides

Who should know more about security than the National Security Agency? (Hey, it's their middle name!) No one, presumably. Which is why you might want to check out a series of security configuration guides the NSA has posted for Windows XP, 2000, Mac OS X, and Sun Solaris. (more)

Have Tap, Will Travel

Romanian spy chief quits after admitting he misinformed parliament over phone tapping operations.

Claudiu Saftoiu, appointed last September by (Romanian President) Basescu, resigned after earlier telling a parliamentary committee that phone tapping of people suspected of violating national security had been conducted with the approval of the general prosecutor's office.

Later, in a letter, Saftoiu apologised, accepting that such operations could be carried out only with the authorisation of a judge.

"His move is an act of honour. He told us something and later took it back," Crin Antonescu, member of a parliamentary commission investigating opposition allegations of unconstitutional behaviour by Basescu, told Reuters.

"Indiana wants me, Lord I can't call back there..."

IN - Cell phones and other electronic devices have opened new avenues for criminals, but these same technology advances have left Indiana police investigators behind.

Hoping to regain lost ground, the Indiana State Police is pushing a bill in the Statehouse that would give it the authority to listen in on cell phone calls and intercept other electronic communications, such as e-mail. Local law enforcement agencies would have the same power, but only with State Police supervision.

"Is this a game of chance?"

..."Not the way I play it, no." ~W.C. Fileds

New York City — A jury was chosen Monday to weigh charges against four former A.B. Watley Group Inc. executives accused of paying brokers at securities firms thousands of dollars to let them eavesdrop on share orders by institutional clients. (more)

UPDATE - 3/29/07
A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker (Timothy O'Connell, 42, of Carle Place, New York) was arrested on state gambling charges in New York, postponing his federal trial for selling access to trading information broadcast over his firm's office intercom. ... O'Connell is one of seven defendants on trial for conspiring to trade on information broadcast over internal ``squawk boxes'' at top Wall Street firms. He and brokers at Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. allowed day traders at A.B. Watley Group Inc., an online brokerage, to eavesdrop on large institutional orders, according to prosecutors. (more)

Must have been a nice place to live!

Oregon - Law-enforcement officials said Monday that they used wiretapping to help gather evidence against the defendants in a suspected illegal drug-distribution ring and said it was the first time that a Benton County investigation used wiretaps under state law. (more)

China Edging US in Espionage

Washington, DC - Chinese espionage directed against the United States has met with "total success for China" and "total failure" for America's own intelligence operations, said an author and reporter on national security issues.

Counter-intelligence operations have allowed the Chinese to block and manipulate U.S. electronic eavesdropping operations while the theft of U.S. technology has helped accelerate Beijing's military ambitions, Bill Gertz said Friday at a gathering of the Defense Forum Foundation on Capitol Hill. ...

For legal reasons, espionage cases are very difficult to prosecute unless someone is caught "red-handed," Gertz observed. Consequently, U.S. government officials must often settle for circumstantial evidence that translates into lesser charges. ...

One of the most sensational cases detailed in Gertz's new book involves Katrina Leung, a Los Angeles businesswoman, who secretly remained loyal to China while working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Leung is one of the many spies who got away, thanks in part to a "botched" FBI investigation, Gertz said.

U.S. officials believe Leung is responsible for compromising an electronic eavesdropping program that involved the planting of bugs on a Boeing airliner China was purchasing in 2000 for Jiang Zemin, who was the communist leader at that time.

The prosecution of Leung proved difficult because she had "intimate relations" with two FBI agents who were responsible for intelligence operations involving China, Gertz said. Consequently the espionage charges against Leung "went away." (more)

Bugs go to court...

South Africa - Three secret microphones and a hidden camera were discovered in Fidentia's Cape Town boardroom in a sweep for electronic bugs after curators took over the business, the city's magistrate's court heard on Friday. (more)

RF Condoms

Protect cell phones, PDAs, laptops and even cards with embedded RFID chip from eavesdroppers. EM-SEC Technologies makes and sells special cases which protect your electronics from secretly communicating with ether-snoops.

Need to protect something larger... like a whole room?

They also make paint that blocks radio waves! EM-SEC Coating is applied as an interior surface coating to individual rooms or entire facilities to provide a secure “Electromagnetic Fortress” for the safe operation of both wired and wireless networks and other electronic equipment.

Ubiquitous, but rarely seen...