From Spy Novels to CIA Papers

Washington, DC - Georgetown University’s newest addition to its special collections delves deep into the world of spies, espionage and secret intelligence...

Most recently, the university acquired a special collection from the family of the late Richard Helms, director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1966 to 1973. Personal and professional papers and photographs paint a picture of a nation in turmoil from the Vietnam and Cold Wars – and how that turmoil forced U.S. intelligence gathering to adapt.

The library’s espionage and intelligence division stands as just one subset of an overall special collection that boasts 100,000 rare books and 7,000 linear feet of manuscripts in addition to art and other media. The division began in earnest 25 years ago with the Russell J. Bowen collection, comprising of thousands of nonfiction books on intelligence. Bowen had worked for the CIA as a senior foreign technology analyst in the areas of non-nuclear energy and illegal technology transfer.

Georgetown celebrated the new collection, which will be on display at Lauinger Library (Gunlocke Room) through May 31. (more)

Spycraft 101: CIA Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda

Tuesday, 3 June; 6:30 pm
Rubber airplanes, messages planted inside dead rats, and subminiature cameras hidden inside ballpoint pens…

Science fiction? Q’s imaginary tools? Think again. These are just a few of the real-life devices created by the ultra-ingenious CIA Office of Technical Services (OTS).

In support of their new book Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaedathe former director of OTS Bob Wallace teams up with internationally renowned espionage historian H. Keith Melton to reveal the amazing life and death operations of OTS, the CIA’s shadowy “wizards.”

Presented against a backdrop of some of America’s most critical periods of history—including the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the war on terror—this is a unique chance to go inside the hidden world of America’s “Q” and see many of the actual gadgets.

Rare devices including concealments, microdots, and disguises will be on display, and all attendees will have the opportunity to have their photos taken (bring your own camera please) with an authentic (and official) freeze-dried CIA rat designed for covert communications in Moscow. It will be a memento of the evening you’ll treasure forever!
Tickets: $20 • Members of The Spy Ring® (Join Today!): $16 (more)

Spy Agency’s Eavesdropping Rose Last Year

S. Korea - The Broadcasting and Communications Commission (BCC) said Thursday that the number of eavesdropping requests from the spy agency and police last year was the highest since 2004, while the number of cases of e-mail monitoring and caller identification also rose.

Telephone companies allowed the National Intelligence Service (NIS), police officials and prosecutors to tap 1,142 phone calls last year, up from 1,062 cases in 2006. Most of the requests were from the NIS, the spy agency.

The number of caller identification requests from investigation authorities also increased by more than 20 percent to 183,659 cases from 150,743, the BCC said. E-mail monitoring rose 28.9 percent to 326 cases.

Furthermore, the actual number of eavesdropping cases can be higher than the released figure since multiple requests on a single case are counted as one, the BCC said. (more)

Court-Approved Wiretapping Rose 14% in '07

Last year might have been a rough year for U.S. home prices, but growth in government wiretaps remained healthy, with the eavesdropping sector posting a 14% increase in court orders compared to 2006.

In 2007, judges approved 4,578 state and federal wiretaps, as compared to 4,015 in 2006, according to two new reports on criminal and intelligence wiretaps.

State investigators are increasingly turning to wiretaps, according to newly released statistics. State police applied for 27% more wiretaps in 2007 than in 2006, with 94% of them targeting cell phones, according to figures released by the U.S. Courts' administrator.

In 2007, state judges approved 1,751 criminal wiretap applications, without turning any of them down, according to the report (.pdf). That's a near-three fold increase in state wiretaps since 1997. (more)

Wiretap Laws Morph With Technology

Excellent article detailing how legal wiretapping in the United States was forced to grow with technology.

In the old days, everyone was linked to a lug nut... (everyone's telephone) ended up in the basement of the telephone company's switching station. There, the wire emerged, pegged to a rack by a single copper lug nut. Acres of racks lined the walls, each holding rows and columns of lug nuts and their wires, neatly stacked atop each other...

And then it all went sideways.

At the same time that the phone companies were preparing for the transition to digital, the use of cellphones -- which were inherently harder to tap because they used phone lines differently than analog devices -- mushroomed. ...Electronic surveillance, once such a dependable, relatively easy craft, was becoming inordinately difficult. (more)

Surveillance Desensitization Continues

Hal Niedzviecki writes...
I ask (Ursula) Lebana how things have changed since she opened Canada’s first spy store back in 1991.

“People who came into the store at that time were quite shocked,” she tells me. “They never realized cameras were that small. They said, ‘Oh my God, that’s scary. And isn’t it terrible to monitor the nanny? Where’s the trust?’”

Sixteen years later, business is booming. “Now people say, ‘Oh, I want a hidden camera,’” says Lebana, who has since opened SpyTech locations in Ottawa and London, Ontario. “They are more willing to use them now. They’re more familiar with it. I’m even getting repeat customers... (more)

Crime Does Not Pay! (No, really, it doesn't.)

According to a new study dug up by Secrecy News, modern-day spies -- at least the ones who get caught -- don't appear to be making much money.

The study (.pdf), conducted for the Defense Personnel Security Research Center based on its Espionage Database, concludes that "Two thirds of American spies since 1990 have volunteered. Since 1990, spying has not paid well: 80% of spies received no payment for espionage, and since 2000 it appears no one was paid.” (more)

S(he) M(aybe) E(arliest) R(ussian) S(py) H(ero) - B. Badenov

Russia’s oldest counter-intelligence officer is 100 years young. And although she's long retired, Maria Lyovina is still barred from revealing sensitive details about her work in the past.

She may not look like your archetypal secret agent but Maria Lyovina was catching spies long before the world had ever heard of James Bond.

A great grandmother three times over, her Ulanovsk flat is filled with family photographs. One is a striking image of the young woman German agents came to fear.

Maria was working as a secretary in a Leningrad factory when the Soviet Union entered the Second World War.

She was recruited by Army officers looking for an experienced typist.

She joined SMERSH, a counter intelligence group dedicated to catching traitors and undercover Germans. Its name literally meant ‘death to spies’. (more) (video)

The Case of the Telepathic Ray Gun, or...

..."Does that ringing in my ears bother you?"
via Discovery.com
I know some of you may not want to believe this, but the U.S. government may well already have the ability to beam secret commands to you through the fillings in your teeth. Well, not exactly. But close. A recently declassified 1998 U.S. Army report, “Bioeffects of Selected Nonlethal Weapons,” describes government plans for a microwave weapon that would transmit voice communication that seems to emanate from within a human target’s own brain. (It was obtained and posted on the Web by Freedom From Covert Harassment & Surveillance, a Cincinnati-based organization that advocates on behalf of people who believe they are being stalked and subjected to “electromagnetic harassment.”)

To quote the report:
Because the frequency of the sound heard is dependent upon the pulse characteristics of the RF energy, it seems possible that this technology could be developed to the point where words could be transmitted to be heard like the spoken word, except that it could only be heard within a person’s head.

This is possible because of something called the Microwave Auditory Effect, which was first discovered during World War II, when people working in the vicinity of radar transponders complained of hearing strange clicking noises that other people nearby didn’t notice. The effect is caused by thermal expansion of the region around the cochlea. In the 1960s, neuroscientist Allan H. Frey, who was the first to publish research on the effect, was able to induce it in human subjects with pulsed microwaves from a transmitter 100 meters away.

It’s unclear just how far the government’s microwave auditory research and development efforts have progressed since 1993, when the report was written... (more)

The Original Hollywood Wiretapper

By Will Vaus
The trial of private detective Anthony Pellicano, who is charged with 110 counts of racketeering, wiretapping, conspiracy and other federal charges, has been capturing headlines for quite some time. No wonder. Its connections to the mob, eavesdropping on Hollywood conversations and the revolving door of movie industry personalities make for a good read. However, for me and my family, it is déjà vu.

Why? Because my father, "Big Jim" Vaus, was the original Hollywood wiretapper. He launched the practice of listening in on the stars in the 1940s and gained the same sort of notoriety then that surrounds Pellicano now. He was written up in the L.A. papers, and his story has been featured in Time, Life, Reader's Digest and in a 1955 movie, "Wiretapper." (more)

Will Vaus, author of My Father Was a Gangster: The Jim Vaus Story

Recordings of Jim Vaus talking about his life.
More stories about Jim Vaus...
The Hollywood Vice Queen (1948)
Wiretapping in Hollywood (1955)
Why Jim Vaus Quit Wiretapping (1946)

More fascinating than fiction, Seduced by Secrets takes the reader inside the real world of one of the most effective and feared spy agencies in history. The book reveals, for the first time, the secret technical methods and sources of the Stasi (East German Ministry for State Security) as it stole secrets from abroad and developed gadgets at home, employing universal, highly guarded techniques often used by other spy and security agencies.

Seduced by Secrets draws on secret files from the Stasi archives, including CIA-acquired material, interviews and friendships, court documents, and unusual visits to spy sites, including "breaking into" a prison, to demonstrate that the Stasi overestimated the power of secrets to solve problems and created an insular spy culture more intent on securing its power than protecting national security.

It recreates the Stasi's secret world of technology through biographies of agents, defectors, and officers and by visualizing James Bond–like techniques and gadgets.

In this highly original book, Kristie Macrakis adds a new dimension to our understanding of the East German Ministry for State Security by bringing the topic into the realm of espionage history and exiting the political domain. (more)

Wiretapping's true danger (LA Times - Political Opinion)

History says we should worry less about privacy and more about political spying.
By Julian Sanchez

As the battle over reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act rages in Congress, civil libertarians warn that legislation sought by the White House could enable spying on "ordinary Americans." Others, like Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), counter that only those with an "irrational fear of government" believe that "our country's intelligence analysts are more concerned with random innocent Americans than foreign terrorists overseas."

But focusing on the privacy of the average Joe in this way obscures the deeper threat that warrantless wiretaps poses to a democratic society. Without meaningful oversight, presidents and intelligence agencies can -- and repeatedly have -- abused their surveillance authority to spy on political enemies and dissenters.

...for decades, intelligence analysts -- and the presidents they served -- had spied on the letters and phone conversations of union chiefs, civil rights leaders, journalists, antiwar activists, lobbyists, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices -- even Eleanor Roosevelt...

...Political abuse of electronic surveillance goes back at least as far as the Teapot Dome scandal that roiled the Warren G. Harding administration in the early 1920s. ...

In 1945, Harry Truman had the FBI wiretap Thomas Corcoran...

...John F. Kennedy's attorney general, brother Bobby, authorized wiretaps on lobbyists, Agriculture Department officials and even a congressman's secretary...

...Lyndon Johnson found the tactic useful when he wanted to know what promises then-candidate Richard Nixon might be making to our allies in South Vietnam...

...Johnson famously heard recordings of King's conversations and personal liaisons with various women. Less well known is that he received wiretap reports on King's strategy conferences with other civil rights leaders...

...Few presidents were quite as brazen as Nixon, whom the Church Committee found had "authorized a program of wiretaps which produced for the White House purely political or personal information unrelated to national security."...

...It's probably true that ordinary citizens uninvolved in political activism have little reason to fear being spied on, just as most Americans seldom need to invoke their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech. But...

...if you think an executive branch unchecked by courts won't turn its "national security" surveillance powers to political ends -- well, it would be a first.

Julian Sanchez is a Washington writer who studies privacy and surveillance. (more)

More Sports Spying History

According to a report in the New York Daily News, the New York Jets were aware of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's videotaping shenanigans as far back as 2004.

Sources told the Daily News that Herm Edwards, then the Jets head coach, and his defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson not only noticed a camera aimed at them from the opposite sideline during a game between the Jets and Patriots, but they waved at it. (Does this constitute consent?)

The News' report also said the videotape was apparently one of six tapes Belichick turned over to the league that were subsequently destroyed by the order of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. (more)

But spying has always existed in football and other professional sports. A marvelous book, "The Echoing Green," documents how the 1951 New York Giants utilized a telescope to steal opposing catchers' signs — and relay them to the batters.

Papa Bear George Halas, it has been claimed, paid young men to listen to and film other teams' practices. The old Kansas City Chiefs were accused of being the worst spying offenders — by Al Davis, who was accused of bugging AFL teams' locker rooms. The Broncos purportedly had two spies a long time ago at a San Diego workout, writing plays on the inside of paper cups.

A former NFL coach told me at the recent Super Bowl in Arizona that his team cheated regularly. "We did everything you can imagine to get information on the teams we were playing. The more technology, the easier you can get stuff. It's common in the league," he said.

Belichick was caught.
Now, Congress is involved. (more)
"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit..."

Reel Camp for the Really Stupid

World's Biggest Hand ...or, Smallest Gun?

Meet the pistol that fits in your pocket - and packs a hell of a punch.

The SwissMiniGun is the size of a key fob but fires tiny 270mph bullets powerful enough to kill at close range.

Officially the world's smallest working revolver, the gun is being marketed as a collector's item and measures just 2.16 inches long (5.5cm). It can fire real 4.53 bullets up to a range of 367ft (112m). (more)

Global Info Survey - CIO's Get Smart

A growing number of organizations recognize information security can provide more than just protection of corporate assets, with the delivery of IT and operational efficiencies and improving overall business performance emerging as critical objectives. That is the word from Ernst & Young's 10th annual global information security survey. The survey canvassed nearly 1,300 senior executives in more than 50 countries. (more)

Turn your iPhone sideways, and "Open Channel D"

The Incredible World of SPY-Fi: Wild and Crazy Spy Gadgets, Props, and Artifacts from TV and the Movies
by Danny Biederman

from Publishers weekly...
Even people who aren’t big spy movie fans know that James Bond gets to play with some great gadgets. The same goes for the casts of Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and I Spy.

Biederman has been immersed in the spy world, at least as Hollywood depicts it, from the time of his youth in the 1960s, when he was introduced to a world of "spies, gadgets, adventure, and beautiful women—everything that a ten-year-old boy could possibly want."

Since then he has collected over 4,000 props from various sets, amassing such an impressive trove that in 2000 the CIA asked him to exhibit it at its headquarters.

This book tells the story of each TV series and movie through Biederman’s props, which range from the coat hook used in U.N.C.L.E. to open a secret passageway, to the gold sofa that adorned James West’s private railroad car in The Wild Wild West.

NFL Spygate History - The Locker Room Spycams

Earlier this season (1999), a Jets defensive player went into a small room at the team's practice facility in Hempstead, N.Y., and was stunned by what he saw. Inside was a bank of video screens, he said, showing various parts of the complex. On one screen, to the player's surprise, was a view of the locker room. ...

''A lot of things around here have knocked me for a loop, but this is one of the biggest,'' said the defensive starter, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions. ''My first thought was, 'Has the team been spying on us?' ''

A spokesman for the Jets denied that the team uses video cameras for surveillance purposes...

A number of players, team executives and union officials believe putting hidden cameras in the locker room, the training room or other parts of the workplace is a good idea. Others believe that cameras are a violation of a player's privacy. (more)

Pop Quiz: Who was Bill Belichick working for in 1999?

Smackdown - US 193 - RIP

The U.S. Navy has successfully intercepted a defunct spy satellite using a surface-to-air missile — a first-ever such demonstration by an American warship. Debris from the shattered satellite was expected to burn up during re-entry.

"The mission was a success … the missile … intercepted the decaying satellite," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

The interceptor missile was launched from the Navy cruiser USS Lake Erie off Hawaii at 10:30 p.m. EST. The USS Lake Erie is an Aegis guided-missile cruiser. Two other ships, USS Decatur and USS Russell, were also part of the task force. (more) (audio) (Smackdown animation)

Peter McCollum's Bug & Wiretap Devices of the 50's & 60's

The ST-2A Surveillance Transmitter The ST-2A is one of the earlier models in a long series of equipment. The purpose of a surveillance transmitter (ST) is to transmit the sounds (conversations) from within a room to a person or recording device monitoring a receiver nearby. For example, an ST may be hidden in a hotel room before the targeted person arrives, and the opposition can set up equipment on an adjacent floor to monitor and record any conversations that take place.

This device, marked “F-371 IndCoil”, is an audio wire tap, most likely intended for telephone lines. It is an inductive pickup, so does not require any direct connection to the signal wire. This makes it much more difficult to detect, and does not interfere with telephone operation in any way.

When clipped over the red wire on a traditional telephone line, and connected to a suitable preamp, it can efficiently monitor a conversation. Note that it is necessary to tap only one of the two signal wires – if both wires pass through the device, the signal is canceled. The tap includes a square, closed armature that is opened by pushing a spring-loaded button. Two sides of the square have fine wire coils wound on them, connected in series.

Pushing the black button on the right side causes the armature to open so that it can be clipped over a wire. The oblong aluminum portion is a separate impedance matching transformer, marked “3.2” (ohms) on the input, and “1200” on the output. It has a 1/8” plug on the input side, and a matching jack on the output side.
(many more fine examples and photos)

Alert - Analog Cellular - Discontinued - Last Call - Check you alarm system's cellular alarm reporting back-up unit.

Going, going... GONE!
With 4G and WiMax services on the horizon, a new digital wireless era is approaching...but the era of another form of cordless communications is soon to come to a close: namely, analog cellular phone service, which will cease nationally on February 18. (That's TODAY!) Most phones now use digital service, but home and business owners with alarm systems may miss the analog signal. (more)
...and many more will miss the fun of easy eavesdropping.

In December 2005, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) was commissioned by the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) to conduct research into issues relating to key criminal justice issues concerning technology-enabled crime.

The report provides an instant eduction on technology enhanced crimes, and new crimes which have come into being because of advancements in technology.

Observations...
- It still takes the legal system about 10 years to catch up with technology changes.
- Technology has further cemented the need for international law enforcement cooperation.
- Technology is forcing some of the age-old crimes – that we rarely used to hear about – out of the darkness.
Very interesting document. Sign of the times.
(this report) (more reports)

Spies Demise - Week ending 2/16/08

US - Four people have been arrested in the United States on spying charges relating to the sale of classified information - including details of the Space Shuttle - to China. (more)

Bolivia - President Evo Morales declared a U.S. Embassy security officer to be an "undesirable person" on Monday after reports that the officer asked an American scholar and 30 Peace Corps volunteers to pass along information about Cubans and Venezuelans working in Bolivia. (more)

US - Senator Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania, wants to know more about the New England Patriots' practice of spying on the opposition... (more)

Afghanistan - Soldiers seized two Taliban fighters spying on Nato forces after one of the militant's smart shoes gave him away... A soldier said they were suspicious as he wore expensive shoes - rare in the poor farming area. (more)

South Korea's outgoing president has accepted the resignation of his spy chief, who offered to quit over the leak of a document detailing his secret trip to North Korea in December, a spokesman said Monday. (more)

Kenya’s longest serving spy master, James Kanyotu, died in Nairobi yesterday. The shadowy and burly spy who headed the Directorate of State Intelligence, then known as the Special Branch for 27 years, died at the Nairobi Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness. (more)

US - Hewlett-Packard Co. said late Wednesday that it has settled with the New York Times and three BusinessWeek journalists who were spied on as part of the company's boardroom surveillance scheme. (more)

Ultra-wideband (UWB). Now a TSCM reality.

UWB materializes on an RSA6114A Tektronix spectrum analyzer.

New Eavesdropping Threat. Bug transmissions via Ultra-wideband. Standard eavesdropping detection techniques don't 'see' it.

Research Electronics explains it nicely...
"Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) transmitters represent a new method of RF modulation, typically consisting of extremely narrow pulses (in the range of 250 picoseconds). The modulation scheme is a time division multiplexed system based on the timing of the pulses across a large frequency range. It is suspected that this new method of modulation will likely be used for short-range communications (approximately 10 meters), but other applications will certainly be developed. With a potential frequency band of 2GHz to 10GHz, the new UWB modulation represents some interesting characteristics from the technical security perspective, specifically with regard to the detection of UWB transmissions potentially used in eavesdropping devices."

Murray Associates recognized the threat early.
(from Kevin's Security Scrapbook - February, 2002)
FutureWatch
Ultra-wideband (UWB) makes it debut... (this will be big)
Applications...
- Ground Penetrating Radar Systems
- Wall Imaging Systems
- Through-wall Imaging Systems
- Medical Systems
- Surveillance Systems
- Vehicular Radar Systems
- Communications and Measurement Systems
Not to mention, low-probability-of-intercept bugging devices.
(Shhhhhh! We told you not to mention that.) (more)

Because of this foresight, Murray Associates can counter UWB eavesdropping threats today. Knowledge and military-level TSCM instrumentation (from REI and Tektronix) are being used now to protect their client family.

Consider the advanced TSCM services of Murray Associates if your current TSCM team can't show you what UWB looks like.

Think data theft is rare?

Think again.

Massive information theft occurs almost every day.
Every day, other information thefts occur massively.

One example of infotheft from the list below...
"Personal information on customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing. The missing information includes Social Security numbers for about 150,000 people." (Jan 17, 2008)

So far this year; by date, victim and records lost.
Jan. 2, 2008 Workers Compensation Fund (Salt Lake City, UT) 2,800
Jan. 3, 2008 Robotics Industries Association (Ann Arbor, MI) Unknown
Jan. 3, 2008 Dorothy Hains Ele. School (Augusta, GA) Unknown
Jan. 4, 2008 Health Net (Mountain View, CA/CT) 5,000
Jan. 4, 2008 FL Dept. of Children and Families (Osceola, FL) 1,200
Jan. 4, 2008 MD Dept. of Assessments & Tax (Baltimore, MD) 900
Jan. 5, 2008 NM State University (Las Cruces, NM) Unknown
Jan. 7, 2008 Sears/ManageMyHome.com (IL) Unknown
Jan. 7, 2008 Geeks.com (Oceanside, CA) Unknown
Jan. 8, 2008 WI Dept. of Health & Family Ser. (Madison, WI) 260,000
Jan. 8, 2008 University of Georgia (Athens, GA) 4,250
Jan. 10, 2008 Select Physical Therapy (Levelland, TX) 4,000
Jan. 11, 2008 University of Akron (Akron, OH) 800
Jan. 11, 2008 University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA) 216
Jan. 11, 2008 VA Dept. of Social Services (Richmond, VA) 1,500
Jan. 12, 2008 CA State University, Stanislaus (Turlock, CA) Unknown
Jan. 14, 2008 Tennessee Tech University (Cookeville, TN) 990
Jan. 15, 2008 Department of Revenue WI (Lakewood, WI) 5,000
Jan. 15, 2008 Naval Surface Warfare Center (MD) Unknown
Jan. 16, 2008 University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) Unknown
Jan. 17, 2008 GE Money / Iron Mountain (Boston, MA) 150,000
Jan. 23, 2008 Baylor University (Waco, TX) Unknown
Jan. 24, 2008 Fallon Community Health Plan (Worcester, MA) 30,000
Jan. 24, 2008 OmniAmerican Bank (Fort Worth, TX) Unknown
Jan. 25, 2008 Penn State University (University Park, PA) 677
Jan. 28, 2008 T. Rowe Price Retirement Services (MD) 35,000
Jan. 29, 2008 Georgetown University (Washington, DC) 38,000
Jan. 29, 2008 Wake County Emergency Medical Services (NC) 4,642
Jan. 29, 2008 Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield (Newark, NJ) 300,000
Jan. 30, 2008 Davidson Companies (Great Falls, MT) 226,000
Jan. 31, 2008 SC Dept. of Health & Environmental (SC) 400
Jan. 31, 2008 University of Minn. Medicine Center (MN) 3,100
Feb. 1, 2008 Marine Corps Bases Japan (Okinawa, Japan) 4,000
Feb. 2, 2008 Diocese of Providence (Providence, RI) 5,000
Feb. 7, 2008 Memorial Hospital (South Bend, IN) 4,300
Feb. 8, 2008 MLSgear.com Unknown

Attention infomasochistics!
You can see all the gory details, going back to 2005, here.

Attention smart security directors!
You can get non-IT Department infosecurity help, here.

Sinn Fein driver revealed as spy

A former driver for senior members of Sinn Fein has been revealed to be an informer for the security services.

It is understood Roy McShane, from west Belfast, left Northern Ireland on Friday and entered protective custody.

He was one of a number of drivers who worked with Gerry Adams and other senior members. He may have been working for MI5 and not the police. (more)

Countdown to Smackdown - US 193 (update)

A dead US spy satellite in a deteriorating orbit is expected to hit the Earth during the first week of March, said officials.

The destination of the hit is unknown. Officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 2,270 kilogram spacecraft will survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and scatter debris. Some of them will be potentially hazardous, over several hundred miles.

The officials (Micky, Mike, Davy and Peter) spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. (more) (sing-a-long)

Sabotage, espionage, coincidence or...

The failure of four undersea cables in less than a week is stoking suspicions that saboteurs want to disrupt internet traffic passing between Europe and the Middle East. (more)

They Spy Back on Spy Satellites

When the government announced last month that a top-secret spy satellite would, in the next few months, come falling out of the sky, American officials said there was little risk to people because satellites fall out of orbit fairly frequently and much of the planet is covered by oceans.

But they said precious little about the satellite itself. Such information came instead from Ted Molczan, a hobbyist who tracks satellites from his apartment balcony in Toronto, and fellow satellite spotters around the world. They have grudgingly become accustomed to being seen as “propeller-headed geeks” who “poke their finger in the eye” of the government’s satellite spymasters, Mr. Molczan said, taking no offense. “I have a sense of humor,” he said. (more) (SatSpies Home Page)

Movie Review - "Spy"

It's easy to see why director Nadav Schirman plans to adapt his first film, the documentary "The Champagne Spy," into an English-language narrative feature. The story of Ze'ev Gur Arie, aka Wolfgang Lotz, is the stuff of Cold War glamor and international intrigue, with a dark personal twist.

Lotz was a German-born Israeli spy who so fully adopted his undercover identity that he left behind a wife and child. Focusing on the testimony of Lotz's fellow Mossad agents and especially his son, all speaking on camera for the first time, "Spy" is a compelling if sometimes frustratingly limited film. It screened in the Palm Springs festival's New Israeli Cinema section and was awarded the John Schlesinger Award for outstanding first feature. (more) (Lotz's "Would You Make A Good Spy" Test)