Papal telephony

(Updated: March 27, 2013)Earlier this month, pope Benedict XVI announced his historical decision to step down from his office on February 28, 2013. This makes him the first pope to resign since 1415! Therefore, a good moment to take a look at the telephone equipment, which is used by this leader of almost 1.2 billion catholics. Pope Benedict XVI, assisted by his private secretary, signs a papal bull. In this picture we see pope Benedict XVI at...

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Security Scrapbook Reader's Question - Spy School

Q. "I really enjoy your articles. Let me ask you: Would a spy school go over here in the U.S.?"A. It probably would. There are plenty of people - from kiddies to Mitty's - who think spying is cool, albeit illegal. Training is probably not illegal, just implementing the skills. I educate my clients on spying techniques, just so they know what to look out for. Being aware helps them protect themselves against spying. Come to...

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Business Espionage - Quote of the Month

“This is an absolute tidal wave of criminal activity, and we’re not even scratching the surface. We are literally having our nation systematically stolen out from under us.” – Brett Kingstone, a one-time victim of trade secret theft and writer of The Real War Against America, a book that details how his start-up company was crippled by the theft of trade secrets related to LED lighting. (mo...

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Spykpe

A technology called Legal Intercept that Microsoft hopes to patent would allow the company to secretly intercept, monitor and record Skype calls. And it's stoking privacy concerns. (more)We're shocked. q.v. - Yesterday's sto...

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Express Scripts vs. E&Y - Trade Secret Theft Allegations

Express Scripts Inc. sued the accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP and one of its partners for the alleged theft of trade secrets and misappropriation of the pharmacy benefit manager’s confidential and proprietary data.The Express Scripts Holding Co. unit said in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Clayton, Missouri, that it learned last year that accounting firm partner Don Gravlin had been “sneaking” into its St. Louis headquarters and...

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U.S. Unveils New Strategy to Combat Trade-Secret Theft

The White House unveiled a new strategy to exert pressure on China and other countries that engage in corporate espionage against the U.S. as part of a new Obama administration push to counter cyberattacks and commercial spying.The strategy, released Wednesday in a report that was the subject of a White House meeting, raised the prospect of stepped-up U.S. trade restrictions on products and services derived from stolen trade secrets. Officials also...

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Skype Plebes Petition Redmond Patricians

A coalition of activists, privacy organizations, journalists, and others have called upon Microsoft to be more forthright about when, why, and to whom it discloses information about Skype users and their communications.In an open letter published on Thursday, the group argues that Redmond's statements about the confidentiality of Skype conversations have been "persistently unclear and confusing," casting the security and privacy of the Skype platform...

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Yet Another Teleconference Eavesdrop (with recommendations)

Alaska’s largest statewide commercial fishing trade association announced (it will) request Alaska authorities to investigate what they say was unauthorized eavesdropping of their United Fishermen of Alaska private teleconference by the Kenai River Sportfishing Association's office.According to UFA Interim President Bruce Wallace, on January 17, 2013 the United Fishermen of Alaska, representing 34 member organizations, held a private teleconference. In...

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Send Employees for Counterespionage Training? Brilliant!

Russia - Reviving the Soviet cult of vigilance in the digital age, the administration of Russia’s second biggest city launched a tender to teach its officials the basics of combating technological espionage.A hand-picked cadre of 25 civilian bureaucrats in St. Petersburg will train in ways of “countering foreign technical intelligence services and technical data protection,” according to the tender’s description... The course would last for 108 hours...

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United States Intelligence Community - Virtual Career Fair

The United States Intelligence Community (IC) invites you to attend the fourth annual IC Virtual Career Fair - a free online event - on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Eastern). Space is limited. To guarantee entrance, pre-registration is highly encouraged. Reserve your spot today!Don't miss this opportunity to learn about IC careers and get tips on how to apply for positions. The following agencies and components will be...

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Weird Security News of the Week

Japanese police believe they have finally caught the man behind an extraordinary malware campaign that included taunting police in January by sending them clues on an SD card strapped to a cat. According to TV station NHK, 30 year-old Yusuke Katayama was picked up after Tokyo police accessed CCTV pictures that showed the accused near the animal not long before the memory card was retrieved from its collar.  It later emerged that police had attempted to coerce confessions from four of the innocent suspects which led to a hugely embarrassing...

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Mechanic Hits Emails at Rival Limo Firm

A Las Vegas limousine company executive was convicted Friday of hacking into the emails of his former employer. John Sinagra, vice president and general manager of VIP Limousines of Nevada, was indicted last year on charges of obtaining information from a protected computer and aggravated identity theft.  Federal prosecutors alleged that Sinagra, who once was charged as a mob hitman in a sensational New York murder case, hacked into the...

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Hobby Drones Under Fire

On Dec. 26, a grand jury handed down several indictments against the owners of the Columbia Packing Company for dumping pig blood into a creek. They now face hefty fines and even prison time stemming from the water pollution, and the plant has since been shuttered. Neighbors had complained about noxious fumes and other issues for a while, according to the local news. But investigators didn’t get involved until this drone pilot took his pictures....

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A UAV Alternate POV

Cute animated video from The New York Times... (mo...

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President Reagan using a STU-II telephone

Here we see a great and very rare, maybe even unique picture of former US president Ronald Reagan using a STU-II secure telephone: President Reagan making an early morning telephone call regarding the invasion of Grenada(Photo: Reagan Library, October 22, 1983)In this picture we see president Reagan making a phone call to his staff regarding the invasion of Grenada. Because he was staying at the Eisenhower cabin on the Augusta National Golf course...

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US State Department red phones

On February 1st, senator John Kerry became the new US Secretary of State, succeeding Hillary Clinton, who held this office since January 2009. John Kerry is just two weeks in office, but we already have a nice picture of him in his new office:U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks by telephone withUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from his Inner Officeat the Department of State, February 5, 2013.(State Department photo)This picture is taken in...

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Two Princesses in a Bug House

GLOBE reveals that the royal couple’s new home, Kensington Palace, is bugged, and it seems that Camilla Parker-Bowles is the prime suspect for bugger. According to the cover of GLOBE’s current edition, February 18, two listening devices were discovered right inside the couple’s apartments. In this royal bombshell GLOBE will explain exactly how and where the royal bugs were discovered and why suspicion naturally fell on evil Camilla.Now that...

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If the competition isn't bugging you, they are probably doing this...

Interesting read...A competitive intelligence consultant discusses things that can help a business--at the expense of another. (mo...

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Report Recommends a TSCM Sweep of City Hall

According to the report*, many staff members worry there are bugs in city hall that an exterminator cannot remove. So much so, that one of the official recommendations is to sweep city hall.  "The Council should retain an outside firm to conduct a sweep of City Hall for bugs or other surveillance or electronic devices," the report reads. "While it is doubtful that any such devices exist in City Hall, there is a clear and present perception...

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Law Proposed to Let Parents Wiretap Kids

An Ohio lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would allow parents to wiretap their child’s cell phone conversations to be used in court. Under the bill, only parents or guardians would be allowed to track online or cell phone communications of a minor under the age of 18. (mo...

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Groundbreaking Encryption App is a Fed Freaker

For the past few months, some of the world’s leading cryptographers have been keeping a closely guarded secret about a pioneering new invention. Today, they’ve decided it’s time to tell all. Back in October, the startup tech firm Silent Circle ruffled governments’ feathers with a “surveillance-proof” smartphone app to allow people to make secure phone calls and send texts easily. Now, the company is pushing things even further—with a groundbreaking...

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Authorities... "No probing all the way. Promise."

The U.K. plans to install an unspecified number of spy devices along the country’s telecommunications network to monitor Britons’ use of overseas services such as Facebook and Twitter, according to a report published Tuesday by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.The devices — referred to as “probes” in the report — are meant to underpin a nationwide surveillance regime aimed at logging nearly everything Britons do online, from Skype...

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Business Espionage - Sentences Short - Fines Small

MO - A Chinese business owner and one of his employees have pleaded guilty in Missouri to conspiring to steal trade secrets from a U.S. company, in what one expert called a rare example of foreign business people being successfully prosecuted for corporate spying.Ji Li Huang, 45, and Xiao Guang Qi, 32, admitted Friday, Jan 25 in federal court that they tried to buy Pittsburgh Corning Corp.’s proprietary formula for cellular glass insulation by bribing...

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British Army Unveils New Mini Spy Drone

The British army has demonstrated a new tiny spy drone as the latest weapon against Taliban militants in Afghanistan.Soldiers from the Brigade Reconnaissance Force at Camp Bastion demonstrated the eight-inch long plastic moulded drone, which has three cameras hidden inside its nose and weighs just 15 grams. Codenamed the Black Hornet, the tiny aircraft is being used by British troops against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The small flying machine,...

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Two sneaky Android apps have been detected...

The apps cloaks as cache cleaners but instead snoop around once connected to PC. Superclean and DroidCleaner are the two applications uncovered by Kaspersky Labs. Both feature clean-up of Android phone or tablet cache files.The so-called "cleaners" promise to make devices faster and to increase processing but turns out to download three separate files - autorun.inf, folder.ico, and svchosts.exe. These components are automatically placed in the root...

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New Wave Of Hidden Cameras Make Spying Easy

It’s becoming easier than ever to keep an eye on spouses, children, business partners, and nannies with a new wave of spy gear. Note: The spy gadgets are real, and work very well — the 'antidote' gadgets used to protect against them, not so well. Save your money.  Need protection? Find a professional electronic countermeasures specialist. Invest your money with them. Need help finding one? Check here and here. ~Ke...

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Spy vs. Spy vs. Judge Leonie

A former CIA officer who pleaded guilty to identifying a covert intelligence officer was sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison.John Kiriakou and prosecutors agreed on the term as part of the plea agreement he struck in October.Kiriakou, 48, declined to make a statement at the Alexandria, Virginia, federal court prior to sentencing by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. "Alright, perhaps you've already said too much," Brinkema said. (mo...

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See What Drones See

These unmanned flying robots–some as large as jumbo jets, others as small as birds–do things straight out of science fiction. Much of what it takes to get these robotic airplanes to fly, sense, and kill has remained secret. But now, with rare access to drone engineers and those who fly them for the U.S. military, NOVA reveals the amazing technologies that make drones so powerful as we see how a remotely-piloted drone strike looks and feels from inside the command center.From cameras that can capture every detail of an entire city at a glance...

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Experts warn on wire-tapping of the cloud

Leading privacy expert Caspar Bowden has warned Europeans using US cloud services that their data could be snooped on. In a report, he highlights how the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendment Act (FISAAA) allows US authorities to spy on cloud data. This includes services such as Amazon Cloud Drive, Apple iCloud and Google Drive. He told the BBC this heralded a new era of "cloud surveillance". (mo...

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Man held on suspicion of business espionage

UK - A 52-YEAR-OLD man was arrested yesterday in Oxfordshire on suspicion of business espionage. The Metropolitan Police Service made the arrest as part of Operation Tuleta, an investigation into criminal breaches of privacy... The arrest, the 20th in Operation Tuleta, is part of the Kalmyk investigative strand of inquiry relating to computer hacking offenses. (mo...

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New Report: Drones Could Be Used for Stalking, Voyeurism

The sight of a drone in flight is likely to become a regular occurrence in the United States within the next few years. But the rise of unmanned technology could lead to new crimes like “drone stalking” and “drone trespassing,” lawmakers are being told. A Congressional Research Service report published Wednesday, Integration of Drones Into Domestic Airspace: Selected Legal Issues, sets out the many contentious areas around unmanned aircraft....

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Alerts sent in by our Blue Blaze Irregulars this week...

• "Time to take the glue gun to your USB ports." Data exfiltration using a USB keyboard. • "Dust off your information security policy (or start putting one in place…)" Do you have a comprehensive information security program? Many businesses are still operating without one, leaving them open to preventable data breaches. • "Enough already: encrypt those portable devices" The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached...

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From the Business Spy's Toolkit - NoteMark

Unlike other miniature scanners, the NoteMark is equipped with a 5-megapixel sensor with an auto-focus lens that can capture an image instantly. Twisting the top of the pen readies the sensor, while a button on the side activates the shutter.The sensor is capable of digitizing just about any information put in front of it, from a small blurb in a magazine to an entire whiteboard of notes. Each picture is captured as a sharp 2048 x 1536-resolution...

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