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Showing posts with label social engineering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social engineering. Show all posts

Sunday, 3 November 2013

10 Most Audacious Eavesdropping Plots

Posted on 09:03 by Unknown
Operation Ivy Bells
At the height of the cold war, the National Security Agency, CIA and the US Navy collaborated to tap into underwater communication lines used by the Soviet Union. 

Operation Stopwatch
This joint operation between the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service was again an attempt to tap into communications by the Soviet Military.

The Cambridge Spies
Rather than relying on modern eavesdropping, this operation used old fashioned infiltration.

Click to enlarge.
The Gunman Project
During 1976, the KGB managed to install miniaturized eavesdropping equipment and transmitters inside 16 IBM Selectric Typewriters used by staff at the US embassy in Moscow and consulate in Leningrad. 

The Bundesnachrichtendienst Trojan Horse Affair
Germany may have been the victim off NSA eavesdropping, but its own Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, has also engaged in such activities.

The MI6 Spy Rock
In a modern version of the dead letter drop, British spies working out of the embassy in Russia used a transmitter concealed in an artificial rock to pass classified data. 

Acoustic Kitty
Acoustic Kitty was a top secret 1960s CIA project attempting to use cats in spy missions, intended to spy on the Kremlin and Soviet embassies. (more)

Moles in Berlin
In 1956, American and British agents tunneled into East German territory in order to tap a telephone line. This allowed them to eavesdrop on important conversations between Red Army leaders and the KGB. A segment of the tunnel can now be visited. (more)

U2
An international diplomatic crisis erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Confronted with the evidence of his nation's espionage, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to admit to the Soviets that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. (more)

Animal Spies
A former CIA trainer reveals, the U.S. government deployed nonhuman operatives—ravens, pigeons, even cats—to spy on cold war adversaries. “We never found an animal we could not train.” (more)
Read More
Posted in aerial, CIA, eavesdropping, espionage, government, Hack, historical, KGB, MI6, nature, NSA, social engineering, telephone, Wireless, wiretapping | No comments

Sunday, 1 September 2013

Industrialists Hit by Cyber Espionage

Posted on 07:06 by Unknown
India - Cyber espionage, the practice of spying to obtain secret information like proprietary or classified details, confidential sales data, turnover, clients' contacts, diplomatic reports and records of military or political nature, have hit city industrialists.

"Cyber espionage is the new trend of cyber crime that is threatening mid-scale and small-scale industries in Ludhiana. Here one could target his business competitors or simply steal other company's details to sell it further in the market. Ludhiana offers them a ready-made market as many start-ups and small scale companies are operational here," said Tanmay Sinha, a cyber expert and an entrepreneur based in Ludhiana.

"In most of the instances, cyber espionage attempts benefit the attacker as these attacks are not random but are well-planned and targeted towards one group. Moreover, these are done by the criminals after studying the history of the target," he added.

Ludhiana police cyber cell has received more than 10 complaints of cyber espionage in the last two months. (more)
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Posted in advice, computer, email, espionage, social engineering | No comments

Thursday, 22 August 2013

Laser Beam Eavesdropping - In the News Again

Posted on 07:19 by Unknown
Since the 1970's, stories about laser listeners have periodically popped up in the news. The common thread is their magical ability to eavesdrop from far away using only an invisible beam of light. Fear mongering is the next element, closely followed by, "very expensive, only the government can buy one."

The reporters are either clueless or haven't done any decent research. Their information sources have vested interests: like governments spreading disinformation; or "de-bugging experts" and spyshop owners hoping the publicity will boost their business. Funny, a working device is never demonstrated, and nobody even claims first-hand knowledge.


Today, the BBC fell victim. Here is the story they published...
Not true.
The UK government has warned the Guardian newspaper that foreign agents could use laser technology to eavesdrop on them, in the wake of recent surveillance leaks. What are laser listening devices and are they effective? (more)

The theory is sound. CD / DVD players use it on a small scale. YouTube is full of videos demonstrating the technique... under very controlled conditions, with less than sterling results. But, is it really a practical surveillance tool? Click here for our research.
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Posted in advice, dumb, eavesdropping, government, Infrared, laser, Ray-Gun, social engineering, surveillance, X-Ray Vision | No comments

Friday, 16 August 2013

"Paranoia is our friend."

Posted on 07:53 by Unknown
The quote is from a legend in the corporate counterespionage business.  

The movie Paranoia - which opens today - is from a terrific novel written by Joe Finder. Joe is a stickler for accuracy and detail; part of the reason he is a New York Times bestselling author. 

If you want a peek under the skirt of business espionage see Paranoia this weekend.


Sign up here to win an autographed copy of the book. Movie times.

"Privacy is a myth."
#CHANGETHEGAME
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Posted in book, business, counterespionage, espionage, fun, movie, social engineering, spycam | No comments

Sunday, 28 April 2013

Spybuster Tip # 523: Twitter Password Security Test

Posted on 07:18 by Unknown
WARNING
The link below is a clever gag.
Similar sites are password collection scams.

If you take the test on any of them, don't enter real information.

http://www.ismytwitterpasswordsecure.com/
Read More
Posted in advice, computer, password, quiz, scam, social engineering, Tips | No comments

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Send Employees for Counterespionage Training? Brilliant!

Posted on 06:00 by Unknown
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 and end in a test. The tender has a price tag of 727,000 rubles ($24,000)...
 
In December, the administration of St. Petersburg – headed by Governor Gennady Poltavchenko, also a former KGB officer – also contracted anti-espionage companies to look for covert listening devices in its offices, Fontanka.ru city news website reported. (more)

The ROI on this should be tremendous. 
Every organization should be so smart. 
~Kevin
Read More
Posted in business, counterespionage, employee, FutureWatch, government, mores, social engineering, spy school | No comments

Sunday, 10 February 2013

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

Posted on 07:19 by Unknown
Interesting read...
A competitive intelligence consultant discusses things that can help a business--at the expense of another. (more)
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Posted in advice, business, cautionary tale, employee, espionage, leaks, mores, social engineering | No comments

Friday, 25 January 2013

Who's Watching Your Webcam

Posted on 14:45 by Unknown
About this time last year I reported on hacking Internet-connected video security cameras. Now, let's watch another aspect of the problem, personal webcam spying...


Depending upon how old you are, you will recognize this is a reoccurring theme in works of fiction...

1998 - The Truman Show
The film chronicles the life of a man who is initially unaware that he is living in a constructed reality television show, broadcast around the clock to billions of people across the globe.

1964 - Wendy and Me
George Burns as landlord would watch his attractive young tenant on what appears to the modern eye to be a surreptitious closed circuit television transmission with hidden cameras (he also accomplished this with his "TV in the den" in later episodes of The Burns and Allen Show). 

1949 - 1984 
George Orwell predicts a populace kept under constant surveillance by closed-circuit security cameras that transmit footage back to Big Brother.

1939 - Television Spy
 
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Posted in advice, CCTV, computer, extortionography, Hack, Internet, privacy, social engineering, spyware, voyeurism, X-Ray Vision | No comments

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Book Review - A Cybercop's Guide to Internet Child Safety

Posted on 07:45 by Unknown
I am reading Glen Klinkhart's book, "A Cybercop's Guide to Internet Child Safety." After reading only two chapters, it is clear that this is a must-have book for every parent. 

The book begins with an Author's introduction. It sets the tone, i.e. Glen Klinkhart has not written this book to make a buck, he is on a much larger mission, and has the experience-clout to accomplish it. You see, when he was 15, his older sister was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered. Since then, he made cyber-security his life. Having worked with his team, I know first-hand they are very good at it.

Patriculary impressive is the layout and organization of his advice and guidence. The headlines and sub-heads are clear and concise, as are the explanations which follow. It is an instant, easy-to-understand education for every parent, no matter what their previous level of Internet savvy.

Most parents will find this book is THE answer to, "What can I do?" A few may feel policing their child's cyber-activities is an Sisyphean task, and bury their heads in the silicon. But hey, who ever said parenting was easy, or that everyone was up to the task. At least, "A Cybercop's Guide to Internet Child Safety" now makes this part of parenting do-able. All of us no longer can use ignorance as an excuse. Isn't protecting your child worth $25.00?
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Posted in book, computer, Internet, mores, privacy, sabotage, social engineering, spyware, tracking | No comments

Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Computer Anti-Virus King Becomes a Spy?!?! ...you decide.

Posted on 14:11 by Unknown
Remember John McAfee? ...the man who, just weeks ago, went on the run from Belize after his neighbor was found murdered, claiming that the police wanted to kill him and frame him for the murder. 

He fled to Guatamala,...arrived in the US shortly after, and now he’s pecking out his tell-all tale via his blog, where he describes himself as the head of his own private spy operation.

According to the post he... purchased 75 laptops, loaded them with “invisible keystroke logging software,” packaged them back up so none would be the wiser, and gave them away to those in positions of power: law enforcement, government employees, etc. The software then sent McAfee text files of what was typed, and he soon had access to a variety of social media and email accounts.

Soon after, he amassed 23 women and six men whom he calls his operatives; eight of the women, he said, were so accomplished at their missions that they ended up living with him...


Of course, it’s important to remember some things: McAfee is known to be involved in drugs, even having had his place in Belize raided at one point on suspicion of meth manufacturing. (more)
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Posted in amateur, computer, counterespionage, dumb, Hack, keystroke, password, social engineering, spyware, weird, X-Ray Vision | No comments

Monday, 17 December 2012

2012 - Targeting U.S. Technologies Report Out

Posted on 08:06 by Unknown
Targeting U.S. Technologies: A Trend Analysis of Reporting from Defense Industry", presents DSS' analysis of industry reports submitted in 2011.

 

Although the report is geared for Facility Security Officers at Cleared Defense Contractors (CDC), it is a valuable reference for law enforcement, public and private sector executives and security officials responsible for protecting intellectual property, trade secrets and sensitive corporate information as the trends in collection directed against CDCs are important in understanding foreign collection directed against economic and corporate data in all business and government sectors. The 2012 DSS Full Report, containing information on 2011 incidents can be downloaded here.
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Posted in cautionary tale, espionage, government, historical, social engineering, statistics, trade secret | No comments
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  • ▼  2013 (455)
    • ▼  November (47)
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      • DRTBOX and the DRT surveillance systems
      • U.N. - End Excessive Electronic Spying
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      • Why Care About the NSA?
      • Protesters Capture Government Surveillance Van
      • Indonesia Posts Truth About Government Spying
      • Smart TVs Lie to You
      • DIY Surveillance in India Shows Eye-Popping Growth
      • Not to be Out-Spooked by the NSA...
      • Shop Owner Installs Surveillance Cameras to... wat...
      • Help The OSS Society Pass a Law (It's easy.)
      • Bond Car Submarines at Auction
      • Screenshots from BOUNDLESSINFORMANT can be misleading
      • REPORT: Corporate Espionage Against Nonprofit Orga...
      • Corporate Espionage Infographic
      • Recent Technological Innovations Have Completely C...
      • Audio Surveillance Laws (Party Consent) by State
      • Mass Surveillance Is Big Business: Corporations Ar...
      • Business Espionage - IKEA Snooping Investigation C...
      • Snooping on Credit Cards with Shopping Carts
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      • Vegas, where a drunk hanging on a light pole won't...
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