Kevin's Security Scrapbook

14 Counterespionage Tips for Your Next China Trip

2012-02-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

via The New York Times...

When Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, travels to that country, he follows a routine that seems straight from a spy film.

He leaves his cellphone(1) and laptop(2) at home and instead brings “loaner” devices(3), which he erases(4) before he leaves the United States and wipes clean the minute he returns(5). In China, he disables Bluetooth(6) and Wi-Fi(7), never lets his phone out of his sight(8) and, in meetings, not only turns off his phone(9) but also removes the battery(10), for fear his microphone could be turned on remotely.

He connects to the Internet only through an encrypted(11), password-protected(12) channel, and copies and pastes his password from a USB thumb drive(13). He never types in a password directly(14), because, he said, “the Chinese are very good at installing key-logging software on your laptop.”

What might have once sounded like the behavior of a paranoid is now standard operating procedure for officials at American government agencies, research groups and companies that do business in China and Russia... (more)

Draw Cubby and Become a Police Sketch Artist... for FREE

2012-02-11T11:12:00.000-05:00

"Cubby" is the guy who just mugged you.

Now, you can draw him for the police!

SketchFace, created by Ali Daneshmandi, is an incredible free web application for creating a photo-realistic facial composite pictures.

Be warned. You will probably blow the rest of your weekend playing with this. ~Kevin

Ali's amazing story...

Cubby

I started to learn using computer when I was 18 by learning Photoshop! Yes, I didn’t know how to use computers but I’d wanted to learn Photoshop :D . There was no one around me to help me on that. So I started by myself by trial and error besides reading Photoshop Help. This made me a self learner later on... I am a continue learner who is always anxious to create great and cool user experiences.

$250 million “Bluetooth Jacking” Scam Ring Busted

2012-02-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

The video above is a scam known as the “Bluetooth Jacking” scam, where the criminal takes your cellphone’s ID via a bluetooth device, and they force your phone to call a high premium phone line where you get charged by the minute. The criminal may get away with $20 – $50 before you realize what happened.

The crime is not just for low level criminals, an even more sophisticated type of scam actually clones your entire phone and allows the criminals to make calls to International numbers and could possibly take your identity. The Secret Service just busted a ring of people pulling off this kind of crime.

On February 1, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced charges against 12 defendants for participating in a $250 million cell phone cloning scheme. (more)

Spybusters Tip #416: Keep your Bluetooth turned off when you are not using it.

SpyCam Story #648 - SpyCam Stops Animal Cruelty

2012-02-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

Australia - A Sydney abattoir has stopped slaughtering and faces closure and prosecution after hidden-camera footage of chilling animal cruelty emerged.

The NSW Food Authority ordered the immediate halt yesterday to slaughter at the Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors at Wilberforce, in Sydney's west, after seeing undercover footage apparently taken by a worker at the abattoir. (more - with disturbing video)

Weekend Movie Tip - Safe House

2012-02-10T09:31:00.000-05:00

Supposedly Matt Weston is a spy for the CIA, stationed in South Africa. But in reality, he’s little more than a glorified housekeeper.

His job is to oversee a “safe house,” a secure, off-the-grid installation where other agents — the real agents — can hide a friend or brutally interrogate an enemy. Every day, Matt turns the key, turns on the lights and waits for the doorbell to ring.

Then one day it does, and all hell breaks loose. (more)

Today in Spy History - 50 Years Ago - Francis Gary Powers

2012-02-10T09:24:00.000-05:00

On a bridge outside Berlin one gloomy morning 50 years ago Friday stood Francis Gary Powers, the pilot of a CIA spy plane that was shot down over the Russian Ural mountains. He had waited 21 months for this moment. He had survived a plane crash, weeks of harsh interrogation and the brutal conditions of a Soviet prison. He was on the threshold of freedom, and his heart was thumping heavily.

On the opposite end of the steel-trussed Glienecke Bridge was Col. Rudolph Abel, the highest-ranking Russian intelligence officer to be caught spying in the United States.

At 8:52 a.m., the two men began walking forward. They passed each other and made eye contact. Neither said a word.

It was a dramatic — and surprisingly peaceful — end to a political crisis at a time of extreme tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. (more)

Government Security Conference and Expo - April 2-4

2012-02-09T15:49:00.000-05:00

GovSec returns to Washington, DC for its 11th year with a Conference and a free* admission Expo!

This year the Government Security Conference and Expo, is joining forces with the Contingency Planning & Management, Network-Centric Security, and U.S. Law Enforcement Conferences. By combining these events attendees can make integrated buying decisions at one event.

Topics include:
*Critical Infrastructure Protection
*Counter Terrorism: Domestic & International
*Cyber Terrorism and Cybercrime
*Contingency Planning & Management
*Network-Centric Security

Expo includes:
*Agency Briefings
*Mobile Apps Experience
*Keynote Presentations
*Security Clearance Mini Workshop
*CISSP Exam Prep Clinic
*Force & Firearms Championship
*K-9 Explosive Detection Team Demo
*Bomb Squad Response and Robots Demo
*2011 Espionage Debrief
....and much more!

Opening Keynotes
Ralph S. Boelter, Assistant Director, FBI Counterterrorism Division
Gordon M. Snow, Assistant Director, FBI Cyber Division.

Wednesday Keynote
Senator George J. Mitchell, Former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace.

*$50 fee for non-government attendees registering after February 27.

Wiretapping, Murder and a $30 Million Lottery Jackpot = A Shakespearean Tragedy

2012-02-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

FL - A judge this morning rescheduled the trial for Dorice Donegan "Dee Dee" Moore, who is charged in the death of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare.

Moore is charged with first-degree murder and illegal wiretapping in the slaying of Shakespeare, a Lakeland man who won a $30 million lottery jackpot in November 2006. (more)

Baltasar the Judge... Hear Here

2012-02-09T10:09:00.000-05:00

Spain's Supreme Court has found the country's best-known judge, Baltasar Garzon, guilty of authorising illegal recordings of lawyers' conversations.

He has been banned from the legal profession for 11 years. The court said he could not appeal aginst the ruling. (more)

SpyCam Story #648 - Today in Video Voyeurism

2012-02-09T10:04:00.000-05:00

Russia - A 71-year-old Moscow man has been charged with two felony counts of video voyeurism stemming from a police investigation that determined he allegedly secretly videotaped sexual encounters with a former girlfriend and then left graphic print-out images from those videos in her current boyfriend's vehicle. (more)

DC - In the last decade of the 1800s, a new word appeared in the lexicon: voyeurism. It was first used to describe a service offered at certain Paris brothels equipped with a peephole cut in a bedroom wall, but it might just as easily been invented to described the awesome new power of the first portable Kodak cameras that appeared on the market at the same time. Sepia-toned images from those early Instamatics are part of a fascinating new exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., titled "Snapshots: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard." Some of the most famous Post-Impressionists painters were also Kodak fans, and pointed the lens at the same subjects that fill their paintings—their wives, mistresses, and female models. "Snapshots: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard" is on view at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., until May 6. (more)

UK - A man has appeared before Carlisle magistrates to face two charges of voyeurism by recording “a private act” and two counts of sexual assault. (more)

FL - A Marion County Sheriff's Office corrections officer placed on unpaid leave after being arrested on charges of video voyeurism and unlawful use of a computer has resigned. (more)

AZ - Owen Dix pled guilty Feb. 6 to one count of photographing someone without their consent and one count of videotaping someone without their consent. He will be sentenced on March 12, 2012. Owen Dix, 35, took pictures of a child inside the boy's bathroom at Banks Elementary School on Dec. 12, 2011. (more)

Business Espionage: DuPont & Dow & Motorola v. China

2012-02-09T09:49:00.001-05:00

US authorities Wednesday unveiled charges against five people and five companies in an espionage scheme aimed at stealing trade secrets for Chinese-controlled firms from US chemical giant DuPont.

A grand jury indictment unsealed in San Francisco contains charges in a "long-running effort to obtain US trade secrets for the benefit of companies controlled by the government of the People's Republic of China," the Justice Department said...

In a separate industrial espionage case, a Chinese scientist was sentenced in December to more than seven years in prison for stealing secrets on organic insecticides from Dow AgroSciences, where he worked from 2003-2008. (more)

Separately, a former engineer for Motorola Inc was found guilty on Wednesday of stealing trade secrets from the company but cleared of economic espionage for China. (more)

P.D. Drone Home

2012-02-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

FutureWatch

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s … a drone, and it’s watching you. That’s what privacy advocates fear from a bill Congress passed this week to make it easier for the government to fly unmanned spy planes in U.S. airspace.

The FAA Reauthorization Act, which President Obama is expected to sign, also orders the Federal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015.

Privacy advocates say the measure will lead to widespread use of drones for electronic surveillance by police agencies across the country and eventually by private companies as well. (more)

Today in Eavesdropping News

2012-02-07T18:34:00.000-05:00

PA - Three members of one family have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the concealing of a digital recorder inside the home of another relative because they did not believe his alibi for the night a Buffalo Township woman was murdered.

Douglas Edward Louk, 43, and his wife, Kristen Louk, 29, both of 1149 Robinson Highway, Robinson Township, and Loretta Holland, 45, and Robert E. Boyd, 39, both of 2995 Taft St., North Franklin Township, were charged by state police with wiretapping and criminal conspiracy. (more)

Philippines - Controversial Personality’s problems never end. After a series of unfortunate events, CP is in trouble again. According to online buzz, bosses are investigating employees’ complaints against CP. Coworkers suspect CP of bugging their cell phones using a certain computer software. Should Former Lover change phones and passwords now? CP, who’s been rebuffed by the public for such shenanigans, just never learns. (more)

SpyCam Story #648 - Today in Video Voyeurism

2012-02-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

MA - A 24-year-old Somerville man has been indicted on charges alleging that he took video of women inside a YMCA locker room without their knowledge, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone. (more)

WA - King County prosecutors charged a 48-year-old Renton man Feb. 2 with voyeurism after he allegedly took photographs inside of the women's locker room at the Tukwila LA Fitness, 350 Baker Blvd. (more)

UK - At Carlisle Crown Court, Gary Flanagan, 26, admitted a single allegation of voyeurism – by using his mobile phone to take an indecent photograph in a toilet and 23 child pornography offences. (more)

Illinois Tries to Untangle Their Wiretap Law

2012-02-07T18:16:00.000-05:00

IL - "We specifically applaud state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, for proposing legislation that would remove from the eavesdropping law instances in which the recording of an individual without their knowledge or consent is a felony.

Specifically, House Bill 3944 would exempt from an eavesdropping violation the recording of a peace officer who is performing a public duty in a public place and speaking at a volume audible to the unassisted human ear.

The legislation also would permit a nonemployee to record a conversation if a corporation or other business entity announces it may record or listen to a telephone conversation with a nonemployee. Both are situations that members of the general public encounter every day." (more)

Silvio Berlusconi Wrapped up in Wiretaps Again

2012-02-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

Italy - Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is facing a fresh trial on charges of revealing a secret wiretap in 2005. This will bring to four the number of current trials in which Mr Berlusconi is the main defendant. (more)

SpyCam Story #647 - Unintended Exhibitionists

2012-02-07T10:38:00.001-05:00

Feeds from thousands of Trendnet home security cameras have been breached, allowing any web user to access live footage without needing a password.

Internet addresses which link to the video streams have been posted to a variety of popular messageboard sites. Users have expressed concern after finding they could view children's bedrooms among other locations.

Oops...

Click to enlarge.

US-based Trendnet says it is in the process of releasing updates to correct a coding error introduced in 2010...

"We first became aware of this on 12 January," said Zak Wood, Trendnet's director of global marketing.

"As of this week we have identified 26 [vulnerable] models. Seven of the models - the firmware has been tested and released. We anticipate to have all of the revised firmware available this week. We are scrambling to discover how the code was introduced and at this point it seems like a coding oversight." (more) (example)

Spybusters Security Alert: Check to see if you are operating any cameras made by Trendnet. If so, contact Trendnet for a firmware update. Then, change your password.

SpyCam Story #646 - Today in Video Voyeurism

2012-02-06T17:46:00.000-05:00

VT - A Bellows Falls man is facing up to 15 years in prison for allegedly taking sexually explicit photographs and video footage of a woman and uploading them onto a pornographic website.

DOH!

John G. Lawlor, 38, pleaded not guilty last week to one felony and five misdemeanor counts of voyeurism. If convicted, he could also face up to a $10,000 fine.

Lawlor’s computer and a video camera were taken as evidence and contained seven digital videos, five of which had been previously deleted but were recovered using file recovery software... in at least four of the videos Lawlor’s face can be clearly seen hiding the video camera in a floor grate. (more)

WA - The trial of a former Washington state hatchery manager charged with a single count of voyeurism has been pushed back two months.

Edwin Carl Jouper of Shelton had been scheduled to appear in court yesterday, Jan. 31, but according to Mason County Superior Court, he waived his right to a speedy trial. It's now scheduled for April 3.

Jouper, then 57, was arrested at the Department of Fish & Wildlife's George Adams Hatchery outside Shelton on Nov. 10 following an investigation into a camera discovered in the women's bathroom there. (more)

Satellite Phone Encryption Cracked

2012-02-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

Security researchers have warned that the satellite phones relied on by businesses, charities and government agencies in trouble spots and emergencies worldwide can be easily intercepted and deciphered.

German academics said they had cracked two encryption systems used to protect satellite phone signals and that anyone with cheap computer equipment and radio could eavesdrop on calls over an entire continent. Hundreds of thousands of satellite phone users are thought to be affected.

“We were able to completely reverse engineer the encryption algorithms employed,” said Benedikt Driessen and Ralf Hund of Ruhr University Bochum as they announced their report, "Don't Trust Satellite Phones". (more)

Security Director Alert - Conference Call Eavesdropping

2012-02-03T13:52:00.001-05:00

A conference call between Scotland Yard and the FBI has been intercepted and published by a member of the computer hacking group Anonymous.

The hacker apparently managed to access the call after getting into an FBI email which gave details of the call. The email was also posted online. (more)

Murray Associates advice:
Conferencing numbers and passwords are often posted on cubicle walls, sent via email and sometimes written underneath the table-top speakerphones themselves. This is a common, but dangerous, employee habit in many of the companies we visit. Conference call information should be held confidential and distributed on a need-to-know basis. To do otherwise, invites unauthorized call participants.

Teleconferencing Checklist
• Change all current passcodes.
• Tell employees they should not email or post the new passcodes.
• Switch to a conference call system where:
-- each participant is given a unique passcode,
-- the passcode is changed for each new conference call,
-- only the pre-authorized number of callers may be admitted,
-- and a record of all call participants is available to the call leader.

Think this is a rare problem?

Think again...

More Conference Call Intercepts & Advice

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2008/10/question-of-week-secure-conference.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2008/10/when-private-conference-calls-go-public.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2008/12/extortionography-private-conference.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2009/09/business-espionage-nintendo.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2010/02/business-espionage-famous-last-words.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2010/10/state-republican-party-staff-members.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-board-members-phone-it-in-one-anti.html

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/2011/06/beef-board-admits-ceo-eavesdropped-on.html

Kevin's Security Scrapbook Voted Top 10 Investigator Blog!

2012-02-02T16:33:00.000-05:00

Congratulations! Your blog has been selected as one of PInow’s Top Investigation Blogs. We reviewed blogs in the investigation industry and selected yours because of the quality posts and the voice of your blog.

We are going to announce your top blogger status to the rest of the investigation profession in an article that will go out to over 6,000 investigators on February 3rd.

"With changing legislation, licensing, laws and crazy stories there's a lot for investigators to keep up with. Many investigators use blogs to share their experiences, provide updates and reviews on products and to discuss experiences with databases. A blog is also a great way to market your business, connect with potential clients and become a leader in your industry. There's a wide array of investigations blogs out there, and since maintaining a blog is no easy feat PInow decided to compile a list of the top investigation blogs.

There was no specific, formulaic ranking used when creating the list, but we did take into account industry relevancy, consistency and recency of posts, variety of content and professionalism. Please keep this in mind if you disagree with the rankings."

And, congratulations to all my colleagues who also made the list. Nice to see your hard work is appreciated.
Thanks, PInow.com!

The Apple Bug That Let Us Spy on a Total Stranger’s iPhone

2012-02-02T09:09:00.000-05:00

via Gizmodo...

Every single iMessage to and from this man's iPhone—his friends call him Wiz—has been sent to us by accident. We know about his job, sex life, and address. Apple, you might want to fix this. The story is simple... this is like a wiretap we didn't ask for—and Wiz has no idea I'm looped in on the whole thing. He texts throughout the day like usual, oblivious to the snooping. Now we see just how big of a deal this obscure "bug" is: Your entire personal life could be flung open, and you'd never know. Take our word for it—we've gotten to know Wiz pretty well. (more)

P.S. They even figured out that "Wiz" is an Apple employee, and at which store.

SpyCam Story #645 - Today in Video Voyeurism

2012-02-02T09:03:00.000-05:00

Scotland - A spy camera has been found hidden in a changing cubicle at a Scots leisure centre. Police are investigating the discovery of the pinhole camera at a sports facility in Fife. The tiny device was spotted by a male gym user getting changed at the Beacon Leisure Centre, Burntisland. The find sparked searches of at least eight other sports facilities in the area.

One worker, who did not wish to be named, said: “I believe this has been happening at other places in Fife as well. “I think the public should know what’s going on. A man found the camera in a cubicle and handed it in. (more)

WA - The Spokane County Sheriff’s office is investigating reports of voyeurism by a security guard at a North Spokane Fred Meyer... A search warrant says “the video is not clear enough to show him holding his phone in his hand at the time of the contact, but preceding footage shows he was using his phone and kept it in his hand.” (more)

WA - A woman called 911 to report a man was inside the women's locker room of LA Fitness in Tukwila taking photographs, according to Sgt. Eric Lund with the Tukwila Police Department. The woman confronted the man and he fled. About an hour later employees of the Fairwood LA Fitness identified the suspect (he was a member who checked in). Tukwila officers and King County deputies arrested the suspect in Fairwood. (more)

FL - A Marion County Sheriff’s Office corrections officer and a health care official employed at the county jail were arrested Wednesday in connection with video voyeurism of young children in a joint investigation involving sheriff’s detectives and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. (more)

The French Cuff Connection - For the Well-Dressed Bond

2012-02-01T17:29:00.001-05:00

Polished Silver Oval WiFi and 2GB USB Combination Cufflinks.
These cufflinks feature 2GB USB storage plus they provide a WiFi hotspot to multiple devices! You can also access media servers from the host computer. Perfect for business meetings, travel and techies everywhere.

WiFi Connection
Simply download the accompanying installation software to an Internet ready host computer, insert the USB hotspot cufflink into that computer’s USB port, and the computer then becomes a high-speed WiFi hotspot. It also enables the computer to wirelessly share media files with electronic devices like tablets and smartphones.

What Connects?
Smartphones, tablets or any other wireless device! (more)

Spybusters Security Tip #721 - Periodically check your computer for items (like these) plugged into the USB ports on the back of your box.

FutureWatch: Mindreading - Advances another step

2012-02-01T14:57:00.000-05:00

Opening up the possibility that a sort of mind-reading might one day be possible, scientists say that through a kind of surgical wiretapping they were able to translate brain electrical signals back into single words overheard by patients, and to do it with 89 percent accuracy.

“We’re trying to figure out how the brain decodes acoustics into words,” says study senior author Bob Knight of the University of California-Berkeley...

“The real advance is that it shows we are closing in on the code that the brain uses to give meanings to words,” says New York University neuroscientist David Poeppel. (more)

Meanwhile, at the Murray Associates, Countermeasures Compound lab... work is beginning on a new brain eavesdropping detection and prevention service.

Kevin's Security Scrapbook

14 Counterespionage Tips for Your Next China Trip

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Draw Cubby and Become a Police Sketch Artist... for FREE

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$250 million “Bluetooth Jacking” Scam Ring Busted

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SpyCam Story #648 - SpyCam Stops Animal Cruelty

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Weekend Movie Tip - Safe House

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Today in Spy History - 50 Years Ago - Francis Gary Powers

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Wiretapping, Murder and a $30 Million Lottery Jackpot = A Shakespearean Tragedy

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