Author Christopher Reich did a lot of research for his new novel, some of his comments in this interview from the Epoch Times reflect the real security concerns corporations face.

By Joshua Philipp, Epoch Times | December 31, 2013

Three politicians die in fear as their car, controlled by an unseen hacker, charges onto the White House lawn and into a line of armed Secret Service agents. In his final moments, one of the men texts his son, a hedge fund manager in New York, a single word that could unravel a sinister plot to destroy the U.S. economy and bring the country to its knees.

So begins “The Prince of Risk,” the latest novel by bestselling author Christopher Reich. While the story is fiction, it’s haunting theme hits uncomfortably close to home. The novel plays on the Chinese Communist Party’s real-world use of industrial espionage and imagines […]

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, top HTC senior executive and vice president of product design Thomas Chien has been indicted along with five other HTC employees by the Taiwanese courts for corporate espionage. The charges include leaking company secrets, falsifying expense reports, and taking kickbacks.

Chien has been accused of leaking interface designs based on the upcoming Sense 6.0 UI, as well as receiving some 33.57 million New Taiwan dollars ($1.12 million) through kickbacks from suppliers.

HTC has declined to comment on Chien or confirm who the other charged HTC employees are, but released this statement:

“The company expects employees to observe and practice the highest levels of integrity and ethics. Protecting the company’s proprietary and intellectual properties, privacy and security is a core fundamental responsibility of every employee. The company does not condone any violation.”

Chien had supposedly leaked the interface designs to a partner he […]

Santa’s elves have been known for their cleverness with technology. This photograph made was available to the public in the 1924 edition of the Western Morning News. 

It shows a sinister Santa perched on a snow-capped roof, using a listening device to eavesdrop on the praying family below. The caption describes how ‘Father Christmas is ascertaining the wishes of children by the latest scientific methods.’

A 1924 edition of the Western Morning News shows a Sinister Santa perched on a snow-capped roof, using a listening device to eavesdrop on the praying family below. The caption describes how ‘Father Christmas is ascertaining the wishes of children by the latest scientific methods’.

The British Newspaper Archive has released a number of chilling images taken from British local papers that depict Father Christmas as at best an eerie ghost and at worst a predatory-looking spy.

Phone system hacking has been going on for decades and is still a big problem. We have been called to help solve many cases in recent years. Make sure your telecom provider is aware of the security vulnerabilities of your systems and how they can protect against hacking. Particularly vulnerable are auto-attendant features, call forwarding, DISA (Direct Inward System Access), and voicemail notification features. If you see calls on your phone bill to odd international locations, costing extra large amounts, or at odd times such as nights or weekends, it could be an indication of your system having been hacked.

Phone hackers leave RABI with £2k bill

Philip Case  Tuesday 03 December 2013 [Farmers Weekly]
Criminals have hacked into the telephone system of farming charity the RABI and spent nearly £2,000 calling premium-rate numbers.

Telephones at the RABI’s head office in […]

Should You Secretly Tape Your Meetings with Employees? By Christina Stoneburner, Fox Rothschild Attorneys, November 12, 2013

Although every situation is different, I would think twice before secretly taping employee meetings. 
With more employees  having smartphones that can record high quality digital recordings, I have been asked more and more frequently by supervisors whether they should protect themselves and record disciplinary meetings with employees just “so the record is clear.”  

Recording seems like a good idea, because supervisors tell me, they believe employees are already taping them.  Just look for example about the case my partner, Richard, blogged about a “Federal Jury Slams Black Owner for Calling Black Employee the “N Word.” Later CNN released the actual tapes in that case (which contain explict — although bleeped – slurs) and they are remarkably clear.  I guess gone are the days of hidden tape recorders where the audio sounds like a bag of potato chips was being opened and […]

Man Nabbed Over Prank Calls to Pro Coaches, By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

 (NEWSER) – Famous last words: “I’m like the world’s most safe criminal.” A Los Angeles man has been arrested after allegedly making prank calls to at least a dozen NFL, NBA, and college football coaches offering them new jobs. Kenneth Tarr, 32, allegedly called the likes of ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, offering him a head coach position at the University of Southern California, NBC News reports. Others targets included Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, University of Hawaii head coach Norm Chow, and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

Tarr was arrested yesterday on suspicion of eavesdropping after he allegedly recorded the calls; recording without consent is illegal in California. He seems quite open about the pranks, having apparently written to Deadspin boasting of them. “I’m amazed that they’re returning any of these calls,” he […]

The video can be viewed at the website links below.

WIRED, BY KEVIN POULSEN 12.04.13

The door to the network closet pops open and a slender figure enters, a bicycle helmet hanging at his side. He sheds his backpack and pulls out a cardboard box containing a small hard drive, then kneels out of frame. After about five minutes, he stands, turns off the lights and furtively exits the closet.

This scene, captured by a video camera hidden in a wiring closet at MIT, was the beginning of a probe that led to federal charges against the late coder and activist Aaron Swartz. The video, along with dozens of other documents related to the case, has been released to the public for the first time through my Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service.

The video was made in January 2011, near the end of a months-long cat-and-mouse game between MIT personnel […]

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation(CSIRO) is Australia’s national science agency.  

The Sidney Morning Herald, 12/5/2013
A CSIRO scientist’s failure to show up for work led Australia’s top scientific organisation to uncover a suspected spy in its ranks.

The Chinese scientist at the centre of an industrial espionage probe had missed three days of work last week, prompting CSIRO management to ask police to visit his suburban Melbourne residence to check on his welfare.

But by the time the officers arrived, the scientist was nowhere to be seen.

Fairfax Media understands he had left the country days earlier, possibly returning to China.

However, he had left CSIRO computer equipment in his home. The equipment is now being examined by federal police and intelligence officials.

It is believed CSIRO databases had been accessed from the computer equipment and confidential information may have been used in an unauthorised fashion.

Neither the Australian Federal Police […]