About Exec Security

.

Kremlin Wiretaps Dissident Blogger — Who Tweets and Posts Video of the Bug

from Wired.com,  August 8, 2012, By Robert Beckhusen

Alexei Navalny showed up to work in Moscow on Monday to discover he was being bugged. He called the police, like many perhaps would, but not before tweeting photos and video of himself and his colleagues taking the Kremlin’s monitoring devices apart.

It’s not hard to figure out why Navalny was bugged. He’s one of Russia’s most influential anti-corruption bloggers and is at the center of a protest movement aimed at toppling the regime of President Vladimir Putin. Since late July, the 36-year-old lawyer has faced possible arrest, trial and up to 10 years in prisonfor charges Putin’s prosecutors claim stem from an embezzlement scheme, but which Navalny and his supporters claim is an attempt to silence him.

The discovery began when Navalny’s colleagues at the watchdog group Anti-Corruption Fund had just returned from vacation, and “just […]

2016-12-16T20:24:05-05:00August 9th, 2012|
Read More

Former Intel worker gets 3 years for industrial espionage – Hudson, Massachusetts

Thursday August 9, 2012

BOSTON (AP) – A former Intel Corp. worker in Massachusetts has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of computer chip manufacturing and design secrets while working for a rival company.

Biswamohan Pani was also sentenced Wednesday in Boston to two years of probation and fined $17, 500. He pleaded guilty in April to five counts of wire fraud.

Prosecutors say the 36-year-old Pani downloaded secret documents from Intel in May and 2008, shortly after he announced he was leaving his job in Hudson, Mass.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel valued those documents at between $200 million and $400 million. The company detected and reported the theft.

Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. hired Pani and cooperated with investigators. The Sunnyvale, Calif. company did not know of Pani’s scheme.

 

[Read Original Article]

2012-08-09T21:21:51-04:00August 9th, 2012|
Read More

Finding spyware on smart phones, review from Defcon

In this article from Forbes.com, the writer discusses a Defcon presentation by Michael Robinson. He tested a number of common “spy” apps and reveals many ways they can be detected. 

[Read Original Article]

Espionage software isn’t just for Chinese intelligence agents and Eastern European identity theft rings. A miniature spyware industry also serves jealous spouses, worried parents, even overbearing bosses. Luckily for the targets of those small-time spies, however, it turns out that consumer-grade snoopware is much, much shoddier than the professional variety.

In a talk at the Defcon hacker conference this weekend, forensics expert and former Pentagon contractor Michael Robinson plans to give a talk on how to detect a range of commercial spyware, programs like MobileSpy and FlexiSpy that offer to let users manually install invisible software on targets’ phones to track their location, read their text messages and listen in on their calls, […]

2016-12-16T20:24:05-05:00August 9th, 2012|
Read More

Why corporate India is hiring detectives

These spies may not wear long black overcoats, black hats and black leather shoes, but at a time when corporates are consistently in a battle for one-upmanship, detectives give companies that extra edge they need to stay ahead. 

The rising trend can be judged by the sheer growth in the number of detectives that the country has right now. From around 500 investigators 10 years back, the number has swollen to 15,000 today, says Kunwar Vikram Singh, chairman of Lancers Network, a risk consulting corporation. And while detectives have helped the companies with information they need for their strategies and survival, this practice has not gone down well with the ethics brigade.

V.M. Pundit, chief executive officer of Multidimensional Management Consultants, a security and investigation company, says these days most companies are allotting sizeable budgets for ‘security purposes’, which include strengthening internal data security measures as well as keeping an eye on […]

2016-12-16T20:24:06-05:00August 6th, 2012|
Read More

Espionage for Everyone: Dead Drop — There’s an app for that

iOS spy game now available
Spying is still a popular pastime. 

PRESS RELEASE
Aug. 1, 2012, 12:15 p.m. EDT
Live-Action Mobile Spy Game Introduces New Social Gameplay for Consumers, New Revenue Opportunities for Brands and Local Businesses

 SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Aug 01, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — From Flemming to Le Carre, it’s hard not to love a good spy novel or film, and gamers now have the opportunity to inhabit that world of daring international espionage, outsmarting friends, family, and coworkers, through the new iOS game Dead Drop. Dead Drop launches today as the first live-action, spy-themed social game to bring mobile gaming into the real world, introducing an entirely new social gaming experience. The goal of Dead Drop is simple: be the last man standing — that is, eliminate all other players while avoiding elimination yourself. Dead Drop takes place within […]

2012-08-01T20:42:29-04:00August 1st, 2012|
Read More

In the news: FBI’s New Campaign Targets Corporate Espionage

reported from: The Wall Street Journal, by Evan Perez
 WASHINGTON—The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s spy hunters usually shy away from drawing attention. But they’re hoping the public takes notice of a new campaign trying to stop foreign spies from stealing trade secrets from U.S. companies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s spy hunters usually shy away from drawing attention. But they hope the public takes notice of a new campaign to stop foreign spies from stealing U.S. trade secrets. Evan Perez has details on The News Hub. Photo: FBI.

The FBI, which is responsible for investigating breaches by foreign intelligence agencies, Friday will unveil billboards in nine cities around the country with the message: Protect America’s Trade Secrets. The billboards direct the public to a section of the FBI website where the bureau provides warning signs to look for in the cubicle next to you.
Behind the campaign is the government’s view […]

2012-07-29T16:04:30-04:00July 29th, 2012|
Read More

In the news: Australia’s First Corporate Spy School Breaks Cover

Security 2012 Exhibition, to be held from July 25 – 27 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, today announced that it will feature Australia’s first Corporate Spy School, developed by Specialist Corporate Intelligence Agency (SCIA). SCIA’s Corporate Spy School will offer businesses and government agencies a range of tailored trainings and seminars on corporate espionage and risk management.

With rapid advancements in technology, security is becoming a major concern for businesses who play a cat and mouse game with tech-savvy fraudsters. According to PWC’s sixth Global Economic Crime Survey, cybercrime now ranks as one of the top four economic crimes, and 56 per cent of respondents said the most serious fraud was an ‘inside job’. Reputation damage, loss of intellectual property and bankruptcy can be some of the serious consequences of cyber crime in the corporate sector.

For the Corporate Spy School training courses, SCIA will draw on its extensive experience […]

2012-07-24T22:48:41-04:00July 24th, 2012|
Read More

Opposition leader accuses Kremlin of bugging his phone

BY ANDREW OSBORN, DAILY TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 21, 2011

Boris Nemtsov, one of Russia’s main opposition leaders, has accused Kremlin agents of illegally bugging his phone after a newspaper released embarrassing recordings of his private phone calls.
The material was potentially damaging for Nemtsov, one of the principal organizers of a recent spate of anti-Kremlin protests, as he can be heard insulting his fellow opposition leaders in obscene terms and belittling his own supporters as “Internet hamsters” and “scared penguins.”
A deputy prime minister in the 1990s and a founder of the opposition Solidarity movement, Nemtsov claimed the release of the recordings was a cynical Kremlin attempt to sabotage a big opposition protest planned for Christmas Eve by triggering internal squabbling among its organizers.
“Parts of these conversations are really genuine,” he wrote in his blog.
“Others are spliced together material and others are false. The aim of this provocation is obvious: to […]

2016-12-16T20:24:06-05:00April 29th, 2012|
Read More

Where are the lines in employee surveillance?

from: VentureBeat by Curtis Smolar
https://venturebeat.com/2011/07/25/where-are-the-lines-in-employee-surveillance/

Curtis Smolar is a partner at Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.

A reader asks:  I have had theft of trade secrets in my office.  Can I install video cameras or other surveillance measures to view the activities of my employees?
Answer:  While spying on your employees happens all the time in movies, if you’re planning to monitor your employees in the real world, it’s best to proceed with caution.  Although some surveillance at work is allowable, the more invasive it gets, the more likely it is that it will be unacceptable.
That said, if you company policy explicitly describes a diminished expectation of privacy at work, it will go a long way towards protecting your company.  Lastly, don’t be secretive about the video surveillance.
When it comes to surveillance, there are generally four kinds used.
Work related data – This […]

2016-12-16T20:24:06-05:00March 29th, 2012|
Read More
Go to Top