The top secret CIA Museum only spies can visit. (From the UK Daily Mail.)

Tucked away among the labyrinthine corridors of the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia, is the ‘coolest museum you will never see’.  Hidden from public view, the CIA Museum is comprised of five exhibits full of real paraphernalia from the storied history of the spy agency, which dates back to World War II. Proudly on display are some of the most important historical artifacts of modern times – including the AK-47 found beside the body of Osama bin Laden and the mock-up of his Pakistan compound the agency used to plan their successful assault. The museum, which is just as covert as the spy ring which it honors, displays the James Bond-style gadgets, artifacts and of course trophies they have accrued over 70-years of espionage.

Closed to the public […]

The 2014 Verizon DBIR is available for download. This year’s report features nine common incident patterns, bringing together insights from fifty global organizations and more than 63,000 confirmed security incidents.

https://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2014/

“…we’ve created sections around common incident patterns derived directly from the data itself… Within each of those patterns, we cover the actors who cause them, the actions they use, assets they target, timelines in which all this took place, and give specific recommendations to thwart them. The drive for change is three-fold: first, we realized that the vast majority of incidents could be placed into one of nine patterns; second, we can (and did) draw a correlation between these incident patterns and industries; and third, we wanted to challenge ourselves to look at the data with a fresh perspective. The ultimate goal is to provide actionable information presented in a way that enables you to hash out […]

from The Herald

Savanna Tobacco says industrial espionage by its tobacco industry arch rivals is suffocating its potential and capacity to increase exports by a factor of at least 50 percent.
Executive chairman Mr Adam Molai said in an interview last week that customers were being haunted and their products confiscated in what could throw the victims out of business…

British American Tobacco Zimbabwe was recently caught in an intricate web of controversy over allegations of employing industrial espionage tactics against its competitors, Kingdom, Savanna Tobacco, Breco, Cutrag, Trednet and Chelsea although this has remained difficult to prove.

However, its handlers have hitherto courted similar controversy on the continent with media reports alleging this is the group’s modus operandi in other markets in Africa.

According to media reports in Nigeria, in April 2002 a legal team from South Africa’s Port Elizabeth obtained urgent court […]

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 6 May.’14 / 14:58

Prosecutor’s office said it has launched investigation into claims by Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 TV channel that offices of its top executives were bugged.

Head of Rustavi 2 TV Nika Gvaramia claims he is under surveillance. (Interpressnews.)

Last September we reported (See London banks attacked) that Barclays and Santander banks in London had been attacked by criminals using remote KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) switch controllers.   The London Metropolitan Police just announced that the gang members involved have received their sentencing.

from met.police.uk:

Nine members of a gang which carried out a sophisticated cyber attack on the UK banking industry, stealing just over £1.25 million by remotely controlling bank accounts, have been sentenced to a total of 24 years and nine months imprisonment today, Thursday, 24 April.

The organised crime group also used bank and credit cards obtained from around one million intercepted or stolen letters to fraudulently purchase Rolex watches, designer jewellery and other high-value items, worth over £1 million.

Eavesdropping doesn’t need to be high tech. Employees, spouses, and family members have a duty to protect and safeguard confidential information.  

Two Men Caught Trading on Confidential Information Gained Through Eavesdropping

New York (HedgeCo.Net) –  A man is being charged with violating a duty of trust by trading during a blackout window after he overheard work calls made by his wife.

“Spouses and other family members may gain access to highly confidential information about public companies as part of their relationship of trust,” said Jina L. Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “In those circumstances, family members have a duty to protect and safeguard that information, not to trade on it.”

Tyrone Hawk of Los Gatos, Calif., overheard his wife, a finance manager at multinational computer technology corporation Oracle Corp speaking of her company’s plan to acquire Acme Packet Inc. Hawk also had a conversation with his wife in which she informed him […]

Here is a link to an article by my friend and colleague Kevin Murray offering a some tips and an introduction to espionage countermeasures for building and facility managers. When the serious possibility of espionage arises, building managers and even security managers may not know where to turn for help.

[Read the full article at buildings.com]

Illegal wiretapping and eavesdropping can result in large law suits and penalties.  Corporations should not take such activity lightly. Even if it was not done by anyone in an official position- perhaps just a disgruntled employee, and even if no critical trade information was lost- perhaps just personal conversation, the resultant law suits could cost millions. Add to that the possibility that someone may really be trying to steal classified information, and you have very good reasons for scheduling professional sweeps of your facilities.

A few rogue employees at AT&T helped LA high profile  private investigator Anthony Pellicano (“P.I. to the Stars”) accomplish his wiretaps over 10 years ago. That activity has resulted in a class action lawsuit against AT&T.  They are now required to pay approximately $4,000 to each of the numerous victims, amounting to a total of almost $1.5 million.

from Hollywood Reporter:

AT&T will shell out […]

Several media outlets said police had arrested a former engineer at a Toshiba affiliate on suspicion of improperly providing technical data to South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc.

Media reports of espionage can cause severe financial damage on their own:  Toshiba’s shares fell 0.9 percent on Thursday, 3/13, compared to the 0.1 percent drop in Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei average, after reports of espionage were revealed. 

From Engineering and Technology Magazine, 13 March, 2014

Japan has vowed to fight industrial espionage after reports of leaks from local companies, including Toshiba, to rivals in other countries.

Several Japanese media outlets have reported that police had arrested a former engineer at a Toshiba affiliate on suspicion of improperly providing technical data to South Korea’s SK Hynix.

The Nikkei newspaper also reported today that police had arrested an unspecified number of people in Yokohama and Aichi in 2012 for alleged leaks of industrial secrets […]

Scottish Express, Feb 27, 2014

A SENIOR employee of lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone who walked out after discovering his office was bugged won an unfair dismissal case yesterday.

Scott Kilday discovered a listening device in his office

Scott Kilday, 35, was horrified to find a listening device hidden in a plant pot days after he was asked to resign from his post as operations director.

The bug was placed by management at MJM International, which makes the Ultimo brand, for “business strategic reasons”, an employment tribunal heard.

Mr Kilday told the Glasgow hearing of difficulties at the lingerie firm’s HQ after Ms Mone, 42, split from her husband and business partner Michael, 46, in December 2011.

Judges yesterday found in his favour, ruling MJM’s decision to plant the listening device was likely to “destroy or seriously damage” Mr Kilday’s trust in his bosses. He was awarded £15,920 […]

25 February 2014, Turkish Weekly

Thousands of people, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, national intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and a wide range of journalists, academics, business leaders and NGO representatives, have been wiretapped for years by the police as part of different probes, Turkish media claimed Feb. 24. The reports prompted a top judicial body to open an internal investigation into the claims, but were dismissed by the prosecutor involved in the cases.

The classified files on the wiretappings were found in the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office by the new prosecutors who were assigned following mass purges in the judiciary, pro-government dailies Star and Yeni Şafak claimed in separate but similar reports.

Yeni Şafak reported that up to 3,064 people have been wiretapped according to the first documents found by the newly appointed prosecutors, while Star alleged that the real number is likely close to 7,000.

The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors […]