Security stopped John Kerry to ask if he was carrying a phone with camera "No camera?" as he was entering a meeting with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi. The guard appears to continue to ask the next person behind Kerry as well, just doing his job!
A sophisticated bugging device has been found in a hotel meeting room ahead of the Bledisloe Cup rugby clash between the Australian teams the All Blacks and the Wallabies, officials confirmed on Saturday.
A federal appeals court in Ohio has revived a lawsuit against a company accused of helping a husband spy on his wife and her online friend in violation of state and federal wiretap laws. The case is one of several in recent years to highlight the increasing presence of easy-to-use electronic spy tools in domestic life and divorce proceedings, where evidence of infidelity can carry a tremendous advantage.
Small covert cameras are difficult to spot. Neighbors are on edge in an Indianapolis apartment complex after a couple found a hidden camera in their apartment. The couple found the camera in their bathroom vent Sunday. We are regularly called to inspect areas to help insure privacy. Not just bathrooms, but targets could include offices, conference rooms, or any place where privacy and confidentiality is desired.
from NBCNews.com
U.S. intelligence has assigned more than 1,000 spies to Olympic security as part of a highly classified effort to protect the Rio 2016 Summer Games and American athletes and staff, NBC News has learned.
Hundreds of analysts, law enforcement and special operations personnel are already on the ground in Rio de Janeiro, according to an exclusive NBC News review of a highly classified report on U.S. intelligence efforts.
In addition, more than a dozen highly trained Navy and Marine Corps commandos from the U.S. Special Operations Command are in Brazil, working with the Brazilian Federal Police and the Brazilian Navy, according to senior military officials.
The U.S. military, as expected, has placed larger military units on call should a rescue or counterterrorism operation be needed, the officials said.
The classified report outlines an operation that encompasses all 17 […]
Security researcher Marc Newlin, of Bastille Networks, has revealed a security hole in a number of wireless keyboards and mice. They dubbed the hacking tool “KeySniffer“. The vulnerability can allow a hacker to eavesdrop on everything being entered from confidential text to passwords or financial information.
A similar hack was developed last year by @SamyKamkar for intercepting certain Microsoft keyboards.
Marc Newlin found vulnerabilities in the following manufacturers keyboards (there may be vulnerabilities in other products, these are just the ones tested at Bastille):
Some of these manufacturers have already issued software updates to fix the security holes. Marc’s page has links and more details for these products here: https://www.keysniffer.net/affected-devices
Marc Newlin explains the Keysniffer vulnerability.
The keyboards with this vulnerability use 2.4 GHz radio transmission. Although the 2.4 […]
Researchers at the University of Illinois have now discovered that they can record the voltages present on the small vibration motors that exist in many high tech devices then reconstruct audio from the location of the device. Phones, toys, watches, and many IoT (Internet of Things) devices all may contain vibration motors. Of course, you would need access to the motor to be able to monitor the voltage, so phones and watches may not be that susceptible to covert monitoring, but with new devices appearing everyday, the old threat of picking up good vibrations could be making a comeback.
Discovery of attempted eavesdropping has repercussions beyond the loss of information. Maintaining a “safe and healthy” workplace environment is important in a corporation. Two officials of the Episcopal Church were fired due to misconduct connected to the discovery of bugging devices at a meeting of their Executive Council. This entailed a four month legal investigation as well as bringing in a human resources company to carry out an audit of the workplace.
Report from “Church Times, the world’s leading Anglican newspaper“, 4/14/2016
TWO of the most senior officials in the Episcopal Church in the United States have been terminated, and a bishop demoted, after an independent investigation into misconduct.
Last December, the Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd Michael Curry, placed the chief operating officer, Bishop Stacy Sauls, the deputy chief operating officer, the director of mission, Samuel McDonald, and the director of public engagement and mission communications, Alex Baumgarten, on administrative leave after many […]
Are you concerned about information security at your meetings? Hong Kong University is taking it seriously, asking all attendees to hand in their cell phones and watching what else they may have brought in very carefully.
Concerned about a possible bug, a man was asked to pour tea out of his thermos at a contentious council meeting to demonstrate that there really was a drink inside it.
Previous information leaks had taken place even after they implemented a no cell phone policy at the meetings.
It’s good to be cautious, checking a thermos is not a bad idea. A number of recording devices are readily available in the form of mugs and thermoses and probably any other item you can think of.
Video and audio recorder built into thermos mug.
More information on the Hong Kong incident is available from the South China Post:
A man […]
Hidden cameras are reported frequently. Should a business or organization be concerned? Yes! The lawsuits that can result from discovery of such devices can be in the millions. Celebrities, CEO’s, other high profile individuals could be victims of electronic stalkers. From hotel rooms to corporate offices, let us know if you desire a confidential inspection of your facilities.
Fox Sports host Erin Andrews is seeking $75 million in damages after a man rigged a camera in her hotel room and posted videos of her changing clothes online.
Ms Andrews was stalked by Michael David Barrett, who fixed a camera to the peephole in her hotel room door in 2008, according to the Washington Post.
The current Fox College Football host is requesting damages for emotional distress and invasion of privacy from […]
Posting a sign may not be enough- especially if you are recording audio. This judge thought it was ok to record people because “…she got a tip that officials were discussing county business in the break room” and she believed those conversations should be public.
Do you have any overzealous employees who might think the same way about your corporate meetings? Contact us if you have concerns about covert cameras that might be hidden in your place of business.
In October, Washington County Courthouse installed a camera in one of the break rooms. Judge Marilyn Edwards said they put a sign up informing people about the camera.
A sign is important but may not be enough to prevent a law suit- especially if you are recording audio.
However, Justice of the Peace Eva Madison doesn’t like the fact that audio […]
Be careful what you click on- emails from your fax or copy machine coming through? could be dangerous. If you have printed or faxed documents coming via email, be sure you know what YOUR machine headers should look like. Same is true for voicemail. Most phone systems will email you copies of your latest voicemail messages- don’t click on one unless you know it came from your system.
This from security researcher Graham Cluley
Twenty years ago, the first Word macro malware spread across the planet.
Embedded inside a Word document, and rather unhelpfully given a kick start by being shipped on a Microsoft CD ROM, the Concept virus proved that people were much more willing to open unsolicited .DOC files than something more obviously suspicious like an .EXE attachment.
It would be great to think that after two decades […]
from Foreign Policy.com
Ricardo Martinelli resides in a condo at the Atlantis, a luxury high-rise on Florida’s Biscayne Bay made famous by the TV series Miami Vice. A hefty, white-haired billionaire, Martinelli, 63, was viewed just a few years ago as one of Latin America’s most popular leaders: From 2009 until 2014, he was president of Panama. But now, though he’s living in high style, Martinelli is a fugitive from justice.
He fled his country on Jan. 28, 2015, hours before Panama’s Supreme Court announced a corruption investigation into his administration. Among the charges Martinelli faces is political espionage, with a possible prison sentence of 21 years, for illegally eavesdropping on the phones and emails of more than 150 people: Panamanian opposition leaders, journalists, judges, business rivals, cabinet members, U.S. Embassy officials, a Roman Catholic archbishop, and even […]
A number of years ago we began to see corporate AV systems using WiFi control for a number of their components.
During our Cyber TSCM wifi inspections we often find unsecured routers appearing in conference room AV racks. These routers are not usually connected to the corporate network. That may be why the installers did not think it was necessary to secure them, even though the routers have encryption capability.
If it’s not on the corporate network, there is no risk of data loss, right?
Wrong, that could be a dangerous assumption.
In fact, in spite of however strict the IT security policies may be, the IT department may not even be aware of their existence.
While a hacker may not gain access to terabytes of corporate data this way, they still could slip in to monitor or disrupt activities in the boardroom and create havoc by shutting down or interfering with presentations.
Barco CSC-1 ClickShare system, […]
During the well publicized prison escape in June of last year, by Richard Matt and David Sweat, a number of phones were tapped to help track down the convicts. New York Criminal Procedure Law section 700.50(3) statute states those whose phones are tapped must be notified no later than 90 days after the warrants are terminated. A number of residents received a letter dated Dec. 18, 2015 informing them that their conversations had been intercepted.
Letter informing some residents that their phones had been tapped.
Some North Country residents are receiving notification that their phones were tapped during the manhunt for escaped convicts Richard Matt and David Sweat.
Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie confirmed Friday that the eavesdropping warrants were issued. The warrants were issued June 7 by New York Supreme Court Appellate Judge John Lahtinen in Plattsburgh. A viewer sent WPTZ NewsChannel 5 a […]
Beware of suspicious activity in any workplace. Spy-shops make hidden cameras and eavesdropping devices readily available. This individual was clearly disturbed, but probably functioned “normally” in his work. He had placed spy-shop clock-cameras in a life-guard shack where he worked. Some of the victims realized the clocks were recording devices by Googling the brand name found on the clocks. Some cameras may not be so easy to identify or detect and may require professional assistance. Contact us if you have concerns about covert video in your workplace.
Reported from CTpost.com, 1/7/2016
…29-year-old Michael Collins was secretly photographing female colleagues — using tiny cameras hidden in clocks — as they undressed for work. He later pasted the photos of their faces and naked bodies on a collage in his bedroom.
Collins also took numerous photos of women and children on the beach, focusing on the buttocks and breasts of the women, according to police.
CIOs need to pull back from the perimeter and put in place security mechanisms around the data they are trying to protect, PwC’s partner in charge of cybersecurity, Kris McConkey, has advised. [via SiliconRepublic]
“Securing systems is becoming increasingly difficult and the perimeters are dissolving because we all have mobile devices and interconnectivity.
“A lot of organisations are going to be looking at how they secure data, as opposed to the systems, and will focus on keeping data encrypted but only readable by people with the right authority and access levels.”
As more small, personal devices are entering your workspace, adding TSCM to your information security program is an important step in securing your data and confidential information. Contact us to find out how we can help.
The CES, Consumer Electronics Show always brings some new devices worth paying attention to.
Here are a few new “smart” devices reviewed by cnet. It’s worth paying attention to all the new gadgets that can be controlled by your smart phone- make sure your phone is always under your control and never gets in the wrong hands!
It doesn’t take several thousand dollars’ (or pounds’) worth of connected appliances to smarten up your kitchen. With the right gadgetry, you can bring retroactive smarts to the appliances you’ve already got for a fraction of the cost.
If that approach sounds smart to you, then you’ll be happy to know that you’ll soon have a couple of new options. They come by way of Smarter, a British startup that’s already released asmart tea kettle and a connected coffeemaker. Joining the lineup today here at the […]
