*Security and TSCM Archives - Page 12 of 30 - Exec Security TSCM

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Is your thermos leaking? Hong Kong University, concerned about bugging, takes on a tea drinker.

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 […]

Charles Patterson2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 25th, 2016|

What does a hidden camera cost? Maybe $75 million.

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 host seeks $75m in damages from hotel after man was able to put a hidden camera in her room

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 […]

Charles Patterson2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 24th, 2016|

Netherlands: Security Service caught spying on lawyers 13 times.

Intelligence and security service AIVD unjustly spied on communications between lawyers and clients 13 times between February 2014 and March 2015, according to the annual report by the CTIVD, the committee responsible for supervising the Dutch intelligence and security services, RTL Nieuws reports.

In July last year a court in The Hague ruled that the AIVD must stop eavesdropping on confidential conversations between lawyers and their clients if there is no direct danger to national security. The AIVD did not meet these requirements in 13 of its eavesdropping cases.

AIVD office in Zoetermeer

The AIVD also spied on detailed discussions related to an individuals sex life in one investigation. In another investigation the security service eavesdropped on a non-target in order to approach the person with foreknowledge. The CTIVD found both incidents unjustified and unlawful.

Due to an “intensification of […]

Charles Patterson2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 10th, 2016|

UK: Peers cannot move to Foreign Office because of expensive bugging equipment

from The Telegraph

Foreign and Commonwealth Office looks set to be ruled out as temporary home for peers while Houses of Parliament are repaired

Expensive bugging equipment fitted inside the Foreign Office could prevent peers from being relocated there while parliament is refurbished.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office had been eyed up as a potential temporary home while a multi-billion pound refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster is carried out.

The Palace of Westminster Photo: Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

The refurbishment must be carried out by the end of the decade because the building is suffering from widespread damp problems, mice infestations and is thought to be riddled with asbestos.

Reports into the state of the building have previously suggested that it would be better to knock down the building and start again, if it were not for its historical […]

Exec Security2016-02-10T17:23:06-05:00February 10th, 2016|

SA: Accusations of Espionage and Sabotage in Tobacco Industry

JOHANNESBURG – Small manufacturers in the tobacco industry have taken on big business, accusing multi-national cigarette companies of corporate espionage and sabotage, and claiming to have the evidence to prove it.

The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) says its lawyers have made contact with the authorities to lodge numerous criminal cases.

Fita has however declined to name the implicated companies.

The association says it’s conducted its own investigation, which has exposed a network of spies which conduct covert operations to obtain information about its members.

It says private investigators have illegally trespassed on private property to plant bugging devices on behalf of multinationals.

Fita further accuses the big companies of manufacturing and passing off false information to law enforcement agencies to disrupt member business operations.

Fita’s Sinen Mnguni is reluctant to elaborate on the claims.

“We will be releasing press releases in the next few weeks, for everyone to be […]

Exec Security2016-02-10T17:15:40-05:00February 10th, 2016|

More cameras with audio… Employees at Massachusetts company face felony wiretapping charges

BOSTON — Three employees at Wyman-Gordon company in Grafton, Massachusetts, are facing felony wiretapping charges for setting up a hidden camera with audio to record their coworker inside their workplace, reports CBS Boston.

As the investigative team at CBS Boston first reported in November, the hidden camera allegedly captured former Wyman-Gordon employee Mark Ferguson sleeping on the job. The company fired Ferguson last April.

Three employees at Wyman-Gordon in Grafton, Massachusetts, facing felony wiretapping charges for setting up a hidden camera with audio to record their coworker.

Prior to his termination, Ferguson discovered the hidden camera in his work space. He took it home for a closer look.

A clip he provided to CBS Boston revealed the HR employees setting up the camera. They could also be heard discussing the camera placement.

Ferguson realized if they recorded audio without his consent, it […]

Exec Security2016-02-03T23:17:54-05:00February 3rd, 2016|

Late Broward Hospital CEO feared his office was bugged

A private investigator claims Nabil El Sanadi, MD, the late president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health who killed himself Jan. 24, hired him last spring for an investigation into the public system that led to FBI involvement, according to a Sun Sentinel report.

The corporate private investigator, Wayne Black, wrote an email to Broward Health’s general counsel detailing his correspondence with Dr. El Sanadi. The email was produced to the Sun Sentinel in response to a public records request.

In his note, Mr. Black claims Dr. El Sanadi hired him in April to investigate several matters, including one involving security services and another involving alleged kickbacks. Because Dr. El Sanadi feared his office was bugged, the two met in restaurants and at Dr. El Sanadi’s home. They used Dr. El Sanadi’s wife’s email account to communicate.

Mr. Black alleges that evidence produced during this investigation led […]

Exec Security2016-02-03T23:11:32-05:00February 3rd, 2016|

MA: Cell phone smuggled into grand jury murder investigation

A woman’s cell phone was slipped into the pocket of a witness in a grand jury murder investigation, recording the proceedings. During a pre-testimony interview, a female witness found out there was a cell phone in her jacket pocket that had been set to record.
Do you need to keep cell phones out of important meetings? Countermeasures can include metal detectors, x-ray machines, walk through cell detectors and maybe- rf cellular detectors. Since this phone was set to recording, it could have been in put in airplane mode so rf detectors might not find it.

From Marshfield Mariner and Patriot Ledger

A Norwell woman was indicted Feb. 3 on charges that she taped grand jury testimony and misled the State Police investigation into the murder of a Marshfield resident Robert McKenna, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz announced.

A Plymouth County grand jury indicted Brianne St. Peter McMahon, 36, on […]

Exec Security2016-02-03T22:57:14-05:00February 3rd, 2016|

More cameras with audio: Hidden camera in county break room concerns employees

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.

www.4029tv.com FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —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 […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 3rd, 2016|

IoT threats- what about your copy machine?

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

Email from your photocopier? It could be a malware attack

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 […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 2nd, 2016|

NJ: Cameras recording audio put chief in hot water

The security company who installed the cctv claims the audio was turned on by accident, possibly after a reboot (?), but the real issue is the chief deleted all the evidence. Word to the wise: check your cctv system- don’t record audio.

EDISON — On Dec. 10, 2013, two detectives with the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office were dispatched to investigate a possible crime. Lt. Daniel Del Bagno and Investigator Brian Gilmurray soon arrived at the scene: the Edison Police Department.

Someone, according to union representatives, may have been illegally wiretapping private conversations in the police department. An array of security cameras that were only supposed to record video were somehow recording audio, too.

Del Bagno, according to investigators’ memos, told Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan to preserve all the recordings.

That’s where the investigation apparently hit a roadblock: Bryan, before the investigators had arrived, had already ordered all the data to […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 2nd, 2016|

Foreign Espionage Alive and Well and Profitable

The Espionage Economy: U.S. firms are making billions selling spyware to dictators.

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 […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 2nd, 2016|

The woman in charge of the FBI’s most controversial high-tech tools

The Washingon Post

In the aftermath of the shooting rampage in San Bernardino, FBI teams recovered computer hard drives, flash drives and crushed cellphones left by the attackers. They flew the evidence to technical sleuths at a special FBI facility in Northern Virginia. At the same time, a crew from the bureau’s lab there jetted to California to help reconstruct the shooting.

The tragedy in California is the latest big case that involves the mostly unseen scientists who work for the FBI’s Amy Hess in Quantico, Va. She is the FBI’s executive assistant director for science and technology, the master of much that is cool — and controversial — in the bureau’s arsenal of high-tech tools.

Amy Hess, the FBI’s executive assistant director for science and technology, at the agency’s facility in Quantico, Va. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) (Michael S. […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:34-05:00February 2nd, 2016|

Securing the corporate AV system

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, […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:35-05:00January 30th, 2016|

New Tech: Conductive concrete blocks radio waves, guarding against espionage

De-icing concrete could improve roadway safety, guard against corporate espionage

…By replacing the limestone and sand typically used in concrete with a mineral called magnetite, Tuan has shown that the mixture can also shield against electromagnetic waves. The electromagnetic spectrum includes the radiofrequency waves transmitted and received by cellphones, which Tuan said could make the concrete mixture useful to those concerned about becoming targets of industrial espionage.

Using the magnetite-embedded concrete, Tuan and his colleagues have built a small structure in their laboratory that demonstrates the material’s shielding capabilities.

“We invite parties that are interested in the technology to go in there and try to use their cellphones,” said Tuan, who has patented his design through NUtech Ventures. “And they always receive a no-service message.”

A slab of conductive concrete demonstrates its de-icing capability outside the Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha during a winter […]

Exec Security2016-01-22T11:51:26-05:00January 22nd, 2016|

Upstate NY residents are notified of phone taps during prison escape.

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.

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y., WPTZ.com —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 […]

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:37-05:00January 10th, 2016|

Video voyeur caught in Connecticut. 431 counts of voyeurism and eavesdropping.

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.

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:38-05:00January 9th, 2016|

Interview with PwC’s cybersecurity partner Kris McConkey: “Perimeters are dissolving”

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.

Exec Security2016-12-16T20:23:38-05:00January 6th, 2016|