Brian Krebs, KrebsOnSecurity.com offers a good summary of how the hackers found their way into the Target data network by stealing an HVAC vendor’s network access credentials. Expect to hear more about such vulnerabilities as more and more devices are connected online for maintenance, updates, and control.

 KrebsOnSecurity.com 

Last week, Target told reporters at The Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the initial intrusion into its systems was traced back to network credentials that were stolen from a third party vendor. Sources now tell KrebsOnSecurity that the vendor in question was a refrigeration, heating and air conditioning subcontractor that has worked at a number of locations at Target and other top retailers.

Sources close to the investigation said the attackers first broke into the retailer’s network on Nov. 15, 2013 using network credentials stolen from 

I SPY A STRANGE-LOOKING CAR

 Autonet.ca, Montreal QC

How does one hide a car in plain sight? There’s a clandestine component to automotive testing – the act of car cloaking with camouflage.

When an automaker builds a new model, the vehicle reaches the prototype stage, and is known as a “mule,” that must be tested on the track.

There is a small, stealthy group of auto photographers dedicated to grabbing photos of this test, so to combat their long lenses, many car companies keep a “camo expert” on staff.

There’s the threat of corporate espionage, or maybe the automaker wants to hide a new, proprietary feature that could separate them from their competition. Camouflaging is done to control perception (mules are quite ugly), and so a potential buyer doesn’t see the upcoming model, and decide to hold off on their purchase of this year’s car.

Plus, leaked images really suck the drama […]

The United Federation of Teachers union in NYC hired a TSCM team to sweep their offices.  Unfortunately, comments on articles we read and even the articles themselves tend to make fun of their desire for privacy.  One frequent comment we hear about TSCM is how a sweep is “James Bond-like”.  What people do not seem to recognize is that 007 was a spy, TSCM sweeps are performed to catch and prevent spying. 
The information of the sweep came from a review of their spending reports. That highlights another need to try to keep your security information under wraps. 

from the NY Post:

Something’s bugging teachers-union boss Michael Mulgrew — or, at least, he thinks so.

Teachers’ union boss spent $18K in Bond-like HQ spy sweep

The United Federation of Teachers president blew a huge wad of union cash to play out a paranoid James […]

The leak is linked to an insider. Reports vary as to how many accounts have been compromised, but all of them are big numbers. Bank executives are offering to resign.

Report below is from Reuters.com   

The theft of personal information from more than 100 million South Korean credit cards and accounts, reportedly including those of President Park Geun-hye and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, has ignited a storm of anger and litigation against credit firms.

The theft of personal information from more than 100 million South Korean credit cards and accounts, reportedly including those of President Park Geun-hye and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, has ignited a storm of anger and litigation against credit firms.

Worried Koreans on Tuesday packed into branches of one of the banks hit by the theft to ensure their money was safe, while lawyers said 130 people joined a class action suit against their credit […]

Some interesting history of espionage and the FBI. The author, David Wise, originally wrote a longer article for Smithsonian.com, this can be viewed here. Some of the details were supplied by David Major, a former FBI counterintelligence agent who now runs the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies found online at www.cicentre.com, a valuable resource for up to date information on international espionage and counterintelligence.

ONE SPRING NIGHT in 1962, a short, stocky Russian walked into the FBI office in Midtown Manhattan and offered his services as a spy for the United States. Aleksei Kulak, then 39, was working undercover as a science official at the United Nations. He said he was unhappy with his progress at his true employer, the KGB.

Kulak was taking a huge risk by entering the FBI office. The building was […]

After 43 years, activists admit theft at FBI office that exposed domestic spying

In the bombshell book, “The Burglary,” journalist Betty Medzger exposes the robbers behind the momentous theft from an FBI office outside Philadelphia over 40 years ago. The perpetrators have come forward in an interview with NBC News.

By Michael Isikoff, National Investigative Correspondent, NBC News [Full article and video at nbcnews.com]

Forty-three years after the mysterious theft of up to 1,000 documents from an FBI office outside Philadelphia, three former political activists are publicly confessing to the brazen burglary, calling it an act of “resistance” that exposed “massive illegal surveillance and intimidation.”

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.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office arrests The Grinch, saves Christmas
www.abc3340.com Dec 23, 2013 By Ben Culpepper

COLUMBIANA, Ala. — Christmas has been saved and the gift-stealing, green-faced Grinch is behind bars Monday thanks to some great police work by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a news release, 56-year-old The Grinch, of Whoville, was taken into custody by deputies at an unknown hideout, where he was waiting to snatch Christmas joy from the hearts of children everywhere.

“Children throughout Shelby County can sleep soundly tonight, as the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has apprehended the famed Christmas thief, The Grinch,” the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities were tipped off to the Grinch’s whereabouts by a concerned Whoville resident, Cindy Lou, who told deputies the suspect was headed their way. A short time later, deputies spotted Grinch’s dog, Max, at the Alabaster Dog Park, […]