News sent out via mailchimp.
Beware public spaces- when on your cell or just hanging with associates.
Trains, planes, buses, restaurants, or just on the street- keep your conversations private! Lessons learned...
Your office phone could be eavesdropping – just like the FaceTime bug.
Unknown to many is that office phone systems have a similar "feature" to the notorious Apple FaceTime bug. "Auto-answer" features can allow incoming calls to any extension to be automatically answered and microphones turned on without the target user taking any action, leaving the phone on hook, and not even knowing it had happened.
Holidays ripe for spy gear.
While trying to grab some last minute Christmas gifts I couldn't help but notice a large display of eavesdropping devices at throw-away prices. Be on the look out as such covert devices become more and more popular. They may start showing up in your office.
KGB Spy Museum opening in NY.
Looking for something to do in NY this holiday season? The KGB Spy Museum is opening in the Chelsea area of New York this December.
SEC does not approve of insider trading after eavesdropping. (Minnesota man finds out the hard way.)
How valuable is conversation? Much of your day to day conversation may need to be kept confidential. Even if you know you are discussing critical, private matters, those around you may not have the same understanding. Eavesdropping resulted in $140,000 in fines for a Minnesota man who eavesdropped on his wife's conference calls.
What can hide in a picture frame? Artist Banksy builds an automated shredder in art frame sold at Sotheby’s.
What could be hiding inside a picture frame? Street artist Banksy installed a shredder that, when remotely activated, proceeded to destroy, half way, his painting that just sold for approximately 1.1 million dollars.
Eavesdropping digital recorder accidentally discovered in confidential board meeting- Camden, Delaware.
Conducting sweeps of conference rooms prior to confidential meetings is critical if you want to protect the information being discussed. A felony wiretapping charge is being brought against a past board member due to the discovery of a hidden digital recorder being discovered during a confidential meeting. It was found when a participant in the meeting accidentally knocked a TV remote off of a table and found the recorder hidden under a cloth when retrieving the remote. It was determined that it had been recording for over an hour.
Trade Secrets need protection – LG Display sweeps boardroom for eavesdropping devices
In all major industries, conversations in board rooms and meeting rooms contain the most valuable and critical information. This article looks at reports of LG Display conducting sweeps in their Seoul office, recent theft of trade secrets cases, and the value of professional TSCM in protecting board rooms and securing trade secret discussions.
Need secure conversations? Try the new Privacy Suite in the Rolls Royce Phantom.
Rolls Royce has introduced their new "Privacy Suite" for the Phantom extended wheelbase model. No more listening in (from the front seat) to the conversations of the CEO or celebrity, in the rear. The Privacy Suite uses electrochromatic glass (also known as "smart glass") to separate the front seats from the rear compartments. They have also added a "frequency specific" sound-absorption material that inhibits the transmission of conversations from the rear to the front of the vehicle.
Workplace surveillance: School District spends thousands on private investigations.
Albuquerque Public Schools keeps an eye on it’s employees. May seem reasonable considering all the concerns regarding those responsible for our children. How they go about it may be up for discussion.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) Aug 15, 2018 – A federal court is deciding if Albuquerque Public Schools violated the privacy of its employees by hiring a private investigator to record them at work. So just how often is APS hiring private investigators, and why?
Frank Davis is an attorney representing two APS employees in a federal lawsuit. Scott Elder is the Chief Operating Officer for APS.
The two are at odds on an issue of privacy in a public workplace.
Elder told KRQE News 13 that the school district is well within its right to hire private investigators, while Davis argues what APS did to his clients is against the law.
“I was pretty surprised and shocked honestly […]
Employee finds SD card on sidewalk, sheds light on insider threat at LED company Cree
The investigation began on May 4 when another Cree employee found the card laying on a sidewalk at the Cree campus. According to the affidavit, Cree's IT department determined the card was last used on Bell's work computer, where more than 32,000 files were transferred.
Nashville man spied on co-worker with baby monitor
Nashville, TN, police arrested a man after they say he used a baby monitor to spy on a female coworker in her Sylvan Heights home. Baby monitors and other off-the-shelf communications devices work well as tools for eavesdropping and surveillance. Be on the lookout for any unauthorized or out-of-place devices that may be spotted in your place of business or your home. ...and you may want to check under your bed before you go to sleep tonight.
Keep ’em guessing. Simple countermeasures work to block sports spying.
When there is a lot at stake, such as at the World Cup tournament, spying among sports teams is almost expected. Businesses might learn something from South Korean coach Shin Tae Young's attitude. Your competition always wants to find out as much as they can about you and your activities. Sometimes they may overstep ethical boundaries, so you should always be prepared and plan regular pro-active countermeasures.
Surveillance devices being discovered… or not
News reports revealed that bugging and listening devices were recently found in a number of offices around the world- foreign government offices and a school administrator's office. Spy devices abound - Casey Neistat reviews a spy camera from B&H photo.
From bugs to bombs, Seabees protect US embassies from threats.
A military unit that helped secure U.S. diplomatic compounds for decades has seen its mission grow as security threats have escalated from bugs buried in embassy walls to car bombs driven up to embassy gates. A small group of Navy Seabees, known as the Naval Support Unit - State Department, has played a largely behind-the-scenes role implementing technical measures to combat threats abroad since the 1960s.
Video recorder found in school administrator’s office.
A Prince George's County school administrator found a recording device that may have been hidden inside their office for months, county officials said.
Tech industry insider threat concerns- Apple’s warning about leaks gets leaked…
The issue of internal leaks is at the forefront of security concerns for all major corporations but especially tech companies today. These may come from leaked documents but also from deliberate eavesdropping efforts such as from overheard conversations and unauthorized audio or video recordings. The pleasing, open atmosphere found at many technology companies doesn't help security, so we see many of them needing to tighten up there security efforts at preventing leaks and corporate espionage. Unfortunately, many in the workplace do not understand the seriousness of the problem and the damage that can be done, or perhaps in some cases they do understand and are acting as willing spies.
Ultrasonic eavesdropping and microphone jamming- researching Cuban ailments
Kevin Fu and Wenyuan Xu, researchers with the University of Michigan and Zhejiang University in China, study the use of ultrasonic waves that may have been a possible source of recent ailments of diplomats living in Cuba. Causes of the symptoms of the diplomats and their families have not yet been confirmed, but one of the possible causes offered was the use of some sort of sonic "weapon". Hearing about this caused Fu and Xu to wonder if ultrasound could be the culprit. Their research tries to explain possible ways the effects that were described could have been created leading them to also investigate ultrasonic eavesdropping and microphone jamming.