Articles intended for TSCM technicians.
Don't ignore your vehicle security. Ford is now working to enhance electronic privacy in their vehicles. They have filed a new patent entitled "Motor Vehicle Workspace with Enhanced Privacy". Be sure to include important vehicles in your comprehensive TSCM Technical Threat Analysis. Click to read more.
Microphones come in all shapes and sizes. Some may be very small and used in covert applications. Others may just take on unique designs. This mic clearly adds the humorous effect, but it does go to show that microphones can be designed in any shape or size.
Here is an in depth review of the MESA, the Mobility Enhanced Spectrum Analyzer for TSCM, from Research Electronics International. We put the MESA through its paces and provide the results of our tests as well as our thoughts and experiences using the unit on the job.
Smart appliances have been sought after since long before the Jetson’s and Disney’s Tomorrowland. With the Internet of Things and cloud connected devices, there is even more of a concern as so many dreams of the past come to reality. Here are some recent developments that may cause you to double check your firewall.
Everyone has at least some fear or concern that their cell phone may be vulnerable to some form of hacking or cyber attack.
This past week, a number of people (168,149 to be exact) surely thought that may have been the case when odd text messages -from them- started showing up on other peoples’ phones.
Ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, bosses, relatives, and others received a number of text messages this past Wednesday that were not sent by the person labeled as the sender. Or at least, not sent recently…
Apparently, a server managed by Syniverse, and used by ALL major cellular carriers, had a failure back in February, 2019, on Valentine’s Day no less. The failure went uncorrected until November 7 when it was brought back online. All the messages were then sent. “Better late than never” does not necessarily apply when it comes to texts.
We heard […]
The REI Talan telephone analyzer is a great tool, with one shortcoming. The included HLP Harmonic Locator Probe does not do a good job of actually tracing cables. Here is an answer to the problem by using a small shortwave receiver tuned to the frequency of the signal that the Talan is emitting.
First look at the ARINST SSA-R2 handheld, touch-screen, 6GHz RF spectrum analyzer.
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.
The temptation to use technology for spying has been with us for a long time. Carl Stormer purchased his first hidden camera- a "C.P. Stirn Concealed Vest Spy Camera"- when he was a young student of mathematics in Oslo. It was so small that the lens fit through the buttonhole in his vest with a cord that led down to his pocket, allowing him to snap his secret photos.
Analog audio was being transmitted from wired Clear-Com headsets. The signals were not intended to emanate in the air, but we were able to receive and demodulate the audio from at least 20 feet away.
Voice recognition systems built into your phone, computer, or other devices, such as Siri, Google Now, Cortana, or Alexa, can respond to ultrasonic sounds far above your hearing range. If a computer or smartphone has the voice features activated, the device could secretly be given commands to make phone calls, access malicious websites, or many other vulnerable features without the user being aware. This could be used for deliberate eavesdropping, surveillance, or other form of espionage attack.
One of the challenges that eavesdroppers have faced over the years is being able to provide long lasting power to their devices. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed what they call a battery-free cell phone. For power, the unit can use ambient light and radio "backscatter" supplied by a base station up to 50 feet away.
Reuben Paul, 11, tells a conference that smart cars, fridges, lights and even teddy bears can be used to spy on or harm people. Plugging into his laptop a Raspberry Pi Reuben scanned the hall for available Bluetooth devices, and to everyone’s amazement including his own, suddenly downloaded dozens of numbers, including some of top officials. Then using computer language Python he hacked into his bear via one of the numbers to turn on one of its lights and record a message from the audience.
Wikileaks recently tweeted out a link to a declassified CIA document, first released in 2001. A microphone and transmitter was implanted into a feline in an attempt to develop new ways to collect information from the Soviets. The project was called "Acoustic Kitty" and ran from 1960-1967.
Most dash cams include the ability to record audio as well as video. Conversations recorded within the vehicle could be considered eavesdropping. With the audio active, you may be recording the conversations of passengers in your vehicle without their knowledge or permission. That could be an eavesdropping offense in many states in the US if they require all-party consent. If you have video of a valet damaging your car while taking it for a joyride, the evidence could be declared inadmissible due to the eavesdropping aspect of recording audio.
The Arlo wireless camera system by Netgear is a relatively inexpensive system that it is adaptable for a portable security application. Originally designed for the home market, the system has a number of limitations, but wireless transmission, motion detection, and long battery life make it useful in portable applications where quick deployment is needed.
Most are familiar with the old question, “If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Here is the new one that lawyers are facing: “If a microphone is turned on, but no one is there to hear it, is it still eavesdropping?”
Fear of eavesdropping is helping to spawn lawsuits as so many devices in daily use now come with some sort of microphone built in. An Indianapolis Colts fan has brought a lawsuit against the Colts, their app developer, YinzCam, and LISNR who created the technology used.
The Colts smartphone app uses fairly new technology to help deliver news, information, and ads to their fans. It supposedly can activate the smartphone microphone and be able to detect ultra high frequency sounds, far above the normal range of […]
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 […]
