Corporate Espionage and Countermeasures News
News updates and articles are presented regarding corporate espionage, eavesdropping, electronic countermeasures, and TSCM. Please subscribe for automatic updates by entering your email address in the box on the right. You can search past articles and view archives in the column on the right.
Excerpts from recent posts are shown below. Click on the title to view the entire article.
Corporate spying costs billions, can it be stopped? article from CNBC
If your company has valuable assets of any kind- be it information, technology, even your own valuable personnel- you can be sure there is a target on your back for someone who would like to either bring you down or at least take part of your value for themselves. Not all enemies are cyber hackers trying to break in to your computer network or people walking out with a thumb drive of documents. Many may be insiders already within your walls looking to intercept any piece of information or communications they could use for their own benefit. This information could include executive schedules, hiring and firing plans, new product development and timing, or anything else they could turn around and use against you or sell to a competitor.
Concealed camera at animal shelter prompts sweep of other city facilities.
The recent discovery of a hidden camera in the city animal shelter won’t spur a criminal prosecution, authorities say, but is the subject of an ongoing internal inquiry, and it factored into the dismissal June 2 of longtime City Marshal Mike Harris. The discovery of the camera prompted a search of other city facilities, which turned up another concealed camera focused on an office/storage area doorway related to a specific loss prevention concern.
Chipotle Covert Camera Cover-up
From the "the cover up may be worse than the crime" department: Chipotle accused of covering up for manager who put hidden camera in women's bathroom.
Eavesdropping discovery in county office highlights the need for regular proactive sweeps.
A recording device found in the Ray County, MO commissioners’ office. The device was discovered late Friday morning, May 19, just before a meeting among the commissioner, a prosecuting attorney, and the sheriff. The secretary discovered it lying on the chair when she was arranging chairs for the meeting.
City official and town employee charged with eavesdropping
Employee guilty of eavesdropping? We are always warning our clients about this. Establish clear privacy policies, let everyone know, then check your work. With the proliferation of devices being sold, the temptation to eavesdrop is soaring (everybody wants to be a spy). Regular proactive sweeps [...]
In the news: Toy hacked by 6th grader becomes spy device
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.
Is communications interception ever legal?
Alpha Group Investigations recently posted: Thanks to Hollywood and TV Dramas like CSI, the average citizen might imagine a private investigator has the right to legally bug and wiretap anyone’s office or home. However, that is an incorrect and morally wrong picture of a reputable investigator. The laws in each State and Country, for what accounts for legitimate electronic surveillance, vary greatly. A good Private Investigator has a responsibility to both to protect his or her client from illegal electronic countermeasures and to abide by the privacy laws of the region.
CIA docs show how they had embedded transmitters into cats during cold war.
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.
Sports teams need privacy protection. Russian hockey team finds bugging device.
Sports teams should be concerned about privacy and confidentiality. A listening device was apparently discovered in the coaches' room of the Russian hockey team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg.
Spy History News: Spy Chamber Under Moscow Streets & Spying on the Royals
A couple of recent articles reveal some spy history. Spy chamber found under Moscow streets believed to be used by Ivan the Terrible. And a recent documentary reveals spying on King Edward VIII in 1936 by the British government.