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.
North Korea bugging the homes of officials.
Not surprisingly, North Korea reportedly bugs the residences of party officials. SEOUL, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The North Korean diplomat who fled from Pyongyang's embassy in London testified Monday that former Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was executed based on information from wiretapped conversations at [...]
Cameras with audio lead to eavesdropping arrest in upstate New York.
In upstate NY, Geddes town employees complained that they were being eavesdropped on through security cameras that had audio capability. Originally the town supervisor, Manny Falcone, denied that the cameras had any microphones at all, but a work order was produced that indicated that at least one of the cameras did have audio capability, now his secretary faces felony eavesdropping charges.
Japan: Sweep team finds eavesdropping device in city assembly room
From The Mainichi, December 8, 2016 MITO -- An eavesdropping device was found in a waiting room for conservative members of the Mito Municipal Assembly, local city government officials and other sources told the Mainichi Shimbun on Dec. 7. Ibaraki Prefectural Police seized the device [...]
Texas car dealer emailed compromising photos off of customer’s phone.
A Grapevine, TX, car salesman took a customer’s cell phone to obtain information on financing a new vehicle, and the customer later discovered that compromising photos of his wife had been emailed to a swingers website, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Millionaire bugged his girlfriend, she ends up murdered.
A millionaire told police how he secretly bugged his escort girlfriend - and heard her bragging she was going to "do him over" for his money, a murder trial heard today. Property tycoon Peter Morgan, 54, put the listening device in the bungalow home of Georgina Symonds, 25, in the grounds of his castle. Mr Morgan allegedly strangled the mum-of-one with a ligature in January 2016.
Speakers as microphones. Software changes headphones into eavesdropping mics.
Researchers from the Negev Cyber Security Research Center of Ben-Gurion University have presented a paper explaining that the software controlling signals to headphone jacks in many computers can be altered or re-tasked to change the jack from an output to an input, thereby turning the earphones into potential microphones.
UK: Sportswear company bugs meeting of Members of Parliment during surprise investigation visit
Eavesdropping attempts may not always be well thought out, they could be spur of the moment opportunities. A camera recording with audio was found under a chair during a private meeting of MPs. British sportswear company Sports Direct was being paid an unannounced visit by members of the House of Commons' Business Select Committee. The MPs were there to insure that good working practices were being upheld by CEO Mike Ashley and the rest of the company.
Bugging news: DNC headquarters thinks they might have been bugged.
News journal Mother Jones has an exclusive report that the Democratic National Committee told the FBI that they may have found evidence their headquarters was bugged. Nov. 4, 2016 ...the Democratic Party recently informed the FBI that it had collected evidence suggesting its Washington headquarters [...]
Bugging news: devices found at Iran nuclear talks hotel, say Swiss officials
A number of computers at a five-star Geneva hotel that has hosted sensitive talks, including Iranian nuclear negotiations, were found to be infected with malware used for espionage, Swiss prosecutors have revealed. In Vienna, where the Iranian nuclear talks concluded in July 2015, the state prosecutor has launched two separate investigations into possible espionage. A spokesperson for the justice ministry told the Guardian that the two ongoing investigations were launched in June 2015 after bugging devices were discovered at Palais Coburg.
Alexa sleeps with the fish. The possibilities of hacked hardware.
In my previous post I mentioned potential problems with IoT devices, including the possible threat of a hacked Amazon Echo. So today, I have to share this, an Echo hacked by developer Brian Kane. He was able to embed the functions of the Echo into a Big [...]