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.
Ponemon Institute study: Low tech information theft successful nine times out of ten
"Factors that made a noticeable difference in the amount of information collected were clean desk policies, standardized document shredding policies, suspicious reporting processes, and mandatory training and awareness." By Maria Korolov, CSO online Researchers were able to get sensitive corporate information just by looking around [...]
The ‘Real-Life Q’
Gizmodo has an interesting interview with Ralph Osterhout, a man who builds spy gadgets for a living, interview by Sean Hollister. As a boy, Osterhout was so enamored with Ian Fleming's Bond novels that he decided to become a spy himself. He trained himself to shoot, [...]
In a ‘nation of eavesdroppers’, everyone can hear you!
If it's trending in Britain, you can be sure it's happening all over. British telecom company O2 surveyed 2000 people about casual eavesdropping. If you don't have a "Cone of Silence", you may need to heed their warning. Here are some of the results from O2's survey: Over [...]
Dating apps pose corporate security risk, says IBM
Reporting by Bill Rigby, Reuters: The millions of people using dating apps on company smartphones could be exposing themselves and their employers to hacking, spying and theft, according to a study by International Business Machines Corp. IBM security researchers said 26 of 41 dating apps they analyzed [...]
LA Confidential; West Hollywood council deputy suspended in eavesdropping case
We're not sure how this eavesdropping was accomplished, whether through a bugging device or perhaps just through the phone. Phone call recording is often a built in feature for phone systems, but can also be performed through the use of external devices. Phone technicians could have [...]
Locations revisited- record of frequent locations stored on iPhone
Last September we mentioned how the "Location Reporting" services built into your smart phone was keeping track of where you've been, using an opt-in Google service. Mike Leclair, of Sumuri, creators of Mac and PC forensics software, while investigating his iPhone, came across a "Frequent Locations" option [...]
Wearable Tech Alert: Store and forward 60 seconds of audio from your wrist- anytime, anyplace
From smart TV's to Amazon Echo, new devices all around us are listening. A new tech item scheduled for shipping this month promises to bring personal eavesdropping and BYOD threats to a new level. The Kapture device, funded by Kickstarter, is a wearable device that [...]
TV vs Reality: former intelligence officers discuss new NBC spy show “Allegiance”
NBC's new spy drama "Allegiance" was previewed at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, along with a panel discussion with former intelligence officers including Vince Houghton, historian and curator at the Spy Museum, CIA analyst Mark Stout, and former KGB General Oleg Kalugin. Their comments offer [...]
Hacked phone systems lead to credit card fraud
Phone system and voicemail hacking have been going on ever since they were invented it seems. Recent attacks, though, show a new level of complexity and severity. THEN In the 80's hackers would get hold of DISA numbers (Direct Inward System Access- numbers that were often used [...]
Spy cam found in corporate restroom.
When inspecting or sweeping corporate offices, it is good to pay attention to restrooms that the executives may use. While trade secrets may not be discussed there, tremendous embarrassment could occur if improper images were distributed. It is also good for staff to be aware of [...]