Hackers steal SSL certificates for CIA, MI6, Mossad

pinewswire.net

The tally of digital certificates stolen from a Dutch company in July has exploded to more than 500, including ones for intelligence services like the CIA, the UK’s MI6 and Israel’s Mossad, a Mozilla developer said on Sunday.

The confirmed count of fraudulently-issued SSL (secure socket layer) certificates now stands at 531, said Gervase Markham, a Mozilla developer who is part of the team that has been working to modify Firefox to blocks all sites signed with the purloined certificates.

Among the affected domains, said Markham, are those for the CIA, MI6, Mossad, Microsoft, Yahoo, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft’s Windows Update service.

“Now that someone (presumably from Iran) has obtained a legit HTTPS cert for CIA.gov, I wonder if the US gov will pay attention to this mess,” Christopher Soghoian, a Washington DC-based researcher noted for his work on online privacy, said in a tweet Saturday. Soghoian was referring to assumptions by many experts that Iranian hackers, perhaps supported by that country’s government, were behind the attack.

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Raleigh Spy Conference, Day one

raleighspyconference.com

Thursday August 25

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Final registration at NC Museum of History.

9:00 AM - 10:15 AM

Opening address by Michael Sulick, former Director of CIA’s National Clandestine Service entitled “Illegals: An Historic Perspective”.

10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

British intelligence expert and author Nigel West on “Glimpses of Soviet Illegal Networks During the Cold War”.

LUNCH BREAK

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM

Dan Mulvenna, retired intelligence, officer Royal Canadian Mounted Police on “Russian Intelligence Services’ Illegals In Canada: Pipeline To The US, UK and Europe”.

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Brian Kelley, former CIA officer, lecturer and close advisor to the Raleigh Spy Conference, on “The Spies Next Door”.

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

SPY GALA. This annual drinks party provides attendees the opportunity to meet socially with speakers and special guests. Gala to be held at Amra’s jazz club, 106 Glenwood Avenue in the Glenwood South district near downtown.

Tel: 919-828-8488

www.amrasraleigh.com

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Raleigh Spy Conference: The Spies Among Us...

raleighspyconference.com



Note: What are you waiting for? Stop by, It should be a blast! JDL

Wednesday August 24-26

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Pre-Registration Reception 18 Seaboard restaurant gallery space, 18 Seaboard Avenue off Peace Street near downtown Raleigh. Tel: 919-861-4318 www.18seaboard.com

The Raleigh Spy Conference is known nationally for providing the general public direct access to intelligence officers, operatives and scholars in an informal atmosphere. Attendees have the opportunity to speak with and mix socially with conference speakers during the event.



"In Washington, it's difficult for the public to comprehend important intelligence and terrorism issues since everything is partisan and politically charged. Outside Washington, there are few voices for the public to hear, and those heard are often wrong or media-driven. Few are able to explain to the public what really has happened, and is happening, in intelligence, counterterrorism and national security - important issues, which, throughout history, have spelled the survival or loss of this or other nations. The annual Raleigh Spy Conference is a rare opportunity to hear it straight, with an unusual 'insider's' perspective and knowledge. Each year this conference opens that door to share remarkable insights and stellar speakers with the public. If one claims a scintilla of world-affairs knowledge, it cannot be true unless the annual Raleigh Spy Conference is on your calendar."



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Smoke, mirrors, cloaks and daggers

jpost.com

Journalists Nissim Mishal and Michael Bar-Zohar delve into the shadowy world of Israel’s secret espionage wars in new book on Mossad, which turns out to be a uniquely Zionist organization.

"As night fell, an unidentified yacht approached in the dark. Two frogmen, carrying sniper rifles, swam underwater and took up position in front of Suleiman’s house. A wireless signal alerted them. They stood up in the shallow water and fired one bullet each. The bullets hit Suleiman in the forehead and he fell forward, his head coming to rest in the plate in front of him. Nobody heard the shots. Nobody saw the sharpshooters, who quietly slipped away under the cover of darkness".

That, according to Mossad – The Great Operations, a book by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal which was published in Hebrew last month, is how Suleiman met his end.

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Dubai Police Chief Calls BlackBerry a Spy Tool

wirelessweek.com

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Worries about spying by the U.S. and Israel spurred plans to sharply limit BlackBerry services in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai's police chief said in comments that suggest a tough line in talks with the smartphone maker.

The UAE says it will block BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web services Oct. 11 unless authorities can gain access to the encrypted data traffic — a demand by other countries warning of possible bans including India.

The proposed UAE action threatens BlackBerry service for an estimated 500,000 local subscribers and could tarnish the country's reputation as the Gulf's business and tourism hub with potentially millions of visitors left without key BlackBerry services.

Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, said that fears of espionage and information sharing by foe Israel — as well as UAE allies United States and Britain — helped prompt the possible limits on the popular BlackBerry.

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Alleged Israeli Mossad agent to be extradited to Germany

bbc.co.uk

Uri Brodsky is suspected of helping to forge a German passport used in connection with the murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai.

Mr Brodsky, an Israeli citizen, was detained in Poland in June on an arrest warrant issued by Germany.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, was found dead in a Dubai hotel on 20 January.

Dubai police have said they are 99% sure that members of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad were involved, although Israel says there is no proof.

"The court has decided to hand over Uri Brodsky to German authorities for judicial procedures there," Judge Tomasz Talkiewicz said, following the closed hearing at Warsaw regional court.

"The court did not decide whether Brodsky committed the crime for which he is under investigation, the court only checked whether the extradition request fulfils the formal requirements and whether the suspect is correctly identified," he added.

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3 Famous Spy Cases That Shaped The United States

In one form or another, spying and espionage have been going on as long as there have been groups of people who have an interest in keeping an eye on each other. Historical cases of spying and espionage have shaped the way in which The United States handles domestic and international crime fighting and security. The following are three influential cases that marked very important eras in US history:

1. The Atom Spy Case- The Rosenburgs
(http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/atom/atom.htm)
Russian-Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenburg were responsible for Soviet Russia's acquisition of the atom bomb. In a complex web of intrigue, the couple recruited David Greenglass, Ethel's brother, to obtain atom bomb schematics. A communist since the age of 14 and a member of the military, Greenglass was able to obtain the schematics. These were then passed on to the Russian intelligence agency in Moscow.

2. The Pearl Harbor Spy
(http://www.fbi.gov/page2/feb05/kuehn022105.htm)
German national Otto Kuehn was responsible for coordinating the attack of the Japanese fleet on Pearl Harbor. With a complex serious of signals—bed sheets being hung to dry at certain hours, lights lit in certain windows of his house, etc.— Kuehn was able to reveal the movements of specific Navy vessels and to prevent troop deployments. Five days before the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Kuehn sent a letter to the Japanese commander containing details concerning the US fleet.

In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attacks, Kuehn was found guilty of being a spy. Initially, he was sentenced to die by firing squad. Instead, he was sentenced to life in prison and then deported.

3. 1985 The Year of the Spy
(http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/year_of_the_spy/spy.htm)
In 1985, a notable number of high-profile individuals were arrested for spying. While the Cold-War was winding down, spying activities continued with great intensity. The following spies were apprehended during this year of high intensity espionage.

John Anthony Walker Jr. - US Navy Warrant Officer and Communications Specialist

Jonathan Jay Pollard - Civilian intelligence analyst at the Navy's Anti-Terrorist Alert Center in Maryland

Sharon Marie Scranage - CIA clerk stationed in Ghana

Larry Wu-tai Chin - Chinese language translator/intelligence officer for CIA, 1952 to 1981

Ronald William Pelton - Communications specialist, National Security Agency


Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching areas of online college degrees. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

USB Flash Drive Spy Cufflinks

cg

All Spies must have their data with them at all times! We want absolutely everything to be mobile and with us at all times. Which makes these flash drive cufflinks only the obvious next step. This pair of USB drives will let you keep all of your documents directly on your wrist. Plus you can keep two different sets, since you’ll have a drive on each wrist.

It will give you a total of 4GB worth of space to fill up, there’s 2GB on each of the drives. You can even have the shiny drive engraved. Should you not like the shiny look you can also pick up gunmetal and gold finishes. They are small enough that it’s unlikely that another spy will notice them.

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You Too Can Have An iPad Spy Suit !

cg

"Q" meets Armani?

So you decided to jump on the bandwagon and buy an iPad. Now what? You can’t just slip it into your pocket like the rest of your electronics, but it just seems odd to carry it in a laptop bag. The iPad just doesn’t have a category so it’s trying to attempt to find the proper way to carry it around. Thankfully one suit maker is more than happy to create a custom suit that has a giant pocket on the inside just for your precious iPad.

Rush out and get yours Here

Israel’s Semi-Secret Espionage Case

tabletmag.com

Tablet Magazine is based in New York City, and not in Israel. Which is why we can write that Israel is charging a journalist with espionage and treason related to her allegedly photocopying classified documents while she was a solider, and then leaking them to Haaretz. JTA’s Ron Kampeas reports that the case is under a gag order in Israel.

Anat Kam was a journalist for a small paper that was until recently owned by Haaretz. Authorities are thought to believe that she leaked documents that revealed, according to a 2008 Haaretz report, that the IDF planned to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling that barred the assassination of terrorists who could be safely arrested. (Oddly, or perhaps not, the military censor did permit the publication of the story.)

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Accused scientist spy breached top-secret policy in '02

washingtonexaminer.com

A Maryland scientist accused of giving classified defense information to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer was under suspicion of breaching top-secret protocols as early as 2002, court documents said.

Despite the suspicion, Stewart Nozette was allowed to keep his clearance through 2007. It finally was stripped after federal authorities found classified information on his home computers while investigating him for fraud. He has since pleaded guilty to stealing almost $1 million in salary and benefits by lying on invoices for work he did for the Department of Defense and NASA through his nonprofit company, Alliance for Competitive Technology.

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