How to Know If Someone Bugged Your Room

theatlanticwire.com


For tips on sweeping a room for surreptitious surveillance devices, look no further than the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That's where members of the federal government have been going for years to find out who's wiretapped their telephone or implanted a microphone in their corner office. And now we know a lot more about the bureau's routine wiretap inspections thanks to GovernmentAttic.org, a website that publishes documents from Freedom of Information Act requests. The site has published a 66MB cache of correspondence from 1952 to 1995 detailing various issues of telephone security often involving paranoid government officials from senators to post master generals to secretaries of the Department of Agriculture to President Richard Nixon who think someone is surreptitiously listening to their conversations. 

It's going to take an army of readers to rummage through the entire cache of FBI documents but from what we've read so far, much of the correspondence involves government officials requesting wiretap inspections from the FBI, typically because they fear sensitive information has leaked from their office, and, upon inspection, the FBI finds nothing. Interestingly, they do often provide an informative report on how they went about sweeping the room.

As you can imagine, the descriptions of wiretap sweeps get much more technical from the '50s to the '70s to the '90s. In the old days, a wiretap inspection was simpler. Take this sweep of the office of Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield in 1953. 

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Note: A "Do it yourself" sweep, is kind of like "do it yourself" plumbing...you get what you pay for...

Don't let those "leaks" continue...contact me, I can help. ~JDL

Chinese Computer Hackers Hit U.S. Chamber of Commerce

foxnews

WASHINGTON –  A group of hackers in China breached the computer defenses of America's top business-lobbying group and gained access to everything stored on its systems, including information about its three million members, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The break-in at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the boldest known infiltrations in what has become a regular confrontation between U.S. companies and Chinese hackers. The complex operation, which involved at least 300 internet addresses, was discovered and quietly shut down in May 2010.

It isn't clear how much of the compromised data was viewed by the hackers. Chamber officials say internal investigators found evidence that hackers had focused on four Chamber employees who worked on Asia policy, and that six weeks of their email had been stolen.

It is possible the hackers had access to the network for more than a year before the breach was uncovered, according to two people familiar with the Chamber's internal investigation.

One of these people said the group behind the break-in is one that U.S. officials suspect of having ties to the Chinese government. The Chamber learned of the break-in when the FBI told the group that servers in China were stealing its information, this person said. The FBI declined to comment on the matter.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Geng Shuang, said cyberattacks are prohibited by Chinese law and China itself is a victim of attacks. He said the allegation that the attack against the Chamber originated in China "lacks proof and evidence and is irresponsible," adding that the hacking issue shouldn't be "politicized."

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FBI releases video, papers on Russian spy ring

WSJ

WASHINGTON — FBI surveillance tapes, photos and documents released Monday show members of a ring of Russian sleeper spies secretly exchanging information and money during a counterintelligence probe that lasted about a decade and ended in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.

The tapes show a January 2010 shopping trip to Macy's in New York City's Herald Square by former New York real estate agent Anna Chapman, whose role in the spy saga turned her into an international celebrity. She bought leggings and tried on hats at the New York department store, investigators wrote in a document, and transmitted coded messages while sitting in a coffee shop.

On another occasion, Chapman is visible in a video setting up her laptop computer at a Barnes and Noble. "Technical coverage indicated that a computer signal began broadcasting at the same time," noted part of a heavily redacted FBI report on the incident, apparently showing an effort by Chapman to communicate with her handlers.

Other photos and video from the surveillance operation, which the FBI called "Ghost Stories," show some of the 10 other conspirators burying money in a patch of weeds, handing off documents in what looks like a subway tunnel, meeting during a stroll around Columbus Circle or just taking their kids for a walk.

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FBI: Tech firms face spy risk

democratandchronicle.com


Kexue Huang, a scientist and native of China, pleaded guilty last week in a federal court to swiping millions of dollars worth of trade secrets from Dow Chemical Co. and Cargill Inc. for other people doing research in Germany and China.


A federal jury last month ordered South Korea's Kolon Industries to pay DuPont Co. $920 million for stealing trade secrets regarding synthetic fibers used in such products as Kevlar body armor. A former DuPont engineer hired by Kolon, Michael Mitchell of Virginia, was sentenced in March last year to 18 months in prison for theft of trade secrets for passing on key DuPont data to Kolon.

And area technology companies are likely fooling themselves if they think they're not in the cross-hairs of such spy efforts, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "If you haven't been a victim yet, it's because you have been and you don't know it, or you will be," Barry W. Couch, a special agent with FBI's Buffalo division, told a conference room full of area optics industry executives last week. "Don't be blindsided."

Chili's Sydor Optics played host as the FBI spent a handful of hours talking about counterintelligence and economic espionage issues, with handouts and a video presentation all revolving around the message that companies are under siege by foreign economic competitors, often with explicit help from foreign governments.

Optics in particular "is a targeted industry," said FBI special agent Chad Kaestle. Other frequently targeted technologies include sensors, aeronautics and marine systems.

Florida Man Arrested in “Operation Hackerazzi” for Targeting Celebrities with Computer Intrusion, Wiretapping, and Identity Theft

fbi.gov

LOS ANGELES—A man accused of targeting the entertainment industry by hacking into the personal e-mail accounts of celebrities was arrested today after being charged with a range of cyber-related crimes, announced André Birotte Jr., the United States Attorney in Los Angeles; and Steven Martinez, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida, was arrested this morning by FBI agents without incident. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a sealed indictment yesterday charging Chaney with violations under Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code, including: accessing protected computers without authorization; damaging protected computers without authorization; wiretapping; and aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, which was unsealed this morning, Chaney used several aliases while illegally obtaining personal information of numerous celebrities through a series of computer intrusions. The aliases used include: “trainreqsuckswhat,” “anonygrrl,” and “jaxjaguars911.”

Investigators believe that Chaney used publicly available sources to mine for data about his female and male victims, all of whom are associated with the entertainment industry. Once Chaney gained access and control of an e-mail account, he would obtain private information, such as e-mails and file attachments, according to the indictment. In addition, investigators believe that Chaney was led to new victims by accessing the address books of victims whose computers he already controlled.

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3,000 Intelligence officials' names, emails leaked as 'INSA spies'

computerworld.com
Last week, a "premier intelligence and national security organization" was hacked and then hundreds of intelligence officials, ranging from the NSA, FBI, CIA, the Pentagon, the White House, had their names, email addresses, some phone numbers and even home addresses posted on Cryptome.

Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) published a Cyber Intelligence report [PDF] about the need to develop better cyber intelligence sharing, analysis and defenses against the "cyber threat environment" where hackers are cracking into everyone's systems, from government agencies to private companies. 48 hours later, a cyberattack was launched against INSA website and the membership list was leaked after the hack.

MSNBC reported that "in apparent retaliation, INSA's 'secure' computer system was hacked and the entire 3,000-person membership posted on the Cryptome.org." There were 95 email addresses belonging to the "supersecret National Security Agency, as well as scores of others in key positions at the White House, the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, the Office of Director of National Intelligence and the State Department." John Young who runs Cryptome said in a telephone interview with NBC that he had no reservations about publishing 'INSA Nest of Official and Corporate Spies.' Young said, "We would love to name every spy that lives on Earth."

NSA President Ellen McCarthy confirmed the leak is real and told MSNBC that exposed members are not happy about the published list of names and email addresses. "Intelligence people are not very fond of getting a lot of attention."

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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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FBI warns businesses to protect their trade secrets and information

standard.net

KAYSVILLE -- Companies and individuals need to protect their trade secrets and financial information the way Kentucky Fried Chicken protects its secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices, FBI officials warn.

FBI Special Agent Karl Schmae and FBI Financial Analyst Shane Esplin, from the Salt Lake City office, shared tips with the Davis Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday to help business owners protect themselves from becoming victims of a white-collar crime.

About 30 people attended the presentation titled "Economic Espionage: Trade Secrets Under Attack." The presentation was made at the NorthFront Business Resource Center in Kaysville.

The FBI has a broad mission that includes "economic espionage" and the impact it has on businesses, Schmae said.

Some of that espionage includes the stealing of trade secrets and claims ranging anywhere from the design of America's space shuttle being stolen by Russians, to New England Patriots Football Coach Bill Belichick spying on other NFL teams, Schmae said.

But in the world of economics, it is every company for itself, and it is the responsibility of each company to protect its trade secrets, research or marketing information -- all that separates them from their competitors, Schmae said.

Trade secrets have to be identified, Schmae said, and "reasonable measures" taken to protect them, including educating staff that any information they glean by working for the company cannot be shared.

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Battle Brews Over FBI’s Warrantless GPS Tracking

wired
Kathy Thomas knew she was under surveillance. The animal rights and environmental activist had been trailed daily by cops over several months, and had even been stopped on occasion by police and FBI agents.

But when the surveillance seemed to halt suddenly in mid-2005 after she confronted one of the agents, she thought it was all over. Months went by without a peep from the FBI surveillance teams that had been tracking her in undercover vehicles and helicopters. That’s when it occurred to her to check her car.

Rumors had been swirling among activists that the FBI might be using GPS to track them — two activists in Colorado discovered mysterious devices attached to their car bumpers in 2003 — so Thomas (a pseudonym) went out to the vehicle in a frenzy and ran her hands beneath the rear bumper. She was only half-surprised to find a small electronic device and foot-long battery wand secured to her metal fender with industrial-strength magnets.

“I think I must have found it right after they put it on, because there was no grime on it at all,” she told Threat Level recently.

The use of GPS tracking devices is poised to become one of the most contentious privacy issues before the Supreme Court, if it agrees to hear an appeal filed by the Obama administration last month. The administration is seeking to overturn a ruling by a lower court that law enforcement officials must obtain a warrant before using a tracker.

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Sailor charged with attempted espionage

hamptonroads.com

NORFOLK

A U.S. Navy sailor serving at Fort Bragg was charged Thursday with attempting to sell classified documents.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Minkyu Martin, 22, of New York, was charged with attempting to forward classified information to a person not authorized to receive such information, a news release from the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic public affairs office said. A court-martial date has not been set, but legal proceedings will take place at the Region Legal Service Office at Norfolk Naval Station.

Martin, an intelligence specialist, was arrested in December while he was assigned to the Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek – Fort Story in Virginia Beach. He was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan in support of the Army and had been undergoing training at Fort Bragg in preparation for that deployment.

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Caught Spying on Student, FBI Demands GPS Tracker Back

wired

A California student got a visit from the FBI this week after
he found a secret GPS tracking device on his car, and a
friend posted photos of it online. The post prompted wide
speculation about whether the device was real, whether the
young Arab-American was being targeted in a terrorism
investigation and what the authorities would do.
It took just 48 hours to find out: The device was real, the
student was being secretly tracked and the FBI wanted its
expensive device back, the student told Wired.com in an
interview Wednesday. More...

'Bug' found in deputy chief's office, but who planted it?

indystar.com
The angst and turmoil within the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department reached a new level Friday when it was revealed that someone -- and it's not clear who -- has been spying on a deputy police chief.An audio and video recording device -- a bug -- was found in the third-floor office of IMPD Deputy Chief William Benjamin after he ordered a sweep that was conducted Thursday night or Friday morning.

It was unclear what prompted Benjamin to request the sweep; Benjamin did not return a phone call from The Indianapolis Star. And it also remained a mystery who planted the bug -- though some were quick to insist they had nothing to do with it.Amid the disquiet already swirling in the department because of several internal investigations, Chief Paul Ciesielski immediately denied he was spying on one of his own -- before announcing yet another internal probe to get to the bottom of who had placed the device in Benjamin's office.

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Cyber Thieves Steal Nearly $1,000,000 from University of Virginia College

krebsonsecurity.com
Cyber crooks stole just shy of $1 million from a satellite campus of The University of Virginia last week, KrebsOnSecurity.com has learned.

The attackers stole the money from The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, a 4-year public and liberal arts college located in the town of Wise in southwestern Virginia.

Kathy Still, director of news and media relations at UVA Wise, declined to offer specifics on the theft, saying only that the school was investigating a hacking incident.

“All I can say now is we have a possible computer hacking situation under investigation,” Still said. “I can also tell you that as far as we can tell, no student data has been compromised.”

According to several sources familiar with the case, thieves stole the funds after compromising a computer belonging to the university’s comptroller. The attackers used a computer virus to steal the online banking credentials for the University’s accounts at BB&T Bank, and initiated a single fraudulent wire transfer in the amount of $996,000 to the Agricultural Bank of China. BB&T declined to comment for this story.

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Top Secret America

washingtonpost.com

Starting yesterday and running throughout the week, the Washington Post is running a series of articles entitled Top Secret America. The purpose of the article is to ostensively discuss the growth of the US intelligence community and the reliance on private contractors in the post-9/11 world.

High-Tech Espionage Helped Alleged Russian Spies

foxnews.com

High-tech espionage is alive and well.

According to documents released Monday in the case of 11 Russians accused of spying in the U.S., cold-war era spying is dead. The modern spy is a Jason-Bourne style stealth agent who relies on tech to uncover secrets.

According to a story on CNET, the court papers made public by the Justice Department (PDF and PDF) show that the group used private wireless networks to transmit files, passed data on USB memory sticks and sent text messages -- all protected and encrypted with custom-written "steganographic" software

, which let them hide secret messages in otherwise innocent-looking files.

Defendant Anna Chapman reportedly brought her laptop to a Manhattan coffee shop and transferred data with a Russian government official -- who drove by in a minivan but never entered the store. Chapman also allegedly opened her laptop while in a bookstore in lower Manhattan and used a private Wi-Fi network to communicate with the same Russian official.

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FBI: 10 Russian Spies Arrested in U.S.

cbsnews.com
Ten alleged Russian spies have been arrested in the United States, the result of a multi-year investigation in four states, the FBI said Monday.

Eight of the 10 arrested were "carrying out long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments" the FBI said, while two had lesser roles in the Russian intelligence program. The arrests took place Sunday in Montclair, N.J., Yonkers, N.Y., Manhattan, Boston and Arlington, Va.

The New York and New Jersey defendants were expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan Monday. The Virginia defendants were to make court appearances in Alexandria.

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Android App Aims to Allow Wiretap-Proof Cell Phone Calls

Forbes.com
Worried about the NSA, the FBI, criminals or cyberspies electronically eavedropping on your private phone calls? There may be an untappable app for that.

On Tuesday, an independent hacker and security researcher who goes by the handle Moxie Marlinspike and his Pittsburgh-based startup Whisper Systems launched free public betas for two new privacy-focused programs on Google's Android mobile platform: RedPhone, a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) program that encrypts phone calls, and TextSecure, an app for sending and receiving encrypted text messages and scrambling the messages stored in their inbox.

Marlinspike says the apps will interface with users' contact lists and other functions on the phone to take the hassle out of making calls and sending texts that can't be eavesdropped by third parties. "Our main aim is to make this as easy as possible," he says. "We want it to be a secure and anonymous drop-in replacement for the normal dialing system on your phone."

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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