Mirage device to be used in espionage?

(CBS News)  

You don't have to be in the hot desert or on a long road in the summer to see an optical phenomenon - also known as a mirage - thanks to new scientific innovations.

Straight out of sci-fi novel, researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas have come up with a device that makes objects disappear using the mirage effect, a cool optical illusion that is often portrayed in classic, American western movies.

So how does it work? This device uses an optical phenomenon, in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky, according to the IOP (Institute of Physics blog).

"The most common example of a mirage is when an observer appears to see pools of water on the ground. This occurs because the air near the ground is a lot warmer than the air higher up, causing lights rays to bend upward towards the viewer's eye rather than bounce off the surface," explains the IOP.

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Pentagon seeks probe of the cost of hacking

washingtontimes.com

The Pentagon is asking the nation’s 16 spy agencies to investigate the cost of theft of commercial secrets by foreign computer hackers, a loss some analysts say could be costing the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

“We expect it is very substantial — substantial in monetary terms, substantial in security terms,” said James N. Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. “The nation has a substantial interest in protecting intellectual property.”

The Pentagon’s request for an estimate went to the National Intelligence Council, which produces National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs), said Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn, adding that its report will likely be classified when the assessment is complete.

Security specialists say that hackers, many thought to be operating on behalf of communist China, are stealing vast quantities of proprietary data from U.S. defense, energy and other firms every year, compromising the nation’s security and economic advantage.

“It is a massive transfer of wealth,” said Phyllis Schneck, chief technology officer for public-sector business at computer security firm McAfee Inc.“Things that would have created money and jobs for one company in one country are instead creating them for other companies in another country.”

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – 2011 Trailer

An espionage thriller set around the Cold War. Ex MI6 George Smiley is forced out of retirement to unearth a Soviet agent within “The Circus.” It hits theaters on November 11th and I must say after peeping the trailer I’m eagerly anticipating its arrival. Watch this, and See for yourself.

And, Speaking of Spies....2011 Espionage Research Institute Conference

2011 Espionage Research Institute Conference

This week marks the annual ERI conference in Reston, VA.

The Espionage Research Institute is dedicated to collecting and promulgating information on hostile espionage activity. That is done through the process of accepting, screening and editing reports of hostile activity as they are received from ERI Associates and its Advisors.

The motto of ERI is: "The Biggest Mistake That We Can Make Would Be To Miss The Changes". That expresses the basic reason that ERI exists. It attempts to keep all informed on hostile espionage activity that is directed against business and industry.

Stay tuned later this week for some interesting reports.... ~JDL

Double-O Who? Meet history's unsung spies

telegraph.co.uk

Ask most people to name a spy and they will say James Bond. If they are a little more cerebral they might say George Smiley, the spymaster who, having been immortalised by Sir Alec Guinness on the small screen, this Friday comes to the big screen in one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the autumn. In the latest version of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Gary Oldman is taking on the role of Smiley, with a supporting cast that includes John Hurt and Colin Firth.

But back to our question, which was name a spy. Such is the potency of literature that most people have long since blurred in their imaginations the difference between fictional spies and real-life ones. This is partly because some of the best spy novels were written by former spies, notably Ian Fleming, Graham Greene and, of course, John le Carré.

So let us phrase the question more clearly. Name a real-life spy… Most people will go with the big three: Philby, Burgess and Maclean. Others that pole-vault to mind are Anthony Blunt, George Blake, Dame Stella Rimington, Mata Hari, Eddie Chapman (Agent Zig-Zag), and Peter “Spycatcher” Wright. Those wishing to put the vaulting bar a little higher might also name Guy Liddell, Oleg Gordievsky, Vera Atkins, Melita Norwood, the atomic spy Klaus Fuchs, Richard Sorge and that notorious Soviet spy Harold Wilson.

But what do all these real-life spies have in common?

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Appeals Court to Weigh NSA Dragnet Surveillance

wired.com



Whether the federal government and the nation’s telecommunication companies can be held accountable for allegedly funneling every American’s electronic communication to the National Security Agency without warrants is the subject of oral arguments scheduled for a federal appeals court Wednesday.

At issue is a Jan. 31, 2006 lawsuit, and others that followed, alleging violations of the Fourth Amendment right to be free from warrantless searches and seizures. The cases, about three dozen which will be consolidated into two oral arguments, have been thrown out of court on a variety of grounds, chiefly the government’s claim that the lawsuits would expose state secrets, and a 2008 law that immunized the nation’s telcos from such lawsuits.

Nearly six years later, the merits of the lawsuits have never been addressed. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which brought the leading cases, appealed, and contends that the litigation should never have been dismissed.

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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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The Espionage Act: Why Tom Drake was indicted

(CBS News)

Nearly two years before 9/11, America's largest intelligence agency was tracking three of the Al Qaeda hijackers. But that information, obtained by the National Security agency, wasn't analyzed in a way that could uncover the plot.

Inside the super-secret NSA, several analysts and managers believed that the agency had a powerful tool that might've had a chance to head off 9/11, but it wasn't used.

As Scott Pelley first reported in May, one of those agency insiders was Thomas Drake, who thought that taxpayer money was being wasted on useless intelligence gathering projects while promising technology was ignored.

Drake tried to get the word out but, as a result, he was charged under the Espionage Act and accused of betraying his country. Drake says that the only thing he betrayed was NSA mismanagement that undermined national security.

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Functional Fibers: fibers that can detect and produce sound

foxnews.com

An MIT investigator has announced a new milestone on the path to functional fibers: fibers that can detect and produce sound. Applications could include clothes that are themselves sensitive microphones, for capturing speech or monitoring bodily functions, and tiny filaments that could measure blood flow in capillaries or pressure in the brain.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2011/06/11/eyepoppers-best-science-photos-week/#ixzz1P6V4Jt14

Espionage Lessons Learned From Bond—James Bond

wsj.com

For "Carte Blanche," the newest James Bond novel, I soaked up a number of fascinating factoids about tradecraft—the subdued term for the techniques of espionage. My knowledge will have faded in a few years, but in the short term, I'm a bit of a spymaster. I thought I might share a few of the more useful tricks of the trade, in case you find yourself tapped (recruited) by a handler (the spy who supervises field agents) to help out the pros.

Apparently this happens quite frequently. At least according to Hollywood.

• To be a spy, you don't need to break into top-secret facilities, climb through air ducts and make your way through laser beam fields. Yes, agents do some of that acrobatic stuff, as well as sit in front of really neat high-def monitors, a la Jack Bauer in "24," while vacuuming up cellphone calls and emails. But a huge amount of "product," as intelligence is called, comes from open sources, information available to everyone, found in newspapers, on TV, in unclassified government, corporate and nonprofit reports and from observations in public. You can be sure that somebody in Russia's SVR, one of the KGB's successor agencies, is jotting down notes about this article even as you read it.

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