Citing Security Threats, Arab Countries to Block BlackBerry

FoxNews.com

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates' plan to blackball some of Blackberry's most popular services will be extended to the use of roaming services by foreign visitors, the nation's telecom regulators said Monday.

That would put BlackBerry

service out of reach for business travelers and others passing through the Mideast's busiest airport in the international business hub of Dubai, which averages about 100,000 passengers a day. The ban is scheduled to start in October.

The government cited a potential security threat because encrypted data sent on the devices is moved abroad, where it cannot be monitored for illegal activity. But the decision -- quickly followed by a similar move in Saudi Arabia -- raises questions about whether the conservative Gulf nations are trying to further control content they deem politically or morally objectionable.

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Hacker Spoofs Cell Phone Tower to Intercept Calls

wired.com

LAS VEGAS — A security researcher created a cell phone base station that tricks cell phones into routing their outbound calls through his device, allowing someone to intercept even encrypted calls in the clear.

The device tricks the phones into disabling encryption and records call details and content before they’re routed on their proper way through voice-over-IP.

The low-cost, home-brewed device, developed by researcher Chris Paget, mimics more expensive devices already used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies – called IMSI catchers – that can capture phone ID data and content. The devices essentially spoof a legitimate GSM tower and entice cell phones to send them data by emitting a signal that’s stronger than legitimate towers in the area.

“If you have the ability to deliver a reasonably strong signal, then those around are owned,” Paget said.

Paget’s system costs only about $1,500, as opposed to several hundreds of thousands for professional products. Most of the price is for the laptop he used to operate the system.

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'Smoking gun' in bank spy scandal

timeslive.co.za

A corporate spy has admitted in sensational court papers that he illegally tapped telephones at the behest, he says, of Investec bank.

It has now emerged that at least one of these belonged to a client of the bank.

His affidavit in the Cape Town High Court is being touted as a "smoking gun" by Investec clients who claim it shows the bank spied on them from 1998 as part of a bid to nail corrupt employees.

In court papers the Chait family - property entrepreneurs whose members founded Mvela Prop with Tokyo Sexwale and built the plush Melrose Arch precinct in Johannesburg - are fighting Investec's bid to claim R4.5-million from the family's 406 Fairweather Trust, which once owned the Victoria Junction Hotel in Cape Town.

The Chaits say their investigations have shown that telephones at their office next to the hotel - now owned by Protea Hotels - were "illegally" tapped by Briel. They have lodged a counter-claim of R170-million against the bank for ruining their business.

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