spy posts

Video Spy Cam Hidden in Car Key Fob

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 24th 2009 at 5:10PM

It might not be the smallest camera we've ever seen, but the Fake Car Key Spy Camera definitely would be a nice stocking stuffer for an Inspector Gadget in training. The camera is designed to look like a remote device that unlocks a car, shoots video at 29-frames-per-second, snaps photos at a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels and records sound, too. There's also a slot for a MicroSD card so you can share your voyeuristic, er... spy vids with buddies. All for $63, and Brando even throws in an 8 gigabyte card for the extra paranoid.

Could you really get away with sneaking pics and videos with this thing? The pinhole-sized lens might not be noticeable, but subjects might wonder why you're pointing a car key remote at them. The only place you'll be able to use this unsuspectingly is in a parking garage. Even then, how long could a person pretend to forget where he parked his car? [From: Boing Boing and Brando]

Tags: camera, car, gadget, key, novelty, photos, spy, top, video

Cameras, Web

Web Game Rewards Voyeurs for Monitoring Real Security Cameras

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 6th 2009 at 2:20PM

In what he says is an effort to combat petty crime, a British businessman is asking wannabe spies to take part in a revolutionary Internet game. Next month, Tony Morgan will launch the crime-fighting service Internet Eyes, which will allow regular citizens to watch for criminal activity through closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) installed in businesses around town.

According to The Daily Mail, if someone spots something questionable, he or she will simply click a button on the Web site, alerting the business owner via text message. Then, the owner will be able to decide whether or not there's enough evidence to report the activity. Players are awarded points for correctly identifying a crime and deducted points for incorrectly reporting one. At the end of the month, the player with the most points will receive a cash prize. It's free to ~~spy~~ play, but businesses will be charged around $31-per-week for each camera they list on the site.

Tags: camera, cctv, crime, criminal, games, privacy, spy, top, video, web

Web

Obama's Cybersecurity Czar Resigns From Post

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Aug 4th 2009 at 1:43PM

Two months after delivering a speech that outlined sweeping cybersecurity plans, President Barack Obama and his staff are still struggling with just how to protect the country from electronic terrorists and spies. With the resignation of the woman many people thought could take the reigns, things won't get any easier, either.

Melissa Hathaway, who led a cybersecurity review in April, resigned Monday for personal reasons from her implicit post as the acting cybersecurity czar, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hathaway says she laid the groundwork for what the Obama administration needs to do in order to shore up the country's cybersecurity. However, Hathaway's departure is troubling news since the White House must now presumably begin a new search for someone to fill the post. A couple of names have emerged as leading contenders: Franklin Kramer, assistant defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Howard Schmidt, a former eBay top security officer.

Tags: cyber security, CyberSecurity, defense, expire-images:2010-8-4, obama, security, spy, top, white house, WhiteHouse

Web, Social Networking

British Secret Service Chief's Facebook Faux Pas

by Leila Brillson (RSS feed) — Jul 6th 2009 at 12:40PM

MI-6 is Britain's snazzier, shaken-not-stirred version of the CIA. The espionage authority is so secretive that it wasn't even officially acknowledged until 1992, the AP reports. The head of the organization's identity is so carefully guarded that, until the '90s, the chief was simply known as "C."

So, when incoming head Sir John Sawers -- an experienced spy and Britain's current ambassador to the UN -- was found on Facebook through his wife Lady Shelley Sawers's page, we can only imagine that MI-6 agents everywhere (including James Bond) shook their heads in shame.

After Lady Shelley posted family vacation pictures (including an unflattering one of Sir John in his bathing suit) and after the Daily Mail published said photos yesterday, the world got dangerously more than a laugh. While a spy in a Speedo might seem funny, information on Sawers's family, location, and friends could be highly damaging to the Sawerses, the agency, and Britain as a whole.

Tags: expire-images:2010-7-6, facebook, government, mi6, privacy, social networking, SocialNetworking, spy, top

Google, Visionaries

'Citizen Spies' Using Google Earth to Uncover Secrets of North Korea

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — May 26th 2009 at 5:01PM

During Kim Jong Il's reign as leader of North Korea, the nation has been shrouded in mystery, with the government only periodically breaking its silence in order to tout fantastical accomplishments of the ruler and his nation. The veil of secrecy is now slowly being lifted, though, thanks to surveillance work carried out by ordinary citizens using Google Earth and information gleaned from news releases and eyewitness accounts.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Curtis Melvin, a doctoral candidate at George Mason University, has been spearheading the "citizen spy" movement. Melvin and his fellow not-so-clandestine agents, using "democratized intelligence," have created North Korea Uncovered, a file which details the locations of nuclear facilities, air fields and dams, as well as the nation's transportation and electrical grids (pictured above).

Tags: Google Earth, GoogleEarth, kim jong il, KimJongIl, North Korea, NorthKorea, spy, top

Cell Phones

Easy Ways to Tell if Your Cell Phone is Bugged

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — May 26th 2009 at 7:30AM

If you've got a lot of enemies (or watch too many spy movies), you've probably noticed those online ads for cell phone bugging software and thought: "Hey, I wonder if my phone is bugged?" Fortunately, the news crew at Fox 26 in Houston shares your paranoia: it recently tested out some cellular spyware to figure out if your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend is listening in.

After dropping $250 for the software on the Internet, the crew had it up and running on a test phone in 10 minutes. As you can imagine, the spyware enabled call- and text-monitoring, gave access to the phone's contact list, and kept extensive logs of call times and duration. The coolest function let the testers tap into the test phone from a remote location and activate its microphone, allowing them to listen in even with the phone on standby and concealed in a pocket.

As for figuring out if your own phone is bugged, the Fox team says to watch out for significant, unexplained drops in battery power or random screen flashes. Strange billing activity and text messages with random numbers and symbols could also be signs of a bugging. To be safe, you should lock your phone with a password, and if you want to go super clandestine, pop out your phone's battery when you go meet that guy with the briefcase chained to his wrist. [From: Fox 26]

Tags: bugging, bugs, security, spy, surveillance, top

Computers

$300 Billion Pentagon Project Hacked (Data Compromised, Again)

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Apr 21st 2009 at 6:17PM

According to a front page Wall Street Journal article this morning, it looks like piles of data related to the $300 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter military plane have found their way in to the hands of hackers. According to government officials the newspaper spoke with, the Defense Department was the subject of a concerted cyber attack over the past few months in which terabytes (yes plural) of data related to the project were intercepted and fed to IP addresses that have been tracked to China.

Of course, the Chinese embassy issued a statement denying any involvement and said it "opposes and forbids all forms of cyber crimes," but we know it means that in the same way Ted Haggard meant that he opposed homosexuality.

"We aggressively monitor our networks for intrusions...," Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh told the WSJ. Now, anyone who has ever tried to download an HD movie via BitTorrent knows how long it takes to download a few gigabytes of data, which leads us to believe the monitoring couldn't be too aggressive if spies were able to siphon off several thousand gigabytes before setting off alarms.

Tags: china, computer spies, ComputerSpies, crime, defense department, DefenseDepartment, espionage, f-35, f-35 joint strike fighter, F-35JointStrikeFighter, hack, hacker, hackers, hacking, joint strike fighter, JointStrikeFighter, military, pentagon, security, spy, top

Computers

Canadians Uncover Chinese Cyber-Spies

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Apr 1st 2009 at 7:30AM

Desperate to prove there's more to their country than socialized medicine and Mounties, a group of Canadians has uncovered a major international cyber-spy network originating in China. According to Canadian research group Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), the spy network has hacked over 1,000 PCs in over 100 countries, including those of foreign embassies and the offices of the Dalai Lama.

In the report, titled 'Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network,' the IWM suggests that the network of spies used malware to obtain access to and take control of computers in the foreign affairs offices and embassies of Iran, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, South Korea and Pakistan, among others.

The Dalai Lama seems to have been a major target; the IWM found evidence that substantial amounts of private and sensitive data relating to the Tibetan exile had been offloaded to China.

Tags: china, dalai lama, DalaiLama, hack, malware, security, spies, spy

Audio/Video

Would-Be Voyeur Puts Spy Cam in Restroom, Leaves Video of Himself

by Kaiser Hwang (RSS feed) — Mar 19th 2009 at 9:29AM

In yet another case of crimes featuring dumb criminals, the Daily Freeman brings us this story of an upstate New York man who recently installed a surveillance video camera inside a unisex bathroom at a local coffee shop. Obviously intended for prurient purposes, the would-be voyeur accidentally left a video of himself on the device. The camera was discovered shortly after being installed and police are on the lookout for the man.

The suspect is said to be 35-40 years old, about six feet tall, has a beard and mustache, and wears circular-rimmed glasses (see photo above). He is shown in the video wearing a green military jacket, and carrying an over-the-shoulder backpack.

If you live in the New Paltz, New York area and recognize/have information on this man, please call the local authorities at (845) 255-1323. All calls will be kept confidential. [From: Daily Freeman]

Related Links:

Tags: crime, dumb, sex, spy, spy cams, SpyCams, top, voyeur, voyeurism

Computers

Bug Sized Spy-Bots Headed for the Battlefield

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Nov 24th 2008 at 12:03PM

We haven't even seen the Bat yet, the flying spy-bot from the University of Michigan, and already researchers are talking about even further miniaturization in the realm of robotic spooks. According to the Associated Press, the U.S> Army is doing research on Micro Aerial Vehicles, or MAVs, which are essentially robotic bees that could be released as a swarm and blanket a city undetected. The tiny surveillance robots could be as small as a bumble bee and hide on streets or in buildings feeding video and audio to military personnel.

The MAVs would help identify and monitor potential targets. The Army even believes that they could be equipped with tiny weapons for attacking foes. It foresees insect-sized bots strapped with chemicals or explosives.

We see the clear tactical advantage that these tiny spies provide on the battlefield. Still, we can't help but fear the possibility that they may be turned against us. It wouldn't be the first time. [From: AP/AOL News]

Tags: mav, mavs, micro aerial vehicles, MicroAerialVehicles, military, research, spy, surveillance, upcoming

Cell Phones

Cell Phone Snooping Software Lets You Snoop on Kids, Spouses

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Oct 27th 2008 at 11:39AM

For parents and suspicious spouses who have no regard for the privacy of others, there is now TechGuard. It's a program that allows you to track the calls and read text messages sent to and from a cell phone.

After loading the program on the target cell phone (currently only compatible with Windows Mobile phones and BlackBerrys) the application can be controlled from a Web site. Snoops can then read every outgoing and incoming text message, and even block certain parties from getting through. You can also read any e-mail that comes to the phone, and view call and browsing history.

TechGuard costs about $11 a month. But, if you're really this nosy, we think that money might be better spent buying yourself some anti-anxiety drugs. [From: CBS News]

Click Here for the Top Tips To Avoid Identity Theft

Tags: privacy, spy, surveillance

Computers

Researchers 'Eavesdropping' on Computers Via Keyboard Emissions

by Paul Miller (RSS feed) — Oct 21st 2008 at 7:02AM

We always knew those electromagnetic emanations would amount to no good, and now here they go ruining any shred of privacy we once thought to possess. Some folks from the Security and Cryptography Lab at Switzerland's EPFL have managed to eavesdrop on the electromagnetic radiation shot off by shoddy wired keyboards with every keystroke. They've found four different ways to listen in, including one previously-published general vulnerability, on eleven keyboard models ranging from 2001 to 2008, with PS/2, USB and laptop keyboards all falling to at least one of the four attacks. The attack works through walls, as far as 65 feet away, and analyzes a wide swath of electromagnetic spectrum to get its results.

With wireless keyboards already feeling the sting of hackers, it's probably fair to say that no one is safe, and that cave bunkers far, far away from civilization are pretty much our only hope now. Videos of the attacks are after the break.

[Thanks, Dave]

Tags: eavesdropping, electromagnetic, electromagnetic emanations, ElectromagneticEmanations, hack, keyboard, keyboard hack, KeyboardHack, keylogger, safety, spy, spying, wired keyboard, WiredKeyboard

Cameras

Minox Cameras Nurture the Spy in All of Us

by Engadget Staff (RSS feed) — Sep 29th 2008 at 7:03AM

Minox, we knew you wouldn't let us down. We've seen a few bland cameras released by you over the years, but it warms our hearts to see you haven't forgotten why we love you. This latest line of miniature cameras comes in three flavors: yuck, meh, and totally badass. The DC 1033 looks like every other camera known to man, with the slight improvement of being a mere 94 x 55 x 24mm with 10-megapixels of firepower. The DCC Leica M3 Gold Edition is nothing more than a rerelease of the silvery edition - tiny, cute, but no match for the classic 30s style DSC (Digital Spy Camera) -- 86 x 29 x 20mm, 5-megapixels -- to be showcased this week at Photokina in Germany.

[Via Studio Lighting]

Read - Minox DCC Leica M3 Gold Edition
Read - Minox License to shoot

Tags: DC 1033, Dc1033, DCC Leica M3 Gold Edition, DccLeicaM3GoldEdition, Digital Spy Camera, DigitalSpyCamera, dsc, minox, spy, spy camera, spy cameras, SpyCamera, SpyCameras

Computers, MySpace

FBI and CIA Launching MySpace for Spies

by Tim Stevens (RSS feed) — Sep 8th 2008 at 8:43AM

You know how we told you last week that most people don't know what social-networking is? Well, apparently the CIA and FBI are using this news to their advantage, and are looking to get all of their secret agents friending and messaging online like chatty tweens, creating a MySpace knockoff site especially for spies and other officials to connect and chat.

The idea behind the site, called A-Space, is for agents to share intelligence gleaned through various sources, whether they be covert or CNN. It is intended to replace ad-hock e-mails and other forms of messaging with one centralized, easily traceable communication channel. The obvious concern is security, of course, as this site will quickly become a repository of virtual reams of sensitive info. Operators plan to rely on behavioral processing such as that used by credit card companies -- not so much to restrict what users can do, but to raise flags if someone tries to do something... unusual.

You know, kind of like the last time you took a road trip and had your card declined while buying gas 1,200 miles from home. That sounds just like the kind of security we need protecting our agents. [Source: CNN]

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, cia, facebook, fbi, intelligence, myspace, social networking, SocialNetworking, spy

Audio/Video, Computers

Spy Satellites to ID You Via Your Shadow?

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Sep 4th 2008 at 4:30PM

It is literally becoming impossible to hide (and yet we still can't find Bin Laden). Cameras are posted everywhere. Facial and audio recognition software have made leaps and bounds. The NSA is tapping our phones, and the cops have cameras that can read your license plate. What else could our governments and law enforcement possibly need to keep tabs on us?

Why, spy satellites that can identify your shadow, of course!

Scientists are working on a system that will be able to analyze shadows from satellite video to recreate the way a person walks. Since your stride, sway, pace, and bounce combine to create a gait unique to you, gait analysis could prove to be a powerful tool for tracking criminals and terrorists (and you).

Of course, there are some caveats. Most satellites currently in orbit can't record high enough resolution images for effective gait analysis. Also, because the method is reliant on shadows, the system could be easily disrupted by rain or cloud cover and would prove completely useless at night.

Still, researchers believe this could prove to be an invaluable tool for tracking ne'er do wells. Oh, and you. [From: Daily Mail]

Tags: gait analysis, GaitAnalysis, satellite, shadow, spy, surveillance

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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