Editorial from local paper…
NC – Even before anyone knew for sure what was on the digital flash drive that mysteriously appeared in Hope Mills Mayor Eddie Dees’ mailbox, town residents had plenty of reason for concern about their leaders.
The “thumb drive” contained recordings of conversations between Town Manager Randy Beeman and Police Chief Robert Hassell. They were all or part of five calls recorded between Feb. 25 and May 17…
It appears that the wiretap originated in the town’s Police Department. The mayor says the drive contains calls made into and out of the department. If that’s true, it also raises serious questions about the department and its internal security. It fairly screams for a full-blown criminal investigation.
But instead, the commissioners have chosen to wait for the town attorney to investigate, which he’s been doing for months now. (
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PA –
A suburban Pennsylvania school district accused of spying on students using school-issued laptops has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle litigation stemming from its controversial practice.
Under the proposed settlement, the Lower Merion School District will pay $185,000 to two high school students who had sued the district earlier this year for allegedly snooping on them.
The remaining $425,000 will go to attorneys fees. (
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Luxury car manufacturer Porsche has banned employees from using Internet sites such as Facebook, Google Mail or Ebay during office hours, for fear of industrial spying, German media reported on Saturday. Corporate security chief Rainer Benne told business weekly Wirtschaftswoche that the company feared information could be leaked via social networking site Facebook in particular.
The magazine reported that foreign intelligence agencies systematically used Facebook to contact company insiders and win their trust in order to obtain information.
Roughly a quarter of Porsche’s 13,000 global employees use Facebook and other social networking sites, Wirtschaftswoche reported. (
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An Akamai Technologies Inc. employee was arrested and charged Wednesday with allegedly providing confidential business information over an 18-month period to a person he believed to be an agent of a foreign government.
Elliot Doxer, 42 years old, was charged in a complaint with one count of wire fraud, according to the Justice Department. The complaint alleges that on June 22, 2006, Mr. Doxer, of Brookline, Mass., sent an email to a foreign country’s consulate in Boston stating that he was willing to provide any information that he had access to that might help the country.
It is alleged that in later communications, Mr. Doxer said his chief desire “was to help our homeland and our war against our enemies.” He also allegedly asked for $3,000 in light of the risks he was taking.
The unnamed foreign government cooperated with the U.S. in the investigation. A Justice Department spokeswoman wasn’t immediately available to comment. (more)
