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Global articles on espionage, spying, bugs, and other interesting topics.

Keep abreast of the espionage threats facing your organisation.

China Denounces Japan’s Espionage

Beijing, July 9 (KCNA) — An official of the Press Secretariat of the Chinese Defense Ministry at a press conference on July 7 denounced Japan’s espionage.

He accused aircraft of the Japan Air “Self-Defense Force” of steadily expanding the scope of espionage against China in its East Sea and Japan’s warships and planes of monitoring and watching the normal activities of the Chinese side.

This may arouse misunderstanding and misjudgment of both sides, he said, urging Japan to stop such dangerous actions so that accidents might not occur in the seas and sky.


Malicious Firmware Built Into PC During Manufacture

One of the top honchos in Homeland Security admitted to Congress something everyone who has ever done time in IT support knows: Gadgets other employees bring in from home are trouble.

Some come with a lot of empty space that could be filled up with valuable company information, for those who are into corporate espionage.

Others – mainly for those who are almost as computer savvy as they think they are – install drivers that can corrupt a workstation so completely it will eventually either go Sith or have to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through its heart. (Which it is depends on if the user is more Geek or more Goth.)

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CIA Tried to Snag Bin Laden DNA with Fake Vaccination Drive [Espionage]

Avatar for Adrian ChenAdrian Chen

In the weeks before the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, the CIA had a prominent doctor organize a fake vaccination drive, in an attempt to secretly collect DNA from him and his family.

The CIA recruited a local surgeon to run the phony drive. (The doctor has since been arrested for his role.) From the Guardian:

The doctor went to Abbottabad in March, saying he had procured funds to give free vaccinations for hepatitis B. Bypassing the management of the Abbottabad health services, he paid generous sums to low-ranking local government health workers, who took part in the operation without knowing about the connection to Bin Laden. Health visitors in the area were among the few people who had gained access to the Bin Laden compound in the past, administering polio drops to some of the children

Apparently one nurse was able to gain access to the compound, though it’s unknown if she was actually able to get DNA. Authorities were after DNA in the United States, too: A report claimed agents actually subpoenaed OBL’s sister’s brain after she died in a Boston hospital. Pakistan, as you can imagine, is absolutely thrilled that the US has been snooping around their citizens’ genetic material without telling them.


Britain should start spying on Eurozone neighbours, former MI6 chief says

Sir Richard Dearlove, Britain’s former chief spymaster has said the country

should start spying on its Eurozone neighbours to protect the economy as the
common currency is wracked by national defaults.

Sir Richard Dearlove, who served as head of MI6 until 2004, said that Britain
must not be “squeamish” about using the intelligence services to defend its
economic interests.

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Spying shows phone network weak spots

SPYING SCANDAL: A voicemail tampering scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid demonstrates the vulnerability of phone networks and the fallibility of the people who help maintain them.

THE ACCUSATIONS: The British tabloid is accused of breaking into voicemail accounts of various celebrities and dignitaries —and even crime victims and their families— in a relentless hunt for scoops.

THE REPERCUSSIONS: The fiasco has led to prison terms for an investigator and a former reporter, caused several major companies to pull advertising, and is complicating Murdoch’s attempt at a multibillion-pound takeover of British Sky Broadcasting.