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

Keep abreast of the espionage threats facing your organisation.

SpyCam Story #583 – Pushed to Suicide

NJ – Rutgers University students wore black on Friday to remember a classmate who committed suicide as a lawmaker proposed stiffer penalties for invasion of privacy – the charge levied against the roommate accused of secretly streaming online video of the victim having sex with a man. (more)

When SpyCam Story #1 was published laws against video voyeurism didn’t exist. Although many states now have laws, more has to done. I hate posting tawdry SpyCam stories, but do so to raise awareness. The victims deserve the support.


BlackBerry Responds to Government Monitoring

RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has no objections if companies that make use of its secure BlackBerry smartphones want to hand over their encryption keys to government officials. However, RIM itself has no way of providing the unencrypted content of the emails that passes through its network operating center (NOC), since it doesn’t have the keys in the first place.

This was the most direct answer to date given by RIM in response to government sanctioned wiretapping, a topic that was brought to the front even as countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India have threatened to ban the BlackBerry service unless RIM accede to their demands to a backdoor into its encryption system. Other countries such as Lebanon, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia were reportedly considering similar steps. (more)

Are governments going to accept this explanation, or say with finger poking their lips, “You will change your NOC, Mr. Berry. Un-zip it.” 
Stayed tuned.


FutureWatch – The Privacy Party is Over

Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.
Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages. 
The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally. (more)
It will.

Corporate Espionage in India

India – Corporate espionage is on the rise in the country, with the digital medium offering an extremely fertile ground for its perpetuation.
An increasing number of companies are also hiring private detectives to keep tabs on both their employees and business partners. Detective agencies says they are flooded with strange requests from companies to plant spies in rival firms, to fish for confidential data, engineering designs, software codes or to manipulate rate contracts to favour their clients.

An entire gamut of corporate espionage is happening around us and it is a huge industry by itself,” says cyber law expert and supreme court advocate Pavan Duggal. On an average, detective agencies get 5 to 10 requests a day for such services. The fee could range from Rs 30,000 to a few lakh of rupees, depending on the complexity of the job.

“Such things are rampant and we get a lot of requests, though we do not entertain it as a matter of policy,” says Ravi Kapoor, chairman of ACE Detectives. He says that usually a person is hired for the job who has access to passwords and other information. It could be a data entry operator, security personnel or even a driver.

Hiring spies is prevalent in IT firms, especially where big tenders are underway ,” confirms Manpreet Sidhu, head of Top Secret Detective Agency. (more)


Eavesdropping Suit Settled During Secret Phone Call

CA – After meeting in closed session by teleconference with attorney Susan Trager, Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency directors announced Tuesday night that litigation had been settled in an unlawful eavesdropping case brought by former director Maryan Barkley. The amount of the settlement was not made public. (more
What most people settle for… video.