via The New York Times…
Huang Kexue, federal authorities say, is a new kind of spy.
For five years, Mr. Huang was a scientist at a Dow Chemical lab in Indiana, studying ways to improve insecticides. But before he was fired in 2008, Mr. Huang began sharing Dowâs secrets with Chinese researchers, authorities say, then obtained grants from a state-run foundation in China with the goal of starting a rival business there…
Law enforcement officials say the kind of spying Mr. Huang is accused of represents a new front in the battle for a global economic edge. As China and other countries broaden their efforts to obtain Western technology, American industries beyond the traditional military and high-tech targets risk having valuable secrets exposed by their own employees, court records show.
Rather than relying on dead drops and secret directions from government handlers, the new trade in business secrets seems much more opportunistic, federal prosecutors say, and occurs in loose, underground markets throughout the world.
Prosecutors say it is difficult to prove links to a foreign government, but intelligence officials say China, Russia and Iran are among the countries pushing hardest to obtain the latest technologies.
âIn the new global economy, our businesses are increasingly targets for theft,â said Lanny A. Breuer, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Departmentâs criminal division. âIn order to stay a leader in innovation, weâve got to protect these trade secrets.â (more)
If you still don’t have a counterespionage strategy, or your current one isn’t working, call me. ~ Kevin
The down side of social not-working…
Many of the most popular applications, or “apps,” on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying informationâin effect, providing access to people’s names and, in some cases, their friends’ namesâto dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.
The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook’s strictest privacy settings. (more)
Three James Bond sports cars â and one helicopter â will be auctioned Oct. 27 at
RM Auctionsâ Automobiles of London sale at the Battersea Evolution arena.
The helicopter at stake is a
1960 Hiller UH -12 E4, which was flown by actress Honor Blackman in her role as Pussy Galore. (Its first time on film was for a 1963 movie called âThe VIPsâ, which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.) RM says the chopper will likely go for nearly ÂŁ400,000. (
moore, Roger Moore)
The Zeus banking Trojan could be a useful tool in corporate espionage…
Zeus typically steals online banking credentials and then uses that information to move money out of internet accounts. In the past year, however, Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics with the University of Alabama, who has been closely monitoring the various criminal groups that use Zeus, has seen some hackers also try to figure out what companies their victims work for…
“They want to know where you work,” he said. “Your computer may be worth exploring more deeply because it may provide a gateway to the organisation.”
That’s worrying because Zeus could be a very powerful tool for stealing corporate secrets. It lets the criminals remotely control their victims’ computers, scanning files and logging passwords and keystrokes. With Zeus, hackers can even tunnel through their victim’s computer to break into corporate systems. (more)
A few posts ago, it was noted that the FBI is echoing the desires of several countries around the world about having backdoor keys to all communications encryption schemes. BlackBerry, Skype, etc. are seeing the beginning of the end of their privacy advantage.
Some countries threatened to outright ban encryption they can’t crack, but how can this concept be sold to the U.S. Congress?
