One of the top honchos in Homeland Security admitted to Congress something everyone who has ever done time in IT support knows:Â 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.)
Read More
Adrian 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.
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.
Read More
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.
“Tapping and bugging is order of the day in this government. The government is operating under the shadow of suspicion, doubt and conspiracy,” said BJP senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.
He said Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee “does not trust the Home Minister [ P Chidambaram] and he writes to the Prime Minister on this.”
After ten months the secret letter is released, said Prasad.
Read More
