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Why are Illicit mobile phones rife in prisons?

December 19th, 2016|

On the surface, it is hard to understand how on Friday 16th December 2016 we could watch almost live video of prisoners rioting inside HMP Birmingham filmed by the prisoners themselves on illicit mobile phones.

1. Why are the prison authorities allowing illicit mobile phones in prisons?

2. Can nothing be done to find and remove illicit mobile phones from prisons?

There are simple answers to these questions, but ironically the simple answers are not easy to find …read more

Data Theft Problem

September 27th, 2016|

Quantifying the data theft problem is not easy to do, but the answer to the question ‘how much data actually gets stolen?’ is undoubtedly “more than we think”.

A.T. Smith, the assistant director of the United States Secret Service, estimates that in 2010, cyberthieves stole 867 terabytes of data from the United States, or nearly four times the amount of data that is held in the entire Library of Congress.

The US government is quick to point …read more

India vs. USA

August 19th, 2016|

It sounds a bit like David and Goliath, but the Indian Military Intelligence Service is alleged to be hacking into the emails of an official US commission focused on issues of cyber-security.

The Times of India reports that Indian military intelligence documents have been posted on the Internet which discuss plans to target the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The document alleges this is to be done using technical back-door hacks provided by mobile phone …read more

UK caught spying on Russia

July 10th, 2016|

The British have finally come clean regarding the ‘Spy scandal that rocked Russia’.

In January 2006 Russian television ran a report showing how a plastic fake rock containing electronic equipment had been used by British diplomats to receive and transmit information.

The Russians had alleged that officials from the UK embassy in Moscow were seen downloading classified data from a transmitter hidden in the fake rock, onto their palm-top computers.

The television report included hidden camera footage of …read more

Corporate Espionage is Endemic

June 10th, 2016|

Getting a handle on just how many firms are actively engaging in spying on their competitors is exceedingly difficult. By its nature, such activity remains secret.

However The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India has managed to convince 1,500 CEOs from large Indian companies to anonymously answer questions about their business practices.

The shocking results revealed that 60% of companies admit indulging in corporate espionage. The favoured methods of gathering data on their rivals are …read more

Mobile Phones increasingly popular targets

April 10th, 2016|

Forget, voice-mail hacking; over the last couple of years, it is the bugging of mobile phones that has become a major headache for security managers.

According to a new report from Lookout Mobile Security, 54% of all smartphone users fail to password-protect  their handsets. As a result, if a spy can get some software downloaded onto your phone, they can do the following with ease:

Call Interception – Listening to your live calls. They can even get …read more

US Secret Service Sex Scandal

March 14th, 2016|

There is no suggestion as yet of a Mata Hari like spy figure, using her womanly wiles in order to steal secrets, but the very fact that United States agents opened themselves to such a possibility has already led to the resignation of one, early retirement of another and the sacking of a third.

US agents were staying at a beachfront hotel in Cartagena, Columbia, before President Obama went to the Summit of the Americas last …read more

US unveils long term strategy

February 28th, 2016|

The US Government has signaled how it will deal with business data theft by foreign companies in future. It intends to ‘hit them where it matters’; in the pockets of the very organisations who are profiting from corporate espionage.

In future, when Washington feels enough evidence exists that products from abroad were developed using secrets stolen from US companies, then those companies products will incur the highest import duties.

“The theft of trade secrets impacts national security, …read more

Soviet Spies Bugged World’s First Electronic Typewriters

February 12th, 2016|

Keystroke loggers, which secretly record key presses on a computer keyboard, are today’s criminals tool of choice for stealing passwords, credit card details and other secrets. However, keystroke loggers are not an invention of the internet age. In fact, it has been revealed that the world’s most successful electric typewriter was being bugged by the Russians using keystroke recorders as early as the mid 1970s.

IBM’s “Selectric” typewriter had been invented in 1961 and 15 years …read more

John Terry’s car bugged by paperazzi

January 19th, 2016|

Surprised at how easy it had been for the paperazzi to track him, England Captain John Terry requested a search of his car. The inspection revealed the presence of a tracking device attached to his Range Rover.

Chelsea defender John Terry (30) was in court in June 2011 , charged with speeding when the story came to light. He had been driving fast to avoid a chasing pack of photographers when the police stopped him for …read more