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Archive for the ‘Electronic Countermeasures’ Category
Wednesday, June 20th, 2012
It has emerged that Michigan State Police have been using a high-tech mobile forensics device that can extract information from over 3,000 models of mobile phone, potentially grabbing all media content from your iPhone in under two minutes.
The CelleBrite UFED is a handheld device that Michigan officers have been using since August 2008 to copy information from mobile phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The device can circumvent password restrictions and extract existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags.
In short, it can copy everything on your smartphone in a matter of minutes.
Learning that the police had been using mobile forensic devices, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has issued freedom of information requests which demand that state officials open up the data collected, to better assess if penalised motorists warrant having their data copied.
Michigan State Police were more than happy to provide the information – as long as the ACLU paid $544,680. Obviously not pocket change.
“Law enforcement officers are known, on occasion, to encourage citizens to cooperate if they have nothing to hide,” ACLU staff attorney Mark P. Fancher wrote. “No less should be expected of law enforcement, and the Michigan State Police should be willing to assuage concerns that these powerful extraction devices are being used illegally by honoring our requests for cooperation and disclosure.”
Once the data is obtained, the device’s “Physical Analyzer” can map both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth, porting location data and image geotags on Google Maps.
The ACLU’s main worry is that the handheld is quietly being used to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches:
“With certain exceptions that do not apply here, a search cannot occur without a warrant in which a judicial officer determines that there is probable cause to believe that the search will yield evidence of criminal activity.
A device that allows immediate, surreptitious intrusion into private data creates enormous risks that troopers will ignore these requirements to the detriment of the constitutional rights of persons whose cell phones are searched.”
The next time you are Michigan, be sure drive carefully!
Read Original Story Here: thenextweb.com
Tags: iphone, Michigan, police
Posted in Electronic Countermeasures, Mobile Phone Security, National News, privacy | No Comments »
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Illinois is facing proposed legislation that challenges its current eavesdropping laws. Recent court case rulings in Illinois regarding the constitutionality of Illinois’ eavesdropping laws have made this a hot topic for some Illinois legislators and the ACLU.
Illinois’ eavesdropping law is one of the strictest in the country and makes it illegal to audio-record police without their consent, even when they’re working in public. Breaking the law is a felony and carries a punishment of up to 15 years in prison. The state is only one of a handful in which it is illegal to record audio of public conversations without the consent of everyone involved.
State Representative Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook has filed a bill that would permit people to audio-record a police officer working in public without the officer’s consent. The proposed bill is HB 3944. In an interview last Thursday, Rep. Nekritz said, “I believe that the existing statute is a significant intrusion into First Amendment rights, so with the prosecutions and the court cases that have been reported about, it just seemed that this is a problem in need of a swift solution.”
This law has come under increased scrutiny in the last few years in courts throughout the state. Recent court rulings are evidence of this scrutiny. (more…)
Tags: eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, invasion of privacy, police
Posted in eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, Local News, privacy, U-Spy Questions, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
The U.S. Department of Defense is holding a Cyber Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from January 20 – 27, 2012.
This program brings together professionals in the following disciplines: Digital Forensics, Forensic R&D, Information Technology, Investigations, and Legal.
Some of the topics include:
- D3 Digital Crime Scene Challenge
- Six People Who Are Changing the World of Security
- U.S. Cyber Challenge
- Forensics
- The Future of Crime
- Computer Crime and Intellectual Property
These are amazing topics! If you are interested, go to: dodcybercrime
Tags: crime, cyber crime training, cyber-crime, hacking, identity theft, investigation, Online Security, spying
Posted in cell phone security, crime, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, Intellectual Property Theft, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
In the old days, spies were just people who physically engaged in espionage or clandestine operations. This made it simpler to find your enemies than in today’s world of high technology. Now, we don’t know if “spies” are in our computers or phones. Surveillance equipment has taken on a whole new meaning.
Wikileaks revealed what it has dubbed “the Spy Files.” These files are a collection of 287 documents that include information about companies that provide different types of surveillance methods including cell phone forensics, spyware, and Wifi interceptions.
Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange says that for “Over a year or longer, SSL certificates have been penetrated by various organized crime groups and intelligence agencies. The entire SSL system, which is the mechanism that guarantees security and anonymity online, has been compromised. SSL is beyond repair.”
In addition, the ACLU has listed a very detailed account of what they consider illegal domestic spying in America. “The FBI, federal intelligence agencies, the military, state and local police, private companies, and even firemen and emergency medical technicians are gathering incredible amounts of personal information about ordinary Americans that can be used to construct vast dossiers that can be widely shared with a simple mouse-click through new institutions like Joint Terrorism Task Forces, fusion centers, and public-private partnerships. The fear of terrorism has led to a new era of overzealous police intelligence activity directed, as in the past, against political activists, racial and religious minorities, and immigrants.”
Read story@ dfinews
Tags: cell phone spying, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, electronic spying, government spying, hacking, invasion of privacy, Online Security, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", cell phone security, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, hard to find security equipment, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
The hacking movement “Anonymous” had a very busy holiday season making its year end charitable donations – with other people’s money of course.
The group claims to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to loot funds from individual’s accounts to give away as Christmas donations. Some victims have indeed confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.
This time Anonymous vaunted about stealing Stratfor’s confidential client list, which includes entities ranging from Apple Inc. to the U.S. Air Force to the Miami Police Department and mining it for more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords and home addresses.
Austin,Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk as its description states on its YouTube page. Stratfor charges subscribers for its reports and analysis and delivers them through the web, emails and videos.
It appears that proprietary information about the companies and government agencies that subscribe to Stratfor’s newsletters are not at significant risk. The main threat seems to be directed at individual employees who had subscribed.
“Not so private and secret anymore?” Anonymous taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets. (more…)
Tags: cyber attack, cyber-crime, hacking, identity theft, investigation, Online Security
Posted in Crime News, Electronic Countermeasures, hacking, National News, Online Security, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Just yesterday, I told a friend that I am ready to return to using an old-fashioned cell phone because I am uncomfortable with the “behavior” of my new Android smartphone. This story I am sharing on this blog makes me realize I am not so paranoid after all. I took my phone to the store because applications keep adding themselves. I can delete some, but they only return a few days later. There are some applications that I can’t delete – ones that I don’t want on my phone and that put me at risk of my personal information, including my email, being accessed by someone other than me.
The store put an “application killer” on my phone because they agreed there are some weird applications running in the background and they can’t explain why after I delete the ones I can see, they keep returning or why new ones keep adding themselves. They agreed many were unnecessary applications. I have already added countermeasure software to my computers, but now I apparently need to add surveillance software to my phone to try and stay one step ahead of these companies who are gathering my personal information. They are watching me, so I guess I need to watch them watching me!
I didn’t even know how to find many applications that were running in the background. It seems that unless you are a technology expert, you are at the mercy of your phone doing as it pleases. The technician at the phone store told me my phone keeps “freezing up” because there are so many applications running in the background. I have added only four applications to my phone.
By the way, it seems Google has the most control over my Android phone. Ironically, Google and my phone provider are “partners.” Google your name sometime. You may be surprised. I found a picture from my personal computer posted in a “picture gallery.” It was a picture that I NEVER publicly posted to any site. Explain that one Google.
I am constantly receiving “updates,” but when you read the fine print, these updates allow for too many permissions. For example, they want my phone to automatically connect to available Wi-Fi networks. If I want my phone to access wireless networks, I will enable it to do so on my own. I should not be held hostage to not being able to update my phone unless I agree to this provision.
An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn’t just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Is it time to put on a tinfoil hat? That depends on how you feel about privacy. (more…)
Tags: cell phone spying, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, invasion of privacy, Online Security, privacy, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", Abuse, busted, cell phone security, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, hacking, hard to find security equipment, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
This story is tantamount to arms trading where weapons are sold by governments and companies to countries and then a blind eye is turned as to the misuse of such weapons. The newest weapons? They are hacking tools that enable governments to break into people’s computers and cellphones and “massive intercept” gear that can gather all Internet communications in a country.
Documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal open a rare window into a new global market for the off-the-shelf surveillance technology that has arisen in the decade since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More than 200 marketing documents, spanning 36 companies were obtained from attendees of a secretive surveillance conference held near Washington, D.C., last month. TeleStrategies holds ISS (Intelligence Support Systems) World conferences world-wide. The one near Washington, D.C., caters mainly to U.S., Canadian, Caribbean and Latin American authorities. The annual conference in Dubai has long served as a chance for Middle Eastern nations to meet companies hawking surveillance gear.
The Journal this year uncovered an Internet surveillance center installed by a French firm in Libya and reported that software made by Britain’s Gamma International UK Ltd., had been used in Egypt to intercept dissidents’ Skype
conversations. In October, a U.S. company that makes Internet-filtering gear acknowledged to the Journal that its devices were being used in Syria.
Companies making and selling this gear say it is intended to catch criminals and is available only to governments and law enforcement. They say they obey export laws and aren’t responsible for how the tools are used. There goes that blind eye.
Among the most controversial technologies on display at the conference were essentially computer-hacking tools to enable government agents to break into people’s computers and cellphones, log their keystrokes and access their data. Although hacking techniques are generally illegal in the U.S., law enforcement can use them with an appropriate warrant, said Orin Kerr, a professor at George Washington University Law School and former computer-crime attorney at the Justice Department. (more…)
Tags: government spying, invasion of privacy, privacy, security, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", Abuse, cell phone security, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures, Gadgets, hacking, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, privacy, Security, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Friday, October 21st, 2011
Cyber criminals have a head start when it comes to compromising data. They think day and night about how to invent and execute a clever attack, and they gravitate to pathways that offer the least resistance for the greatest payoff. A hacker can belong to a crime ring or be one of your own disgruntled employees with high-level access to internal financial systems and passwords who could compromise the security of an entire organization.
Still most companies don’t place the same priority or efforts to be prepared for deterring hackers. They wait until something bad has happened and then react. By then, they are facing massive financial costs, customer defections, lawsuits and loss of reputation. You can utilize the services of a company, including MSI Detective Services, to evaluate your systems and recommend countermeasures, including software, to protect your business against this type of fraud. Being equipped with the latest tools and techniques, organizations can effectively prevent and deter cyber fraud. It is critical that companies arm themselves with tools and techniques that make cutting-edge fraud protection simple to use and effortless to manage. (more…)
Tags: Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, electronic fraud and theft, hacking, Online Security, U-Spy Store
Posted in Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, How To Catch a Criminal, Online Security, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
It appears there’s no escaping what appears to be the continued attempts of government to spy into the worlds of its average citizens. Maybe I have been naive, but I truly never thought I would begin to feel like I am living in a former Soviet Union country. It appears the government’s contractors want to make more money and continued use of all the technology created for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. With all the budget cuts in Washington, these contractors need new customers and they are targeting “adjacent makets,” which include police and fire departments. Ironically, local governments are also cutting costs related to police and fire services, so it remains to be seen if they can afford to purchase this technology.
I guess it would be a horrible shame to let this technology go to waste, so why not sell it to industries that can use it to spy on you and me? You may want to consider not running around your house less than fully dressed anymore.
The tecnology I am speaking of is called IBISS, the acronym for the Integrated Building Interior Surveillance System. Like its name suggests, it can see through the walls of buildings and sketch out images of what’s inside.
Until this year, IBISS was a classified system, a piece of high-tech wizardry the military used to fight the war on terrorism. The contractor that made the system, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), couldn’t talk about it in public, but that’s changing. IBISS is one of the new products SAIC is hoping to sell to local police stations and fire departments as the defense contractor explores what is known in the industry as “adjacent markets.” (more…)
Tags: Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, fire department, invasion of privacy, police, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
A couple of weeks ago, I posted two stories on our MSI Detective Services blog and this U-Spy blog.
1. GPS Inventor Joins EFF in Asking Supreme Court to Ban Warrantless GPS Tracking
2. How to Disable Your OnStar GPS Tracking System – GM Continues to Track After Your Subscription is Cancelled
One of our readers wrote to tell us that his company had coincidentally published a similar article and asked that we share it with our readers. Here it is:
In these post-9/11 days of the Patriot Act, there has come a sharp transformation of America’s collective psyche with regard to the interrelationship between public security and personal liberty. Whereas in times past we had been a people who placed freedom above all else, today we seem more willing to compromise that freedom in the name of national defense. So then it comes as no surprise that Uncle Sam has been keeping a watchful eye on more than just his usual suspects: terrorists, communists, and militant environmentalists. Given the fact that satellites provide a global link between other technologies, their use in intelligence gathering is extensive indeed. Here’s a list of ten ways that satellites have been used to spy on you too: (more…)
Tags: Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, invasion of privacy, spying, surveillance, U-Spy Store
Posted in "Hmm.", eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, privacy, Remote Camera Viewing, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
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