From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 11:11am Subject: Counter-intelligence entity formed Counter-intelligence entity formed http://www.dawn.com/2001/01/06/int11.htm WASHINGTON, Jan 5: President Bill Clinton has ordered the creation of a special entity to make US counterintelligence more responsive to new threats unlike Cold War "cloak and dagger" spy challenges, the White House said on Friday. "A threat today can as easily come from a laptop as it could from an old, cloak-and-dagger spy, and we need a counterintelligence capability that matches that new globalized reality," said Clinton spokesman Jake Siewert. A counterintelligence "czar," will head the special board, comprising top CIA, FBI and Defence Department officials, and will be charged with taking a forward-looking approach to safeguarding the nation's secrets. The move aims to "to create a process through which the agencies that are charged with responsibilities for counterintelligence ... can work together in a way that's more coordinated and looks at new threats, assesses them and decides how to protect our secrets," according to Siewert. "We've moved into a world in which threats are more diverse and diffuse, and we need a counterintelligence capacity that recognizes the realities of the changing world," said the official. The spokesman cited the threat posed by cyber-warfare, pointing to high-profile computer viruses spread globally last year. Siewert said President-elect George W. Bush, who takes office January 20, would likely appoint the first "czar" to head the board. But the Republican could also decide to reverse the order.-AFP -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2253 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 11:14am Subject: Former Cuban spy testifies against ex-allies on trial Former Cuban spy testifies against ex-allies on trial http://www.miamiherald.com/content/today/news/americas/carib/cuba/digdocs/102513.htm Published Saturday, January 6, 2001, in the Miami Herald Man gives agents' techniques, efforts to infiltrate Pentagon's Southern office BY GAIL EPSTEIN NIEVES gepstein@h... Avoiding eye contact with his former associates, an acknowledged former Cuban intelligence agent gave jurors a quick training course in spying Friday. He was the first witness to testify about personal in-the-field involvement with any of the five accused spies on trial. Joseph Santos, 40, looked toward the defendants only once when he identified accused spy Gerardo Hernandez. Santos said Hernandez was a Miami-based Cuban ``illegal officer,'' or ranking intelligence agent, who in 1995 assigned Santos and his wife, Amarylis, their primary mission: to infiltrate the Southern Command. Prosecutors contend that Havana was intent on penetrating the Pentagon's Southern Command headquarters, which directs U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Southcom announced its move to Miami from Panama in March 1995. Santos and his wife are already serving prison terms after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. Their terms are likely to be cut short for their help testifying against Hernandez, who prosecutors say conspired with the Cuban military to murder four Brothers to the Rescue fliers in 1996. Santos was born in New Jersey to Cuban parents who later returned to Cuba. He became a university professor in electrical engineering and was recruited by the Directorate of Intelligence in April 1984, he said. His wife joined later. In 1986, he began ``basic training to work as an intelligence agent'' in Santa Clara. As his agent name, he chose Mario. His wife chose the name Julia. She was sentenced to 42 months in prison. Testifying through an interpreter, Santos said he was trained in all aspects of intelligence gathering, from how to penetrate an organization to how to photograph documents and handle them without leaving fingerprints. He also learned techniques for countersurveillance, recruitment, creating microdots, interpreting Morse code shortwave radio broadcasts, running computer encryption programs and how to pass findings to his fellow agents. The most sought-after morsels? ``Any information that might be classified, restricted or secret,'' he said. A frequent recruitment technique, especially overseas? Not telling the whole truth: ``Quite often the fact that they're working for Cuba is omitted,'' he said. Santos said agents were given a ``communications plan'' that designated permanent meeting places for different scenarios they might encounter. If he somehow lost contact with his handler, for instance, he was to go to the Driftwood Motel at 17121 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach and an intelligence officer would meet him. Santos' testimony was no surprise to the defense. His entire training history was outlined on computer disks that the FBI seized during their investigation of the spy ring. The contents fill three huge volumes that have been provided to jurors. In November 1995, Santos said, he was introduced to Hernandez during a meeting at the Pollo Tropical at Northwest 57th Avenue and Seventh Street. Hernandez -- who used a different name -- directed the Santoses to conduct research comparing FedEx, United Parcel Service and U.S. Postal Service because Cuba's intelligence headquarters was looking for new ways to transport its agents' encrypted computer diskettes. But Hernandez told the couple that their main mission was to penetrate the Southern Command by getting jobs there. They failed at that assignment, though at their sentencing hearing, prosecutors said the couple filed at least one ``detailed'' report on the Southcom headquarters complex in western Miami-Dade County. Prosecutors have said the Santoses were among the least culpable of 14 people indicted in 1998 after a major counterintelligence investigation into the so-called Cuban Wasp Network, La Red Avispa. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2254 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 11:16am Subject: Newly Created Spy Czar to Help U.S. Modernize Security Efforts Newly Created Spy Czar to Help U.S. Modernize Security Efforts http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20010106/t000001491.html Espionage: Clinton's order envisions an updated counterintelligence system. It is backed by the CIA and FBI, and Bush is also expected to support it. From Associated Press WASHINGTON--President Clinton has signed an order creating a national counterintelligence executive to oversee the government's efforts to protect its most vital national security secrets, administration officials said Friday. The new executive will have a four-member board composed of the director of the FBI, the deputy secretary of Defense, the deputy director of the CIA and a Justice Department representative. White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Clinton took the action to help adapt U.S. counterintelligence efforts to a post-Cold War era "in which danger could come just as easily from a laptop [computer] and not the traditional cloak-and-dagger spies." "The old system was designed to counter intelligence threats that came from our adversaries in the Cold War," Siewert said. "Now you're in a new era where those threats are not quite as centrally localized and you need a more integrated system." Siewert said that, although the incoming Bush administration could reverse Clinton's decision, that looks doubtful since it is strongly supported by the CIA, the FBI and other agencies involved in counterintelligence matters. He said national security advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger had briefed his anticipated successor, Condoleezza Rice. "They can undo it, but this is not a partisan issue," Siewert said. The organization will reside at CIA headquarters and will replace the CIA's National Counterintelligence Center, according to an administration official who discussed the matter in advance of the White House announcement. The center was created in 1994 after the arrest of Aldrich H. Ames, a longtime CIA officer convicted of spying for the former Soviet Union. The existing counterintelligence center at the CIA focuses on known, suspected or potential intelligence losses. The new organization will take a broader, more forward-looking approach. Siewert said it is unlikely Clinton will name the executive before he leaves office Jan. 20. Before the Ames case, which was one of the worst intelligence disasters in CIA history, the FBI and other government agencies had their own counterintelligence operations, but there was no central, government wide office in charge of protecting secrets. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2255 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 11:17am Subject: Philippines: 'Bugging' witness a no-show Philippines: 'Bugging' witness a no-show http://www.philstar.com/philstar/news200101060417030.htm 1/6/01 Senators suspended yesterday investigation on the alleged wiretapping and spying operations of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) after a police official failed to appear at the hearing. Majority Floor Leader Francisco Tatad told reporters yesterday he had moved for a suspension of the investigation because the Senate had not heard from the unnamed police official, who had earlier promised to testify. "We had to suspend the investigation because next week our schedule will be full with the opening of the special session," Tatad said. Senate Secretary Lutgardo Barbo told reporters yesterday the police officer, who he identified only as "Mendoza," had sent feelers that he would like to testify to shed light to allegations that PAOCTF agents had bugged the phones of senators and other government officials. "I am not at liberty to give details but what I learned is that he was volunteered by somebody," he said. Yesterday, Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., impeachment court presiding officer, ordered to be make public the testimony of Lt. Col. Disocoro Reyes, PAOCTF chief technical officer, at an executive session of the court,, Earlier, Reyes told the impeachment court that PAOCTF has acquired P60 million worth of electronic surveillance equipment to monitor the operations of criminal syndicates. However, Reyes said that he can only testify about the details in an executive session because the matter is classified and involves national security. Tatad said he saw "nothing secret" about the documents presented by Reyes at the executive session because these contained details on a Kodak 200-mm. digital camera and other electronic surveillance equipment. Last Thursday, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. informed the impeachment court that a police officer is willing to testify that the senators had been placed under surveillance and that their telephones had been bugged. Pimentel told reporters he would not identify the witness until he had appeared before the Senate and revealed everything he knows about the alleged bugging operation. "I just told the court there is another police officer who is reportedly willing to testify openly that there was such a bugging of senators. If he is available tomorrow he will testify, if not maybe the following day," he said. ­ Perseus Echeminada -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2256 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 11:23am Subject: TV Recorders Take Quantum Leap TV Recorders Take Quantum Leap by John Gartner 2:00 a.m. Jan. 6, 2001 PST http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,40493,00.html?tw=wn20010106 LAS VEGAS -- The second generation of personal video recorders (PVR) could give you a better view of football games than if you were on the 50-yard line. At this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), hard drive maker Quantum is demonstrating a video system that will enable set-top boxes, televisions, gaming consoles and satellite TVs to provide multiple camera angles, new instant replay features and even more programming. Personal video recording will be one of the many television-computing convergence technologies at CES, which runs through Tuesday. Quantum's (HDD) QuickView IEEE 1394 DVR Subsystem, which was announced earlier this week, extends the VCR-like programming and navigation features made popular by companies such as TiVo and ReplayTV by expanding the storage capacity and adding enhanced streaming video and file management technology. Quantum has added customized software for file management, which controls multiple real-time streams simultaneously and receives television programming schedules to its hard disk technology that was originally developed for PCs, according to Bentley Nelson, director of strategic marketing at Quantum. Nelson said broadcasters will develop new services that will distribute multiple audio- and videostreams in the background for later playback on Quickview-enabled recorders. For example, satellite TV broadcasters can send images from multiple camera angles during a live sporting event or concert into a buffer on their PVR. Fans will be able to select a variety of instant replay views, while the live feed continues to be received by the players. Nelson said that pay-per-view broadcasters could similarly stream multiple movies over a single channel, and customers would then choose any movie to playback at a time of their choosing. Quantum hard drives are used in the majority of PVR systems, including those from TiVo, ReplayTV and DirecTV. Panasonic is the first consumer electronics company to license the Quickview technology, and Nelson expects the first devices to hit store shelves within 6 months. Devices will likely include 40 gigabytes of storage, and Nelson expects that capacity to double within 14 months. Nelson said that PVRs are replacements for VCRs, CD changers, set-top boxes and satellite receivers, and the overall market could be twice that of PC hard disks. According to research firm IDC, the market for PVRs will continue will grow to 14 million units sold per year by the year 2004. Nelson said Quickview works with "5C Content Protection," a copyright technology used in encoding movies. Quickview also supports the 1394 Function Control Protocol that enables multiple devices to be daisy-chained to create an "unlimited" audio or video archive, Nelson said. Other top PVR competitors that will be showing off new products at CES will include Microsoft, TiVo, DirecTV and America Online. Microsoft chief Bill Gates will deliver the Opening Keynote address at CES on Saturday, when he is expected to unveil the much anticipated Xbox gaming console. He will likely demonstrate Microsoft's latest iteration of the WebTV platform, which like the Quantum system, creates an integrated media management platform that links to the TV. Thomson Multimedia has integrated WebTV's Ultimate PC service into its RCA-DIRECTV DWD490RE system, which will be unveiled at CES. The digital satellite TV receiver combines DIRECTV programming, digital video recording, interactive TV and Internet access with a hard disk-based recorder. The system has two digital tuners, enabling viewers to record two shows at the same time or watch one show while recording another. During his Monday morning keynote, Barry Schuler, president of America Online's (AOL) interactive services group, will talk about the company's AOLTV initiative that provides access to the their popular Internet services through set-tops and PVRs. Motorola (MOT) will unveil its Streamaster 5000T set-top box, which will be sold by telecommunications carriers and combines voice, video and data services through Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections. Blockbuster announced this week they will use the Streamaster boxes to deliver movies on demand in Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City. Other new product areas that will be featured at CES are Bluetooth wireless devices, advances in home networking and portable MP3 players, and components for the digital car such as satellite radios and telematics products. Copyright © 1994-2001 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2257 From: Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 6:48am Subject: Tour The Former NSA Site Pisgah Astro Research Institute Site Tour or http://www.pari.edu/ 2258 From: Edward J. Michaels Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 8:59am Subject: New to the list My name is Ed Michaels and I am Director of Investigations for General Security Systems, Inc., surveillance & investigations division known as GSSI. We are a 26 year old licensed private detective agency in MD, NJ & PA with corporate offices in our own building located at 1339 Brandywine Street in Philadelphia, PA. We have branch offices located in St. Claire PA, Maplewood NJ, Woodbury NJ and Tinicum, MD. My own background includes over 30 years in private security and investigation as well as public law enforcement and safety. I am not a retiree from law enforcement or public safety as I do not play politics well. I have invested 8 years of my carrier to labor strife security and 13 to defense investigation, surveillance and counter surveillance for corporate America, attorneys, insurance carriers and self insurers. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 2259 From: Jason Miles Dibley Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 0:00pm Subject: Re: New cameras focus on fuel bandits In answer to the question raised regarding the feasibility of a camera to read a tax disc attached to a vehicle. The simple answer is that it doesn't. The cameras in these systems reads the number plate of the vehicle, that acquired image of the number plate is then checked against a number of lists that are loaded into the computer onboard the number plate reading system. These lists will be vehicles wanted by police, customs, security services, etc. Included on this computer will be an current list of all unlicensed vehicles in that area. This list will have come from the Vehicle licensing agency in Swansea (wales). As the system reads the number plate, if it appears on anyone of the lists then an activation will occur alerting the operators what the interest in the vehicle is. They will then stop and approach the vehicle and deal with it accordingly. So it's not that clever really just a shuttered CCD camera that acquires an image illuminated by pulsed infra-red light (so it can operate in the dark), of the vehicle number plate. The ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) software will then work out what letters and numbers appear on the plate. Once this is done it simply checks the number against the lists that have been loaded into the system. If the plate appears on the system that the machine shouts at the operators. Who will take the appropriate action. I hope this answers your question. Signed J M Dibley QCC Interscan Ltd. ************************************************************** Please visit our associates Web site at http:\\www.qcc.co.uk You can view our digitally signed reports and other documents using Adobe Acrobat Version 4 or greater. You can obtain this for free from the following web site: http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep.html This message is intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information which is privileged and confidential or material which is protected under attorney-client privilege. In addition, this message may not necessarily represent the views of QCC. Accordingly any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you are not the Intended Recipient, please contact QCC Interscan Ltd as soon as possible or send mail to contact@q.... QCC Information Security Ltd. Registered in England and Wales No. 03773029 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Snedden" To: Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 2:36 PM Subject: Re: [TSCM-L] New cameras focus on fuel bandits > I can see that a recognition system would be able to pick up the pre-printed > portion of the tax disc and the colour (different colours for different > validity periods), which may catch out quite a number of defaulters, but in > my experience, only an inspection with the "mark one eyeball" will ascertain > if the handwritten portion (the vehicles details) has been tampered with or > not. > > It is a common method of alteration for a stolen tax disc to be treated with > a substance to fade or remove the pen ink, then fill in the details for the > car that it is going to be displayed on. Such alterations are easily > spotted by close visual inspection and touching the disc, but I can't see a > camera system being able to pick up on these. > > I'm sure the Government "boffins" will be looking at an RF device (passive > or active) embedded in the vehicle which will be validated by some means and > if invalid will send out a signal to static speed cameras, police cars etc. > > This raises questions of civil rights and freedom of movement....... > > Local authorities in the U.K. have just been given powers to raise revenue > from taxing vehicles entering certain areas, commonly city centres, > supposedly in a move to combat congestion. The U.K. has just recently > adopted the European Convention of Human Rights. Does the imposition of a > tax on my freedom of movement on the public highway, when there is no > alternative route to my destination, not impose on my Human Rights? > > I know our cousins in the US have been tackling these sorts of questions for > years now. Any comments? > > Sorry this got a bit off topic, but in a way it's still to do with > surveillance..... ;-) > > Craig > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Talisker" > To: "TSCM-L Mailing List" ; "James M. Atkinson, > Comm-Eng" > Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 6:22 PM > Subject: Re: [TSCM-L] New cameras focus on fuel bandits > > > I saw a TV programme on this recently, and know that the number plate > > reading is working well, however, I really can't see that reading the tax > > disc is feasible, in the UK the lettering is just over an inch tall and on > > top off hard to copy colouring making the letter outline difficult to > read, > > add to this that the disc is displayed inside the windscreen at a variety > of > > positions and angles. Also the disc is displayed in a portion of the > > windscreen outside the coverage of the wipers. > > > > Any opinions from the CCTV geeks out there? Oh and the range from camera > to > > windcreen is 10,s of metres > > > > Andy > > http://www.networkintrusion.co.uk > > Talisker's Network Security Tools List > > ''' > > (0 0) > > ----oOO----(_)---------- > > | The geek shall | > > | Inherit the earth | > > -----------------oOO---- > > |__|__| > > || || > > ooO Ooo > > talisker@n... > > > > The opinions contained within this transmission are entirely my own, and > do > > not necessarily reflect those of my employer. > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng" > > To: "TSCM-L Mailing List" > > Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 12:19 AM > > Subject: [TSCM-L] New cameras focus on fuel bandits > > > > > > > > New cameras focus on fuel bandits > > > > http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=347661 > > > > by David Williams, > > Motoring Editor > > > > Twenty-four surveillance is being launched by police at London filling > > stations to combat a huge rise in the number of people stealing fuel - > > following a year of sharp petrol price rises. > > > > Up to £2 million worth of fuel is now being stolen from forecourts in the > > capital every month. Motorists are driving off with up to £60 of fuel at a > > time, although the average haul in London is £26. > > > > The boom in "drive-offs" has doubled since the problem was reported in the > > summer, when 1,200 garages within the M25 were losing between £750,000 and > > > £1 million every month. > > > > Then the British Oil Security Syndicate (Boss) said thousands of > drive-offs > > were occurring every four weeks. Nationally the crisis cost petrol > retailers > > at least £11.2 million last year. > > > > New Year figures, however, are expected to show a doubling in drive-offs > in > > the past eight months, and police say the crimewave is nationwide. > > > > Now the Met has begun fighting back by installing high-resolution spy > > cameras linked to a powerful mobile police computer, and arrests have > > already been made. The computer reads every car number plate entering a > > forecourt and checks them against lists of known offenders who have > > previously been reported to police following drive-offs. > > > > Police also programmed the computer to issue an alert if it spots vehicles > > involved in other crimes or with no valid tax disc. > > > > In most cases offenders are approached by plain-clothes officers before > they > > drive off. Backed by the oil industry, the operation was launched secretly > > at 30 south London forecourts and is expected to spread throughout London > > before going nationwide. Detective Inspector Larry Lawrence said: "The > > computer works in the blink of an eye and has proved very successful. > > > > "We are pleased to be working with Boss to tackle forecourt crime. The > > figures are quite high but this type of crime is preventable. > > > > "We believe the pattern we have found in south London reflects a > London-wide > > problem." > > > > Tom Sterling, Boss chief, said: "The habitual drive-off offender is the > tip > > of the iceberg as forecourt crime goes. People who do this normally engage > > in other crimes too." Earlier this year Boss reported that since 1998 > credit > > card fraud at filling stations across Britain leapt from £12.2 million to > > £19 million. > > > > Drivers claiming to have "forgotten their wallet" and driving off rose to > £5 > > million this year. > > > > Police also urged oil firms to install barriers at petrol station > > forecourts. They feel that with further rises in the cost of petrol, > > drive-offs will continue to soar. > > > > In January 2000 a litre of unleaded cost 72.9p a litre. Now it is around > > 77.9p. > > > > -- > > > > ======================================================================= > > Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? > > "In a time of universal deceit, telling the > > truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell > > ======================================================================= > > James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 > > Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 > > 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ > > Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... > > ======================================================================= > > The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, > > Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. > > ======================================================================= > > > > > > ======================================================== > > TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List > > "In a multitude of counselors there is strength" > > > > To subscribe to the TSCM-L mailing list visit: > > http://www.onelist.com/community/TSCM-L > > > > or email your subscription request to: > > subTSCM-L@t... > > =================================================== TSKS > > > > > > > > > > ======================================================== > > TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List > > "In a multitude of counselors there is strength" > > > > To subscribe to the TSCM-L mailing list visit: > > http://www.onelist.com/community/TSCM-L > > > > or email your subscription request to: > > subTSCM-L@t... > > =================================================== TSKS > > > > ======================================================== > TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List > "In a multitude of counselors there is strength" > > To subscribe to the TSCM-L mailing list visit: > http://www.onelist.com/community/TSCM-L > > or email your subscription request to: > subTSCM-L@t... > =================================================== TSKS > > 2260 From: Jordan Ulery Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 10:04pm Subject: Re: Digest Number 475 Florida has an extensive web site that may answer your question. You may also wish to direct the question to PI-Digest for comment from PIs from FL. Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 21:34:36 -0500 > From: "Gerard P. Keenan" > Subject: FL licensing for security/Brad Robinson 2261 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Sat Jan 6, 2001 10:52pm Subject: Book Recommendation - Spooked: Espionage in Corporate America Good evening, Here is another book that I think list members will find really interesting as it is right on target as to what we are all about, and what we do to stop or at least neutralize technical espionage. It's also a good book to give to potential customers along with your business card, and a company brochure regarding your TSCM and bug detection services. One of the authors is actually a list member, and at least one list member is quoted in several cases. Spooked: Espionage in Corporate America Adam L. Penenberg Marc Barry Barnes and Noble Price: $20.80 (20% Discount) Retail Price: $26.00 In-Stock: Ships 2-3 days Format: Hardcover, 288 pp. ISBN: 0738202711 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: December 2000 You can order it directly on the Barnes and Noble website by clicking on the following link... and let me know what you think after you read it. http://barnesandnoble.bfast.com/booklink/click?sourceid=324303&bfpid=0738202711&bfmtype=BOOK -------------------------------------------------------------------- List members should also know that the classic eavesdropping movie "The Conversation" was recently released on DVD, and this movie is something every TSCM'er should have. It is rumored that the movie was actually based on the experiences of one of the members of this list. The Conversation Francis Ford Coppola, Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=324303&bfpid=0097360230741&bfmtype=dvd Barnes and Noble Price: $24.99 (16.6% Discount) Format: Wide Screen / Dolby 5.1 / Surround Sound Region Code: 1 Original release date: 1974 Video/DVD Release Date: 12/12/2000 UPC: 97360230741 PARAMOUNT Includes: Production and Technical Notes: Aspect Ratio: 1.85.1 Presentation: Wide Screen Sound: Dolby Digital, Surround Sound Language: English, Français Subtitles: English Time: 1 Hour 53 Minutes or if you prefer a VHS cassette version: http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=324303&bfpid=0097360230789&bfmtype=dvd Barnes and Noble Price: $12.99 (13.3% Discount) In Stock: 24 hours (Same Day) Original release date: 1974 UPC: 97360230789 PARAMOUNT -------------------------------------------------------------------- There was a recent variation of the above movie, which also had Gene Hackman in it (playing a character very similar to that he played in "The Conversation"), and it is a MUST HAVE for anybody in the TSCM or technical security professions. On an added note two list members were technical consultants to the movie. Enemy of the State Tony Scott, Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=324303&bfpid=0717951001634&bfmtype=dvd Barnes and Noble Price: $24.99 (16.6% Discount) In Stock: 24 hours (Same Day) Format: Wide Screen / Dolby 5.1 Region Code: 1 Rating: Original release date: 1998 Video/DVD Release Date: 6/15/1999 UPC: 717951001634 WALT DISNEY VIDEO Includes Production and Technical Notes: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Presentation: Wide Screen Sound: Dolby Digital Features: Closed Caption, movie trailer, featurette, Language: English, Français Time: 2 Hours 12 Minutes or if you prefer a VHS cassette version: http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=324303&bfpid=0786936091526&bfmtype=dvd Barnes and Noble Price: $12.99 (13.3% Discount) In Stock: 24 hours (Same Day) Original release date: 1998 Video/DVD Release Date: 11/2/1999 UPC: 786936091526 WALT DISNEY VIDEO -jma -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 2262 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 9:24am Subject: Pentagon Traffic Jam A Marine colonel, on his way home from work at the Pentagon, came to a dead halt in traffic and thought to himself, "Wow, this traffic seems worse than usual. Nothing's even moving." The colonel noticed a police officer walking back and forth between the lines of cars, so he rolled down his window and asked, "Officer what's the hold up?" The officer replied, "The President is just so depressed about the thought of moving with Hillary to New York that he stopped his motorcade in the middle of the Beltway and he's threatening to douse himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. He says his family hates him and he doesn't have the money to pay for the new house. We're taking up a collection for him." Oh really? How much do you have so far?" " About three hundred gallons, but a lot of folks are still siphoning." -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2263 From: Elliott & Associates, Ltd. Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 0:01pm Subject: The Conversation A couple of weeks back there was some discussion about the movie The Conversation with Gene Hackman. A comment was made to the effect that it was rumored that the movie was based on the life of a TSCM list member. The facts are that the movie was patterned after the life of Hal Lipset who was a PI in San Francisco for years. In fact Hal Lipset served as an advisor on the movie. Hal Lipset died a couple of years back, but was playing with recording/video devices up to the end. In the mid 60s Hal Lipset was one of several people who testified before Congress about eavesdropping devices, bugging, etec. Up to this point (60s) there had been no federal law prohibiting use of bugging devices. Hal got national attention because of his Martini Olive bug which was really a toy and good for 10 to 20 feet and that was if it hadn't been eaten The Martini Olive bug should not be confused with the Vagina transmitter designed by Winston Arrington. The Vagina transmitter will go 500 feet or better to a receiver. Just setting the record straight. Bill Elliott, CII ELLIOTT & ASSOCIATES, Ltd. (GMT -7) http://www.prvt-eye.com 2264 From: 1RCM <1RCM@M...> Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 5:55pm Subject: Information Needed Hi List, I'm looking for any list member who might be located in the Boise, ID. area. I'm contemplating an equipment deal with an individual at that location and would be interested in any possible local reputation information and/or paying for someone's time to have them check the piece before I buy it. The items' cost isn't that extravagant but still is far more than I care to lose blindly. Please respond directly and off-list. Thanks, Bob 1RCM@M... 2265 From: Ray Fitgerald Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 6:34pm Subject: Re: The Conversation One of my favorite movies.I have two copies. Your info is right on the mark. Another good one more up to date is "Sneakers" with Robt Redford.And "Enemy of the State" Raymond J. Fitzgerald Bureau Of Special Services bosspi@i... http://business.inc.com/bosspi 845-543-6487 --- 845-534-1060 FAX Licensed & Bonded Investigators in N.Y. since 1973 Member: NALI,ALDONYS,NAPPS,COIN,EPIC. " Truth Never Fears Detection " -----Original Message----- From: Elliott & Associates, Ltd. To: TSCM-L@egroups.com Date: Monday, January 08, 2001 1:03 PM Subject: [TSCM-L] The Conversation >A couple of weeks back there was some discussion about the movie The >Conversation with Gene Hackman. A comment was made to the effect that it was >rumored that the movie was based on the life of a TSCM list member. > >The facts are that the movie was patterned after the life of Hal Lipset who >was a PI in San Francisco for years. In fact Hal Lipset served as an >advisor on the movie. > >Hal Lipset died a couple of years back, but was playing with recording/video >devices up to the end. > >In the mid 60s Hal Lipset was one of several people who testified before >Congress about eavesdropping devices, bugging, etec. Up to this point >(60s) there had been no federal law prohibiting use of bugging devices. Hal >got national attention because of his Martini Olive bug which was really a >toy and good for 10 to 20 feet and that was if it hadn't been eaten > >The Martini Olive bug should not be confused with the Vagina transmitter >designed by Winston Arrington. The Vagina transmitter will go 500 feet or >better to a receiver. > >Just setting the record straight. > > >Bill Elliott, CII >ELLIOTT & ASSOCIATES, Ltd. (GMT -7) >http://www.prvt-eye.com > > >======================================================== > TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List > "In a multitude of counselors there is strength" > > To subscribe to the TSCM-L mailing list visit: > http://www.onelist.com/community/TSCM-L > > or email your subscription request to: > subTSCM-L@t... >=================================================== TSKS > > 2266 From: William Knowles Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 8:58pm Subject: Documentary Examines NSA Role, History http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAY80WKNHC.html [I see this will be on again at 10:00pm C.S.T. -WK] By Eun-Kyung Kim Associated Press Writer Jan 6, 2001 - 12:11 PM WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Security Agency, the supersecret intelligence mission most Americans do not even know exists, gives some explanation in a television documentary for its tightlipped behavior. "It's really important that the American people understand what we do, that we are in fact a relatively powerful organization. And it's absolutely critical that they don't fear the power that we have," the agency's director, Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, says in a rare interview. The History Channel program, airing Monday as part of the network's "History's Mysteries" series, seeks to explain the agency's mission and examines recent controversies. Considered the eavesdropping branch of the intelligence community, the NSA gathers information through satellites, telephone intercepts and other methods. Not much else is known about the NSA, which employees joke stands for "No Such Agency" Hayden offers little more. "We intercept communications of adversaries of the United States and attempt to turn that into wisdom for American policy-makers and commanders," he said, according to a transcript of the show. "By the same token, we attempt to prevent other nations from doing that to the United States of America. That's what we do." Congress recently resolved a budget battle over funds for the NSA when President Clinton signed legislation authorizing money for intelligence agencies, including the NSA and CIA. He had vetoed the original spending bill because of a provision that would have made the leaking of government secrets a felony offense. The exact budget figure included in the bill is classified. "If you were comparing NSA to a corporation in terms of dollars spent, floor space occupied and personnel employed, it would rank in the top 10 percent of the Fortune 500 companies," said Judith Emmel, a spokeswoman for the agency, which has its headquarters in Fort Meade, Md. Last year, the NSA defended itself against allegations it illegally snooped into e-mail messages and other communications between ordinary Americans. On the cable program, Hayden denied such action. "I'm here to tell you that we don't get close to the Fourth Amendment," he said, referring to the constitutional provision prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure. "We, for better or worse, stay comfortably away from that line." The program recounts the agency's history and the codes it has deciphered from Japanese, German, Vietnamese and other foreign governments during past conflicts. "The ability to do communications intelligence has saved lives. It has kept us out of war. It has shortened war when we've been in it," said David Hatch, NSA senior historian. The NSA had to revise its mission after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The agency soon shifted its focus to terrorists, drug traffickers and the threat of war over the Internet. "Cyberwar is a term that you hear today a lot. And the business we're in is to counter the effectiveness of cyberwarfare against our infrastructures," said Michael Jacobs, deputy director of information assurance. "We acquire information, we determine its value and we pass it on," said Maureen Baginski, who heads NSA's Office of the Director. "Really, what you have here is a bunch of Americans that are safeguarding Americans." -- On the Net: National Security Agency: http://www.nsa.gov History Channel: http://www.historychannel.com/ *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* 2267 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Tue Jan 9, 2001 0:48am Subject: Shake-up could revive KGB Shake-up could revive KGB By Andrew Jack in Moscow http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3PE8PLQHC&live=true&tagid=ZZZAFZAVA0C&subheading=europe Published: January 8 2001 20:35GMT Last Updated: January 8 2001 22:31GMT The Russian government is considering reorganising its special services organisations, triggering concerns from critics about the re-creation of the Soviet-era KGB. Quoted on Russian press agencies, Sergei Ivanov, secretary of the advisory Security Council, said that strengthening links between the special services was one of the priority issues for the coming six months. The agencies involved would include the FSB, responsible for intelligence gathering, the Border Guards, and Fapsi, the agency in charge of interception of communications. Mr Ivanov's statement sparked a warning from Sergei Yushenkov, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's security committee, that in the wake of the restoration of the music of the Soviet-era national anthem, the KGB's name - meaning the committee for state security - could also be reintroduced. Mr Yushenkov said the recreation of a single agency might make the activities more efficient, but it would reduce the control of civil society over their operations. Since the appointment of Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent and one-time head of the FSB, as president, there has been growing concern by liberal critics over the power of the security services. Former president Boris Yeltsin broke up the KGB after the 1991 coup against the ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, although he never fully disbanded its constituent parts. Mr Yushenkov said the government had proposed draft legislation in the parliament last November on the reunification of the special services, but it had triggered too much concern to be passed. Mr Ivanov, himself a former KGB agent and long-standing colleague of Mr Putin, has been tipped as a possible future defence minister, prime minister or head of the presidential administration. He has been active in building up the influence of the Security Council. The council has been instrumental in developing Russia's national security, military and information doctrines, and has expanded its role into the social sector, politics and other areas. The Russian daily newspaper Sevodnya, which is owned by Vladimir Gusinsky, the exiled media tycoon who has been critical of Mr Putin's administration, last week warned of the risk of a return of the KGB. However, Konstantin Preobrazhensky, a security analyst and former KGB agent who has become a strong critic of the organisation, said he doubted that the former special services would be formally reunited into a single organisation. He said that each division - including the SVR or foreign espionage network - had its own ministerial-level chief, all of whom would be reluctant to share information or give up their power in favour of a single head. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2268 From: Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 1:47pm Subject: New Member - UK. ISDN I'm a well established P.I in the UK and looking for any info on the systems alternative use of ISDN lines. I'm told that this now has the same use as the old analogue Infinity Transmitter. I appreciate your all mostly from the States but any idea's ? 2269 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Tue Jan 9, 2001 6:42pm Subject: History Looks at the NSA History Looks at the NSA http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,41063,00.html by Declan McCullagh 2:00 a.m. Jan. 9, 2001 PST WASHINGTON -- As anyone who watched Enemy of the State knows, the National Security Agency is a rapacious beast with an appetite for data surpassed only by its disregard for Americans' privacy. Or is the opposite true, and the ex-No Such Agency staffed by ardent civil libertarians? To the NSA, of course, its devilish reputation is merely an unfortunate Hollywood fiction. Its director, Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, has taken every opportunity to say so, most recently on a History Channel documentary that aired for the first time Monday evening. "It's absolutely critical that (Americans) don't fear the power that we have," Hayden said on the show. He dismissed concerns about eavesdropping over-eagerness and all but said the NSA, far from being one of the most feared agencies, has become one of the most handicapped. One reason, long cited by agency officials: Encryption. The show's producers obligingly included stock footage of Saddam Hussein, saying that the dictator-for-life has been spotted chatting on a 900-channel encrypted cell phone. That's no surprise. The NSA, as Steven Levy documents in his new Crypto book (which the documentary overlooks), has spent the last 30 years trying to suppress data-scrambling technology through export regulations, court battles, and even personal threats. Instead of exploring that controversial and timely subject that's tied to the ongoing debate over privacy online, "America's Most Secret Agency" instead spends the bulk of an hour on a history of cryptography starting in World War II. Most of the documentary could have aired two decades ago, and no critics are interviewed. One of the few surprises in the otherwise bland show is the NSA's new raison d'etre -- infowar. Since its inception in the dark days of the Cold War, the NSA has had two missions, protecting the government's communications while tunneling through the ciphers that guard the enemy's. (Occasionally the two have conflicted.) "The business we're in is to counter the effectiveness of cyberwar against our infrastructure," said Michael Jacobs, the NSA's deputy director for information systems security. Jacobs cited power grids, transportation, air traffic, energy and health services as examples of industries "which have information that is critical to some segment of our society" and must be protected from terrorists, criminals and hackers. In the agency's National Cryptologic Strategy for the 21st Century document, the NSA says it will "develop applications to leverage emerging technologies and sustain both our offensive and defensive information warfare capabilities." One part of the NSA, the Information Systems Security Organization, is devoted to just that. The group even has an outreach program to take advantage of the "talents of government and industry partners" in secure system design, evaluation, and testing. Another program (call 800-688-6115) even offers two-day training classes. If all this sounds like a tremendously geeky community college, the NSA doesn't seem to mind. "I'm here to tell you we don't get close to the Fourth Amendment," says the NSA's Lt. Gen. Hayden. The Fourth Amendment, as we learned in civics classes, explicitly prohibits "unreasonable" searches and seizures, and implicitly allows reasonable ones. What that means in practice is that the NSA is not permitted by law to spy on American citizens. But that broad prohibition, codified in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, hasn't stopped fears of NSA overzealousness, fueled by persistent reports of the Echelon data-reporting system. In early 2000, the House Intelligence committee held hearings after an outcry over a reported NSA global surveillance system called Echelon. Few legislators asked tough questions. In fact, the National Commission on Terrorism recommended last summer that Congress should give federal police more eavesdropping abilities and increase the budgets of spy agencies. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2270 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Tue Jan 9, 2001 6:45pm Subject: Nowhere to hide / A special report on privacy Nowhere to hide / A special report on privacy http://www.thestar.com/apps/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=978841852931&call_page=TS_@Biz&call_pageid=971794782442&call_pagepath=Business/@Biz As monitoring tools multiply, society weighs your privacy against profit, public interest in knowing Tyler Hamilton TECHNOLOGY REPORTER A SPECIAL REPORT ON PRIVACY Two astronauts hold a secret meeting in a tightly sealed space pod, detailing through whispers a plan to seize control of their computer-hijacked vessel. In the background, the hijacker - a malfunctioning supercomputer named HAL 9000 - silently observes the movement of their lips, processes the data and analyzes the meaning of their supposedly private conversation. It's a chilling scene. As filmmaker Stanley Kubrick demonstrated in his sci-fi movie classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, it's virtually impossible to conceal one's privacy in an age where technology rules the day - and in many cases, runs amok. In the 33 years since Kubrick released his film, our technological odyssey has become more science than fiction. The year is 2001. We live in a highly connected digital society, one that's capable of peeking into our personal worlds, taking detailed snapshots and following the trail of electronic cookie crumbs we leave behind. The threat to individual privacy is more real than ever, as more consumer, financial and medical data is collected as fuel for our burgeoning electronic economy. Governments watch and track us in the name of health and welfare. Businesses monitor and study us to sell more goods and keep their employees honest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- `If there is no demonstrated need for the information, it should be gone.' - Bruce Phillips, Canada's former privacy commissioner `It's not like there's this evil intention. Part of (the fear) is that nobody actually follows the data trail.' - Valerie Steeves, Carlton University law professor ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes we know it's happening. Sometimes we don't. Either way, privacy breaches are being felt and noticed. Consider the following: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has called ``identity theft'' - a form of fraud through impersonation - the fastest growing crime in North America, partly because of the ease with which personal data can be accessed through computer systems and the Internet; A perceived lack of privacy and security on the Internet continues to be cited in Canadian and U.S. studies as the leading factor holding back the growth of e-commerce. Meanwhile, a recent Canadian study found that half of commercial Web sites in Canada don't have policies aimed at protecting consumer privacy; According to Denver-based research firm The Privacy Foundation, workplace surveillance was the leading privacy concern in 2000, an issue that has lowered staff morale at many companies. Privacy advocates say the need to protect our lives from unwanted, unnecessary and malicious intrusions has come to a critical juncture. But where do we draw the line? And what are the rules for crossing that line? The answers will have profound social, economic and legal implications for businesses, governments, consumers and citizens. ``We have an enormous obligation to get it right,'' says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. ``Privacy has become a global issue. It has become a political issue. It has become a technological issue. It has become an issue for the courts.'' In the United States, more than two dozen companies have been sued for tracking online consumers without their consent, including Internet advertising firm DoubleClick Inc. and defunct e-tailer Toysmart.com. More than 65 privacy-related bills are currently pending in Congress. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has unofficially accepted a role as privacy watchdog. So far, it has taken action against nearly 200 companies. ``Yes, we actually pay people to surf the Net,'' says FTC commissioner Mozelle Thomson. ``This issue is on the front burner.'' In Canada, the legislators have been busier than the lawyers. Last week, a new federal law - formerly known as Bill C-6 - came into force that gives Canadian consumers more control over how their information is collected and used in the private sector. The new legislation, which complements the existing public sector Privacy Act, aims to promote electronic commerce by creating an online environment of trust and respect. But that's just the beginning of Canada's privacy odyssey. The provinces - except for Quebec, which already has private-sector legislation - will soon be jumping in with their own draft bills, laying the foundation for future laws to deal with health records, genetic testing and surveillance in the workplace. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- `These are huge issues that as a society we have to confront. Privacy will be the defining issue of this new decade we're entering.' - George RadwanskI, Canada's privacy commissioner ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ``These are huge issues that as a society we have to confront,'' says George Radwanski, the country's new federal privacy commissioner, whose policing powers now extend to the private sector. ``Privacy will be the defining issue of this new decade we're entering,'' he says. ``My role is to be the champion of Canadians in this regard and to make them aware of these issues.'' A fishbowl society Radwanski points out that privacy is not absolute. We reveal much about ourselves by simply opening up a bank account, handing in a résumé for a job, or walking out our front door to pick up the daily newspaper. Still, he says privacy in the electronic age is deteriorating at an alarming rate. To make matters worse, it has become increasingly difficult to pinpoint just who's watching us and where our personal information is flowing. Stealth video cameras record us in parking lots, elevators and office buildings. Software keeps track of our keystrokes, e-mails and the Web sites we visit. Radio scanners frequently intercept our wireless phone calls, and satellite-tracking technologies can trace the location of vehicles, not to mention the fashionable ``smart'' devices we carry with us. In the United States, the FBI is using a technology called Carnivore that can target and randomly read e-mail as it passes through gateways to the Web. The software was designed to net criminals, but critics charge that it catches much more than it should. As the motto on one electronic surveillance Web site reads: ``In God we trust. All others we monitor.'' Biometric technologies have even made it possible for computers to spot us in crowds, recognize us through our own unique odours and identify us through the rhythm of our walk. About a year ago, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh taught a computer to read lips - just like HAL. Sadly, real-time surveillance is just the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lie large masses of personal databanks, increasingly organized and often unprotected from hackers, disgruntled employees and old-fashioned criminals. Governments, businesses and law enforcement agencies use powerful, memory-rich databases known as ``data warehouses'' to electronically store and analyze this information, creating a way to sketch eerily accurate profiles of our lives. ``This is all being linked together,'' says Austin Hill, president of Montreal-based Zero-Knowledge Systems Inc., a developer of software that lets people conceal their online identities. Hill says the Internet, helped by its multimedia cousin the World Wide Web, has made it easier than ever to collect, share, replicate, move and link this information. And it can do it at lightning speeds, thanks to advances in fibre-optic technologies that transport data as pulses of light. The Internet has essentially become a universal repository for personal data, easily accessible by a growing number of Web-enabled devices - from laptops and Palm organizers to ``smart'' phones and fridges. Michael Power, a privacy expert and partner with Canadian law firm Gowlings, likes to think of data as a liquid. ``Information flows like water,'' he explains. ``If it hits something it just finds another way to get around it.'' Still, the question remains: Why collect all this data in the first place? In the public sector, politicians argue that getting a better understanding of constituents allows them to do their jobs properly and keep the streets safer at night. Whether it's a gun registration database, a criminal DNA repository or the latest Statistics Canada census, the idea is to use this data to shape policy, improve government services and limit dangers to society. ``The policy-makers are very much into an efficiency mode of thinking,'' says Valerie Steeves, a law professor at Ottawa's Carleton University and a specialist in privacy policy. ``There's a real resistance to stopping the flow.'' In Ontario, the government is pushing through a plan to issue multi-purpose ``smart cards'' that would combine a person's photograph with health, driver's license, birth certificate and other information. A computer chip embedded within the card would keep updated records of an individual's interaction with hospitals, courts and traffic cops. The provincial government is also building a network that would integrate information flowing through the justice system, meaning lawyers, courts and police could access a common pool of data. A similar network is planned for health care. Nationally, the federal government has been no less active. Its Government On-Line initiative aims to provide electronic access to all federal programs and services by 2004, changing the way citizens file taxes or apply for passports. This spring, Ottawa will spend about $400 million and employ 40,000 staff to collect personal data for this year's Statscan census. Beginning May 15, more than 30 million Canadians will be asked intimate questions about their lives, and many will be legally required to divulge their income, ethnicity, disabilities - even sexual orientation. In exchange for the intrusive questionnaire, the government promises confidentiality. Where does the information end up? In a database where it undergoes statistical analysis, just like all census information from the past. And for the first time, Statscan will allow certain individuals to file their information over the Internet. ``It's not like there's this evil intention,'' says Steeves, referring to the many instances where governments collect sensitive personal information. ``Part of (the fear) is that nobody actually follows the data trail.'' That said, the Big Brother envisioned by George Orwell in his book 1984 doesn't look so threatening when measured against big business. The desire to monitor employees and the thirst for consumer data has grown to unprecedented levels in the corporate world. Video surveillance, keystroke monitoring, e-mail filtering and voice-mail recording are now common features in the workplace, where an increasing number of employers are asserting their right to audit the productivity of their staff and protect themselves from potential lawsuits. In the United States alone, two-thirds of corporations monitor their employees to some degree, according to the American Management Association. Meanwhile, the value of personal information as a well-focused marketing and advertising tool has soared in the Internet and computing age. Data mining and analysis software is helping online and off-line companies know their customers better, whether the goal is understanding buying behaviour, making note of product preferences or anticipating future purchases. Ultimately, advertising can be directed and personalized to build stronger customer relationships and sell more Gap jeans, Coke products or Trojan condoms. This explains why more than 85 per cent of all Web sites collect personal information from online visitors. For dot-coms such as DoubleClick and Amazon.com, this information is critical to their existence. For loyalty programs like Air Miles, such information is their existence. The threat Jason Catlett, a leading privacy guru south of the border and founder of advocacy firm Junkbusters Corp., says the detail and quality of information being collected is becoming more and more invasive, and it's doubling every two years. ``There's a real danger here of concentration of information, because it provides a single point of failure,'' says Catlett. ``If there's no one watching the shop, then the shoplifters are going to run amok.'' For many people, the response is: so what. How, they ask, can something as simple as data represent a threat or danger? The answer to this question goes far beyond the annoyance of spammers, junk mailers and telemarketers. Rather, it deals with the risks posed by stalkers, thieves, suspicious lovers, curious employers and overly snoopy insurance companies. Consider the following two cases: Last month, it was discovered that an outlaw biker gang had infiltrated Quebec's automobile-insurance board and, by accessing its computer systems, tracked down the addresses and phones numbers of rival gang members, police officers and journalists. Police suspect that confidential data was wrongfully obtained on Journal de Montreal reporter Michel Auger - who was shot five times on Sept. 13 in his newspaper's parking lot - and may have been passed along to his assailants, making it easier to track him. In 1997, a grandmother from Ohio received a letter from a prison inmate in Texas who knew intimate details about her life, such as how often she uses sleeping aids, deodorizers and hemorrhoid medication. The inmate, a convicted rapist, also offered in his letter to fulfill her sexual desires and fantasies when he was eventually released from prison. Needless to say, the woman suffered months of emotional and psychological torture. It was eventually discovered that the inmate bought the data from another prisoner. Apparently, the second inmate had a data entry job as part of a prison-labour program. The data in question was an elaborate consumer survey the woman had filled out earlier. ``Don't blame things like the Internet,'' says Catlett. ``Blame the increase in the amount of data, and the lack of controls in handling it.'' It's not that consumers never knowingly hand over their information. Generally, people don't hesitate to participate in online surveys or loyalty programs if it means discounts on merchandise or better, more personalized customer service. What many don't know is where their personal data could end up. The cases, unfortunately, are plentiful. In British Columbia in the mid-1990s, three staff at a Vancouver abortion clinic found out that their license plate numbers had been obtained through an RCMP computer system. It was later discovered that the officer who accessed the records had passed along the personal data to his mother - a worker with an anti-abortion group. David Flaherty, then privacy commissioner of British Columbia, used that case as part of a larger investigation into the abuses with motor vehicle databases. ``I've done some work more recently with abortion clinics,'' says Flaherty, who now works as a privacy consultant. ``Their staff literally have to look under their cars for bombs before they get into them.'' Flaherty - who considers privacy a human right - says there is a blind assumption among many individuals that safeguards for protecting personal information are being followed. He says most organizations have no interest in unnecessarily invading people's privacy, but mistakes do happen. ``I'm surprised at how many people work in some of these database-intensive industries with access to information,'' he says. ``Sure, they all have confidentiality agreements - big deal.'' Whether it's an innocent slip of the mouse, a case of taking kickbacks, or a security oversight that is sniffed out by hackers, employees that have access to computer systems within an organization are often the weakest link when it comes to protecting privacy. Network firewalls, biometric technologies, security passwords and encryption software can help, but only if processes and procedures are closely followed and audited. According to research firm IDC Canada Ltd., accidents and human error - not hackers - pose the biggest security threat to business computer networks and Web sites in Canada. When such systems hold vast amounts of personal data, a security risk instantly becomes a privacy risk. It's no wonder Bruce Phillips, Canada's former privacy commissioner, decided last spring to blow the whistle on a huge database system created by Human Resources Development Canada. The database, designed for no apparent purpose, carried detailed profiles on more than 33 million Canadians - information gathered without their knowledge or consent. ``If there is no demonstrated need for the information, it should be gone,'' says Phillips, explaining that purpose and consent are two basic principles to which organizations should adhere. HRDC tried to defend the database as a research tool, but two weeks later, under the weight of public criticism, it pulled the plug. Privacy risks grow even larger when such information is being gathered by profit-driven Web ventures that are far less stable than government. Take Toysmart.com, an online retailer that filed for bankruptcy in June. Despite assurances in its privacy policy that it would protect the personal information of its customers and never share that data with third parties, Toysmart decided to auction off its customer list to the highest bidder as a way to help pay off its debts. Last year, more than 210 ``dot-coms'' went belly up, according to San Francisco-based consulting firm Webmergers.com. The closures left 15,000 people out of work and hundreds of detailed customers lists at the mercy of disgruntled employees and anonymous buyers. ``There is an awful lot of data out there floating around with nobody willing to protect it,'' says Catlett, adding that the Toysmart.com case demonstrates what companies are willing to do when backed against a wall. ``You don't want some pervert calling up your kids pretending to be Ken and asking for Barbie. (The Toysmart customer list) deserves protection.'' But even genuine attempts at protection often fail: In January, 1999, a security oversight with the Airmiles.ca Web site exposed detailed personal information on tens of thousands of Canadians who had filled out a ``confidential'' survey for the popular rewards program. In all, 82 categories of information were open for view, including data about types of credit cards held, the number of cars owned and whether the person was a pet owner or mobile-phone user. Fortunately, credit card numbers and data on specific product purchases were not revealed; Last April, Toronto-based wireless service provider Look Communications also blamed human error for a security breach that left hundreds of customer files - including phone and credit card numbers - exposed on the Internet. Amazom.com, Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., AT&T Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. are among a list of well-known companies that have experienced similar goof-ups. Then there are the blatant attacks. Online auction site Egghead.com admitted last month that someone had breached their computer systems and possibly stolen up to 3.7 million credit card numbers and other customer information. The fact that so much data is floating around unguarded or under attack explains why identity theft - the use of another person's identity to commit fraud - has quickly become the fastest growing crime in North America. These days, crawling around in garbage dumpsters, picking pockets and raiding mailboxes has been replaced by Internet search engines, do-it-yourself hacker kits and online services that do all the dirty work for a nominal fee. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- `As search engines become more powerful, they become a way to aggregate that information. That's how you create a profile on somebody.' - Michael Power, partner with Gowlings law firm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ``If it goes into a computer system, you never know where it's going to show up,'' explains Power, the partner with Gowlings. ``As search engines become more powerful, they become a way to aggregate that information. That's how you create a profile on somebody.'' Once that profile is created, it's easy for someone you've never met to impersonate you, make purchases under your name, access bank accounts and commit other crimes. Then one day, you get an unpleasant surprise: Your bank account is empty, your credit cards are run up, your credit record is shot and you've been wrongfully linked to a number of criminal offences. Clearing up that mess and trying to restore your reputation often creates emotional, psychological and economic suffering . In one high-profile case, Mari Frank, an attorney from Laguna Niguel, Calif., discovered that someone had purchased a sports car, spent more than $10,000 at Toys ``R'' Us Inc., damaged a rental car and accumulated $50,000 in debt using personal information that could have easily been found on the Internet. Many novice Internet users respond to unsolicited e-mails that promise rewards in exchange for detailed data about them. Others fill out information to gain access to certain sites on the Web. Where this information ends up is anyone's guess. In Canada, cases of identity theft have been harder to track because most law enforcement authorities here lump the crime under the umbrella of general fraud. ``There's no program to deal specifically with the issue of identity theft,'' says Sgt. Paul Marsh, spokesperson for the RCMP. ``Our current reporting does not break out fraud done online.'' Marsh says the offences of personation and fraud currently found in the Criminal Code have been considered adequate to address the question of identity theft, but he adds that the RCMP is examining ways of statistically distinguishing off-line and online fraud within its computer systems. Such statistics may be necessary to prepare for tomorrow. Many privacy advocates point out that the fears we exhibit today are largely related to the dangers that lie in the future if the privacy issue isn't adequately addressed. For example, the collection of health and medical information by governments, non-profit groups, pharmacies, doctors, hospitals and medical information Web sites raises the issue of how this information - if it's stolen, monitored, leaked, shared or sold - can be used to discriminate against people. ``It's particularly difficult with health care to guard against secondary uses, because the insurance and drug industries are so much a part of the medical sector,'' says Steeves, the Carleton University law professor. Steeves says the spectre of eugenics is very real in an age where animals have already been cloned and genetic defects can be easily recorded. In the workplace, drug tests that can also detect whether a woman has stopped taking the birth control pill could easily lead to dismissal in advance of maternity leave. Getting a job or life insurance could also become more difficult if a genetic flaw that ``may'' lead to future illness raises a red flag. A new dot-com in the United States called First Genetic Trust has created what it calls a ``genetic banking'' service. For a fee, the company collects, analyzes and maintains an individual's genetic data for confidential and secure storage, or use in ongoing clinical trials. The potential value of the service is compelling when applied to medical research, drug discovery and personalized diagnosis and treatment of genetically related illness. But what if the company goes bankrupt? It begs the question at a time when bankrupt companies like Toysmart.com are making headlines by trying to sell off customer lists. ``There's all sort of privacy rhetoric,'' says Steeves. ``But very little privacy protection.'' -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2271 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Tue Jan 9, 2001 6:59pm Subject: Trial turns spotlight on US-Cuban espionage Trial turns spotlight on US-Cuban espionage http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/009/nation/Trial_turns_spotlight_on_US_Cuban_espionage+.shtml By Richard Chacón, Globe Staff, 1/9/2001 IAMI - One Cuban man pretended to be a Puerto Rican, memorizing a 30-page phony life story. Another landed a janitor's job at a US naval base in Key West, keeping an eye on military activity. And a third posed as a Cuban defector so that he could infiltrate Cuban-American exile groups and send information back to Havana. These are just some of the eyebrow-raising stories emerging from a federal trial here. The case, which resembles a John le Carre thriller, offers a rare glimpse into the modern world of US-Cuban espionage. The three men are among five accused of being Cuban spies - part of an espionage ring known to US intelligence officials as the Wasp Network. According to the US government, more than a dozen Cuban secret agents tried to infiltrate US exile groups and military bases in Florida through most of the last decade until law enforcement agents broke up the ring in 1998. Four of the suspects - including Juan Pablo Roque, who defected to Miami from Cuba amid much fanfare by exile leaders - have been indicted in absentia because they escaped to the island nation before being arrested. Five others, including two married couples, have pleaded guilty and are expected to testify against their former comrades. But it's the trial of the remaining five that is drawing the most attention now from leaders and curious intelligence spectators hoping to peer into the shadowy world of US and Cuban espionage operations. In testimony last week, Joseph Santos, an agent who confessed to authorities, said he and his wife received orders from an alleged ringleader, Gerardo Hernandez, to penetrate the US military's Southern Command headquarters in Miami. Santos said he also was assigned to study Federal Express, United Parcel Service, and the US Postal Service for mailing some of the information they gathered. Authorities and prosecutors are relying on thousands of pieces of evidence that were gathered from court-ordered apartment searches or through routine intelligence work, such as intercepting short-wave radio signals, computer messages, or coded phone conversations. Government attorneys have assembled several thick binders of transcripts of messages between the spies and their bosses in Havana. Some of the transmissions talk in flowery language about the importance of their work for Cuba's 41-year-old Communist revolution, while others deal with more mundane things, like what clothes they wore that day, where they shopped, or their constant need for more money from Havana. Prosecutors accuse the men of having prior knowledge of plans by Cuba to shoot down two planes belonging to the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue on Feb. 24, 1996. Hernandez, a Cuban who prosecutors say posed as a Puerto Rican to hide his true identity, is charged with conspiracy to murder in connection with that incident. The suspects admit they were working on orders from Havana but deny obtaining classified information from the exile community or from any US military facility. In an encrypted message shown in testimony last week, Cuban intelligence officials in Havana tell their workers in Miami to ''uncover plans for acts of aggression against Cuba'' by the United States by keeping an eye out for increased military training, the movement of personnel or an increase in flights from the US naval base in Boca Chica, Fla. The agents kept meticulous notes of their actions and expenses. Among the notes confiscated by authorities are envelopes and small scraps of paper carefully detailing money distributed to all of the ring's participants. Using a network that stretched from Mexico City to Miami and New York, agents were given specific instructions from Havana on where to meet other Cuban officials to pass information or collect money. According to government transcripts released this week, meetings were held in the frozen food section of a Queens supermarket, in a men's restroom at a Bronx diner and at a McDonald's restaurant in Miami. All of the agents tried hard to blend in into their American surroundings as much as possible, renting apartments in Hollywood, Fla., and in Miami; taking out memberships at local video stores; and, in some cases, finding girlfriends or getting married even if they had spouses back home in Cuba. The trial has also been a delicate matter for US officials, who worry about publicly divulging too much of their intelligence techniques. Over the years, FBI officials intercepted the group's calls and short-wave radio messages, conducted apartment searches, and confiscated about 1,000 encrypted computer disks. Questions have also been raised in local media over whether the FBI knew about plans to shoot down the exile plans and whether the incident could have been avoided. US authorities have denied withholding any information. The realization that Havana's spies worked and lived among them has stung the anti-Castro Cuban exile community here, which has suffered setbacks following the Elian Gonzalez saga last year and the death in 1997 of its most colorful leader, Jorge Mas Canosa, longtime president of the Cuban American National Foundation. ''There is a willingness in this community to give people from Cuba the benefit of the doubt and to welcome them,'' said Dennis Hays, vice president of the foundation, adding that Cuban-Americans may be more cautious of new arrivals. ''A case like this shows how cold-blooded people can be and creates a huge sense of betrayal and bewilderment.'' This story ran on page A08 of the Boston Globe on 1/9/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2272 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Tue Jan 9, 2001 7:01pm Subject: Jailed Cuban spy identifies his `handlers' Jailed Cuban spy identifies his `handlers' Published Tuesday, January 9, 2001, in the Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/content/today/news/dade/digdocs/067701.htm He said both directed him to get a job at the Southern Command's Miami headquarters. BY GAIL EPSTEIN NIEVES gepstein@h... A former Cuban intelligence agent on Monday identified two more defendants in the Cuban spy trial as his ``handlers'' and said both of them directed him to get a job at the Southern Command's Miami headquarters so he could snoop for the Cuban government. The testimony of acknowledged ex-agent Joseph Santos, 40, was the first to link accused spies Ramón Lavaniño and Fernando González with in-the-trenches intelligence activity. On Friday, Santos similarly implicated co-defendant Gerardo Hernández. The trial's opening weeks focused on documentary and physical evidence against the five accused spies. With Santos, jurors are hearing firsthand accounts about the inner workings of Cuba's intelligence apparatus, from spy recruitment to training to work assignments. In the case of Santos and his wife, Amarylis -- also a Cuban agent -- their achievements were far less illustrious than their assignments, according to testimony. Santos said he successfully completed a research project on the Southern Command while its new headquarters were being built in Miami's Doral section in early 1997. He and his wife took photographs of all the surrounding buildings, between Northwest 87th and 99th avenues and 25th and 40th streets, ``to provide a pretty clear idea to anyone'' what the area looked like. Santos said he gave the report to his handler Lavaniño, an ``illegal agent'' or ranking Cuban intelligence operative who also went by the name Luis Medina. But more importantly, Lavaniño told the Santos couple that their ``supreme task'' was to get jobs at the Pentagon's SouthCom headquarters, which directs U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Accused spy González -- who also went by the name Rubén Campa -- gave them the same task, Santos testified. ``Penetrating'' SouthCom was a high priority set by Cuba's intelligence chiefs, according to Havana-to-Miami directives seized by the FBI and read to jurors Monday. MISSION FAILED The Santos failed at that assignment. They were too busy trying to make a legitimate living and never found a place to apply for a job, Santos said. But on cross-examination, the defense attorney for accused spy Hernández scoffed at the notion that Santos could have obtained anything important -- let alone national defense secrets, a key factor for proving espionage -- even if he had managed to get hired at SouthCom. Santos does not speak English. Before his arrest, he was working as a laborer at Goya Foods and the Miami Arena. Attorney Paul McKenna read jurors a report in which Hernández directed Santos to obtain ``public information'' about SouthCom. ``In fact, none of your handlers ever tasked you with getting national security information, did they?'' McKenna asked Santos. Santos responded that it was implicit that he was supposed to get information that could not be obtained ``by conventional means.'' SERVING SENTENCES Santos and his wife are already serving prison sentences after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. Their terms are likely to be cut short for their help testifying against Hernández, who prosecutors say conspired with the Cuban military to murder four Brothers to the Rescue fliers in 1996. McKenna cross-examined Santos about the plea agreement for a long time in an apparent bid to undermine his credibility. Under sentencing guidelines, Santos faced 60 months but prosecutors recommended he serve 48. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard agreed. ``So these people here,'' McKenna said, naming prosecutors Caroline Heck Miller, John Kastrenakes, David Buckner and FBI Agent Al Alonso -- ``are all your friends that are helping you, correct?'' ``They're not my friends,'' Santos responded through an interpreter. ``I met those people during the investigation of the case.'' -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2273 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Tue Jan 9, 2001 9:03pm Subject: Man charged with making tape of patrons in athletic club Man charged with making tape of patrons in athletic club Associated Press, 01/09/01 BOSTON -- A Cambridge man has been charged with secretly taping men in the locker room of a Boston fitness club. Evans Mojica, 41, was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. Monday, after he was seen walking around the men's locker room at Boston Sports Clubs carrying a black toiletry bag, police said. Patrons of the athletic club had earlier complained about a man fitting Mojica's description who was believed to be videotaping in the locker room. The club's management approached him and found that he was videotaping people through a hole in the bag, said James Borghesani, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. He pleaded innocent Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court to a charge of recording oral information without consent, as well as charges of lewd and lascivious behavior and disorderly conduct. Authorities said the videotape included an audio recording. He was ordered held on $500 cash bail. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2274 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Wed Jan 10, 2001 10:51am Subject: 'Soprano' Tapes Sing - Mob snitch cripples Jersey crime family Thursday, December 16, 1999 'Soprano' Tapes Sing Mob snitch cripples Jersey crime family http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-12-16/News_and_Views/Crime_File/a-50555.asp By GREG SMITH Daily News Staff Writer They are the "Soprano" tapes ­ hours of video and audio tapes revealing the inner workings of a New Jersey-based crime family that sees itself as the inspiration for one of TV's hottest shows. The recordings were key in bagging 41 reputed mobsters in a massive organized crime bust earlier this month, but they also give a rare glimpse into what the alleged criminal class likes to watch on television. http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-12-16/News_and_Views/Crime_File/soprano.jpg Members of the reputed DeCavalcante crime family believe they have a lot in common with the characters in 'The Sopranos, above. In this case, fact seems to follow fiction. "Hey, what's this f---ing thing, 'Sopranos'?" asks Joseph (Tin Ear) Sclafani, a reputed mob soldier with a hearing aid as he waits in a car March 3 for a sitdown with another mob family. "Is that supposed to be us?" "You're in there," responds reputed capo Anthony Rotondo, as both men erupt in laughter before going on to point out several characters on the show they believe were taken whole-cloth from their real-life crime family. "Every show you watch, more and more you pick up somebody," Rotondo says. "One week it was Corky. One week it was, well, from the beginning it was ... Albert G," he says, comparing fictional mobsters to apparent real ones. Sclafani and Rotondo might not have laughed so loud had they known another companion, identified only as Ralphie, was wearing an FBI recording device. Because of Ralphie's work as an informant, Rotondo, Sclafani and 39 other members and associates of the DeCavalcante crime family were charged Dec. 2 in four real-life racketeering indictments. On the HBO show "The Sopranos," Anthony Soprano, an aging Jersey mob capo with a paunch, suffers panic attacks because of the pressures of his work. He sees a shrink, confronts the price of betrayal, considers whether it's all worthwhile. He hangs out in a topless bar called Ba Da Bing! with his cronies, who are all in construction or carting businesses. On the "Soprano" tapes, the alleged capos are all middle-aged guys with paunches who spend hours betraying one another and discussing the intricacies of how to bury a body. They hang out in a restaurant called Sacco's, and all claim legitimate jobs in construction ­ except at least one, who runs a casino boat. They love the HBO show ­ "great acting," Rotondo comments ­ and point out one similarity to their lives after another, such as a TV mobster who dies of cancer just as one did in real life. But the feds are quick to say that these tapes are not fiction, and they allege that people actually ended up dead. The most jarring recordings concern the life and death of Joseph (Joey O) Masella, a 49-year-old bookie who owed everybody ­ the DeCavalcantes, the Colombos, the Gambinos. Masella borrowed hundreds of thousands from the three mob families, hoping to hit it big as a bookie, according to the tapes. He failed. "This guy is breaking my b---s," Masella told Ralphie in the summer of 1998, referring to one of his any mob pursuers. "All I need is just three thousand. He's calling me, and calling me and calling." That June, Masella approached acting DeCavalcante boss Vincent Palermo, claiming he simply could not pay his debts. "By all rights, by all the rules, I have to kill you," Palermo replied, according to court testimony. One afternoon, Masella got a call from Steve, an alleged debtor. Steve was going to hand Masella $10,000 in cash, which Masella would immediately turn over to his creditors. But Steve was really Westley Paloscio, Masella's bookmaking partner, who masked his voice, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Barton alleged in court last week. Paloscio told Masella to meet Steve at the Marine Park Golf Course parking lot in Brooklyn, prosecutors alleged. Masella pulled into the dark lot around 9:30 p.m. When a red two-door sedan pulled up, Masella bounded forth to meet Steve.. He saw a man with a mustache and dark hair at the wheel, and then several flashes from a gun. Motorists rushed to the scene as the red car sped away. Masella was alive, his body riddled with bullets. He described Steve and his car and gave up Paloscio's beeper number. He died four hours later. Paloscio learned Masella survived for a while, and he worried that the botched hit could result in his death. "Somebody's going to get shot," Paloscio told Ralphie. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2275 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Wed Jan 10, 2001 3:25pm Subject: Court Rejects Psychic Appeal Court Rejects Psychic Appeal http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/scotus000118.html#psychic The Supreme Court today refused to revive a lawsuit in which 16 former employees of a California psychic hotline accused ABC television of unlawfully using a hidden camera to videotape them at work. The court, without comment, turned away the former employees' argument that they should be allowed to sue ABC under a federal eavesdropping law. The secret recordings were used by ABC's PrimeTime Live program for a 1993 expose on whether employees at the hotline believed in the service. An ABC reporter had gotten a job at the Psychic Marketing Group, which advertised telephone psychic advice for $3.95 a minute. The employees sued ABC under a federal eavesdropping law that lets people tape conversations in which they are a party, unless the taping is intended to help commit a crime or damage another person. Five of those who sued were shown in the broadcast, while the rest were videotaped but did not appear in the program. -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2276 From: James M. Atkinson, Comm-Eng Date: Wed Jan 10, 2001 3:53pm Subject: Cordless Phones: Who's Listening? Cordless Phones: Who's Listening? http://abcsource.starwave.com/sections/2020/2020/diaz000322.html It is not so difficult - or uncommon - for others to listen to your calls on a wireless phone. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, here's how you can protect yourself. How Others Listen - And Is It Legal? Cordless phones operate like mini-radio stations. They send radio signals from the base unit to the handset and from the handset back to the base. The signal carrying your conversation can usually be transmitted and overheard a quarter of a mile away, and can sometimes travel up to two miles. Signals from cordless phones can be picked up by a number of other devices including radio scanners, baby monitors, radios and other cordless phones. Federal law prohibits the intentional eavesdropping of cordless and cellular telephone conversations and it is also illegal to use a radio scanner "knowingly and with the intent to defraud" to eavesdrop on wire or electronic communication. Penalties for the intentional interception of cordless and cellular telephones range from fines to imprisonment. Individual states also have varying laws about intercepting phone calls. What You Can Do In most cases, your cordless phone conversations are probably overheard only briefly and accidentally. But there are people who make it a hobby to listen to cordless and cellular phone calls, so here are some tips: Cordless phones with numerous channels (25 or more) and those that automatically switch between channels are not as easily monitored as the older one- or two-channel analog models. Be aware that anyone using a radio scanner can easily eavesdrop on conversations on older model cordless phones. The newest cordless phones give a high level of protection against eavesdropping. They are digital, use a higher frequency and spread-spectrum technology, and have as many as 40 channels. (They are also more expensive than analog wireless phones.) Since there is no inexpensive way to ensure privacy on either cordless or cellular phone calls, if you do not want to take the chance that others may be listening to your call, be sure both you and the person you are talking to are on standard wire phones. Avoid discussing financial or other sensitive personal information on a cordless or cellular phone. For example, if you buy something over the phone and give your credit card information, your cordless or cellular call could be monitored, leaving you the victim of credit card fraud. When shopping for a cordless or cellular phone, insist that the manufacturer or salesperson provide you with clear explanations of any privacy protection claimed for their products. Baby monitors, children's walkie-talkies and some home intercom systems may be overheard in the same manner as cordless phones. If you are concerned about being overheard on one of these devices, be sure to turn it off when it is not in use. You might want to consider purchasing a wired unit instead. Copyright © 2000 ABC News Internet Ventures -- ======================================================================= Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell ======================================================================= James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803 Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467 127 Eastern Avenue #291 http://www.tscm.com/ Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 jmatk@t... ======================================================================= The First, The Largest, The Most Popular, and The Most Complete TSCM, Technical Security, and Counterintelligence Site on the Internet. ======================================================================= 2277 From: Ray Van Staden Date: Thu Jan 11, 2001 8:25am Subject: Fw: ARROGRANCE Transcript of an actual radio conversation which took place during October 1995 between a USN War Ship sailing off the coast of Newfoundland and the Canadian authorities. Transcript released by the Chief of Naval Operations RCN 10/10/95. Printed in "Rendezvous" December 1999. Canadians: "Please divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid collision". Americans: "Recommend you divert course 15 degrees north to avoid collision". Canadians: "Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid a collision". Americans: "This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course!" Canadians: "No. I say again, you must divert your course". Americans: "This is the Aircraft Carrier USS Lincoln the second largest ship in the USN Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied by three cruisers, three destroyers and numerous support vessels. I demand you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again that's 15 degrees north or countermeasures will be taken to ensure the safety of this ship". Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call!!" --- From the desk of Raymond van Staden Van Staden and Associates cc P.O. Box 1150 Amanzimtoti 4125 South Africa Tel: +27 (0)31 916-1262 Fax: +27 (0)31 916-1263 Email: raymond@v... Internet: http://www.vanstaden.co.za [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 2278 From: Richard Thieme Date: Thu Jan 11, 2001 11:27am Subject: Re: Fw: ARROGRANCE - urban legend alert! this story has been around for a long time set in many locales. My suspicion is that the "transcript" is tongue in cheek. At 04:25 PM 01/11/2001 +0200, Ray Van Staden wrote: > >Transcript of an actual radio conversation which took place during >October 1995 between a USN War Ship sailing off the coast of >Newfoundland and the Canadian authorities. > >Transcript released by the Chief of Naval Operations RCN 10/10/95. > >Printed in "Rendezvous" December 1999. > >Canadians: "Please divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid collision". >Americans: "Recommend you divert course 15 degrees north to avoid collision". >Canadians: "Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid a collision". >Americans: "This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course!" >Canadians: "No. I say again, you must divert your course". >Americans: "This is the Aircraft Carrier USS Lincoln the second largest ship in the USN Atlantic > Fleet. We are accompanied by three cruisers, three destroyers and numerous support > vessels. I demand you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again that's 15 degrees > north or countermeasures will be taken to ensure the safety of this ship". >Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call!!" > > >--- > >>From the desk of Raymond van Staden >Van Staden and Associates cc > >P.O. Box 1150 >Amanzimtoti >4125 >South Africa > >Tel: +27 (0)31 916-1262 >Fax: +27 (0)31 916-1263 > >Email: raymond@v... >Internet: http://www.vanstaden.co.za > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > >======================================================== > TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List > "In a multitude of counselors there is strength" > > To subscribe to the TSCM-L mailing list visit: >http://www.onelist.com/community/TSCM-L > > or email your subscription request to: > subTSCM-L@t... >=================================================== TSKS > > Richard Thieme ThiemeWorks ... professional speaking and business consulting: ThiemeWorks P. O. Box 170737 the impact of computer technology Milwaukee Wisconsin on people in organizations: 53217-8061 helping people stay flexible voice: 414.351.2321 and effective fax: 414.351.5779during times of accelerated change. cell: 414.704.4598 http://www.thiemeworks.com http://www.richardthieme.com - for information on Professional Speaking 2279 From: St. Clair, James Date: Thu Jan 11, 2001 10:33am Subject: RE: Fw: ARROGRANCE No -it's not. Every version of this story changes.. By the way, Lincoln has never sailed off of Newfoundland. J -----Original Message----- From: Ray Van Staden [mailto:secdep@v...] Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 9:25 AM To: TSCM-L Subject: [TSCM-L] Fw: ARROGRANCE Transcript of an actual radio conversation which took place during October 1995 between a USN War Ship sailing off the coast of Newfoundland and the Canadian authorities. Transcript released by the Chief of Naval Operations RCN 10/10/95. Printed in "Rendezvous" December 1999. Canadians: "Please divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid collision". Americans: "Recommend you divert course 15 degrees north to avoid collision". Canadians: "Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid a collision". Americans: "This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course!" Canadians: "No. I say again, you must divert your course". Americans: "This is the Aircraft Carrier USS Lincoln the second largest ship in the USN Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied by three cruisers, three destroyers and numerous support vessels. I demand you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again that's 15 degrees north or countermeasures will be taken to ensure the safety of this ship". Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call!!" --- From the desk of Raymond van Staden Van Staden and Associates cc P.O. Box 1150 Amanzimtoti 4125 South Africa Tel: +27 (0)31 916-1262 Fax: +27 (0)31 916-1263 Email: raymond@v... Internet: http://www.vanstaden.co.za [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ======================================================== TSCM-L Technical Security Mailing List "In a multitude of counselors there is strength" To subscribe to the TSCM-L mailing list visit: http://www.onelist.com/community/TSCM-L or email your subscription request to: subTSCM-L@t... =================================================== TSKS 2280 From: Date: Thu Jan 11, 2001 7:27am Subject: Re: Fw: ARROGRANCE In a message dated 1/11/01 8:48:38 AM Pacific Standard Time, secdep@v... writes: << Transcript of an actual radio conversation which took place during October 1995 between a USN War Ship sailing off the coast of Newfoundland and the Canadian authorities. >> Sounds like an "urban legend" to me. 2281 From: 1RCM <1RCM@M...> Date: Thu Jan 11, 2001 5:18pm Subject: A Public Thank You Hi List, Last week I posted with a request to be contacted off-list by any list member in the Boise, Idaho area. To make a long story short, I had stumbled across a very good deal on a piece of TSCM test equipment but I was very hesitant to send the asking price for something unseen to someone unknown. I was contacted back by list member Mike Arnell. Mike was of great assistance in allowing me to close the deal in a manner that I felt quite comfortable with. And for that I would like to thank him very much. I chose to thank Mike publicly on the list as well as privately off-list for a reason. This list, like most others, sees its periods of negativity spawned by arguments, disgruntled posters, mis-information, etc., etc. But it also sees more than its fair share of that which I assume that it was originally founded for: the sharing of TSCM-related information, thoughts and ideas. I have no idea whether or not when the list was founded the moderator envisioned its usage for 'blind' business contacts or the requesting of 'professional favors'. But I for one found it very beneficial for just that purpose. And so, as long as the moderator does not disapprove, I would not hesitate to recommend to any list member that if he/she has a problem, concern or issue that another list member in a specific area might be able to help with - then simply put out the feeler. Of course remember to request the return contact and conduct your business off-list, but don't hesitate to give that first 'call for help' via a posting on the list a try! Bob Motzer