Spying

GPS Jammer is an in-car spy sweeper

If your bulletproof raincoat, tape-recorder blocker, and surveillance detection device are just not enough to give you peace of mind, this in-car GPS jammer might be just what you're looking for. Once plugged in to your car's 12-volt cigarette lighter port, the device will apparently block all GPS signals in a broadcasting range of 1450 to 1600Mhz--translating into a a 2- to 4-meter radius of GPS anonymity, according to manufacturer Chinavision.

The GPS jammer might not be good enough to protect you from autonomous surveillance drones or spying robotic insects, but at least it will take them longer … Read more

Child porn allegations: New tactic in fighting file sharing?

There has always been plenty of bitterness between copyright holders and the file-sharing community, but some now contend hostilities have sunk to a new low.

Swedish authorities last week were preparing to shut down The Pirate Bay, according to Peter Sunde, one of the site's founders. Was the site facing closure for helping users find bootlegged music or video files, as the film and music industries have long alleged? No, The Pirate Bay was being accused of distributing child pornography, Sunde said.

The accusation was nothing more than a backdoor attempt to kill off The Pirate Bay since both … Read more

Wall-climbing robot sucks it up

Just how desperate is that housewife next door? If those down-looking satellites just don't do it for you any more, here's another way to keep an eye on your neighbor.

The Vortex Regenerative Air Movement Mobile Robot Platform (VRAMMRP) uses a patented "tornado in a cup" sucking technology to stick to walls and ceilings, then uses six wheels to position itself on the window ledge or other strategic location. Remote controlled by joy stick, the unit can send video and audio via secure Bluetooth. This equipment should be included in any self-respecting paparazzi's toolkit.

The latest in surveillance: spy tires

If you think your surveillance subjects are suspicious of the eavesdropping lamps and spying alarm clock that you left as housewarming gifts, it may be time to go into true stealth mode. That can mean only one thing: a spy cam hidden inside a wall clock that looks like a tire (or "tyre," in this case).

This unobtrusive, everyday household item is equipped with a remote-controlled digital video camera and a 2.4 wireless transmitter, according to Technabob, as well as a viewing receiver. It's right out of Get Smart.

But don't fret. If this doesn'… Read more

The CIA papers: These spies are red, white and blue

Read all about it. The CIA posts hundreds of pages of internal documents, plus another 11,000 pages of research. This giant cache represents some of the agency's records from 1953 to 1973.

All of these documents can be found through this CIA Web page. First, be aware there still are censored sections, even after more than 30 years.

We already know about the CIA's attempts to hire Mafia hit men to kill Cuba's Fidel Castro. We already know that President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the CIA to illegally spy on American journalists and peace groups, and … Read more

What's behind the security acquisition spree?

It must be buying season in the security industry, because there seems to be a new acquisition announced each day. Two recent purchases grabbed my attention. Last week, IBM bought application firewall vendor Watchfire, adding the company to its Rational Software division. Not to be outdone, Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday grabbed application vulnerability tools vendor SPI Dynamics, adding value to another recent addition, Mercury. Why all the activity in the application security space?

1. Web applications are the binary equivalent of Swiss cheese. Many are written rapidly by developers who are paid to add new business logic and meet deadlines. Security … Read more

HP acquires SPI Dynamics

HP today announced its acquisition of SPI Dynamics. The company specializes in Web application security; and SPI Dynamics' technology is already integrated with HP Quality Center software.

According to HP, the acquisition adds quality management services to its software portfolio and builds on its Business Technology Optimization (BTO) strategy.

Privately held SPI Dynamics is headquartered in Atlanta, has 140 employees, and serves more than 1,000 customers in the federal government, financial services, and health care industries. Expected to close in the third quarter of 2007, the acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions. Upon completion, SPI Dynamics will become … Read more

Privacy v. Piracy

Back in April of last year, you probably read in Wired or some other publication about how AT&T had a secret room in its San Francisco office where the NSA was "listening" to every communication going over the telecom's lines. Well it seems that it might be happening again. This time the AT&T partnership with Big Brother isn't to scoop up the terrorists; no, this round is all about pirates and their intellectual booty.

In a June 14th article for AP, Gary Gentile writes, "Although details remain sketchy, the effort worries privacy advocates, who fear the San Antonio-based company could become a beat cop, monitoring which Web sites customers visit and what computer files they share." Like other invasive maneuvers the initiative is apparently focused on those overseas, but who's to say that your own computer wouldn't be flagged for watching the wrong video on You Tube or downloading the latest mix-tape from your favorite hip-hop DJ?

… Read more

The camera behind Google's Street View

If you've been playing with Google's new Street View feature--that $25 billion time suck--you may well have wondered how the heck they took those 360-degree images while driving down the street.

Well, wonder no more. Thanks to our good friend Xeni Jardin at Boing Boing, we now know that many of the images, at least those shot outside the San Francisco Bay Area--were shot using this fairly disco-ball-esque device by the outside contractor, Immersive Media.

What's not clear just yet is if Google used the same kind of camera in the Bay Area, where the company … Read more