Spy chiefs fear Chinese cyber attack

Anyone see a pattern emerging here?

INTELLIGENCE chiefs have warned that China may have gained the capability to shut down Britain by crippling its telecoms and utilities.

They have told ministers of their fears that equipment installed by Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, in BT’s new communications network could be used to halt critical services such as power, food and water supplies. more...

Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries

TORONTO — A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.

In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved. more...

The House of Commons IT systems has reportedly been infected by the infamous Conficker superworm

Several problems here:

One - Why is there not sufficient procedures, policy and systems in place to prevent this kind of virus?

Two  - Why is there not sufficient procedures, policy and systems in place to prevent this kind of report being leaked?

Three - Why are you allowed to connect an MP3 player to the House of Commons IT system? 

The House of Commons IT systems has reportedly been infected by the infamous Conficker superworm, which has previously infected millions of Windows PCs and affected the operation of hospitals, military and large corporate systems.

Political blog Dizzy Thinks first reported that a memo (below) sent out to parliamentary IT network users on Tuesday night warned that Conficker had disrupted the operation of parliamentary systems.

The infection has reportedly prompted a clean-up operation as well as a temporary ban on the use of mass storage devices, including MP3 players, on parliamentary systems. more...

UK Police Identify 200 Children As Potential Terrorists

Parents - please love your children.....

Two hundred schoolchildren in Britain, some as young as 13, have been identified as potential terrorists by a police scheme that aims to spot youngsters who are “vulnerable” to Islamic radicalisation.

The number was revealed to The Independent by Sir Norman Bettison, the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police and Britain’s most senior officer in charge of terror prevention. more...

New Chatham House report, Cyberspace and the National Security of the United Kingdom

FaberBrent were at Chatham House last night for the launch of this important new report.

It was comforting to hear Rex Hughes (via web link from the US) state that we need to see a convergence of traditional security and information security for effective defence. Sounds like holistic security to us.

This report provides a general overview of the problem of cybersecurity. The aim of the report is to inform debate and to make the case for a more coherent, comprehensive and anticipatory policy response, both nationally and internationally. more...

Download the paper here

TelTech intros pay-as-you-use lie detector phone service

I wonder if it actually provides any consistent data as voice analysis is only a small component of lie detection. This compounded with the reduced audio quality of a signal bounced over several phone-lines and i wonder how effective it can really be?

TelTech has launched what appears to be the industry's first pay-as-you-use telephone voice analysis (lie detection) service.

The service, appropriately named `LiarCard,' requires users to route a phone call via a US toll-free number, with onward dialling to the required party whose voice is to be analysed for truthfulness and other stress issues. more...

Cybercrime revenues exceeding drug trafficking?

Now this is quite a statement. I wonder when the cybercrime enforcement agencies are going to get the same budget as the DEA?

Testimony from AT&T's Chief Security Officer Edward Amoroso, in which he told a US Senate Commerce Committee that revenues from cybercrime - at $1 trillion annually - are now exceeding those of drug crime, have been confirmed by Finjan, the business Internet security expert.

"Our latest research suggests that, whilst the economic downturn is reducing the income of drug traffickers, cybercriminals are becoming ever more innovative in the ways they extract money from companies and individual," said Yuval Ben Itzhak, Finjan's Chief Technology Officer. more...

Madoff data is exempt from data protection law and can be exported, rules High Court

Public interest.....

Data which is protected by the Data Protection Act can be transferred to the US to help in the investigation of companies run by Bernard Madoff, the High Court has said. The transfer would usually be barred but is justified in this case, the Court said. more...

Councils used 'snooper's charter' more than 10,000 times

Still more Council abuse of RIPA. The really shocking information here is just 9% of these investigations led to a successful prosecution, so 91% of their snooping could be described as unfounded.

Surveillance powers originally designed to counter the threat of terrorism and safeguard national security have been used by local councils more than 10,000 times over the past five years - often for “crimes” as minor as littering, it emerged today.

Details disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act showed that councils in England and Wales used powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) to investigate offences ranging from dog fouling to taxi overcharging. more...

Canadian cops cry for BlackBerry wiretap

So this story demonstrates the dichotomy of information security. Blackberry's are (on the whole) pretty secure so this is a problem for the security services.

It has recently dawned on Canadian officials that communications sent with the BlackBerry are among the hardest mobile messages to eavesdrop on. But rather than congratulate the Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion on a job well done, they're calling for laws that would force service providers to use only technology that can be tapped. more...

London health authority put on notice over data breach

I find it unforgivable that public bodies (that we have to provide personal data to) still do not take it's protection seriously. This is a systematic failure and a lack of staff awareness. 

For those of you that do not yet know, data on hard drives (the device in your computer that stores all the information) lives forever. You must have a process for disposing of any computers (business and personal), if you need help contact us.

A north London health authority has been given until the end of the month to improve its information security policies following an embarrassing information security blunder last year.

The Information Commissioner's Office has given Camden Primary Care Trust until the end of the month to pull up its socks following a breach of the Data Protection Act. The ICO's enforcement order comes after PCs containing 2,500 patients' names, addresses and medical histories were dumped beside a skip inside the grounds of St Pancras Hospital last August. more...

US phone identity look-up site

This is a pretty scary tool. It is only working in the US but allows you to reveal the owner details and location of any phone line; land or mobile.

Fortunately it would be illegal in the UK but watch out across the pond.

To give it a try go to http://tirs.us/ and put in the US number after the slash on the address line.

The commercial version is here http://www.reversephonedetective.com/

Read more here TIRS Allows Info Mining For Cell Phones

Employees see work laptops as personal property

I think this is a fair reflection of how we see our work laptops and mobile phones. If you are providing laptops and phones and not providing real-world guidelines and activating system controls, you are putting you data at risk. If you need help finding a balance contact us.

Work laptops and mobile phones are increasingly being treated as personal property outside the office, potentially exposing businesses to security threats.

A survey by Vodafone found that nearly half of business people use their work laptop to access the internet outside the office, whilst a similar number considered their work issued laptops or mobile devices as their own property whilst away from the office. more...

Lawyer-client privilege can't stop surveillance, says House of Lords

The UK's highest court ruled that spy law the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) allows lawyers' conversations to be bugged. This is a very significant ruling for all in the legal profession and anyone involved in a legal dispute. 

If you are in the legal profession or involved in litigation contact us now for advice and services to help maintain your privacy. It is worth remembering that it is not just the government that uses covert surveillance during litigation.

The state is allowed to bug communication between lawyers and their clients, the House of Lords has said. more...

The ruling in full...

Should we be worried about Google Street View?

An interesting take on Google Street view and our civil liberties.

Simon Brew offers his personal take on the launch of Google Street View. And he’s a worried man. more...

Visa chief risk officer says that the recession is creating more identity criminals

Unfortunately we know that when things get tough there is an increase in crime. Anything that will provide an advantage is more likely to happen.  Corporate espionage, identity theft and general theft will all increase. Look out for the signs and do not become a victim.

The dire world economy is one of the biggest threats to payment security, according to the chief enterprise risk officer for Visa. 

Ellen Richey said at the Visa Security Summit in Washington, DC that it was common sense that a poor economy and bleak job market would increase the desperation and creativity of would-be data thieves. more...

Hidden Video Recorders

All of these items are fully functional digital audio/video recorders with hidden cameras. These kind of devices are being produced in the millions in the Far East and most are available for less than £100. Be aware the threat landscape has shifted and what was once the realm of James Bond is now available on the high street. Checkout Maplin, Ebay or Amazon to see how prolific these devices are.

For a real eye-opener take a look at one of the manufacturers site. click here...

 

Right to privacy broken by a quarter of UK's public databases, says report

Pretty strong stuff but perhaps the first honest appraisal of our major databases. We are at the adolescence stage of our understanding of mass data storage and must maintain vigilance as we learn this process. If you loose your house keys you can always change your door lock. If we loose all our personal information (NI numbers, passport numbers, bank details, date of birth, place of birth, DNA, medical history, children's school info, criminal history etc) it is a bit harder to 'just fit a new lock'.

A quarter of all the largest public-sector database projects, including the ID cards register, are fundamentally flawed and clearly breach Europeandata protection and rights laws, according to a report published today.

Claiming to be the most comprehensive map so far of Britain's "database state", the report says that 11 of the 46 biggest schemes, including the national DNA database and the Contactpoint index of all children in England, should be given a "red light" and immediately scrapped or redesigned. more...

Complaints force Google to remove Street View images

If you haven't seen Google Earth with Street View in action you need to. the amount of information is quite shocking - especially when you are looking at a picture of your own curtains!

Google was forced to remove hundreds of pictures from Street View, its mapping service, within hours of its launch after complaints from people who said that the system breached their privacy. more...

Mobile users at risk of ID theft

This is one of those threats that is only going to get worse. many of us store huge amounts of personal information on our phones and mobile devices. We are humans and we will loose these devices from time to time so a few basic rules are essential.

1. Always have a power-on and key-lock password activated
2. Always have a voicemail password activated
3. Don't save a number or address called 'home'
4. Do not give out your passwords to unsolicited calls
5. Do not leave your phone unattended
6. Back-up your phone data

You might also want to watch out for Spyphone software.

A survey of London commuters suggests that 4.2m Britons store data on their mobiles that could be used in identity theft in the event they are stolen.

Only six in 10 use a password to limit entry into the phones, according to the survey by security firm Credant. more...