Tag: spy
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Hikvision: Chinese surveillance tech giant denies leaked Pentagon spy claim
New Leaked Documents on Discord Reveal More Chinese Spy Balloons
Based on the classified documents, the Post also reports that “questions lingered about the true capabilities of the one that flew over the continental United States in January and February.”
The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States this year, called Killeen-23 by U.S. intelligence agencies, carried a raft of sensors and antennas the U.S. government still had not identified more than a week after shooting it down, according to a document allegedly leaked to a Discord chatroom by Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
Another balloon flew over a U.S. carrier strike group in a previously unreported incident, and a third crashed in the South China Sea, a second top-secret document stated, though it did not provide specific information for launch dates…. [Chinese spy balloon] Bulger-21 carried sophisticated surveillance equipment and circumnavigated the globe from December 2021 until May 2022, the NGA document states. Accardo-21 carried similar equipment as well as a “foil-lined gimbaled” sensor, it says….
Annotating what appear to be detailed photos of the balloon that flew over the United States, presumably taken from a U-2 spy plane, intelligence analysts assessed that it could generate enough power to operate “any” surveillance and reconnaissance technology, including a type of radar that can see at night and through clouds and thin materials [including tarps]…. China’s military has operated a vast surveillance balloon project for several years, partly out of Hainan province off China’s south coast, U.S. officials have previously told The Post.
But the NGA document is notable as much for what it doesn’t say, reflecting the government’s possible lack of insight, at least in mid-February, into the balloons’ capabilities… The lack of detailed conclusions about the balloon’s surveillance capabilities raises questions about the decision to let it fly over the United States before shooting it down, an action the Defense Department justified at the time as an opportunity to collect additional intelligence.
The Post also reports that another leaked document (relying on intercepted communications) assessed that within the Chinese military the balloon surveillance program lacked “strong leadership” oversight.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ukrainian Hackers Compromised Russian Spy Who Hacked Democrats In 2016
InformNapalm said in an article about the breach that it had confirmed Morgachev’s identity by poring through personnel files and a curriculum vitae stolen by the hackers, including one document that identified him as a department head in Unit 26165 — the same position which the FBI accused him of holding in 2018. […] It wasn’t immediately clear what information the hackers had managed to steal or how significant it was. Morgachev’s inbox could potentially hold insight into Russia’s hacking operations, including the operation against Clinton and the Democrats.
In its indictment, the FBI described him as an officer in the Russia’s military spy agency, still known by its old acronym, GRU. It said his department was “dedicated to developing and managing malware,” including the “X-Agent” spy software used to hack the DNC. In its message announcing the theft, the group said of Morgachev: “A very cool and clever hacker, but … We hacked him.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
MI5 spy reveals secret ‘unauthorised’ IRA talks
The Chinese Spy Balloon and the UFO — Echoes of Roswell? – Intimate Alien
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The Chinese Spy Balloon and the UFO — Echoes of Roswell? – Intimate Alien
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The US Can Stop Twitter From Releasing Details In Spy Report
Although the case is almost a decade old, the ruling comes just as lawmakers and US national security agencies gear up for a bruising fight over making changes to a key surveillance program. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, described by intelligence officials as a key authority, expires on Dec. 31 unless Congress votes to renew it. US agencies use the authority to compel internet and technology companies to turn over information about suspected foreign terrorists and spies. Changes to Section 702 could include altering what companies like Twitter are required to do in response to government demands. “The case at issue in Monday’s decision involved efforts by Twitter to share information about two types of federal law enforcement demands on the social media company: ‘national security letters’ for subscriber information, which would cover metadata but not the substance of any electronic communications, and orders under FISA, which could include content,” adds Bloomberg.
Judge Daniel Bress wrote: “The government may not fend off every First Amendment challenge by invoking national security. But we must apply the First Amendment with due regard for the government’s compelling interest in securing the safety of our country and its people.”
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Thieves Spy on iPhone Owners’ Passcodes, Then Steal Their Phones and Money
These thieves often work in groups with one distracting a victim while another records over a shoulder as they enter their passcode. Others have been known to even befriend victims, asking them to open social media or other apps on their iPhones so they can watch and memorize the passcode before stealing it. A 12-person crime ring in Minnesota was recently taken down after targeting iPhones like this in bars. Almost $300,000 was stolen from 40 victims by this group before they were caught.
The Journal adds that “similar stories are piling up in police stations around the country,” while one of their article’s authors has tweeted Apple’s official response. “We sympathize with users who have had this experience and we take all attacks on our users very seriously, no matter how rare…. We will continue to advance the protections to help keep user accounts secure.”
The reporter suggests alphanumeric passwords are harder to steal, while MacRumors offers some other simple fixes. “Use Face ID or Touch ID as much as possible when in public to prevent thieves from spying… In situations where entering the passcode is necessary, users can hold their hands over their screen to hide passcode entry.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.