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Bugging Equipment Found in Mexico Lawmaker Offices

By Dawn in Debugging - Electronic Countermeasures, eavesdropping, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Politics, taps at January 31st, 2012 | No comments

Bugging Equipment

A search of several Mexican lawmakers’ offices turned up recording equipment, leading legislators to believe they have been spied on for years, a congressman said Wednesday.

Congressman Armando Rios said security personnel found microphones and other devices that seemed to have been installed years ago.

“Some of the equipment has newer technology, but other devices are from a long time ago, which leads us to believe they were installed years ago,” said Rios, a member of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD.

Offices of key committees and of several lawmakers from different political parties were bugged.

Congress president Guadalupe Acosta, also of the PRD, has filed a complaint with federal prosecutors, who have opened an investigation. Read the full article »

Tags: bugging, debugging, eavesdropping, electronic countermeasures, investigation, phone tap

50-year-old Woman Chases, Corners, Lectures Robber

By Dawn in Chicago, Crime, MSI Detective Services, robbery at January 31st, 2012 | No comments

Occasionally a robber chooses the wrong victim and ends up becoming the target. This was the case with a robbery in downtown Chicago.

A 50-year-old woman gave a robber a religious lecture last Friday after chasing him for almost a mile and cornering him in an alley, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The incident occurred shortly after midnight when the woman was riding a Chicago Transit Authority bus in the Loop. Jenar Sanders, 18, grabbed her wallet from her purse, jumped off the bus at Huron and State streets and made a run for it.

The woman began chasing Sanders and alerting others as she ran down the street. A hotel staff member at the Omni Hotel and the CTA bus driver notified police, officers said.

The chase ended with Sanders cornered in an alley off Superior Street between Wabash Avenue and Rush Street. He was surrounded by the victim and others who had joined the chase.

“She kept telling him God didn’t want him to steal her wallet,” a police source told the Tribune. Read the full article »

Tags: Chicago, Crime, robbery, Safety

John Kass Takes on the Portrait of the Rahmfather – MSI Performs Bug Sweep

By Dawn in Chicago, Debugging - Electronic Countermeasures, Illinois, MSI Detective Services, Politics at January 30th, 2012 | No comments

Portrait of the Rahmfather

Who sent me The Rahmfather? I want to know. Please.

This is the question of Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass. If you know the answer, let him or us know.

The mysterious portrait was in his office when he showed up for work one recent morning – a large framed movie-style poster of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as some Jewish Al Pacino - and the words, “JOHN FRANCIS KASS’S The Rahmfather.” (sic). Then follows the phrase “All the power on Earth can’t change Chicago.”

It is a strikingly handsome Rahmfather, thoughtful, pensive, his chin propped on his left hand, a hawk at rest. The Rahmfather is in a dark suit, conservative tie, his Chicago flag lapel pin right where it belongs, and that steel-gray hair slightly spiky, just like Pacino’s in “The Godfather: Part III.”

Oh yeah, and the eyes. The eyes follow you wherever you go.

John said that over the years his readers have sent him some amazing treasures but nothing is as cool as The Rahmfather.

“Oh, my God,” said an aide of Rahm’s when he sent a photo. “He’s really going to want this.”

“Yeah, I know he’s going to want it. He’s going to want it bad. But tell him he can’t have it. He can send his buddy Jimmy DeLeo over with a box of cannoli and I’d say no. Rahm could put my head in a vise and still I wouldn’t give it to him.”

“This is really good work,” said Scott Stantis, the Tribune’s editorial cartoonist and John’s friend. Scott did a little “Antiques Roadshow” for John. “This was done by a pro,” said Stantis.

But who? All John knew was that a few weeks ago, it was dropped off by a nondescript person at the Tribune Tower.

Even stranger is the painting was addressed to: “JKFC John Kass Fan Club, 211 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 4250.”

But there is no fan club at this address. There is also no Suite 4250 in that building. There are only 41 floors in the building.

“Maybe it was a joke?” asked another. The Rahmfather may be many things, but he’s not a jester. An editor reminded John of what a wise columnist often says: In Chicago, when it comes to City Hall or the Outfit, there are no such things as coincidences.

John asked the editor, “Should I sweep it for bugs? Could this be a Trojan Rahm? The editor replied, “It’s up to you, but I would.”

That’s all Kass had to hear. Having the Rahmfather hanging on the wall behind him, peering over his shoulder as he is talking on the phone, he couldn’t take the chance.

So he drove the painting over to the U-Spy Store, 2406 W. Fullerton, to have it examined by counterintelligence experts. Read the full article »

Tags: Chicago, debugging, MSI Detective Services, U-Spy Store

Why the Supreme Court GPS Decision Won’t Stop Warrantless Digital Surveillance

By Dawn in court cases, Debugging - Electronic Countermeasures, gps tracker, invasion of privacy, MSI Detective Services, Technology at January 27th, 2012 | No comments

So much is being written about people’s fears of losing their privacy. People who live in democratic societies are starting to feel as if they are slowly, but surely being transitioned into a police state. These fears are real and valid with the advancements of technology. However, laws being passed to protect the privacy of our citizens are not keeping up with these advancements.

On January 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that law enforcement authorities do not generally have a right to affix a GPS tracking device to a suspect’s car without first obtaining a valid warrant. This case, United States v. Jones, is being referred to as one of the most important Fourth Amendment tests in a decade. However, the court’s decision only begins to address how the privacy rights of citizens will be protected in our technological world.

There are many more ways today to perform surveillance without physically trespassing on private property, a point recognized by Justice Samuel Alito in a concurrence joined by three other justices. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in another concurring opinion, “the Fourth Amendment is not concerned only with trespassory intrusions on property.”

Justice Alito said the court should address how expectations of privacy affect whether warrants are required for remote surveillance using electronic methods that do not require the police to install equipment, such as GPS tracking of mobile telephones.

In his opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:

“It is important to be clear about what occurred in this case: The Government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information. We have no doubt that such a physical intrusion would have been considered a ‘search’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when it was adopted.”

Let’s consider our mobile phones. Mobile phone service providers log the list of cell sites to which our cell phones connect throughout the day. Mobile apps gather data on the usage patterns of our wireless devices and often track device location to the accuracy of a specific residence or office building, undermining the oft-cited claim that the data gathered is not “personal.” Much of this data is collected and then sold with our consent, in accordance with privacy policies that few of us read before accepting, to a complex ecosystem of mobile application providers and advertisers. Read the full article »

Tags: Camera, cell phone surveillance, electronic countermeasures, gps, information gathering, Privacy, Surveillance, video surveillance, warrentless surveillance

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