Posts Tagged ‘spying’

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Iran Court Sentences Former U.S. Marine to Death

By Dawn in Investigations, Missing Persons Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Politics at January 9th, 2012 | No comments

 

Amir Hekmati

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Iranian court has convicted an Iranian-American man of spying for the CIA and sentenced him to death, Iranian state news media reported Monday.

The alleged spy is 28 year-old Amir Mirzaei Hekmati. Hekmati ”has 20 days to appeal the court’s decision, which comes at a time of increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington,” according to a report in the Washington Post.

Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine Arabic language translator in Iraq, was born in Arizona and raised in Michigan. His family in Michigan, former colleagues and American government officials say Hekmati never served in the CIA and was in Iran to visit his grandmother.

Hekmati’s parents said they “are shocked and terrified” by the news, his mother Behnaz Hekmati wrote at the website they’ve set up to advocate for Amir’s release, FreeAmir. Hekmati’s father Ali is a professor of biology at a Flint Michigan community. “We believe that this verdict is the result of a process that was neither transparent nor fair.”

“Amir did not engage in any acts of spying, or ‘fighting against God,’ as the convicting Judge has claimed in his sentence,” his mother’s post continues. “A grave error has been committed, and we have authorized our legal representatives to make direct contact with the Iranian authorities to find a solution to this misunderstanding.”

Hekmati’s family said he had the permission of the Iranian interests section–the U.S. based diplomatic outpost for the Islamic republic–in Washington D.C. to travel to Iran in August to visit his elderly grandmother. After his arrest on August 29, Iranian officials told the family to keep quiet in order to facilitate his release.

However, in December, Iranian state media aired video of Hekmati allegedly confessing to having worked as a CIA agent. His family and friends vehemently deny these charges and said it appears he had given that “confession” under extreme duress. This would not be the first time an American was accused of spying in Iran, supposedly confessed and was put through a Kangaroo Court. Read the full article »

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Wikileaks Spy Files Target Forensic Companies

By Dawn in Debugging - Electronic Countermeasures, eavesdropping, Hacking, invasion of privacy, MSI Detective Services, Surveillance Services, Technology, Terrorism at January 4th, 2012 | No comments

 

 

 

 

 

In December, Wikileaks revealed what it has dubbed “the Spy Files,” a collection of 287 documents that include information about companies that provide different types of surveillance methods including cell phone forensics, spyware, and Wifi interceptions.

“Over a year or longer, SSL certificates have been penetrated by various organized crime groups and intelligence agencies. The entire SSL system, which is the mechanism that guarantees security and anonymity online, has been compromised. SSL is beyond repair,” says Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The ACLU also has listed a very detailed account of what they consider illegal domestic spying in America. “The FBI, federal intelligence agencies, the military, state and local police, private companies, and even firemen and emergency medical technicians are gathering incredible amounts of personal information about ordinary Americans that can be used to construct vast dossiers that can be widely shared with a simple mouse-click through new institutions like Joint Terrorism Task Forces, fusion centers, and public-private partnerships. The fear of terrorism has led to a new era of overzealous police intelligence activity directed, as in the past, against political activists, racial and religious minorities, and immigrants.”

Read story@ dfinews

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Contractors Pitch Spy Technology That Can See Through Walls

By Dawn in Debugging - Electronic Countermeasures, invasion of privacy, MSI Detective Services, Privacy, Technology at October 20th, 2011 | No comments

It’s known as IBISS, the acronym for the Integrated Building Interior Surveillance System. Like its name suggests, it can see through the walls of buildings and sketch out images of what’s inside.

Until this year, IBISS was a classified system, a piece of high-tech wizardry the military used to fight the war on terrorism. The contractor that made the system, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), couldn’t talk about it in public, but that’s changing. IBISS is one of the new products SAIC is hoping to sell to local police stations and fire departments as the defense contractor explores what is known in the industry as “adjacent markets.”

Adjacent markets can mean anything from foreign militaries to the Department of Homeland Security for the industry that makes the computer systems, software, remote sensors, radar and ground stations that comprise Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) for the military.

For the first decade of the war on terrorism, the ISR industry thrived, and companies like SAIC, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin made big profits. Those days are coming to an end though. Read the full article »

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Spy Camera Found in Michigan on Man’s Property

By Dawn in hidden cameras, invasion of privacy, MSI Detective Services, Privacy, Private Investigator at September 20th, 2011 | No comments

An Addison Township, Michigan man said that Accident Fund Insurance Company of America had a spy camera placed on his property illegally.

Robert Guzanek said a private investigation firm placed the camera to spy on his neighbor, Dana Fredericks, who has filed a disability claim at work for a badback. However, Guzanek said the company illegally installed the battery-operated surveillance camera in a clearing where workers cut into his hedgerow. He said his neighbors witnessed the installation. Apparently, a van and two individuals, were acting as if they were cable company employees who were checking for a signal, according to Guzanek.

“It’s big brother watching down on you without your knowledge,” Guzanek said.

Fredericks was upset about the camera, too and said, ”I’m totally offended. “I just can’t believe in America that somebody could get away with it. I’d even feel better if it was the government.” Read the full article »

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