Sheriff or Stalker?

March 8th, 2010 Billy No comments

We all know that law enforcement has a serious Jonesing for new technology. They  must spend an awful lot of time surfing Engadget and reading spy thrillers. It is way easier to get grant money for futuristic weapons and spy gadgets than it is to get salary to pay for new officers.

Hennepin County (my county) has decided to curb the fuzz’s techno-lust by shooting down a request for a new gadget. The Hennepin County Board voted 4 – 3 to not approve a request for a Kingfish cell phone tracking system. Not to worry though because the local lovable branch of the FBI will gladly let Hennepin County its’ Kingfisher system anytime it is available.

more info available via the Minneapolis Star/Tribune

My guess is that we have not heard the last of this. There are always ways to go around the vote of the County Board. Also with the vote being 4-3 all Sheriff Rich Stanek needs to do is get one member to side with him and everything is a go.

Tracking Cell Phones and the Watchers

February 24th, 2010 Billy No comments
  • Newsweek on the US Governments warrant-less tracking of cell phones.
  • Slate interviews Shane Harris about his new book the Watchers
  • NY Times reviews the Watchers

Surveillance news for Feb 18, 2010

February 18th, 2010 Billy No comments

Of course there is the fascinating spy and assassination story unfolding in Dubai featuring an assassinated Hamas leader and the Israeli Mossad.

Attack of the Drones

February 18th, 2010 Billy No comments

If you still doubt that aerial drones, similar to ones used in military combat missions, will never be used at home then think again. Recent accounts of British police using them during criminal pursuits and large demonstrations are popping up weekly. There has been very little in the way of announcements from these police departments as I’m sure they fear public backlash. This method of testing new technology and then setting policy latter is a dangerous precedent for police tactics.

Police departments keep very quiet until they have documented evidence of their new tools having caught some horrific crime. They then go on the marketing offensive, touting cost savings and the safety they will bring to officers. Like CCTV these drones will be an even easier sell here in the US because of the boost these sectors will bring to the economy. People who come out against these new systems will be labeled as anti-law enforcement or even anarchists.

Before the police have the chance to roll out such tools we need to be proactive in our opposition to such tools. These drones are not flying at 10,000 ft like their military cousins but able drop down and look in windows of houses. The real push will come from the private sector which stands to make millions of dollars in the sale of these devices to local law enforcement.

Further reading:

Guardian UK : Eye in the sky arrest could land police in the dock
Telegraph UK : Police spy in the sky fuels ‘Big Brother’ fears

Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog has covered the use of military drones heavily. Hopefully they will turn an eye towards domestic use.

Here is a video demonstration from one of the manufactures.

The manufacture of the above product lists its possible uses:

“Our md4-1000 is used in many different applications”:

1. Aerial photography (photographer, real estate, hotels, architects & construction companies, …)
2. Aerial video (film industries, news, sport events, live events, …)
3. Archeology
4. Border control
5. Firefighters
6. Inspection services (wind generators, smoke pipes, oil rigs, pipelines, …)
7. Insurance & Reviewer
8. Military
9. Police
10. Press & Media designer
11. Scientific services (biologists, geodesists (GIS), meteorological service, …)
12. Search & Rescue
13. Security & Surveillance
14. Special Forces
15. And many more…

Categories: drones Tags: , , ,

Anonymous Strikes Again

February 10th, 2010 Billy No comments

Anonymous is back and this time its target is the Australian Government: Operation Titstorm

more info on Wired Magazines Threat Storm

Ramsey County Spy Cameras (the gateway drug)

February 2nd, 2010 Billy No comments

Sheriff Bob Fletcher

It must be nice to be Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. He is a kid in a candy store. Over the last couple of years he has been able to fulfill his techno lust for every crime fighting device imaginable.

First he is having money thrown at him to protect the Republican National Convention and now he is given grants to install spy systems that he doesn’t even have a plan for.

The RNC allowed him to outnumber anarchists 100 – 1, with the most frightening show of force that the mid-west has ever seen. With his share of the military convention budget he was able to stockpile enough weapons, armor, chemicals and vehicles to stop a modern day Visigoth invasion.

Now he is putting up cameras around the county without a plan to monitor them. These CCTV systems have been shown by studies and experts to be a questionable expense in fighting crime. But money is no object when we talking about descent.

I’m sure next year there will be opportunities for Sheriff Bob to broaden his toolbox to include drone planes.

It is a slippery slope and allowing cameras now will only show precedence when the next technology comes along.

Categories: Cameras Tags: , ,

Wire Stories

January 28th, 2010 Billy No comments

And they know you by the color of your …

September 23rd, 2009 Billy No comments

Iris Scan

The FBI is about to expand on it’s shared fingerprint database and give law enforcement access to a full arsenal of biometric identifiers. Network World has an article that show the great expanse the FBI is about to go through in their identification processing.

via Network World

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is expanding beyond its traditional fingerprint-focused collection practices to develop a new biometrics system that will include DNA records, 3-D facial imaging, palm prints and voice scans, blended to create what’s known as “multi-modal biometrics.”

Here are a few more details:

The next-generation FBI database system is under design by MorphoTrak and is expected to include DNA, iris scans, advanced 3-D facial imaging and voice scans among its multi-modal biometrics. Lower turnaround times for delivering information over wide-area networks are planned. The goal is to drop from a roughly two-hour response time for IAFIS urgent requests to less than 10 minutes.

Picture by Matthew Goldthwaite. License GFDL

Accessing a Security Camera

June 29th, 2009 Billy No comments


The Hungry Hacker has a great list of text you can search for, using Google, to find accessible security cameras. They title of their blog post, “How to Hack into a Security Camera?”, is slightly misleading as you can’t do much more than move the camera around. You don’t have any administrative controls over it.

This is fun none the less. Enjoy.

Categories: Cameras, Hackers Tags:

Notes and articles for Little Brother

June 25th, 2009 Billy No comments

Here is a browsable list of notes and articles that I have used in the creation of this blog. Usually this is far more up to date than this blog is.

Categories: Security News Links Tags: