Spying in Women's World Cup Soccer
What is it with sports and spying this month? Now it’s the Chinese spying on the Danish women’s soccer team.
Entries Tagged "espionage"
Page 16 of 18
Formula One Racing Spying Scandal
Yet another sports spying scandal, this one from Formula One racing.
Spying in Football
The New England Patriots, one of the two or three best teams in the last five years, have been accused of stealing signals from the other team.
The “Game Operations Manual” states that “no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game.” The manual states that “all video shooting locations must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead.” NFL security officials confiscated a camera and videotape from a New England video assistant on the Patriots’ sideline when it was suspected he was recording the Jets’ defensive signals. Taping any signals is prohibited. The toughest part usually is finding evidence to support an allegation.
I remember when the NFL changed the rules to allow a radio link from the quarterback’s helmet to the sidelines. A smart team could not only eavesdrop on the other team, but selectively jam the signal when it would be most critical. The rules said that if one team’s radio link didn’t work, the other team had to turn its off, but that’s a minor consideration if you know it’s coming.
Funny parody.
EDITED TO ADD (9/15): The team and coach both have been fined.
And this is a really good conversation on the topic.
EDITED TO ADD (9/18): Ed Felten comments.
Pentagon Hacked by Chinese Military
The story seems to have started yesterday in the Financial Times, and is now spreading.
Not enough details to know what’s really going on, though. From the FT:
The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American officials.
The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack.
Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’s Liberation Army.
One senior US official said the Pentagon had pinpointed the exact origins of the attack. Another person familiar with the event said there was a “very high level of confidence…trending towards total certainty” that the PLA was responsible. The defence ministry in Beijing declined to comment on Monday.
EDITED TO ADD (9/13): Another good commentary.
We're All a Little Nervous in a Post-1748 World
In 1748, the painter William Hogarth was arrested as a spy for sketching fortifications at Calais.
Rudyard Kipling As a Security Author
A review of Kim:
Kipling packed a great deal of information and concept into his stories, and in “Kim” we find The Great Game: espionage and spying. Within the first twenty pages we have authentication by something you have, denial of service, impersonation, stealth, masquerade, role- based authorization (with ad hoc authentication by something you know), eavesdropping, and trust based on data integrity. Later on we get contingency planning against theft and cryptography with key changes.
More on the HP Board Spying Scandal
Two weeks ago I wrote about a spying scandal involving the HP board. There’s more:
A secret investigation of news leaks at Hewlett-Packard was more elaborate than previously reported, and almost from the start involved the illicit gathering of private phone records and direct surveillance of board members and journalists, according to people briefed on the company’s review of the operation.
Given this, I predict a real investigation into the incident:
Those briefed on the company’s review of the operation say detectives tried to plant software on at least one journalist’s computer that would enable messages to be traced, and also followed directors and possibly a journalist in an attempt to identify a leaker on the board.
I’m amazed there isn’t more outcry. Pretexting, planting Trojans…this is the sort of thing that would get a “hacker” immediately arrested. But if the chairman of the HP board does it, suddenly it’s a gray area.
EDITED TO ADD (9/20): More info.
Industrial Spying
Lots of hype, but an interesting article nonetheless.
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.