Entries Tagged "Mexico"

Page 1 of 1

Mexican Drug Cartels with High-Tech Spyware

Sophisticated spyware, sold by surveillance tech companies to Mexican government agencies, are ending up in the hands of drug cartels:

As many as 25 private companies—including the Israeli company NSO Group and the Italian firm Hacking Team—have sold surveillance software to Mexican federal and state police forces, but there is little or no regulation of the sector—and no way to control where the spyware ends up, said the officials.

Lots of details in the article. The cyberweapons arms business is immoral in many ways. This is just one of them.

Posted on December 17, 2020 at 7:19 AM • View Comments

Attacking Fences

From an article on the cocaine trade between Mexico and the U.S.:

“They erect this fence,” he said, “only to go out there a few days later and discover that these guys have a catapult, and they’re flinging hundred-pound bales of marijuana over to the other side.” He paused and looked at me for a second. “A catapult,” he repeated. “We’ve got the best fence money can buy, and they counter us with a 2,500-year-old technology.”

Posted on July 10, 2012 at 4:33 AM • View Comments

Is Everything a Bomb These Days?

In New Mexico, a bomb squad blew up two CD players, duct-taped to the bottoms of church pews, that played pornographic messages during Mass. This is a pretty funny high school prank and I hope the kids that did it get suitably punished. But they’re not terrorists. And I have a hard time believing that the police actually thought CD players were bombs.

Meanwhile, Irish police blew up a tape dispenser left outside a police station.

And not to be outdone, the Dutch police mistook one of their own transmitters for a bomb. At least they didn’t blow anything up.

Okay, everyone. We need some ideas, here. If we’re going to think everything weird is a bomb, then the false alarms are going to kill any hope of security.

EDITED TO ADD (3/3): If you’re having trouble identifying bombs, this quiz should help. And here’s a relevant cartoon.

Posted on February 23, 2007 at 12:38 PM • View Comments

Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.