The 21st century has been very good to the world’s spies. Since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, secret intelligence agencies have increased their power and influence in countries as diverse as the United States, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. What these spy services have in common is secrecy, techniques, and elaborate emblems...
Tag: surveillance
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Jeff Bezos’ Phone Was Hacked by Saudi Crown Prince, Say British Reports
The Guardian had the scoop first, based on anonymous sources. The FInancial Times confirmed the story citing cybersecurity experts hired by the Amazon mogul. These experts are said to have “medium to high confidence” that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was involved, says FT. MBS has established a close relationship with President Trump and...
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Inspector General: NSA Is Not Complying With Law Requiring Disposal of Old Surveillance Data
The National Security Agency Office of the Inspector General (NSA OIG) announced today its release of an unclassified study with disturbing conclusion: the secretive agency is not in compliance with legal requirements it to dispose of signals intelligence data. As exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the NSA collects massive amounts of information (“metadata”) about the...
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U.S. Adds Chinese Firms to Blacklist, Citing Repression of Muslim Minorities
The U.S. government is sanctioning 28 Chinese entities for involvement in the suppression of the Uighur people of China’s Xinjaing province, the Wall Street Journal reports. Targets of the action include video-surveillance and facial-recognition giants Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, Megvii Technology Inc. and SenseTime Group Ltd. The decision by the Commerce Department to add the...
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Israel Accused of Planting Spy Devices Near the White House
The government of Israel, likely that of Saudi Arabia and Russia, hopes President Trump will be re-elected in 2020. But that doesn’t mean they don’t spy on him. From POLITICO The miniature surveillance devices, colloquially known as “StingRays,” mimic regular cell towers to fool cell phones into giving them their locations and identity information. Formally...