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The DEA impersonated a woman on Facebook to catch criminals
Law enforcement is no stranger to going undercover to bust unsuspecting crooks, but the Drug Enforcement Administration may have taken an online sting operation one step too far. A woman arrested in a drug case, Sondra Arquiett, sued the government after a DEA agent impersonated her on Facebook to trick at least one fugitive into sharing information. While Arquiett had consented to a search of her phone for the sake of investigations, she didn't give permission to the agent to post photos from that phone for the world to see. Her suit accuses the agent of not only violating her privacy, but of putting her in danger by making it look like she was cooperating with officials.
Data breaches compromised the info of US undercover investigators
Data theft is normally pretty bad all on its own, but a recent breach at US Investigations Services (a background check company) may have created some extra-strong headaches for the US government. Reuters understands that the intrusion exposed personal information of 25,000-plus Department of Homeland Security workers, including "some undercover investigators." There's no certainty that the attackers stole those agents' information, but there's a real chance that their identities are out in the wild -- a big problem if suspects can double-check identities and avoid getting caught. The concern is exacerbated by the nature of the attack, which USIS believes might have been "state-sponsored."
Undercover 5: the best way to secure and recover a stolen Mac
A few years ago I wrote about Orbicule's Undercover 4 software. Undercover lets you remotely track and monitor a missing Mac, and can even help you recover your stolen gear. Given the Mac security issues in the news over the last few days, it's worthwhile reviewing some best practices to help keep your Mac as secure as it can be. That's why I'm happy to tell you that Orbicule has come out with a brand new version of its security and recovery software: Undercover 5. Undercover is sometimes compared to iCloud's Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac feature. However, Apple's Find My device feature pales compared to Orbicule's Undercover 5. Load the software on your computer and it silently runs in the background constantly monitoring your Mac's location. Should your Mac go missing, you can go to www.undercoverhq.com and start tracking your Mac remotely. From the Undercover HQ center you can see the current and past locations of your Mac, quietly activate your Mac's FaceTime camera to take photos of the thief, and quietly take screenshots so you can see what the thief is doing at any given time. All of this is done incognito, so the temporary new custodian of your laptop won't have any idea that they're being monitored every moment. But the best feature about Undercover 5 is that you can now activate a keylogger, so every single thing the thief types -- from Facebook usernames and passwords, to instant messages, to emails to his accomplices and/or parole officer are all logged and sent back to you to view in your Undercover HQ dashboard. After you've collected FaceTime pics, geolocations, screenshots, and keylog files (all shown automatically in your "Thief Report" section of the Undercover HQ center) you can quickly and simply submit all this information to the local police. But what's even cooler -- and a bit out of a Hollywood movie -- is that if the police can't recover the stolen Mac, you can always resort to Undercover's aptly named "Plan B." Plan B allows you to launch a simulated hardware failure on your Mac so the thief has no choice but to take it into an Apple Store for repair. Once you track it to the Apple Store (or Best Buy or wherever) you then activate part two of plan B -- you tell the Mac to display a message on the screen saying the Mac has been stolen and the repair shop should hold onto it and call the police. I cannot recommend Undercover 5 enough. It's especially important for those of you who just splashed all that cash on a MacBook Pro with Retina display, but at only US$49.00 for one license (licenses of 5 for $59.00 or 25 Macs for $299 are available -- as are student discounts) every owner of any kind of Mac should purchase Undercover 5. And for those of you wondering, Undercover 5 cannot be deleted off your Mac without your administrator password and even then the thief would need to know that Undercover is actually installed, which is very hard to know since there is no app icon or any kind of System Preference settings. Undercover is kind of like Batman; it works silently in the background and the bad guy never knows it's there until it's too late (sure, a thief could restore your Mac, but that's impossible to do if you set a firmware password). Check out the video below that shows how Undercover 5 works, then do yourself a favor and buy the software. If your Mac is ever nicked, you'll thank yourself for it.
The fate of a generation of workers: Foxconn undercover fully translated (update: videos added)
Machine translations are still years or even decades away from perfection, so rather than sending you to an auto-translated page, we now present -- with exclusive permission from Southern Weekend -- a human translation of this damning article on Foxconn by undercover reporter Liu Zhiyi. (Photo: Southern Weekend) I know of two groups of young people. One group consists of university students like myself, who live in ivory towers and kept company by libraries and lake views. The other group works alongside steel machineries and large containers, all inside a factory of high-precision manufacturing environment. These guys always address their seniors as "laoban" (boss), and call their own colleagues -- regardless of familiarity -- the rude "diaomao" (pubic hair) in loud. After going undercover in Foxconn for 28 days, I came back out. I've been trying to tie the two pictures together. But it's very difficult. Even with people living in these two places sharing the same age, the same youth dream. My undercover was part of Southern Weekend's investigation on the then six Foxconn suicides. We soon found out that most of Southern Weekend's reporters were rejected due to age -- Foxconn only recruits people around the age of 20. In comparison, being just under 23 years old, I was quickly brought into Foxconn. The 28-day undercover work made a strong impact on me. It wasn't about finding out what they died for, but rather to learn how they lived.
Undercover Chinese reporter exposes Foxconn working conditions (update: full English translation)
Some time in April, Chinese news site Southern Weekend sent its intern, Liu Zhiyi, on a 28-day undercover mission at Foxconn's Shenzhen factory, as part of an investigation on what could've led to this year's numerous suicides in one of China's largest factories. While the report doesn't comment on the company's management and support networks (or the lack of) for front-line workers, it appears that the real problem lies in Chinese workers' definition of a "good factory" -- one that pays more by means of offering overtime hours. It's clear what's causing this perception -- there's the sub-standard minimum wage in Shenzhen, and then there are the companies abusing this fact to lure workers with overtime hours above the legal limit. Update: Thanks to Southern Weekend's exclusive permission, we've now published the full human translation of the Chinese report.
Orbicule releases Undercover 4
Orbicule has released Undercover 4 and thieves should be very afraid. Undercover is theft-recovery software for Mac OS X that's been around for the last four years. The software allows users to grab screen shots of the thief using their computer via the Mac's built-in iSight camera and will also send screen shots of your stolen Mac's desktop back to you so you can see what the thief is doing. Undercover also uses Skyhook Wireless technology to locate your stolen Mac within a range of 10-20 meters. Undercover 4 adds the ability for users to remotely monitor a stolen Mac using the UndercoverCenter.com web application. You can use the new UndercoverCenter by yourself or in conjunction with your local police force if they are helping you track down your stolen laptop. The UndercoverCenter will allow you to receive a Google Earth file pinpointing the stolen Mac's locations. In addition, you can use UndercoverCenter to completely lock the lost or stolen Mac and set a custom message that is displayed on top of all other applications. Best of all, if the thief is using your Mac in a public location, Undercover allows you to tell your stolen Mac to start shouting "Help! Help! I'm a stolen Mac" via VoiceOver technology. Undercover 4 costs $49 and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or above.
Get a TUAW discount on Mac theft recovery service from hidden
Apple's laptops and iMacs are attractive targets for thieves, since they're easy to move and have a good resale value. We've seen several Mac applications or services that work to help you retrieve your favorite Apple product if it is ever stolen; LoJack for Laptops (US$39.95 per year), Undercover ($49.00 for a lifetime of tracking), and MacTrak ($24.95 per year) are all perfect examples of these programs. Most of these apps have two things in common; they will attempt to locate the whereabouts of the computer and also send a picture of the thief using the built-in iSight camera. Now a new name has appeared in the field; hidden. The name is apt, since there's no visible sign on the computer that the software has been installed. There's no app in the applications folder, and no preference pane. To use the application, you simply download and install it, then restart your Mac. Most of the time, your Mac won't be sending out updates of its location. When it is stolen or lost, you go to the hiddenapp.com website, log in, and then change the status for the tracked computer from "not stolen" to "stolen." The service begins looking for your Mac, and within minutes the site displays a Google map showing its approximate location (determined through Wi-Fi geolocation) and, more importantly, photos of the person using the Mac and screenshots of what they are doing. Location updates happen every 10 minutes and also include traceroute information including the public IP address of the Wi-Fi network being used by the thief. This information can be provided to ISPs and local police to help you get your computer back.
Police Wii Bowling team issued stern rebuke
You know, policing can be a tiresome, thankless task -- that's why we weren't all that surprised when Polk County's finest were caught on camera at the scene of a Florida drug raid engaging in a reported nine hour Wii Sports tourney. As you'll recall, investigators raided a home back in March on the lookout for drugs and stolen items -- which they found, along with weapons and that infamous Nintendo game console. Fans of police accountability will be pleased to note that when all is said and done, eleven members of the multiagency task force were eventually disciplined with a letter in their permanent records and a couple hours of re-training. According to Polk County sheriff's Chief of Staff Gary Hester, all of those involved "were all remorseful, upset with themselves, [and] apologetic," except one officer who finally bowled a perfect game: "It was totally worth it. The Dude abides."
Video: Drug raid turns into 9 hour Wii bowl-a-thon
Know what's more alluring to the five-O than glazed confectionary goods? Nintendo's Wii, apparently. Or at least the lure of bowling without all the heavy lifting. See, a team of undercover cops raiding the home of a convicted Florida drug dealer was smitten enough by the console to quit their search and fire up Wii Sports for a bit of taxpayer fun over a period of, oh... about nine hours -- unaware that the home security system was recording the whole thing. Your dose of self-righteous indignation can be found after the break.[Thanks, Maurice]
Thanko's own necktie doubles as spy camera, naturally
A necktie from Thanko -- you could tell this thing was only fit for a double agent already, couldn't you? Freshly introduced and ready to draw attention to your poor taste, this here spy tie includes a built-in video recorder along with a minuscule handheld remote used to turn it on and off. The video camera itself is installed on a USB-equipped slab of flash memory (4GB, or about four hours of low resolution footage), making those tie-to-PC transfers extra snappy. And at ¥12,800 ($128), it comes off as a bona fide steal compared to less useful alternatives in Bloomingdale's. Our only lingering question? What's a brother got to do to get a clip on version?[Via AkihabaraNews]
EA uncovers NFS Undercover game mode
In anticipation of the release of Need for Speed: Undercover, Black Box and EA just revealed an all new Undercover online game mode called "Cops and Robbers". Just as it sounds, Cops and Robbers pits two opposing teams of four against each other (one cops, one robbers) in an attempt to earn the most points. Robbers have the mission to pickup various packages and drop them off at specified destinations, while the Cops team tries to prevent the package delivery. Once the round is complete, players will swap sides and play as either the Cops or Robbers. Hmm, sounds innovative!
PAX 2008 hands-on: Need for Speed Undercover, rollcage edition
From the depths of the M.C. Escher nightmare of Dead Space we slid into the sweet embrace of a high-octane car. Need for Speed: Undercover knew that it needed to impress people with something besides picture-pretty cars racing along at high speed through city streets, so it wrapped itself inside a glorious steel gaming cage. A gaming cage that looked like something they'd use to teach driver's ed out of in the future. Find out all about this must-have, but can't-buy gaming accessory after the break.%Gallery-30062%
E308: A glimpse into The Agency's guilds and classes
In our recent talk with Matt Wilson at E3, we were given a lot of really illuminating information about classes and guilds in the upcoming SOE title, The Agency. It would seem that the Agency crew is doing a very good job of listening to many of the frustrations of MMOG players, while taking the time to study popular games like Team Fortress 2. If you've been wondering about the different classes and abilities, as well as social structure in this upcoming MMOFPS, then you'll be interested to hear what's in the works.Massively: What are the classes or archetypal roles in The Agency?Matt Wilson: Our four primary classes are basically Combat, which is the ability to have weapons and have high defenses. Stealth, which is more of a high-DPS, sniper rifles and other things that you take into battle, [Undercover] Stealth which is very important, which is sneaking around and distractions. And finally, there's the Support classes like your Medics and Field Techs. Field Techs are about defense, turrets, other cool things like that. Medics are more about supporting the team, being able to support med stations while you're out in the field, heals, that kind of thing. Those are the general archetypes. Then we have specialties that fall out of those, allowing players to specialize further in each class.
Undercover: Dual Motives randomly reappears [Update 1]
After a lengthy silence stretching back to last July, Sproing's Undercover: Dual Motives has finally reemerged with a dozen or so new screenshots.If you had forgotten about this Eidos-published adventure -- and we can't blame you if you did -- then we should probably remind you that it's an adventure title set in England in 1943, and stars a pair of busybodies (researcher-turned-spy Dr. John Russell and his secretary Audrey) as they investigate a German nuclear threat. And yes, you read that right: it's a World War II game that doesn't involve one-man-army types mowing down screeching Nazis. That fact alone is enough to keep us interested.There's also a twist on the usual adventure game formula, as players have to switch between the doctor and Audrey to solve puzzles (each character gets their own screen), some of which require both characters to lend a hand (a bit like Resident Evil 0, we daresay).It's been available in German-speaking regions since last year, and we're still waiting on news of an English-language localization, but the fact that Eidos is suddenly distributing new screens gives us hope -- even if some are still in German.Update: After chatting to the good folks at Eidos, we've learned that this will be getting a 2008 release. The "end of April/beginning of May" seems most likely, but that's not official just yet.%Gallery-19663%[Via press release]
Undercover: stolen Mac recovery tool
Thinking about recovering your laptop in case of theft? Undercover from Orbicule (we've mentioned it before once or twice) sports a nice additional "feature" in terms of a money-back guarantee. If your Mac is reported stolen Undercover will monitor and report IP addresses that should narrow down the search, as well as take both screenshots and iSight snapshots at regular intervals and send them back. Finally, it will mimic a hardware problem presumably prompting the thief to take it in for repair or sell it, in which case it will display a message indicating that the computer has been stolen, etc. Orbicule is apparently so confident that Undercover will allow you to recover your machine that they're offering a money-back guarantee for the cost of the software if you do not. They have an interesting account of the recovery process in an actual case.Undercover is $49 ($39 for students; education site licenses are available).[via Daring Fireball]
Undercover: Dual Motives returns after being pushed back
We'd forgotten all about Undercover: Dual Motives, the prequel to PC game Undercover: Operation Wintersun, because we haven't seen anything on it in so long. But how could we forget these gorgeous visuals? Sure, they'll probably be as static and stationary as the mounted moose head on Uncle Jim Bob's wall, but that doesn't make the game any less attractive. DS-X2 has a passel of new (and old) screens for your perusal if you need to re-whet the old appetite. And why would you need to? Because it seems the game, which was originally slated for March, will hit shelves next month. And you know we're all about adventure games. There's just something about all that pointing and clicking that makes us happy down to the very tips of our toes.
MacBook's iSight unknowingly photographs Apple repair center
Here's one that doesn't happen very often ever. As bad as we rumor mongers pry and pry to get inside of ole Steve's brain, sneaking a peek behind closed Cupertino doors is all but impossible (even for Mr. Dell). Nevertheless, a clever Mac user got numerous undercover photographs of the inside workings at an Apple authorized repair center (Flextronics International) in Tennessee. Rather than pulling out any MacGyver-based stunts, he simply wrote a script -- dubbed Walking Study -- that instructed his MacBook to snap a photo (and upload it to his Flickr account) with the built-in iSight each time it awoke from sleep. When his dear 'Book got sent out for repair, however, the fully-functional webcam continued to perform perfectly within the secretive confines, giving everyone a glimpse of an incredibly average looking warehouse. Although the stealthy camera didn't snap any shots of (potentially) forthcoming iPhone or widescreen iPod prototypes, we've got to give credit where it's due -- Toby Mckeys got closer to the Apple's core than we've seen in quite some time.[Via TUAW]
Undercover: Dual Motives for your dual screens
Austrian developer Sproing's PC game, Undercover: Operation Wintersun, has just been released in Europe and now the company's announced a prequel for the Nintendo handheld. The new title, Undercover: Dual Motives, adds a second character in keeping with the "dual" theme. Secretary Audrey joins researcher-turned-spy Dr. John Russell in the investigative action title. The current game follows Dr. Russell as he investigates a German nuclear threat in 1943, and all we currently know is that the DS game will follow the good doctor in his early years. Like many upcoming DS games that feature dual heroes, you can switch back and forth easily between Audrey and Dr. Russell, and each will bring something unique to the mystery. "This opens up a lot of new possibilities for puzzle design in adventure games, which will make Undercover: Dual Motives a very special gaming experience not only for genre fans," said Sproing's creative director Harald Riegler. Sounds like they're trying to blend the best features of the interactive touchscreen with the fun of an action game. Toss in an interesting story and you've got a recipe for something that could be great. Undercover: Dual Motives is scheduled for release in March of 2007, starting in Germany.
"Undercover" software helps recover your stolen MacBook
So you coughed up some dough for that iAlertU program to protect your MacBook, but wouldn't you know it, your laptop got jacked anyway by a clever thief who simply removed the battery before taking off. Luckily for you, all is not lost, at least not if you'd installed another program called Undercover on your machine, which not only sends out an IP-address-containing SOS if it's reported stolen, but actually uses your machine's built-in iSight to snap a photo of the perp before simulating a screen failure that makes the Mac unusable. Every six minutes, Undercover pings a database maintained by developer Orbicule to check if the machine it's installed on has been stolen; a positive reply from the server initiates a sequence of events that hopefully ends with law enforcement officials breaking down the door of the nefarious Macjacker's pad and recovering your beloved notebook. In case the crook was smart enough to never reconnect to the Internet after the heist, however, you'll still need to file an insurance claim and head down to the old Apple store -- looks like they still haven't found a software solution that beats the trusty Kensington Lock.
Undercover software tracks "stolen" Mac
The team at Mac 360 "stole" a Mac in order to test Orbicule's Undercover, new anti-theft software for a Mac. David Chartier described what Undercover does in an earlier post. The gist of it is that Undercover tries to locate a stolen Mac by taking and transmitting screenshots. If the Mac has an iSight, Undercover will even take photos of the user and send those back to Orbicule. What if the Mac isn't connected to the Internet? In that case, Undercover simulates a hardware meltdown, in the hope that the thief will take the computer to an authorized reseller for repair. To test whether these novel tracking schemes are likely to get your Mac back to you, Mac 360 staged a test theft of a PowerBook. The result is a two-part keystone cops post. Their conclusion? I'll let you guess.
