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New DHS policy demands warrants before deploying Stingrays
The Department of Homeland Security announced a substantial policy change Wednesday regarding how it employs cellphone-tracking tools like the Stingray system. These cell-site simulators have been in use for more than a decade. They allow law enforcement to find cell phones either by directly searching for a known device or find an unknown device by sniffing for signaling information from the simulator's immediate vicinity and triangulating that data. The new policy explicitly demands that DHS personnel acquire a warrant before deploying the devices unless an exception, such as the imminent loss of human life, destruction of evidence, or to prevent the escape of a fugitive felon. Wednesday's announcement follows a similar decision by the Department of Justice last month. [Image Credit: Getty]
The nose knows... how to let quadriplegics move and speak (video)
We've seen quadriplegic transportation directed by brainwaves, speech and even the occasional Wiimote, but your best bet might be to follow your nose. Israeli nasal researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science unveiled a "sniff controller" this week, that measures nasal pressure to control a wheelchair joystick with surprising precision (see a video after the break) and a specially-developed typing interface. The latter is likely the more important advancement, as Discover heartwarmingly reports at the source link, by giving patients with locked-in syndrome (a la The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) the long-lost ability to speak. Best of all, the technology is inexpensive compared to alternatives on the market; while a Stephen Hawking-esque eye-tracking system can cost tens of thousands of dollars, Weizmann scholars reportedly pieced the prototype together for $358. The device is already being considered for public availability by the institute's technology transfer company, Yeda R&D -- find out just how it works in the full study at our more coverage link.
Simple keystroke sniffing schemes work where keyloggers won't
Ah, the wonders of CanSecWest. The famed security conference has delivered yet again in 2009, this time bringing to light two simple sniffing schemes that could be used to decipher typed text when keyloggers are just too noticeable. Gurus from Inverse Path were on hand to explain the approaches, one of which involved around $80 of off-the-shelf gear. In short, curious individuals could point a laser on the reflective surface of a laptop between 50 feet and 100 feet away, and then by using a "handmade laser microphone device and a photo diode to measure the vibrations, software for analyzing the spectrograms of frequencies from different keystrokes, as well as technology to apply the data to a dictionary," words could be pretty easily guessed. The second method taps into power grid signals passed along from PS/2 keyboard outputs, and by using a digital oscilloscope and an analog-digital converter, those in the know can pick out tweets from afar. Check the read link for more, and make sure you close those blinds and pick up a USB keyboard, pronto.[Via Slashdot]
UK police claim thieves are sniffing for laptops with Bluetooth phones
No disrespect towards the fine police of the United Kingdom or their Sherlock Holmsian skills, but we're mighty skeptical of a recent warning by the Cambridgeshire division that thieves are using their cellphones to locate and steal Bluetooth-enabled laptops from the "boots" of cars. So far all of the evidence concerning this new high-tech modus operandi seems to be anecdotal, as police in Royston are also claiming that a recent a spate of laptop thefts can be attributed to Bluetooth-sniffing crooks, but neither department is reporting how they came to these conclusions. Still, it's probably not a bad idea to shutdown your machine instead of putting it sleep when storing it in the car, toggle your Bluetooth setting to "undiscoverable," or just bring the damn thing along if you're going to be away from your ride for awhile.[Via The Raw Feed]
