Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category

The Power of Dickie

Published on November 26, 2012 in Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments

Most Private Investigators learn that carrying a clipboard will grant access to most places, even those with confidential data to protect. Well there is a more powerful access tool than a clipboard and his name is Dickie.

Dickie doesn’t work alone, he has friends — 2-way radio, tool belt, Maglight, hard hat, and well-worn safety boots.

Nobody ever challenges Dickie. If a particularly diligent person does question Dickie, he says, “fine with me, but it will be at least four weeks until I can get back here. We’re really backed up.” Thusly, Dickie intimidates the most diligent, pretentious, and over-dressed staff member.

Dickie has an entire wardrobe to cover all occasions. Telephone technician days he is blue as Bell detested Gray.  On computer service days, he is in tan slacks with a white polo shirt. When he is fixing the troublesome copier, he is either blue or grey. On clean-up days, he helps the janitor in grey. On hot or cold days, he fixes the HVAC system in this blue-green ensemble.  Sometimes he delivers parcels in his fetching brown outfit.

Dickie is a master of surveillance and disguise.

Spys & Surveillance

Published on October 29, 2012 in Espionage, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Private Investigator and Surveillance. 1 Comment

I came across a book written during the Great War that has some good tips for the surveillance operator. It introduces the essentials of spycraft of a bygone era, but it remains particularly relevant to the Investigator who conducts surveillance operations.

The attitude that espionage is a sport in which the players appreciate and honor each other is truly misplaced, but the author’s observations about how to look like you belong in a place and about the key elements of disguise are timeless. The author’s description of how he gained access to critical installations to make observations are as relevant today as the Balkans in the 1890′s.

My Adventures as a Spy, By Lt. Gen. Sir Robert Baden-Powell, is an excellent short read.

 

 

On Hacking Humans

Published on July 23, 2012 in Private Investigator and Surveillance. 1 Comment Tags: , .

I found an excellent article on using disguise to gather information. This is the type of thing really good surveillance guys become adept at this.

 

Surveillance Detection & Bluetooth

Published on April 4, 2012 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments

I don’t do much surveillance work anymore, but recently I was pressed into service to assist a friend who was injured on the job. I took a file from his caseload at random and this led to a couple of interesting days.

This subject was very ‘surveillance-aware’. He must have been coached or read a book or two. He did all the right things, but in a very obvious and clumsy manner. This was obviously his first rodeo.

On several occasions, I observed him look at his phone then at the surrounding people. I realised that he was doing this with a purpose; I just couldn’t put it into context. It was like his practice of looking at the people in the area when he left a building and then watching the people exiting the door he used to leave the building.  Then I realised my problem was that I am a mobile telephone Luddite and I needed to talk to the younger folks — you know the type, the ones always fiddling with their gadget phone thingy.

My conclusion was that the subject was using his mobile phone to scan the area for Bluetooth devices. To do this, he selected relatively confined areas, or choke-points, where he could see people in the area that he might have seen before. If he saw the same Bluetooth device at more than one of these choke-points, he knew he was being followed, and that he stood a good chance of identifying the person following him.

This was a clever use of Bluetooth technology, but it was wasted on me. I don’t carry a Bluetooth-enabled mobile.

Who’s Watching & Listening

Published on February 6, 2012 in Methods, Privacy, Private Investigator, Security and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , .

You never know who is watching. Please note that if you are Investigating someone inside your own company, and using the company network to search the Internet, at least use the encrypted search sites.  However, it is becoming more common for large companies to insert an inline HTTPS proxy in the network to  read and analyze this traffic by creating a man-in-the-middle. You can’t be sure that your investigation won’t be compromised because someone sees what you are searching and then tells the wrong person.

 

More than a Vehicle Registration

Published on May 6, 2011 in Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: .

During the course of a surveillance, the vehicle driven by the subject may offer more information than just the registration details.

For example, a quick look inside the vehicle may reveal his occupation, place of employment, or places where he frequently parks his car if you see unpaid parking tickets inside.

If you suspect the subject is involved in criminal activity or insurance fraud, then pay for a report from CARFAX and CarProof and get a history search on the vehicle identification number (VIN).   The history for the VIN will reveal any liens and state if the car was involved in past accidents or if it has been marked as a salvage, re-built or non-repairable vehicle. Also run the VIN at the Canadian Police Information Centre website under the stolen vehicle section.

The Olde Ways

Published on March 7, 2011 in Espionage, Industrial Espionage, Methods, Private Investigator, Security and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I was summoned to a meeting with a client. The client firm is over a century old. This successful firm has learned a thing or two about security.

I was asked to surrender my electronic gadgets. Being of the old school, I had none. This pleased the gatekeeper. I was led to a room furnished with only a curious table and four old wooden bankers chairs. No telephone, no electrical outlets, one florescent light fixture above the table.  The gatekeeper had to unlock the room. She then waited at the open door until my contact arrived.

My contact enters and places pieces of chalk and a chalkboard eraser on the the table. Most of the table top is painted with chalkboard paint.

We eventually compose a handwritten Memorandum of Agreement regarding the engagement, sign it, and off we go.

These people understand the rules, especially Rule #1 — If you don’t want it overheard, don’t say it. But I must admit, I have never seen a “Magic Slate” table before.

Moscow Rules

Published on March 4, 2011 in Espionage, Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The CIA developed the Moscow Rules to guide operations in Moscow was during the Cold War.  The content of the original Moscow Rules are debated, but they are generally agreed to consist of 40 different rules.  Here’s the abbreviated list circulating today: Continue reading ‘Moscow Rules’

Surveillance Advice

Published on December 15, 2010 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator, Report Writing and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Two concise article on conducting a surveillance:

Observation Skill — Spot the Pistol

Published on December 13, 2010 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Recognising that a subject is likely carrying a pistol is a necessary surveillance skill, even in Toronto.

Color is used to highlight how the gun moves and how the gun reveals itself, short visual noun-verb sentences that indicate the key signs that help detectives to spot someone carrying a hidden handgun. Click on the image to get a clearer view or go to the original article.

The explanation of how this graphic was developed with the help of Detective Robert T. Gallagher of the NYPD makes interesting reading.

Surveillance Tradecraft

Published on December 6, 2010 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Early in my career I was part of a surveillance crew. Every day I would go out and follow people. Sometimes I worked alone, sometimes in a car or cab with two other guys, sometimes as part of a multi-vehicle team.

It takes a long time to integrate a new guy into a surveillance crew. If he is experienced, it will take about 6 months. I have not seen any really good training schools for this in North America. I think the reason that such schools don’t exist here is that it takes too long to teach the fundamentals and this would cost a lot of money for lodging, cars, and instruction. In Canada, learning to conduct surveillance is definitely on-the-job training.

Let’s start with some definitions. Continue reading ‘Surveillance Tradecraft’

Disguises

Published on December 1, 2010 in Identity Fraud, Identity Theft, Private Investigator and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Dyed hair and false beards are childish. Mere physical traits are of little use for identification. Context or ‘atmosphere’ are what matters.

If your subject gets into entirely different surroundings from those in which he was first observed — and this is the important part — really plays up to the new surroundings and behaves as if he had never been out of them, then he would be invisible to even the cleverest Private Investigator.

A fool tries to look different; a clever man looks the same and is, at the same time, different.

The deceiver assumes the new role by actually becoming the person he is impersonating. He is quietly absorbed into his new surroundings. In essence, the person you are seeking may be hiding in plain sight.

In Plain Sight

When he’s out and about near his Denver home, former Broncos quarterback John Elway has come up with a novel way to travel incognito—he wears his own jersey. “I do that all the time here,” the 50-year-old Hall of Famer told me. “I go to the mall that way. They know it’s not me because they say there’s no way Elway would be wearing his own jersey in the mall. So it actually is the safest thing to do.”  (Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1175387/4/index.htm)

Detecting Firesheep

Published on November 29, 2010 in Identity Theft, Methods, Privacy, Security, Social Sites, Surveillance and The Investigator's Computer. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I wrote about Firesheep awhile back. Predictably, a countermeasure has appeared called Blacksheep.

New Firefox Add-On Detects Firesheep, Protects You on Open Networks

If you’re concerned about using open Wi-Fi networks because of Firesheep, the highly popular new hacking tool, you should check out BlackSheep, a Firefox add-on that makes surfing on open networks safe once again.

Can You Spot Agent 13?

Published on November 18, 2010 in Surveillance. 0 Comments

Would You Believe … Vending-Machine Disguises?

Crime-wary Japanese are resorting to some interesting urban camouflage

DIY High Magnification Webcam

Published on November 17, 2010 in Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I found a video on how to turn an ordinary webcam into a telescopic surveillance device. This is interesting but I wouldn’t hot glue something to an expensive rifle scope. It would be better to put the webcam on the ocular of a spotting scope. that way if you must use glue, then only the ocular fitting needs replacement as most spotting scope makers have this as replacement part. However, I doubt the image quality would be useful in court.