THIS IS COMSEC BULLETIN #1, FEBRUARY 17, 1990. FOR FURTHER
\nINFORMATION, CONTACT THE COMSEC BBS (202) 334-1304 OR CALL OUR
\nOFFICE AT (301) 670-0512 AND LEAVE A MESSAGE.<\/p>\n
About the Bulletin<\/p>\n
The COMSEC Bulletin is published to provide a means of informing
\nCOMSEC Association members of the business of the association. It
\nis published on a random basis with news that can affect members.
\nPlease note, the ‘COMSEC Journal’, which will be the association’s
\npremier publication, will be published quarterly and should not be
\nconfused with the bulletin.<\/p>\n
The association wants to thank all of our members for their
\npatience during the associations transition. We hope that you will
\nbe satisfied with your membership in the coming year.<\/p>\n
What’s Inside <\/p>\n
– Surveillance Expo ’89
\n – Annual COMSEC membership meeting
\n – Using a Spectrum Analyzer
\n – Audio Tapes Available
\n – Washington DC COMSEC Chapter News
\n – S&L’s Phone Bugged
\n – Membership Certificates and Cards
\n – Advertising
\n – TECHNET Data Systems – First COMSEC Corporate Sponsor
\n – Call to all writers
\n – Competitive Intelligence
\n – Hacker enters GRUMMAN Corp computer<\/p>\n
Surveillance EXPO ’89 <\/p>\n
For those of our members who weren’t able to make it to
\nSurveillance Expo ’89 we missed you. Needless to say the Expo was a
\nrousing success with exhibitors and speakers that represented the
\nentire spectrum of the security field. The Association is glad to
\nhave been one of the cornerstones that made this years Expo happen
\nand we have already begun making preparations for the next Expo to
\nbe held 28-30 November, 1990. Mark that date on your calendars and
\nplan to attend.<\/p>\n
Annual COMSEC Membership Meeting<\/p>\n
The annual COMSEC membership meeting was held on December 13, 1989
\nfollowing the last Expo seminar of the day. Although participation
\ncould have been better , a majority of the board of the directors
\nwere present enabling us to make decisions that will affect the
\nassociation for the following year. <\/p>\n
A number of topics were covered that all of the association members
\nshould be aware of. For those of you who were unable to attend they
\nwill be covered briefly.<\/p>\n
The first topic that was covered was membership goals for the
\ncoming year. Currently the association has a small but growing
\nnumber of members. In order to provide reasonable membership
\nbenefits, cover the associations overhead and increase the name
\nrecognition of the association we have to increase the number of
\nmembers that the association has. A number of ideas were floored
\nthat may help. It was first suggested that we limit our recruitment
\nof new members to the Washington, DC area. Its a matter of simple
\nlogistics.<\/p>\n
Since a large portion of our members reside in the DC area and the
\nnational chapter has its offices in the area the recruitment of new
\nmembers can be closely monitored. However this means that members
\noutside of the DC area would suffer. Because of this the board
\ndecided that a 75\/25% split of effort would be used to recruit new
\nmembers with the majority of effort occurring in the Washington
\narea.<\/p>\n
The next topic covered was the formation of local chapters. The
\nAssociation is proud to note that the first local chapter has been
\nestablished in the Washington area. The local chapter president is
\nMike Brumbaugh (phone 703-739-8313) and he has some interesting
\nideas. The first meeting of the Washington chapter will be in the
\nmonth of April. If you are interested in attending please give him
\na call. <\/p>\n
The discussion covered then covered the possibility of starting
\nother local chapters. A number of inquiries have been made but
\nother than this there has been no progress. The major problem is
\nfinding individuals that are motivated enough to start a chapter.
\nIts a difficult task and it takes a special kind of person to
\nundertake the responsibilities and headaches associated with
\nforming a local chapter. Because of the responsibilities associated
\nwith starting a local chapter it was decided that each local
\nchapter president would also automatically become a member of the
\nboard of directors and would not be affected by the rule that board
\nmembers cannot miss more than two consecutive board meetings.<\/p>\n
It was also decided that the minimum number of people required to
\nstart a local chapter would be increased from 5 to 10. It was felt
\nthat the more people involved in the initial formation of the local
\nchapter the better the chances of success.<\/p>\n
Another topic discussed was the possibility of the COMSEC
\nassociation joining forces with the National Computer Security
\nAssociation. The Board of Directors and the director of NCSA
\nbelieve that both organizations would profit from a merging of
\nresources. The board plans on discussing this option further during
\nthe first meeting of FY90. This meeting will be held the 3rd
\nSaturday of January. Subsequent board meetings will be held the 3rd
\nSaturday of the first month of a calendar quarter: January, April,
\nJuly and October.<\/p>\n
The final item of discussion was the status of the COMSEC Journal.
\nThe journal will be the cornerstone of the association and will
\nprovide timely articles of interest to all members of the
\nassociation. Currently a number of articles are in the works for
\nthe March issue. These articles include Telecommunication network
\nsecurity problems and a story about a hacker who broke into a major
\ntelecommunications network. There might be an article on STU III if
\nwe can get it in time for publication. The association has also
\napproached a number of companies to inquire if they might be
\ninterested in submitting articles for publication. <\/p>\n
Finally, the association is attempting to compile a listing of
\ncompanies\/ individuals involved in providing specialized security
\nservices. One of the concerns is how to provide a listing that
\nholds some credibility. Members suggestions are welcomed and will
\nbe provided to the board of directors for consideration.<\/p>\n
Possibilities include a certification or training program.<\/p>\n
Overall the annual meeting was a success and the next meeting will
\neven be better. Plan on being there.<\/p>\n
Using a Spectrum Analyzer <\/p>\n
The association received an interesting call a few weeks ago from
\nsomeone who was attempting to use a spectrum analyzer to locate an
\nclandestine listening device. <\/p>\n
The problem with any specialized piece of equipment is that the
\nuser must be aware of the limitations of the equipment that they
\nare using and also apply a little thought to how to systematically
\nlocate a transmitter once there is a positive indication that it
\nexists.<\/p>\n
In this particular case a spectrum analyzer with a audio speaker
\nmust be utilized. Without a speaker the operator of the analyzer
\ncannot tell whether they are looking at a signal that is caused by
\nRF interference, a genuine signal put out by commercial transmitter
\nor a clandestine transmitter that is located in the room or
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n
Remember, in this particular instance we are discussing only one of
\nmany means that some type of device may be utilized to listen to a
\nconversation in a room. <\/p>\n
First, place a sound source in the room you are checking. Your
\nanalyzer should also be located nearby since most transmitters of
\nthis type have a limited range. You should then go slowly through
\nthe frequency range to locate a signal source transmitting the same
\naudio that the sound source is transmitting. If you should find
\nthat there is a transmitter located nearby, the sound source can be
\nmoved in the room to see where it is best picked up by the
\ntransmitter. At this point a physical search would have to be done.<\/p>\n
Audio Tapes Available <\/p>\n
Audio tapes of all the seminars given at EXPO 89′ are available to
\nCOMSEC members. They can be obtained by contacting:
\n Audio Archives International
\n 3043 Foothill Blvd
\n Suite #2
\n Crescenta, CA 91214 <\/p>\n
Washington DC COMSEC Chapter News <\/p>\n
The first meeting of the DC chapter will be April 1990. Mike
\nBrumbaugh is looking for help in setting up a successful chapter
\nand meeting. If you are interested in helping him, mike can be
\nreached at 703-739-8313. Mike said that details of the first
\nmeeting will be sent to members as they become available.<\/p>\n
S & L’S Phone Bugged <\/p>\n
The Washington Post noted in a recent article that the phone used
\nby California state S&L examiners had been bugged. The phone, which
\nwas supposed to be a private line, had been tampered with so the
\ninvestigators calls could be monitored from other phones in the
\nbuilding. (Editors note: I’m not sure bugged is the correct word,
\njury rigged sounds more like it. Besides who, in their right mind
\nwould pass sensitive information of any type in the same building
\nthey are working in.) Private Investigators were called in to track
\ndown were the calls were being monitored from but were unable to
\nbecause the key to the phone room could not be found! When they
\nreturned two days later the phone lines had been returned to
\nnormal. The bugged phone was cited as one of the ways that Lincoln
\nSavings & Loan attempted to frustrate regulators.<\/p>\n
Hacker, Age 15, Enters GRUMMAN Corporation Computer System <\/p>\n
A youth from Levittown, New York gained access to the computer that
\nGrumman uses to handle military customers including the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Grumman stated that all the material that the youth had gained
\naccess to was recovered and he was caught because Grumman’s own
\ncomputers detected his illegal entry into the system.<\/p>\n
Membership Certificates and Cards <\/p>\n
Membership certificates and cards will be sent to all members in
\nthe months of January and February. The association wants to
\napologize to all our members for the delay. For those of you that
\nreceived the membership cards with a expiration date of 1-1-90, you
\nmay send them back and we’ll send you a new one with a correct
\ndate. <\/p>\n
Advertising<\/p>\n
Both the COMSEC BULLETIN and the COMSEC JOURNAL will accept paid
\nadvertising. This will allow both publications to increase their
\nscope and provide even more pages per issue. If you are interested
\nin placing any type of advertising in either publication contact
\nthe COMSEC Association at 301-670-0512.<\/p>\n
TECHNET DATA SYSTEMS – First COMSEC Corporate Sponsor <\/p>\n
Technet Data Systems has become the COMSEC Associations first
\ncorporate sponsor. Technet is a small corporation that provides
\ncomputer services ranging from installation of small and large
\nsystems to troubleshooting existing systems. Located in the
\nWashington, DC area the have provided a wide range of services to
\nlarge and small corporations. TECHNET also will custom build a
\nsystem to fit in your price range.<\/p>\n
They can be reached at 703-471-8714 or by writing :
\n 44901 Falcon Place
\n Suite 110
\n Sterling, VA 22170 <\/p>\n
Call To Writers <\/p>\n
COMSEC members, you can now enhance your professional prestige and
\neven give your company a plug by authoring a article for
\npublication in the COMSEC JOURNAL. The association is seeking
\nindividuals who can speak authoritatively on different aspects of
\nthe security field and wish to become involved. If you are one of
\nthose professionals with a knack for writing let the association
\nknow.<\/p>\n
Competitive Intelligence <\/p>\n
For those of us who believe that corporate spying has gone the way
\nof the EDSEL, think again. Todays term of competitive intelligence
\nmay sound nicer but major corporations still spend large sums to
\nstay one step ahead of their competition. <\/p>\n
Most companies simply employ improved telecommunications and
\ncomputer systems to evaluate their competitors but others have gone
\nas far as hiring ex-FBI agents to uncover information. The
\nundercover work may be as straightforward as reading the other guys
\nemployee publications or as complicated as analyzing all of a
\ncompetitors operations. One major US corporation has admitted that
\nthey have sent their personnel to count smokestacks, delivery
\ntrucks and employees cars at a rival facility. A spokesperson for
\nthe corporation stated “This type of information can help you
\ndetermine how well your rival is doing.” One of this competitive
\nintelligence firms most prized intelligence coups was a competitors
\nin-house phone book, which was used to reconstruct and estimate the
\ncompetitions pricing structure.<\/p>\n
Here are a few examples of major corporations that utilize
\ninformation on their competitors.<\/p>\n
\t* \tAT&T has an 800-man world-wide network of employees who
\n monitor competitors sales teams, trade publications and
\n research papers for the latest developments. This
\n information is fed into a data base, analyzed and then
\n supplied to key management on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
\t*\tKraft Inc analyzes point-of-purchase scanner data to get
\n not only price information but also product features and
\n promotional programs. Kraft has also gone to the extreme
\n of hiring consultants to interview competitors under the
\n guise of “independent market research.”<\/p>\n
