Archive for July, 2017

“A woman with dementia who went missing in Florida was found by a police dog in a matter of minutes, having bottled her scent in advance.

Citrus County Sheriff’s Office said the anonymous woman had used a specialist scent preservation kit.

It can hold a person’s scent for up to seven years.

In a Facebook post police said she stored the scent two-and-a-half years ago, and a picture of the jar showed it was dated January 2015.

Scent preservation kits involve rubbing a pad on a person’s underarm, then sealing it in a sterile jar so police dogs have a reliable scent to smell before looking for a missing person.

Manufacturers say they work better and more quickly than articles of clothing, because they are not contaminated by other people’s smells or smells from the environment.

Dogs have a stronger sense of smell than humans and working police dogs are trained to sniff out drugs, people and in some cases corpses.

Some police forces around the world, including in China and Germany, have held scent samples from criminal suspects and crime scenes to help in their investigations.

But there are concerns over a high failure rate; in 2006 it was found that only a quarter of people indicated by dogs in New South Wales, Australia, turned out to be carrying drugs when they were searched.

In this case, though, the missing person was found and the dog earned a celebratory ice cream.”

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Becoming an Agent Part 2: Inside The Classroom

“Just beside Hogan’s Alley, the mock town and training facility at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, there’s a cluster of modern two-story buildings with several classrooms. Inside one of the classrooms, new agent trainees are forming their squads for the morning when they receive word that an “explosion” has occurred in a nearby city.

Over the previous few weeks, the squad has been using the skills they’ve learned to investigate a simulated hotel bombing and track down the criminals responsible for the attack. With this new report, trainees suspect that the events could be linked to terrorist activity. But before they can identify subjects, the squad needs to gather intelligence, conduct interviews, and dig up more clues.

The agents’ partners in this effort are new FBI intelligence analysts who are training right alongside them. Analysts—the men and women who help gather, share, and make sense of information and intelligence from all corners of the globe—have never been more vital to the Bureau’s mission in this post-9/11 world. By integrating their training, the FBI is replicating what agents and analysts will experience in their coming cases and ensuring that seamless collaboration is part of their DNA from day one.

“Agent and analyst trainees need to understand each other’s respective job roles and how that plays out in the real world,” says Carrie Richardson-Zadra, a supervisory special agent with the FBI’s Investigative and Intelligence Training Unit. “That’s why we have them work together from the moment they arrive at the academy.”

Later in the exercise, trainees begin questioning the wife of a suspected extremist (played by a local actor). She’s reluctant to talk at first, but by using their newly learned interviewing tactics based on building rapport, the new agents are slowly able to obtain the information they need to stop a potential terrorist attack. If it weren’t for the insight provided by the intelligence analysts in their squad, the trainees wouldn’t have been so successful.

While trainees are integrated both inside and outside the classroom, specialized courses are provided to students based on what their roles will be in the field. For new agent trainees, the academic side of the training is demanding and includes a broad range of subjects that ground them in the fundamentals of law, ethics (see sidebar), behavioral science, interviewing and report writing, basic and advanced investigative and intelligence techniques, interrogation, and evidence collection.

Agent trainees also receive more than 90 hours of instruction and practical exercises focused on tactics, operations planning, cooperating witnesses and informants, physical and electronic surveillance, undercover operations, and intelligence.

The rigorous academics are vital to the future success of agent trainees. They will need to learn the basics of federal law, the U.S. Constitution, and the legal process. If agents don’t understand all of the details governing searches, questions could be raised during trial about the credibility of recovered evidence.

The intelligence analysts will ultimately graduate before the agents after 12 weeks at Quantico. At that point, new agent trainees begin their tactical training and set their sights on the crooked criminals and gangs waiting for them in Hogan’s Alley.”

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“Security at Texas churches is about to get a big boost. In September, churches will be able to arm members of their own congregation, rather than hire private security firms under SB 2065.

Security at churches has been top of mind after horrific scenes like the 1999 tragedy at Wedgewood Baptist in Fort Worth and more recently in Charleston, South Carolina.

“You can’t just tell everybody bring your guns to church and here we go, it needs to be people who are legally allowed to carry,” said retired Hurst Police Officer and church security expert of Sheepdog Seminars,

Jimmy Meeks. He believes the new law will soon give churches more choices for security.

Under current legislation, in order for churches to have armed security they must hire a private licensed company or officer. The new bill will allow congregations to make up their own security teams with members who are legally allowed to carry a gun on a volunteer basis only, but that person cannot wear a uniform or badge portraying themselves as “security.”

It’s a bill that has been the subject an ongoing discussion in Austin.

“The waters are no longer muddy as of September 1st. They’re more clear now and you just realize.. hey we can protect our own flock without employing an outside service,” said Meeks.

State Representative Matt Rinaldi released a statement to NBC 5 that read in part: “The passage of SB 2065 ensures that churches are empowered to make their own decisions about how they want to implement their security policies without jumping through unnecessary training and licensure hoops.”

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“Police now say that is was a Walmart security guard in a southwest section of the city that made the discovery of human trafficking after a tipster identified a tractor-trailer in the parking lot that was apparently full of migrants, said Joe Arrington, a spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department.

The tipster, who was not identified, had been in the truck and approached the security guard to ask for water, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus later told reporters.

The security guard found the dead and sick when he searched the back of the truck, Arrington said.

A total of 39 people were inside, the U.S. attorney’s office said Sunday afternoon.

Officials reported earlier that 38 people were found in the trailer, but they said later that they had found an additional person in a wooded area nearby.

“The truck was loaded with people,” Fire Chief Charles Hood told reporters.

Eight people were initially found dead in the tractor-trailer, and an additional victim died at a hospital, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC News.

All of the dead are adult men, the U.S. attorney’s office said, and 30 others were being treated at hospitals.

ICE had said earlier that two people died at hospitals, but it later revised the number, citing miscommunication with hospital officials.

A Florida truck driver was in custody Sunday after nine people were found dead in the back of a cramped, overheated 18-wheeler in San Antonio, Texas.

More than a dozen other people — whom authorities described as victims of a “horrific” human smuggling operation — suffered life-threatening injuries.

In a statement, the U.S. attorney’s office for western Texas said the driver, James Mathew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Fla., was in custody pending criminal charges. A complaint will likely be filed Monday morning, the statement said.

Some inside the semi ran into nearby woods, triggering a search by helicopter and on foot, McManus said, adding that police would look for the missing again in the morning.

“We’re looking at a human trafficking crime here this evening,” he said, describing it as a “horrific tragedy.” He added that the Department of Homeland Security was working with local police.
After the victims are treated, they will be investigated by ICE, McManus said.

First responders raced to the scene shortly after 12:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. ET), officials said. Hood said that the people in the truck were “very hot to the touch” and that there were no signs of water inside. The air conditioning was not working, he said.

“Our paramedics and firefighters found that each one of them had heart rates over about 130 beats per minute,” he said. “You’re looking at a lot of heat stroke, a lot of dehydration.”

San Antonio police said in a statement later Sunday that all of the dead were believed to have succumbed to heat exposure and asphyxiation. Official causes of death will be determined by the

Bexar County medical examiner.

Police added that they do not yet know the exact country of origin, destination or demographics of the dead and injured, although Mexico’s consul general, Rayna Torres, confirmed Sunday that

Mexican nationals were among them.

Citing the U.S. law enforcement investigation, Torres said she did not want to provide specifics, but she said that some were minors. Some could not speak, she added, because they are in grave condition.

Police said that the two youngest known victims, both of whom survived, were 15 years old.

Had it not been for the quick response by the security guard there would probably have been many other deaths said police.

The National Weather Service said the temperature in San Antonio hit 101 degrees on Saturday and didn’t dip below 90 degrees until after 10 p.m., according to The Associated Press.

Closed-circuit TV images from before emergency services arrived showed several cars turn up to pick up many of those who had survived the journey inside the truck, McManus said.

The driver and anyone else involved in the incident will face state and federal charges, McManus said.

“This is not an isolated incident,” he said, as he urged anyone who sees anything similar to call 911. “Fortunately, we came across this one. Fortunately, there are people who survived. But this happens all the time.”

Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan said in a statement Sunday that smuggling networks “have repeatedly shown a reckless disregard for those they smuggle, as last night’s case demonstrates.”

“By any standard, the horrific crime uncovered last night ranks as a stark reminder of why human smuggling networks must be pursued, caught and punished,” he said.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said the deaths were “tragic and avoidable.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement that Texas is “working to eradicate” traffickers, while Jonathan Ryan, executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, said the political environment was partly to blame.

“You can draw a direct line between the hostile policies and rhetoric against immigrants that are happening nationally, and here in our state, to events like what happened today,” Ryan said.

“You can change laws. You can change policies,” he said. “But you cannot change the fact that people fleeing violence, people seeking to save and protect their families, are going to do whatever they can to flee that danger and find safety.”

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“WHEN ALPHABAY, THE world’s largest dark web bazaar, went offline two weeks ago, it threw the darknet into chaos as its buyers and sellers scrambled to find new venues. What those dark web users didn’t—and couldn’t—know: That chaos was planned. Dutch authorities had already seized Hansa, another another major dark web market, the previous month.

For weeks, they operated it as usual, quietly logging the user names, passwords, and activities of its visitors–including a massive influx of Alphabay refugees.

On Thursday, Europol and the US Department of Justice jointly announced the fruits of the largest-ever sting operation against the dark web’s black markets, including the seizure of AlphaBay, a market Europol estimates generated more than a billion dollars in sales of drugs, stolen data, and other illegal goods over its three years online. While Alpabay’s closure had previously been reported as an FBI operation, the agency has now confirmed that takedown, while Europol also revealed details of its tightly coordinated Hansa takeover.

With Hansa also shuttered as of Thursday, the dark web looks substantially diminished from just a few short weeks ago—and its denizens shaken by law enforcement’s deep intrusion into their underground economy.

“This is likely one of the most important criminal cases of the year,” attorney general Jeff Sessions said in a press conference Thursday morning. “Make no mistake, the forces of law and justice face a new challenge from the criminals and transnational criminal organizations who think they can commit their crimes with impunity by ‘going dark.’ This case, pursued by dedicated agents and prosecutors, says you are not safe. You cannot hide. We will find you, dismantle your organization and network. And we will prosecute you.”

The Sting

So far, neither Europol nor the Department of Justice has named any of the administrators, sellers, or customers from either Hansa or AlphaBay that they plan to indict. The FBI and DEA had sought the extradition from Thailand of one AlphaBay administrator, Canadian Alexandre Cazes after identifying him in an operation they called Bayonet. But Cazes was found hanged in a Bangkok jail cell last week in an apparent suicide.

Still, expect plenty of prosecutions to emerge from the double-takedown of Hansa and AlphaBay, given the amount of information Dutch police could have swept up in the period after Alphabay’s closure.

“They flocked to Hansa in their droves,” said Interpol director Rob Wainwright. “We recorded an eight-times increase in the number of new users on Hansa immediately following the takedown of Alphabay.” The influx was so large, in fact, that Hansa put up a notice just last week that it was no longer accepting new registrations, a mysterious development given that Dutch police controlled it at the time.

That surveillance means that law enforcement likely now has identifying details on an untold number of dark web sellers—and particularly buyers. Europol claims that it gathered 10,000 postal addresses of Hansa customers, and tens of thousands of their messages, from the operation, at least some of which were likely AlphaBay customers who had migrated to the site in recent weeks.

Though customers on dark web sites are advised to encrypt their addresses so that only the seller of the purchased contraband can read it, many don’t, creating a short trail of breadcrumbs to their homes for law enforcement when they seize the sites’ servers.”

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“Part 1: The First Week

It’s a hot afternoon in August, and the last of the trainees steps off a coach bus parked outside a dormitory at the FBI Academy. One by one, young men and women from all walks of life make their way toward the entrance with luggage in tow.

A sense of nervous excitement can be felt as supervisors, counselors, and others meet each trainee inside the lobby. They shuffle from station to station and gather paperwork, equipment, class schedules, and dorm assignments. At one of the stops, trainees receive standard-issue polo shirts, khaki pants, and workout gear.

This diverse band of trainees is converging on Quantico from across the country with one goal in mind: to complete the Basic Field Training Course and become special agents of the FBI.

The training will be taxing on many levels—academically, physically, and psychologically—and success is far from guaranteed. But through the close bonds inevitably formed by fellow classmates and support from the Academy’s training staff, new agents will endure the challenges that lie ahead.

Over the span of five months, trainees will learn the fundamentals of the special agent tradecraft. They’ll root out drug dealers and bank robbers in Hogan’s Alley, the FBI’s mock town and practical training facility. They’ll expose terrorist cells and learn how to conduct challenging interviews. They’ll study legal issues and investigative procedures, gather and analyze evidence, and fire thousands of rounds at the range. Along the way, new agent trainees will work alongside new intelligence analysts to identify threats and develop critical thinking skills.

The intense training regimen is necessary to prepare new agents to carry out the FBI’s complex mission of protecting the nation from a host of major national security and criminal threats—including those posed by terrorists, spies, hackers, gangs, and more—while upholding civil rights and the Constitution of the United States.

Just getting to the Academy was a long and hard-fought journey for the trainees arriving this summer day. They had to compete against tens of thousands of applicants in one of the most grueling selection processes in the country. Navigating the many elements of the application process—including several rounds of interviews and a thorough background check—was its own test. Ultimately, perseverance paid off.

Like their predecessors, this class of new agents comes with a variety of career experiences—some not as traditional as you might expect. The majority of students have military, law enforcement, or criminal justice backgrounds, but there are also former teachers, scientists, IT professionals, entrepreneurs, and more.”

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“Per Mar Security Services has come up with an (albeit partial) answer to the security industry’s chronic problem of recruiting and hiring qualified talent. The super-regional security and guarding provider, based here, launched its “Grow Our Own Program” to create its own potential talent pool.

Here’s how the outreach program works: Per Mar employees visit high school classrooms to discuss with students Per Mar’s company culture and employment opportunities. The program was started by Carri Waack, a human resources coordinator for Per Mar. Waack saw an opportunity to reach out to high school students and inform them of what Per Mar has to offer as far as careers beyond high school.

The company just announced its first student hire, Luis Miranda, who attends Moline High School in Moline, Ill.

After hearing Waack’s presentation, Miranda told her that he was interested in becoming a security officer at Per Mar following graduation. Miranda completed the hiring process, including a thorough background check and interviews, and is currently a security officer in training.

“I think this is a great program. Not only does it educate the students on what Per Mar does and has to offer, it may also help a student decide on a field they would like to go into after college,” Waack says. “I am very glad to have met Luis as he is an outstanding young man, and I am excited for his future with Per Mar.”

Miranda says he is thrilled to be a part of the company, commenting, “Working for Per Mar has been a great experience. I am really enjoying it, and I look forward to having a long career at this company.”

Since the launch of the program, Per Mar has worked with local high schools around the Quad City, Des Moines and South Bend areas. Students are recruited for all positions at the company, including for its electronic security division. Per Mar’s goal is to expand the program and offer it to other communities in which the company serves.
securitysales.com”

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Dialing for Cash

A massive international hacking and telecommunications fraud scheme served as a backdrop for an FBI investigation that led to the capture of a Pakistani citizen who played a major role in scamming U.S. companies out of millions of dollars in fees.

From November 2008 to December 2012, Muhammad Sohail Qasmani laundered more than $19.6 million in proceeds from a conspiracy that transformed the telephone networks of American corporations into literal cash cows.

Allegedly led by another Pakistani national, Noor Aziz Uddin—who is currently a fugitive wanted by the FBI—the fraud scheme involved an international group of highly skilled hackers who focused on penetrating telephone networks of businesses and organizations in the United States. Once the hackers gained access to the computer-operated telephone networks, commonly known as PBX systems, they reprogrammed unused extensions to make unlimited long distance calls.

Before a hired group of dialers could freely use the exploited lines, Aziz set up a handful of pay-per-minute premium telephone numbers to generate revenue. While the numbers appeared to be chat, adult entertainment, and psychic hotlines, no actual services were provided. Instead, the hacked extensions of the U.S. companies dialed into dead air or fake password prompts and voice-mail messages. The longer the lines stayed connected with the fraudulent premium numbers, the higher the bill would be for the unsuspecting businesses. Once paid, the resulting income for Aziz’s fake premium lines ended up in the pockets of the criminal enterprise.

Having previous experience running a money laundering and smuggling business in Thailand, Qasmani was a prime candidate for managing the hundreds of transactions necessary to keep the fraud scheme going over the long term.

“Qasmani was a lifelong fraudster with a history of running telephone schemes since the late 1990s. It’s how he made his name,” said Special Agent Nathan Cocklin, who investigated the case from the FBI’s Newark Field Office. “His collective background made him a go-to money mover for Aziz.”

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By now you’ve probably heard you should be using two-factor authentication, often called 2FA, to log in to your accounts. If you’re using 2FA, you need an additional code to access your email, Facebook or other accounts. This is often sent via SMS, which may not be the most secure.

For instance, if you request a texted code, it could be intercepted by someone snooping on your mobile network or a hacker who has convinced a mobile operator to redirect your phone number. Further, when you don’t have cell service, you can’t get the text.

YubiKey, created by Yubico, is one solution. The $18 key connects to a USB port on your computer and tells a service, like Gmail, that you are you.

You simply plug it into your computer, touch it and your identity is authenticated. It automatically creates a one-time-use password to log in to an account, and because it’s a physical key, data can’t be intercepted in transit.

Security researchers say Yubikey is the best method to protect yourself from phishing, a common tactic that tricks a person into thinking a malicious message was sent by someone they trust.

Usually phishing attacks are used to gain access to your personal information, like emails or bank accounts.

Facebook added support for the security key in January.

“We added support for U2F Security Keys because they offer the best possible account protection against the potential risk of phishing,” Facebook security engineer Brad Hill said in a statement to CNN Tech.

It takes just minutes to set it up with services like Facebook and Gmail, which let you add it under Security Settings.

“Security is the biggest issue on the internet,” Yubico CEO Stina Ehrensvard said. “For the internet to be secure … it should be the users who own and monitor and control what data they want to provide.”

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Foot Surveillance: Keeping Your Cover

Vehicular surveillance and foot surveillance each have their challenges, but they share a common objective: to be invisible by hiding in plain sight. I’ve done plenty of both and tend to enjoy foot surveillance the most—mainly because I like the freedom of not being confined to a car.

The success of any surveillance operation relies heavily on preparation. And a good surveillance operative should be ready to go from mobile vehicular to foot surveillance at a moment’s notice. You might be riding along with another investigator as a passenger, ready to jump out and follow on foot. Or you might be following a subject by public transport—which means that surveillance on foot is your only option.

If you suspect that you’ll be on foot for all or part of the job, plan accordingly. Choose clothing that blends well into the places you’re likely to go (and is weather-appropriate), carry lightweight recording equipment that won’t attract attention (including your smartphone), and review the local transport system thoroughly.

Once you arrive at the initial assignment location, canvass the area for surveillance cameras, security guards, or anyone who might notice your activities (such as a doorman). Check for all possible exits from the location under surveillance, and choose the best possible observation post.

From there, don’t just watch the exit(s); keep assessing the whole area, and planning how you might follow your subject(s) once they appear. Is the area busy enough with foot traffic for you to follow closely on the same side of the street, or should you stay further back, or even cross the street to follow? You may be in a busy area, but if there aren’t many pedestrians, you’ll have to maintain your distance. You don’t want be too close, as illustrated in figure 1, without any cover.

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