Police Surveillance Tools from Special Services Group

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Police Surveillance Tools from Special Services Group

Special Services Group, a company that sells surveillance tools to the FBI, DEA, ICE, and other US government agencies, has had its secret sales brochure published. Motherboard received the brochure as part of a FOIA request to the Irvine Police Department in California.

"The Tombstone Cam is our newest video concealment offering the ability to conduct remote surveillance operations from cemeteries," one section of the Black Book reads. The device can also capture audio, its battery can last for two days, and "the Tombstone Cam is fully portable and can be easily moved from location to location as necessary," the brochure adds. Another product is a video and audio capturing device that looks like an alarm clock, suitable for "hotel room stings," and other cameras are designed to appear like small tree trunks and rocks, the brochure reads.

The "Shop-Vac Covert DVR Recording System" is essentially a camera and 1TB harddrive hidden inside a vacuum cleaner. "An AC power connector is available for long-term deployments, and DC power options can be connected for mobile deployments also," the brochure reads. The description doesn't say whether the vacuum cleaner itself works.

[...]

One of the company's "Rapid Vehicle Deployment Kits" includes a camera hidden inside a baby car seat. "The system is fully portable, so you are not restricted to the same drop car for each mission," the description adds.

[...]

The so-called "K-MIC In-mouth Microphone & Speaker Set" is a tiny Bluetooth device that sits on a user's teeth and allows them to "communicate hands-free in crowded, noisy surroundings" with "near-zero visual indications," the Black Book adds.

Other products include more traditional surveillance cameras and lenses as well as tools for surreptitiously gaining entry to buildings. The "Phantom RFID Exploitation Toolkit" lets a user clone an access card or fob, and the so-called "Shadow" product can "covertly provide the user with PIN code to an alarm panel," the brochure reads.

The Motherboard article also reprints the scary emails Motherboard received from Special Services Group, when asked for comment. Of course, Motherboard published the information anyway.

URL: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2020/01/police_surveill.html

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