USSR used hot asphalt to find an American spy plane

When classified planes were being built in Area 51, the Soviet Union's spy satellites made out their shapes the same way people can tell if a car has been parked in a certain space on a hot day.

Regardless of what else has been housed at Area 51, the OXCART project found a home there in the late 1950s. OXCART's team was building a spy plane that would succeed the U2. During these tests, scientists rolled prototype planes along stretches of asphalt and checked to see if they could duck radar. Those that showed up on radar were scrapped, and the designs that went by unseen were refined.

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Samsung laptops may have spyware pre-installed

  MSNBC

The South Korean electronics giant Samsung may be spying on its own customers, using a program pre-installed on laptops that secretly monitors every keystroke.

In a guest posting on NetworkWorld, Toronto security researcher Mohammed Hassan described how he found keylogging software on a brand-new Samsung laptop he bought last month. He deleted it and continued to use the laptop, until it developed other problems.
 

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IDF Confirms Creation Of Special Department To Monitor Foreign Left-Wing Organizations

Barak Ravis [Haaretz]

Military Intelligence is collecting information about left-wing organizations abroad that the army sees as aiming to delegitimize Israel, according to senior Israeli officials and Israel Defense Forces officers. 

The sources said MI's research division created a department several months ago that is dedicated to monitoring left-wing groups and will work closely with government ministries. In recent weeks, the head of the new unit has been taking part in discussions in the Prime Minister's Office about how to prepare for the possible arrival of a Gaza-bound flotilla in May. 

The undefined and potentially broad scope of such a venture, which IDF sources say is focusing on how to respond to maritime convoys aimed at breaching Israel's Gaza blockade, has some Foreign Ministry officials concerned that the army is overreaching. 

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FBI Spies On Muslims In The US

Press TV

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation pries into the lives of Muslims across America as part of nationwide intelligence gathering in the fight against terrorism, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) says.

According to CAIR, Muslims in the United States are watched, especially at mosques, a Press TV correspondent in Washington reported on Tuesday.

With part of the intelligence gathering focused specifically on Muslims, the US government's goal is to have every state and local law enforcement agency feed information to the FBI, which is in charge of terrorism investigations.

CAIR is particularly concerned with trainers hired by some law enforcement agencies whose extreme views on Islam and terrorism is considered counter-productive by the FBI and other US intelligence agencies.

“Whenever you have law enforcement personnel being trained by anti-Muslim bigots, it is going to have an impact,” says Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR. 

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