3 chapters across the catalog
U.S. officials departing Beijing were seen discarding all items touched by Chinese hosts, including pins and lanyards, to prevent espionage. Counterintelligence protocols required the delegation to use burner devices and avoid Chinese USB ports due to the risk of embedded malware and tracking chips. The segment also touches on the debate over the 500,000 Chinese students in U.S. universities and their potential role in intellectual property theft.
Adam Curry reports on new UK legislation requiring passports to purchase mobile phones and a massive government database project to store metadata for all communications. John C. Dvorak describes Interpol software from the 1990s designed to map social connections and organizational charts for criminal investigations.
Bank Failures, Credit Default Swaps, Burner Phones
A small bank in Kansas has failed, signaling continued instability in the financial system driven by $500 trillion in uncovered derivatives and credit default swaps. Amidst these economic concerns, the use of "burner" phones is recommended for privacy. There is also skepticism regarding the upcoming Google Android phone and whether it will track users' movements for government or commercial purposes.
