FC: Hizbullah forces try to block Israeli cameras

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[A discussion from cypherpunks. Also see:
http://www.ict.org.il/articles/lbnn_media.htm --Declan]

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http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/articles/542001.htm

Hizbullah operatives seeking to block IDF cameras

(IsraelWire-11/10) Hizbullah guerilla forces are stepping up their
anti-Israel activities, including efforts to block sophisticated IDF
cameras installed along the northern border. With the use of mirrors,
Hizbullah is working to block the effectiveness of the surveillance
cameras installed along the northern border.

The cameras, mounted atop armored personnel carriers, were deployed
following the unilateral IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon in June.

Hizbullah activists are using mirrors to blind the cameras with
sunlight, making surveillance increasingly difficult at a time when
the northern border remains on high alert.


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Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 04:56:18 -0500
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20001111015525.00ad46f0 () idiom com>
Originator: cypherpunks () openpgp net
From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart () pobox com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <cypherpunks () openpgp net>
Subject: Re: low tech surveillance-cam countermeasures in Israel

At 01:37 PM 11/10/00 -0500, anonymous () openpgp net wrote:
> Hizbullah operatives seeking to block IDF cameras
> (IsraelWire-11/10) Hizbullah guerilla forces are
> stepping up their anti-Israel activities, including efforts
> to block sophisticated IDF cameras installed along the
> northern border. With the use of mirrors, Hizbullah is
> working to block the effectiveness of the surveillance
> cameras installed along the northern border.

Lasers can be good too. 

> The cameras, mounted atop armored personnel carriers,
> were deployed following the unilateral IDF withdrawal
> from southern Lebanon in June. 

APCs do make it harder to use the traditional Anglo-American
approaches techniques developed for speed-trap cameras,
which involve ski masks and spray paint or baseball bats.
But rifles can be fun.

On the other hand, cameras keep getting cheap,
and you can hide radio-equipped web-quality cameras
for nearly no money anywhere you've got electricity,
so getting all (or enough) of them can be harder.
                                Thanks! 
                                        Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart () pobox com
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF  3C85 B884 0ABE 4639

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Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 05:53:35 -0500
Message-Id: <3.0.32.20001111025248.0487e490 () shell13 ba best com>
Originator: cypherpunks () openpgp net
From: "Kerry L. Bonin" <kerry () vscape com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <cypherpunks () openpgp net>
Subject: Re: low tech surveillance-cam countermeasures in Israel

At 04:56 AM 11/11/00 -0500, Bill Stewart wrote:
[snip]
> On the other hand, cameras keep getting cheap,
> and you can hide radio-equipped web-quality cameras
> for nearly no money anywhere you've got electricity,
> so getting all (or enough) of them can be harder.

OTOOH, if you've a little money to invest, the optical reflection DSP
techniques developed to detect sniper rifle scopes could be used to find
cameras in large areas.  (Laser reflected off spinning scanning mirror into
target area, digitize reflected light and process to detect internal
reflections of lens assemblies.  Done right it can identify scope by make
and model, mirror gives relative bearing to points of interest.)  

This technique should apply to everything but pinhole lenses, which aren't
very useful for staring-eye type field surveillance.  A simple commercial
version of this is already available to sweep for hidden cameras in a small
room type environment, scaling for large field use should be relatively
simple with better optics and detectors.  Its likely a few of the spooks on
this list have used such equipment, its probably been deployed for a number
of years now by the US.






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