Security Briefing – 26 March 2009

Defence Secretary Nick Warner and Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston launched an internal investigation on 26 March to discover whether an alleged probe had been authorised into Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon’s relationship with a Chinese-born Sydney businesswoman. It has been reported that, as part of the secret probe into the relationship, an official from the Defence Signals Directorate hacked into Fitzgibbon’s office computer.

The probe allegations show the scale of the rift between Fitzgibbon and his department, with the minister admitting that reforms in spending have proved unpopular in some elements of defence. Fitzgibbon recently described defence officials as incompetent with regard to their handling of a pay dispute within the Special Air Service Regiment.

Security Briefing – 26 March 2009

A Yemeni received the death sentence on 23 March in an espionage case linked to Israel. Bassam al-Haidari was found guilty of emailing the Israeli Prime Minister's office offering to cooperate and work with Israel’s intelligence services. Two others - Ali al-Mahfal and Ammar al-Raimi - received jail sentences for their involvement.

Espionage Case Background

The three men were also accused of being members of the Organisation of Islamic Jihad, a group that allegedly claimed responsibility for the September 2008 attack on the US embassy in Sana’a and spread false reports of attacks on government buildings and foreign interests in Yemen. Al-Haidari, al-Mahfal and al-Raimi insisted that the charges were fabricated as the result of a local dispute with a police officer.

Israel claims to have had no contact with the accused men. Yemen and Israel do not have any diplomatic relations and, while tens of thousands of Jews used to reside in Yemen, only about 300 still remain after a series of emigrations. Yemenite Jews are being increasingly targeted by Islamic extremists with a series of attacks in recent months. A Jewish Hebrew teacher, Masha Yaish al-Nahari, was murdered near his home in Raydah in December 2008 by a Muslim who demanded that he convert to Islam.

International Operations Group - Analysis

News Update - 11 March 2009

Two employees of one of Britain’s largest suppliers of engineering components – Wyko Tyre Technology - have been charged with industrial espionage in the US. Clark Roberts and Sean Howley could face up to 150 years in prison and a fine of $2.75 million if found guilty of 12 offences related to the theft of trade secrets and wire fraud.

Media Update - PublicTechnology.net 29 December 2008

Sixty percent of office workers faced with redundancy or the sack admit they will take valuable data with them, if they could get away with it! 40% are downloading sensitive company secrets right now under their bosses nose in anticipation that they could lose their job.

Media Update - San Antonio Business Journal 23 December 2008

Fifty-eight percent of Wall Street office workers surveyed say they would take valuable company data with them if faced with a layoff, if they knew could get away with it.

The survey on the recession and its effects on work ethics was conducted among 226 office workers on New York City’s Wall Street by Newton, Mass.-based IT security firm Cyber-Ark.

The survey found that many office workers are downloading sensitive company secrets right now under their bosses noses in anticipation they could lose their jobs.