Goodness, he is even bringing up intercoms
As some of you may have noticed, I am big of using “local grass roots networks for intelligence gathering” (e.g., “walking the beat”), meaning something like enlisting everyday people to get out there and gather intelligence during their normal everyday activities. From barstaff/waitstaff to the beautiful to those that pick up the trash to techies to those that just hang out a lot, you can pull together a wealth of information on particular subjects of interest to you, from specific material (e.g., make a note if you hear of a great apartment becoming available) to just general feelings (e.g., make a note about anything that strikes you as odd or foolish or interesting or official). So, here is a more off the wall example…
Now, “we all know” having sensitive conversations walking down the street in NYC is not necessarily the wisest thing to do; however, people tend to think it is acceptable when no one appears to be within direct earshot. But, in many places within NYC, apartment intercoms are within earshot. And, many intercoms give no indication of when “listen” is activated.
Sure, there are lots of ways to eavesdrop on public conversations, but intercoms are a quick and easy way for just about anyone living in an apartment in NYC to do a bit of local surveillance using a standard apartment feature available to them at this very moment. And, if you live in the financial district or some area full of well to do business or political people or what have you, there could be lots of potential to gather both dirt and confidential information via intercoms.
Anyway, it might be interesting to pull together a weekly or monthly or what have you podcast composed of, well, interesting conversations (or even video in some cases) captured via intercoms just to see the results. (Of course, before doing so, it would be good to find out if recording public conversations is legal in whatever jurisdiction the recording is taking place?)
On a side note, while “we all know” discussing or reading sensitive information does not mix with public places, it is still quite common for people to have sensitive conversations in public directly within earshot of others and read sensitive documents in public directly within eyeshot of others - for example, someone was reading a hard copy of a design spec for a financial management system, including the security section, on the train a couple of days ago in plain view (this particular instance stood out to me because the system was for a company I own stock in). In NYC, commuters seem to be particularly prone to exhibiting these behaviors, which gives rise to some potential recon options, like enlisting people that, say, ride the subway during rush hour to keep an ear/eye out for interesting information. That nifty cell phone might be of use here too.
Yes, still “keepin’ it old school” in 2008.
While this post was somewhat in good fun, it did bring to mind a conversation I had with a bartender back in DC a number of years ago about Romania. He told me that many talented techies there turn to computer crime and such because there are so few opportunities for them to use their skills in other ways. You know, as the economy slips in the USA, this type of situation may hit hard close to home - which could mean, say, HUMINT will be even cheaper and more plentiful (e.g., chat up a laid off employee), and so on.