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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 2.4pt; mso-line-height-alt: 12.0pt; mso-outline-level: 5"><B><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 17pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN">Defense Workers Warned About Spy Coins<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-outline-level: 6; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<STRONG>Wed Jan 10, 11:46 PMUPDATED 2 HOURS 58 MINUTES AGO<o:p></o:p></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">WASHINGTON</SPAN></st1:place></st1:State><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN"> - Can the coins jingling in your pocket trace your movements? The Defense Department is warning its American contractor employees about a new espionage threat seemingly straight from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place></st1:City>: It discovered Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">In a <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> government report, it said the mysterious coins were found planted on <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> report doesn't suggest who might be tracking American defense contractors or why. It also doesn't describe how the Pentagon discovered the ruse, how the transmitters might function or even which Canadian currency contained them.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Further details were secret, according to the U.S. Defense Security Service, which issued the warning to the Pentagon's classified contractors. The government insists the incidents happened, and the risk was genuine.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">"What's in the report is true," said Martha Deutscher, a spokeswoman for the security service. "This is indeed a sanitized version, which leaves a lot of questions."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Top suspects, according to intelligence and technology experts: <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region> or even <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region> _ all said to actively run espionage operations inside <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> with enough sophistication to produce such technology.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said it knew nothing about the coins.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">"This issue has just come to our attention," CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion said. "At this point, we don't know of any basis for these claims." She said <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>'s intelligence service works closely with its <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> counterparts and will seek more information if necessary.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Experts were astonished about the disclosure and the novel tracking technique, but they quickly rejected suggestions <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s government might be spying on American contractors. The intelligence services of the two countries are extraordinarily close and routinely share sensitive secrets.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">"It would seem unthinkable," said David Harris, former chief of strategic planning for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. "I wouldn't expect to see any offensive operation against the Americans."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Harris said likely candidates include foreign spies who targeted Americans abroad or businesses engaged in corporate espionage. "There are certainly a lot of mysterious aspects to this," Harris said.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Experts said such tiny transmitters would almost certainly have limited range to communicate with sensors no more than a few feet away, such as ones hidden inside a doorway.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">"I'm not aware of any (transmitter) that would fit inside a coin and broadcast for kilometers," said Katherine Albrecht, an activist who believes such technology carries serious privacy risks. "Whoever did this obviously has access to some pretty advanced technology."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Experts said hiding tracking technology inside coins is fraught with risks because the spy's target might inadvertently give away the coin or spend it buying coffee or a newspaper.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">They agreed, however, that a coin with a hidden tracking device might not arose suspicion if it were discovered loose in a pocket or briefcase.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">"It wouldn't seem to be the best place to put something like that; you'd want to put it in something that wouldn't be left behind or spent," said Jeff Richelson, a researcher and author of books about the CIA and its gadgets. "It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">Canada</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">'s physically largest coins include its $2 "Toonie," which is more than 1-inch across and thick enough to hide a tiny transmitter. The CIA has acknowledged its own spies have used hollow, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> silver-dollar coins to hide messages and film.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">The government's 29-page report was filled with other espionage warnings. It described unrelated hacker attacks, eavesdropping with miniature pen recorders and the case of a female foreign spy who seduced her American boyfriend to steal his computer passwords.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">In another case, a film processing company called the FBI after it developed pictures for a contractor that contained classified images of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> satellites and their blueprints. The photo was taken from an adjoining office window.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">___<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">On the Web:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 19.8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 19.8pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #0a142b; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN">CIA hollow coin: https://<A href="http://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm">http://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P><A href="mailto:full-disclosure@lists.grok.org.uk"></A></DIV></body></html>