Best be careful what you are saying - some Loonie may be listening! (UPDATED)

By etee on Jan 11, 2007 | In InfoSec | Send feedback »

For those who like to spend the majority of their waking hours in the world of the borderline paranoid and are looking for something new to fixate on, we have this report from the Houston Chronicle. It appears some DoD contractors had bugs planted on them - hidden in Canadian coins, no less!

Now folks, if prior to today someone had told me that the "gummint" was bugging the money supply in order to spy on us, I would have recommended that s/he see a doctor, and arrange for a restful weekend in a room with padded walls. However, thanks to stories like this and this and this and this, I am no longer so smug (though I don't think they are doing this yet - not to us, anyway.)

This does bring up one good point, though. When looking at ways to ensure your privacy, it is important not to forget what is probably the biggest security hole out there - your big mouth! Whether in a cell phone, or a Loonie, or a Toonie, or even the microphone that comes with almost every new PC sold these days - if you don't think anyone can hear you, you may be tempted to say something while 'thinking aloud' that you will have cause to regret later.

Update: Security guru Bruce Schneier has weighed in on the issue, and by the tone of his writing appears to feel that the whole story is a bunch of hooey (which is a real technical term for bull[poop].)