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Agenda Security

Lynn Sawyer | 25.11.2008 18:22 | Animal Liberation | Repression

www.agenda-security.co.uk

Check these bad boys out!!
They do courses teaching nice innocent multinationals about how to deal with the horrid activists!
This includes screening all candidates for political affiliations and using a computer programme called "guardian" to watch all of us on the internet. Have just come accross it, thought that everyone else might like to take a peek. Any ideas on how to thwart their snooping? Or maybe best to keep such ideas quiet.

Lynn Sawyer

Comments

Hide the following 29 comments

they offer "Ethical Hacking" and "Social Engineering" courses

25.11.2008 21:18

 http://www.ukspa.org.uk/sciencepark.aspx/94ca739b-e03f-4f03-a8ca-96e34b96d69a

Here it says they offer, amongst other things:

* Animal Rights Affiliation Checks
* Ethical Hacking
* Social Engineering
* Training including courses on Infiltrator Prevention, Security Awareness, Security in Recruitment, Conflict Management, Fire Awareness and LM Management

hopefully they instill paranoia in their clients.

veganista


Agenda's friends

25.11.2008 22:00

Agenda Security also publish quite a lot on what conferences they have atended. Including one where Pearl and Anton Setchell was in atendance. Even back then (2007) Netcu were pushing the idea that the eco movment would be next on the list after AR. When this was mentioned in the run up to the climate camp alot of posts here claimed there was no evidence NETCU would go after them. Hope now everyone relises what NETCU is about.... no legal protest is safe

pacific


More on the 'affilliations check' -

26.11.2008 12:53


From their website -

"This check includes a full Internet mining search (over a billion web pages and chat rooms searched). We also use our own Animal Rights Connections (ARC) database for those clients concerned about animal rights extremism and we also check against the Sanctions database, which is used by the Bank of England to identify terrorist affiliations. This check can be customised to include political affiliations too. This is a useful supplement to current screening processes; this detailed review can also be used as an annual Affiliations Check, particularly for those employing people in sensitive areas of an organisation."

Hmm, I wonder how private company have its own database of activists? Sharing info with the sad twats at NETCU no doubt.

X


lets put this into context

26.11.2008 14:05

This seems to be a family owned business. Its difficult to see how much they turn over as they dont seem to keep proper books. currently showing half a million squids worth of assets (hardly a fortune these days) which translates into about 220k worth of shareholders funds. at the last audit they had just over 250 quid in the bank. Looking at the boss, Mr Saunders, reveals more. He is also director of a related company, Matrix Biologicals ltd. who appear to do unscheduled airfreight and dont appear to be doing brilliently at the moment.
What is more revealing is that Mr Saunders was a director of B&k as well as the Lab animals asscociation of GB. This association speaks for the industry, not the animals!

Lynn, why not try a dpa request? If they dont have a record of you then they are crap and should be exposed as such!

xx

madaboutthings


Data Protection Act

26.11.2008 14:13

I have just phoned Agenda wondering if they had a file on me because of course under the Data Protection Act I am entitled to see it. According to Richard Connolly the chap who is today in charge of data protection (another bloke is off practicing the dark art of stopping the public criticising multinationals) they don't keep anything on me so I feel a bit insulted really. Of course anyone who wants to can enclose £10 and demand to see information kept by Agenda, if Agenda refuse to comply without a good reason the Information Commissioner might prosecute them for breaching the DPA. Of course this involves giving information to them which they might not already have so only those who are either comfortable with this should do it.
They recruit for laboratories too. Based in Hull hmmm wonder if there are any links to Bantin and Kingman. Also note that they have a link to NETCU.

Lynn Sawyer


now thats spooky!

26.11.2008 14:20

Lynn,
Were you reading my mind, or was i reading yours?!

Keep up the good work.

xx

madaboutthings


Duplicating

26.11.2008 15:38

Sorry Lynne, posted about this before I saw your posting.

Anon


agenda rescorce management ltd - summery of actual services

26.11.2008 17:38

based on what i have read in this thread and found in the public domain:

they claim to know us well, but they don't know lynn!
they trawl the web for info. anyone can use google!
they have a copy of uk infodisk and/or they subscribe to 192.com. so much for databases. all other stuff is in the public domain.
in practice they have a poor grasp of data security principles (more on this later :)
they have failed, in practice, to comply with the data protection act

in short, anyone using them should do a "due diligence" on them before relying on them for "Due diligence ". probably not worth the money. in any case i thought that netcu had that market all to themselves. unless they are about to be disbanded. who knows, who cares!

madaboutthings


Cuts both ways

26.11.2008 18:19

"Any ideas on how to thwart their snooping?"
Probably best not to phone them and ask if they a record on you! Plus they can just lie on the phone, any request should be in writing.

Alan Fletcher is their head of security, probably based near their Cambridge or Hull office. They have another office in Reigate. I'll track down his previous address when he was a Cambridge cop if someone local will check it out.

"they have a copy of uk infodisk and/or they subscribe to 192.com."
You get a free 192 subscription with UK InfoDisk, it is very useful for tracking people like Alan down. Every campaign should have one, expensive but you can get pirated versions.

It is unusual for such a company to maintain computer records as then they have to respond to DP legislation. I've been blacklisted by Caprim, formerly the Freedom Foundation, for seven years but can't do anything about it as they are paper based. If anyone knows anything about Caprim employees then please do share.

Doley


Agenda = IAT

26.11.2008 18:47

Same postoffice box

Institute of Animal Technology (IAT)Training
P.O.Box 24, Hull, HU12 8YJ, England

Doley


IAT names and nominal address

26.11.2008 19:10

Domain name:
iat.org.uk

Registrant:
The Institute of Animal Technology

Trading as:
The Hon Secretary The Institute Of Animal Technology

Registrant type:
UK Limited Company, (Company number: 850083)

Registrant's address:
5 South Parade
Summertown
Oxford
OX2 7JL
GB

Three folk from the Institute of Animal Technology are also on the Animals Procedures Committee.


Dr Peter Hunt MPhil PhD MIBiol FIAT Biological Standards Officer, Cardiff University
Institute of Biology Member
Institute of Animal Technology Fellow
Laboratory Animals Science Association Member
Universities Training Group Member Quality Assurance Group


Mr Robert Kemp Retired animal technician
AstraZeneca Shareholder
Institute of Animal Technology Chairman of Council
Universities Accreditation Group Member
B & K/HLS Lectuter on NACWO course
Institute of Biology Fellow
Huntingdon Life Sciences Shareholder
ICI Shareholder

Professor Timothy Morris BVM PhD MRCVS
Director of Equine Science and Welfare
British Horseracing Authority
American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine Member
Association fot the Assessment & Accreditation of Lab Animal Care International Member of European Council on Accreditation
British Horse Racing Authority
(2008-) Executive Employer
BEVA Member
British Veterinary Association Member
ECLAM and ESLAV Foundation Secretary
European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine Diplomate
GlaxoSmithKline Employee & Shareholder
Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Member of canine research ethics committee
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Member Laboratory Animal Science Board
Institute of Animal Technology Hon Vice President
Institute of Biology Fellow
Laboratory Animals Ltd Chairman
Ministry of Defence Animal Welfare Advisory Committee Member
Royal Society of Medicine Fellow
University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Science Special Professor of Laboratory Animal Welfare and Science

Doley


Carl Livitt

26.11.2008 19:32

Carl Livitt, Network Security Manager, Agenda Security on April 11th, 2007

"There are a number of activist movements becoming increasingly adept at using technology to further their goals and reach a wider audience. You only need to look at the popularity of some of the social networking websites to see how easy it is for activists to push their propaganda to a staggeringly large audience. "

That's right Carl. And a unusual name like Livitt is easy to track own in Hull.

Doley


article from Carl Livitt of Agenda Security on animal rights, Newchurch, etc.

26.11.2008 23:43

interesting, mentions the Gladys Hammond case and the use of encryption by animal rights activists.

 http://www.itsecurity.com/features/cybercrime-041107/

Cybercrime

Knowledge is the best form of defense.

By Carl Livitt, Network Security Manager, Agenda Security on April 11th, 2007

There are a number of activist movements becoming increasingly adept at using technology to further their goals and reach a wider audience. You only need to look at the popularity of some of the social networking websites to see how easy it is for activists to push their propaganda to a staggeringly large audience.

The MySpace phenomenon is an excellent example. Its aim is to allow individuals and groups of people to rapidly share their thoughts, lives, messages, photos and videos with anybody who cares to look. Its popularity with teenagers and younger adults provides a fresh and keen audience for radical groups. A quick check of the MySpace profiles for a small selection of these groups reveals nearly 20,000 people who have added them to their own MySpace profiles. Of course, each of the groups’ profiles contain links to splinter groups and other movements, creating a ring of activist profiles that can be navigated at the click of a mouse.

In this respect, many ‘at risk’ industries are in the position of playing catch-up to the activists’ massive public popularity.


Exploiting the power of technology

With this ever-increasing uptake of technology as a means of furthering their cause, it will come as no surprise that some groups and individuals are turning their skills into weapons of protest. For example, the recent prosecution and conviction of four defendants in the Gladys Hammond case highlighted the role that computers and technology played in the animal rights campaign against the Hall family. The police seized over 20 computers during the investigation and worked hard to pull information from them. Encryption makes this forensic work very difficult and activists are increasingly adept at using this kind of technology to thwart investigations. On one laptop, investigators discovered personal details of the Halls, their families, friends and employees plus research of birth, marriage and death certificates.


International Cooperation

Working with the FBI, Microsoft and the American Embassy in London, detectives were able to secure evidence from a defendant’s Hotmail email account. This was made possible using the U.S. Patriot Act, intended to help investigators track terrorist activity in the U.S. Such cooperation with an English police force is rare, but it highlights how serious the activities of the animal rights movement are viewed by international law enforcement agencies.

While cases such as this involve the use of computers to facilitate the crime, the use of the computer itself, is not actually a crime. Activists and would-be criminals and terrorists are well aware of this, and know how far they can go before breaking the law. When it comes to committing cybercrime, activists are rather tight-lipped – especially when all of their other activities are so well publicized. Whether it be hacking into computer systems, denial of service (DoS) or website defacement, it is difficult to find evidence to derive accurate figures for the level of cybercrime activity by groups with questionable motives or objectives.

We know of only a handful of cases where high-profile companies have had their websites defaced. Vandalizing web pages, however, is a bad idea for any activist group. It leaves evidence, publicizes the fact that the group or individual is involved in illegal activity and increases the chances of being prosecuted. The most common type of online crime committed by activists is likely to be designed to obtain sensitive or commercial information pertaining to the target companies, their staff, suppliers and contractors.


Malicious hacking – a growing menace?

During the course of their 2006 network security work, Agenda Security Services gained some form of privileged access to their clients’ networks and were never detected until delivering the report to their client. If this scenario is reversed and consideration is given to activist movements and their hacking endeavors, it becomes clear that it is almost impossible to accurately determine the extent of hacking crimes. Furthermore, many companies will never know if they are secure or if they have already been hacked. The reluctance of companies to alert the authorities to hacking-related incidents further emboldens hackers, because they know they face little chance of prosecution.

DoS attacks have so far been of little consequence to companies and individuals in our most sensitive or vulnerable industries. Technically difficult to undertake with any success, hackers must be highly skilled to maintain a DoS attack, often relying on vast armies of hacked computers (known as ‘zombies’) to flood the target system with so much information that it stops responding. More common are floods of malicious emails. These are a nuisance, but rarely constitute a danger to the integrity or availability of computer systems. This is a legal gray area at present with no known convictions under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990.


Vigilance and protection is essential

It is incumbent upon us all to become at least as savvy as the activists, with regards to using new media and technology. There exists great potential for harm to those industries targeted by activists if we do not embrace and adapt the technology that they are using so effectively. Further research is required to determine the extent of the use of hacking as an extremist tactic. Until this is undertaken we must remain vigilant and ensure our systems are suitably protected against the very real danger posed by cybercrime.



Agenda Resource Management is exhibiting at Infosecurity Europe 2007, Europe’s number one dedicated Information security event. Now in its 12th year, the show continues to provide an unrivalled education programme, new products & services, over 300 exhibitors and 11,600 visitors from every segment of the industry. Held on the 24th – 26th April 2007 in the Grand Hall, Olympia, this is a must attend event for all professionals involved in Information Security.

anon


carl, carl, carl ....

27.11.2008 00:28

Oh dear, what happened mate You really should have stayed in the Old Grey Mere or Spiders. Getting mixed up with a bunch of idiots at Agenda really wasn't the best of ideas.

Hows your hi-fi these days?

2600


It's good to talk...

27.11.2008 00:42

If you want to ring Agenda Security but dont want to pay cost of 0845 or a mobile then you can ring them on 01964 671 791.

Surprising how little security they have for a security company....

Bob Hoskins


a previous comment of mine got lost?

27.11.2008 00:43

fuck, I spent ages writing a well-researched investigation on Carl Livitt and Indymedia seems to have lost it.
Is there a time limit on how long you can spend writing a comment? The first time I hit the "contribute comment" button nothing happened, so I hit it again and it said my comment had been accepted.

The picture of Carl Livitt makes less sense without the missing comment. I will try to redo it as best I can:

Carl Livitt is on a lot of "hacker" sites showing security problems he has found in software e.g.:
 http://securityvulns.com/source4586.html
 carl@learningshophull.co.uk
 carl@ititc.com
 carllivitt@hush.com
 carl@hoku.co.uk
The first email address is the link to Hull.

Hoku is a security site, based in both York and Arizona:
We are based in York, England, UK and Mesa, Arizona, USA.
The domain name hoku.co.uk is registered to Carl Livitt.

Carl Livitt's Facebook has him in Phoenix, Arizona:
 http://www.facebook.com/people/Carl_Livitt/660066177

Now, this page announces a wedding between Carl Livitt and Alicia Mosure:
 http://registry.weddingchannel.com/coupledir/200711/L/R304887978/CARL_LIVITT_AND_ALICIA_MOSURE.htm

A search for Alicia Mosure shows she is in Mesa, Arizona too.

The previous link links to their wedding list on Amazon:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?tag=wwwweddingcha-20&type=wedding&id=3AX4SB86Q52MR
Wedding date was almost a year ago to the day.

And this links to the photo of the happy couple shown in a previous post:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wedding-photo.html/ref=cm_wd_photo?ie=UTF8&id=3AX4SB86Q52MR

Bingo!

anon


Agenda security address

27.11.2008 00:53


These bad boys are really shit at keeping hidden. I hope more people use them, they are no security at all

Mill View, Daisy Hill,
Burstwick, Hull,
East Yorkshire,
HU12 9HE

Is .....


their agenda is to loose your data

27.11.2008 12:19

ooops. that was easy. they bank with Svenska Handelsbanken.
we dont have a fancy name or website like these jokers. just a saying... "your secret is our secret". If you set out to target the entire AR movement don't expect us to sit on our hands. Carl, listen to your own advice. we are very popular. the people you see on facebook are only the tip of an iceberg. we are everywhere....


ugg


@ Anon & Carl

27.11.2008 23:04

Anon, I'm not an IMCista, this is just a personal request. If you are sure that that photo is Carl Livitt then could you crop it to just him, remove the girls name, repost it and ask the admins here to remove your previous post. It is not in the public interest to publish details of innocents.


Carl to Humanity-"There are a number of activist movements becoming increasingly adept at using technology to further their goals and reach a wider audience. You only need to look at the popularity of some of the social networking websites to see how easy it is for activists to push their propaganda to a staggeringly large audience. "

Humanity to Carl -"There are a number of programmers who are employed as network security employees by being the first to document other peoples exploits who are unable or unwilling to do so themselves. You only need to look at the popularity of exposed security professionals to realise they are earning staggeringly more than they deserve or need."

I have hopefully just had your girlfriends details removed from the web so do me a favour. Get yourself a job you could proudly tell your children about - do something decent with your life. You know what happens to bad Jedi..


Doley


picture of Carl Livitt with gf/wife obscured

28.11.2008 10:26

to please Doley, here is the picture of Carl Livitt with his girlfriend/wife obscured.

I don't really see why it was a problem though. The picture was posted publicly on the internet, people can still view it there, and I'm not suggesting people physically attack him or anything. It's just nice to see who your enemies are, especially if they are ones that are snooping and investigating you.

Maybe Carl Livitt will be attending animal rights events undercover for intelligence gathering? It's important we know what he looks like, for totally legitimate reasons.

anon


picture of Carl Livitt with gf/wife's face obscured (2nd try)

28.11.2008 11:48

Carl Livitt and wife
Carl Livitt and wife

(2nd try, forgot attachment last time!)

to please Doley, here is the picture of Carl Livitt with his girlfriend/wife obscured.

I don't really see why it was a problem though. The picture was posted publicly on the internet, people can still view the uncensored version there, and I'm not suggesting people physically attack him or anything. It's just nice to see who your enemies are, especially if they are ones that are snooping and investigating you.

Maybe Carl Livitt will be attending animal rights events undercover for intelligence gathering? It's important we know what he looks like, for totally legitimate reasons.

And since Carl and Agenda Security promise to snoop and store records on people just living at the same address, I think they can hardly complain when we investigate his wife. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. To suggest otherwise would be double standards.

anon


another email for Carl Livitt - carllivitt@yahoo.com

28.11.2008 13:03

another of Carl Livitt's email addresses - just search for it to verify:  carllivitt@yahoo.com

anon


Carl Livitt's Amazon wishlist

28.11.2008 13:07

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=GOYJSJFZTOXJ

Delivery Address: Carl Livitt - Hull, Humberside

If anyone fancies getting Carl a present for Xmas, he would like these albums:

Mezcal Head ~ Swervedriver
Raise ~ Swervedriver
The Dresden Dolls ~ Dresden Dolls
Yes Virginia ~ Dresden Dolls

or this book:

Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms and Source Code in C by Bruce Schneier (Author)

anon


Anon2600

28.11.2008 16:08

2600,
What is Carl like ? Can you help him find another job and persuade him that a cut in salary is wise ?

Anon,
Carls career choices have made him a fair target for any investigators or hackivists. If I was an animal rights activist I'd want to have words with him face to face. I'd like to find out where he works. I'd like to know how resilient his systems are. I am curious if he is a decent bloke who made bad choices for understandable reasons. If you are reading this Carl then speak up, using Tor or whatever.

The main reason I am glad you tried to hide his wifes identity in your revised post is because she is irrelevant to this article. This article is one of those cross-over issues that could unite different campaigns, but if you want to get the ID campaigners on board too then it is best to hold the moral high ground on personal data. There are several companies like this which basically spy on all sorts of activists. This company seems like one of the easiest to crack, and cracking one would teach us a lot about the others. Some people who could help crack the company won't help if they empathise more with Carl or his missus than you and me. The people on his database are anonymous and hidden just now. Does he include family members on his database of us?

Most working class activists of any flavour see inolving anyones family in a dispute as reprehensible. I realise you didn't threaten her but publishing carries moral responsibility for how that information is used. I published Carls name because I am threatening him - if he has compiled a database for profit using the names of me, my family or even my friends, then I consider that immoral and illegal and I will do something immoral and illegal to him.

This isn't a moral issue but it was also maybe a mistake to post too much personal information about him - I mean the amazon list. It's not wrong morally but it is wrong tactically. It only serves to humanise them. For instance, I used to like SwerveDriver and it makes me think maybe Carl is redeemable in time. I used to have higher security clearance and better technical skills than Carl until a company like his blacklisted me. I am tempted to ask him for an interview.

Meanwhile, Anon, please bookmark this thread and keep updating what you can find out about the company. I'll stay interested in this as long as you do. I know next to nothing about Alan Fletcher - or the directors and shareholders.

Doley


Agenda Security also screen for "illegal" workers - nice people. NOT

28.11.2008 19:58

 http://www.agenda-security.co.uk/pdfs/AgendaIllegalWorkingPRNovember2008.pdf

“With recent incidences in Hull reflecting a UK-wide government initiative to target
illegal workers, it is more important than ever to carry out effective pre-employment
checks,” explained Head of Agenda Security Services and former Detective
Superintendent, Alan Fletcher. “This year in the UK, we have already seen over ten
times more illegal workers caught than in 2007 and we are witnessing the increasing
use of false documents to dupe unwitting employers.”

The government has issued fines of over £720,000 since April 2008 following the
introduction of sections 15 to 25 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act
2006. Forthcoming legislation in relation to non-EEC workers entering the UK will
place even more stringent points-based checks on employers.

“Robust checks that include verifying the validity of all identification and right-to-work
documents are a cost effective way of avoiding heavy fines,” said Alan Fletcher.
“Agenda carries out these checks routinely on behalf of its customers to protect them
from inadvertently employing an illegal worker. Our experience has shown that
simply looking at official looking documents is not enough. As an employer ourselves
we are extremely thorough in checking the right to work in the UK and the identity
of all our potential employees - and not just those from outside of the UK. No
employer can afford to take anything for granted.”

anon


Why have Carl Livitt's wife in the photo?

28.11.2008 20:32

re: Doley

The reason why I had a picture of Carl Livitt and his wife was basically because that was the only one I could find and I didn't wan't to mess about editing it, seeing as it was in the public domain already. If he doesn't want anyone to know who his wife is, he shouldn't plonk their wedding details on the internet; it's hardly a secret.

Also, searching for his wife/girlfriends name as well as his brought up some useful extra pages that weren't found by his name alone, so it was part of the chain of thought.

And finally, someone said that Agenda will do background checks for anyone living in the same house as the main person. For similar reasons, it would be useful for us to do the same. Presumably his partner has similar views to him, otherwise they would argue all the time. So, using Agenda's logic, we need to check up on her, too. Nothing sinister about it; it's just what Agenda do. Maybe they met at a snoopers' conference?

I agree with you that privacy is very important. But in this case these people make a living out of invading other people's privacy, so I think gloves are off; they have forfeited their own right to privacy. I suppose you are implying that fellow "hackers" might have more information on him, but would be put off helping us because of invasion of privacy issues?

Building up a profile of him you need every scrap of information you can find - you never know where something might be useful or provide a link to something else. So things like the Amazon wishlist are useful.

And I don't mind humanizing him - he is a human after all. Maybe there is hope for him yet. Or maybe he has strong moral objections to the idea of animal rights, for whatever reason.

anon


why worry about activists

28.11.2008 22:29

when you should be worrying about how your potential customers are going to see this thread?

lets face it, your firm is a joke. if you cant even look after your own secrets how do you expect others to trust you with theirs. netcu wont help you. why should they. i bet your competitors are laughing at you misfortune and glad that they havent (yet) dropped themselves in the same pile of crap.

a warning to your customers. have a look at the terms of business that you are asked to sign up to. they exclude responsibility for just about everything, unless the law demands otherwise. the way they market themselves has made them a target for every infiltrator in and not yet in the movement.

now calm down and listen to some music...  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg4dHFo9nrU

more interesting info to follow...

subnet


we have got their attention

28.11.2008 23:49

Alan must be upset, judgeing by the hidden posts. Is it time for a shacwatch style agendawatch site? come to think of it.... means...motive...opportunity... hmm. shacwatch went down about the time this all blew up. perhaps a case of covering ones tracks?

 http://www.securitypark.co.uk/security_article261905.html

 http://www.ukspa.org.uk/news/agenda-reaps-rewards

onlymee


The Sanders Family Firm -aka- Agenda Resource Management

29.11.2008 18:37


PAUL DILWYN SANDERS
DOB 09/09/1957

HEATHER FRASER SANDERS
DOB 24/10/1961


ROSE COTTAGE,
MAIN STREET,
LELLEY,
HULL,
EAST YORKSHIRE,
HU12 8SN

Make mine a cider!