Where were we 20 years ago when the world really started to get “interconnected?”

Children played outside in the street and came home when the sun started to set. The only way to communicate with them was to literally go out and hunt them down.

Folks went on vacation and for a week were off the grid. You learned about how their vacation was when they got home and shared the details. It may have even taken a week or so to get the pictures developed to “see” what transpired.

Your personal details were personal, private, and shared between close friends and family members, and even if a secret got out, it didn’t go “viral” overnight to millions of interconnected eyes and ears.

Today, we live in a much different world. With the introduction of the personal computer, we have evolved into carrying a mobile tracking device with us everywhere we go and worse, we “share” everything we do. Although this book may not touch on a brand new topic, I have designed it to help alert those who may need the wake-up call to today’s dangers – no more privacy! Now we must know where our children are at all times and track them. We must post all information about everything we will do, think of doing, or have done for the world to see. We must share all of our personal information. What is the cost?

In this book, I attempt to alert you of the dangers of using technology, how it’s been used to commit crimes, and how to protect yourself against the common and not so common attacks that now impact our lives in ways that could be so damaging, it may take a lifetime to reverse.

This book was not put together to provide shock and awe to your already busy lives, but to assist you with limiting the footprint you leave everywhere you go. In some ways, you will learn that you cannot escape the eyes upon you; however, knowing that they are there may give you something to think about when you think your privacy is evaded. This book may help you decide what you want your elected officials to do while they are in office – vote on pork or vote on the removal of systems that read through your personal information and store it.

Originally, I wanted to write a book on “how to spy” and it was deemed to be too dangerous to put into the hands of the public; so as a team, we formed the book into Digital Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Defense that revolves more around the security practitioner and not the thousands of hackers and script kiddies that lay waiting for a “how to” guide. Many of the remnants of the original manuscript are still here, but because of the content and topics covered, we decided to bring a lawyer into the writing process to assist in making it 100% clear that there are serious consequences to those who break cyberlaw.

There are many cases of spying, information gathering, and personal exploitation taking place today. Current events will tell you that social media accounts are being duplicated to steal identities, web cameras are being exploited to show your families activities while in the home, pictures posted online are being hacked to discover the location of where the picture was taken, phones are being tapped to track and trace geographical location, and even the National Security Agency is filtering through your e-mails. Edward Snowden while being considered a whisteblower, traitor, or whatever you would like to think has done nothing but alert us to what is going on without our knowledge. It is Edward, this book, and other information you can gather on your own that will fully make you a believer that every day that passes, your rights are being taken away.

Throughout the book, we will also learn in depth about how the government is conducting surveillance worldwide. Not just the US government, but any government. When you think about spying, think about one of my favorite quotes from Kevin Mitnick listed here …

Regardless, we have a job to do and that job is to be aware, make others aware, and do what security practitioners do – provide security where possible. We have also taken on the role of educators, teaching those around us and making them aware of the dangers that lurk in the digital world and outside of it as well. We ask ourselves, why must we carry around tracking devices everywhere we go? Why must we post everything we do? Are we even aware of these dangers?

In this book, we start with Chapter 1 and it covers the basics of digital surveillance, reconnaissance, and defense. You will learn about the history and practice of digital surveillance, reconnaissance, and defense and how it has grown into our digital world. In Chapters 2–7, you will learn about all of the specific ways in which digital surveillance, reconnaissance, and defense can take place – mobile devices, video cameras, tracking devices, and many more. In each chapter, we cover a legal case where these activities were brought before a court of law and why. In Chapter 8, we summarize the book and provide a master list of how to protect yourself from these threats.

Before you read this book, consider watching the news or read through your local newspaper and think about all of the reports on privacy invasion, digital threats, government espionage, legal issues, and hacking issues if you do not already. This book was based on providing a framework of knowledge behind the constant flow of these issues being reported, a framework to help explain why it’s a growing issue but, more importantly, what WE can do about it moving forward.