Tech problems loomed large for the sleeper network, leading the FBI to secretly record the Russian intelligence version of Geek Squad. Their laptops, modified at Russias Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) headquarters in Moscow, created private wireless networks designed to only communicate with the computers of other spy ring members when in close proximity. They also used steganography software to hide messages in image files. Unfortunately for the spooks, their equipment wasnt always up to snuff.
The spies had a hanging/freezing with their communications software, which the new computer was supposed to address.
The now infamous spy babe Anna Chapman often used the same Media Access Control address for her private wireless network, allowing the FBI to sniff out when she was communicating with her boss at Russias United Nations Mission. When her communications software eventually went on the fritz, the FBI moved in for the kill.
A video from June 2010 shows a Russian-speaking undercover FBI agent pwning Chapman at a New York Starbucks. The agent convinces her hes a fellow spy from the Russian consulate there to help her with her laptops connection problems. Anna buys the hoax and is seen on tape willfully handing over her computer to the FBI for it to be fixed back at the consulate. She was arrested a few weeks later.
Richard Murphy had a 27 character-long password to access his steganography software, which he left written on a sheet of paper at home in classic infosec blunder. When agents broke in for a clandestine search, they found the key to unlock a stash of secret messages.
Unbeknownst to Metsos, the FBI had secretly installed a GPS tracker onto his car. The GPS data showing his extended stop in the park triggered the feds curiosity, ultimately betraying his preferred drop site.
but they smell like rotten eggs 
-
