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Further to National Party blogger, pollster, and political apparatchik making this public post on Facebook;
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To quote in cut-and-pastable text;
“For reasons I’ll make clear tomorrow, but should not be hard to guess, I need to do a security check of my home and office. I need to check for bugs, implanted software and the like.
Does anyone know of a good but reasonably priced firm that can both check for physical bugs, but also check laptops, computers, phones etc for any electronic nasties?
I’m rather sad and angry that I have to do this, but it seems it is necessary.” – David Farrar, Facebook, 14 August 2014
True to his word, Farrar today (15 August) made a post on Kiwiblog ourlining his “fears/suspicions” that his computer/home/workplace/etc has been bugged or documents stolen.
“I started reading more fully the Nicky Hager book yesterday, and the footnotes in the book. To my shock I realised that Hager had info in the book that could not have come from the hacking of Cameron Slater, but could only have come from my computer, my apartment or my office.”
He then goes on with a paranoid spiel that would invoke full approval from the tin-foil-hat wearing community;
“Specifically he refers to copies of two scripts used by my company, Curia Research, this year. There is absolutely no way they could have come from Cameron Slater’s computer systems, as Cameron doesn’t have them. No one has them but me and my office.
I thought about how this could have happened. The two most likely scenarios are that my computer systems have also been hacked, or that someone physically removed the scripts from my office (or possibly apartment). All of these scenarios make me feel sick, and make me worry about the security of the 100+ staff working for me.
Some of the material is very recent – from June 2014 – just two months ago. I think the most likely thing is that someone joined the staff (we recruit often) with the purpose of acquiring material from my office. There’s no evidence of a break in, and I tend to keep my computer systems fairly secure.”
With “100+ staff working” for Farrar, he seems oblivious to the obvious suggestion;
“I am sure the official explanation will be that the scripts just turned up in an envelope somewhere, and they have no idea how they got there. I think that is bullshit. Most of my staff are young students, who I can’t imagine would suddenly decide to send a copy of my scripts to Nicky Hager in the post.”
Oh, of course no one out of “100+” young people would possibly be politically motivated to leak anything.
Oh, of course this is not a small country where we are only two degrees removed from everyone else.
Farrar then indulged in a bit of “poor me” lamentation/wailing/gnashing of teeth;
“My gut reaction last night was to give up politics, if it means that I am going to have to worry about spies infiltrating my company, my communications being hacked, people recording private conversations with me. I regard my family, friends and loved ones as far more important to me, than my involvement in politics. But I’m not going to do that in haste.”
No, Mr Farrar, please don’t give up politics. Aside from being one of the saner (*cough*) voices from the Right, you amuse us.
However – and here’s the ‘rub’ – when Farrar claims that his physical addresses have been broken into;
“Instead with huge regret I’m going to have to stop being so trusting. I’m going to have to pay what will be possibly a fair bit of money to check my apartment, my office and my computer systems for anything that shouldn’t be there. While my assumption is that the scripts came from someone who had physical access to my office, I can’t be sure.”
– I am reminded of this blogpost he made on 8 March 2012, which I re-post verbatim and in full;
Your home spycam
March 8th, 2012 at 7:00 am by David Farrar
Got sent a copy of some software which turns your webcam into a home security camera. The designer is actually a Kiwiblog reader.
The software is Spycam-Watcher. It works with around 50 different brands of webcams, including the built in one on my Sony Vaio. It would take up a lot of space to be recording all the time, but you can use motion detection, have it send you an e-mail with a frame shot, and can even have a virtual tripwire where for example you aim your computer camera at your driveway, draw a “tripwire” line across the image on your screen, and it will alert you when any vehicle crosses the line and start recording.
It costs only US$30, but for just an additional $5 you can get a remote interface from your iPad or iPhone. Yes, you can view your home camera from anywhere in the world if the motion detector is set off. you can turn it on and off, and can view video already made. It’s simple as pie to use also.
I think it a seriously good system, Kiwi made, and really affordable. As someone who travels a lot I’ll be having it installed on one of my old laptops, so it can monitor my door.
All it really needs is the extra option of firing a taser at intruders.
Now aside from the illegal nature of using weapons against human beings, Farrar himself tells us that “ I’ll be having it installed on one of my old laptops, so it can monitor my door“.
In which case, how could anyone have entered his home or office?
And if Farrar is as knowledgeable about security as he makes out, where is his security for his devices?
Has he asked any of his “100+” staff? Or has he – by the sounds of it – smeared all one hundred of them with this very public allegation of insider theft/hacking?
Not exactly good employer-staff relations, one would think?
More likely, David Farrar’s claims are based on nothing and this is a pitiful attempt at generating a counter-story to the sensational headlines driven by Hager’s book, “Dirty Politics“.
In which case, he is exploiting his “100+” staff for political purposes.
Will the media pick up on it?
I doubt it.
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References
Kiwiblog: I’ve either been hacked or spied on
Kiwiblog: Your home spycam
Previous related blogposts
When Stupid meets Hypocrisy, the result is David Farrar
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Above image acknowledgment: Francis Owen/Lurch Left Memes
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I know for a fact that Curia hire without much care for how said students might feel about their push-polling scripts. No question that’s where they came from.
Farrer and Slater are like schoolyard bullies who run crying to the teacher when the kid they’ve been beating up finally fights back and lands a good punch on them.
What does Farrer expect? It’s a dirty game they have created and they are willing participants. They shit on people. They upset people. And they don’t just target public figures or politicians. They’re happy to attack ordinary kiwis, for whatever reason, even if people are unwillingly or unintentionally involved in the issues these bottom feeding bloggers write about.
So it surprises me at how precious and delicate they suddenly become when the spotlight is turned on their unpleasant behaviour.
The sad thing is, it’s not like they’re fighting for some honourable cause or for the greater good of others. It’s all about their egos.
The we add our PM and Minister of Justice to the picture, who are happy to be involved with these two. If this toxic crew get re-elected, I can’t see that brighter future we keep getting promised ever happening.
” My gut reation last night…..people recording private conversations with me” What was his position on the GCSB law?
No wait. Maybe the spycam was a trick and it’s been spying on him all along! He’s been double crossed!
The plot thickens. As do some of the characters…
Missing in that photo are the billboards – one of which says:
“I’ll pose for a date and I’m straight ladies”, and the other that says ‘I really am a nice guy – even my closest friends are Jude and John”
If John Key (as he claims) doesn’t have much to do with Cameron Slater, how come there are so many photos around of him and the troll man together?
Marcus – maybe they just keep bumping into each other in dark carparks at night…? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11146923
Ummmm… The official line of John Key, Stephen Joyce, Judith Collins and Cameron Slater is that none of the information in the book is true.
So how come David Farrar says that the information in the book could have only come from his personal computer?
Thank you Farrar for confirming that the book contains accurate information.
Thing is, when he was claiming about the odious GCSB Bill *rammed through with a stitch-up claiming to be a much vaunted “public oversight and discussion”* these very improvements he loved so much at the time actually ended up muddying the waters somewhat, made it extremely vague by expanding it to include some very wide definitions of what was “terrorism” per se (among other things, we had the protesting laws expanded to be included under the umbrella of what is now constituted “economic terrorism” – this, no doubt, to help stamp out quite legitimate protest, cue TPP and kangaroo court-trial-by-corporates preparations), and to top it all off, during these so called debates, the Dear Leader muttered something about not needing the Legislation properly locked down privacy-wise to prevent abuse of powers, because apparently we could look at the Hansard to “get the drift” of what he “meant” in the new, so-called improved Bill.
You’re right though. Farrar, being one of the more saner of the Right, does afford amusement – and all the more amusing at this time!
Nobody is seriously *that* interested in Farrar to actually bug him – he gives enough material to hang himself just by writing Kiwiblog. Fomenting happy mischief he says.
Nope. Shovelling crap like the first-choice for National. I wonder – since the National leadership must be working out who to take the fall, he’s probably vying for a top spot now that the mighty Whale looks like he has finally beached himself…
David Farrar hasn’t anything to worry about, if the following link is anything to go by –
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11309750
Dirty tactics indeed! Hardly surprising to find Cactus Kate and Slater are involved here!
Mary_A – Reading the book, I don’t think Cathy Odgers (aka “Cactus Kate”) should be happy either.
Not when, on pages 22/23, this discussion takes place between Slater and far-right National apparatchik, Simon Lusk;
So, I wonder if Ms Odgers considers herself to be “owned” property of Messrs Slater and Lusk?
Thing is this. If Nicky Hager had not been given these emails and written the book, Slater, Lusk, Odgers, Ede, et al, have pissed off so many people in the National Party that eventually some other journo would have been given this material.
New Zealand is a small country. Eventually, these dirty dealings come out.
Slater’s notoriety was his own un-doing and if it hadn’t been Nicky Hager, it would have been someone else.
The real stupid thing about Cameron Slater is he never realised this. He is nowhere as bright as he things he is.
@ Frank – haven’t got quite that far in the book yet, but I’m getting there, trying to come to terms with the fact that what I’m reading is really about NZ, my country!
From what I’ve read so far, the content of Nicky Hager’s book is like a filthy plague, infecting not only the political scene, but also the social structure of our nation as well! Disturbing to say the least.
We owe Nicky Hager a great debt for his expose`.
A final point – I went into WhaleOil’s site earlier today (held my nose in the process) – something I try to avoid. Very few advertisers! Not sure if many were there before all this blew up in Slater’s face, but today there seems to be an awful lot of blank spaces! Has anyone else noticed this?
[…] When Stupid meets Hypocrisy, the result is David Farrar – *Update* […]
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