Sandstone and GSMK Distribution Partnership

Sandstone is proud to be GSMK's official distributor of CryptoPhone products for Luxembourg.

GSMK is a leader in mobile voice and message security. Located in Berlin, Germany, the company develops, produces and markets the first mobile, satellite and desktop phones that provide strong end-to-end voice encryption with full source code published for review.

GSMK CryptoPhones were the first products to take advantage of the fact that the CPU performance of portable consumer devices, like mobile phones and PDAs, is now sufficient for strong real-time voice encryption. The processing power that is available today in every pocket now makes it possible to effectively counter rampant telecommunications surveillance and targeted attacks on your sensitive information.

We envision a day when strong, verifiable and trustworthy voice encryption in all mobile devices will be commonplace, just like strong encryption is in Internet routers today. Recent technological advances now finally allow every one of us to regain some of the privacy we lost. Widespread, uncontrolled wiretapping and privacy violations are currently threatening the business environment, civil liberties, and the very future of democratic societies.

There seems to be no realistic way to stem by political process alone the current flood of intrusive communication surveillance, industrial espionage, and the risk for democratic institutions that comes with it. With the advent of GSMK CryptoPhones, strong cryptographic protection of confidential voice calls and messages has finally become available to a wide range of individuals, corporations, and institutions.

GSMK CryptoPhones mean voice and message encryption you can trust.

Sandstone Adopts ISO/IEC 27001

Information security is critical for any business since it directly impacts the reputation, the customer trust relationship and compliance with regulatory requirements on data confidentiality. Sandstone takes security very seriously and is in the process of obtaining ISO27001 certification for its Information Security Management System.

In May 2010, Sandstone joined a cluster of 4 Luxembourg-based companies implementing the ISO/IEC 27001 standard on Information Security Management Systems as part of the "Information Security Management System for SMEs" project organized by the Henri Tudor Public Research Institute.

ISO/IEC 27001 is an international standard for the management and protection of information assets. It defines requirements for an information security management system and enables enterprises to evaluate risk and develop adequate treatment measures based on both the security needs of the enterprise as well as on the security measures already in place within the company.

Naked Intelligence and ISS World Americas Join Forces for Unique Event

Luxembourg - ISS World and Naked Intelligence are working to create the world’s most unique Intelligence Support Systems and Intelligence Gathering conference. This is an event that combines hands-on access to intelligence support systems solution providers and valuable insight and know-how presented by experienced practitioners of intelligence.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to deliver a comprehensive event to a wide range of IC and LE professionals and to continue the tradition of the DNI organized OSINT conferences that were so useful to us in the past.” Said Mr. Schneider, founding partner of Sandstone s.a. and one of the Naked Intelligence conference’s organizers.

The ISS World Americas and Naked Intelligence conferences will take place on October 11-13, 2010 in Washington D.C. They will share an exposition hall that will showcase both tools and services for the Intelligence and Law Enforcement Communities. Registrants will be able to attend both conferences with a single registration and choose among several tracks focused on both Intelligence Support Systems and Open Source Intelligence methods and techniques.

“We see this venture as a truly, mutually beneficial opportunity for us to deliver great training and know-how together.” Said Dr. Lucas, CEO of TeleStrategies, the ISS World conference owner.

About Naked Intelligence
Naked Intelligence, “Gathering Knowledge in a See Through World”, is a conference created by Sandstone s.a. (www.sandstone.lu) and Infosphere AB (www.infosphere.se), both leaders in the practice of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) production. For more information see www.nakedintelligence.org or contact nakint@sandstone.lu

About ISS World
Created by TeleStrategies, a market leader in telecoms, IC and LE conference and event organization, ISS World Americas is in its 8th year and has become one of the industry’s most respected Intelligence, Security and Law Enforcement conferences. For more information see www.issworldtraining.com or contact talucas@telestrategies.com

(Photo: International Spy Museum, Washington D.C. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons - Aude)

Open Source Intelligence: Key Discipline for Today's Challenges

We are witnessing a revolution in transparency and freedom of information. The next generation of enemies is well informed, hard to find and learns quickly. The Intelligence Community needs to adapt to this new international security environment; Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has the potential to become one of the key intelligence disciplines in confronting these modern challenges. This paper introduces the layman and instigates the professional intelligence officer to develop critical thinking about the definition of the term ‘OSINT’, the producers and users of OSINT, the pros and cons of open sources as well as the significance of the private sector and its contribution to OSINT. A change in the intelligence community's culture will take time to materialise and is a vital prerequisite if OSINT is expected to reach its potential. If OSINT's capabilities start to become apparent to governments, intelligence agencies and other non-government and private organizations, then the indispensable role of OSINT will become more evident than ever.
Please click here to download the full report.

Naked Intelligence ... for 2010

Gathering knowledge in a see-through world.

Despite lots of positive press and enthusiastic feedback from large numbers of interested members of the IC and industry, the Naked Intelligence Conference has been rescheduled for 2010 for the week of 19 May.

Awareness is not the issue. The conference web site gets over 200 unique visitors per day and over 8000 intelligence professionals have been notified of the conference. Several have indicated that 2009 travel budget reductions and schedule conflicts prevent their attendence.

The Naked Intelligence Conference will be held in Luxembourg on 19th and 20th May 2010. Mark your calendar and register today. Early bird discounts are available for this information packed event with fun filled evenings and great networking opportunities and spaces are limited.

Fkpt. d.R. Heinz Merz joins Sandstone

Heinz Merz studied economics at the University of Trier and has served as an Officer of the Bridge and mine diving officer on board several ships in the German Navy.

He has more than 12 years experience in sales, customer service and customer relationship management with international consultancy companies in Luxembourg and has worked extensively for special projects with Banks, Fiduciary Companies, Public Accountants, Insurance companies and in the logistics and shipping industry. He is also a licensed Maritime Affairs expert and brings significant maritime know-how to Sandstone's OSINT capability.

Heinz will focus on development of the Sandstone KYC product line. Sandstone KYC in an online compliance, risk and fraud management solution for screening your clients and partners, to verify the identity of your client companies and to conduct consistent background checks on individuals. Know Your Client!

With the rapidly changing and new regulations in finance, Mr. Merz expects an increasing need for international due diligence and identity verification tools that give responsible compliance managers the confidence that they are doing business with the right customers – every time. “We are well organized and prepared and would be pleased to explain to you how we can support you working in compliance with the law. ”

Sandstone and MyOfficialStory Team Up

Sandstone and MyOfficialStory have the pleasure of announcing a partnership between the two companies.

MyOfficialStory is a Luxembourgish innovation enabling businessmen and companies to control their image in on-line and print media. The company groups more than 1,100 users – of which most are C level executives – together with an innovative and patented system permitting them to automatically create professional quality PR media support (Magazines, books, brochures, web sites…) without special software or assistance.

Sandstone is a due diligence company based in Luxembourg. The founders of Sandstone are former intelligence and security professionals. To deliver due diligence and verification of information, they use state of the art technology and an international network of contacts and partners. Because you need to know.

The partnership allows any individual or any company to verify the documents they are preparing to broadcast. Sandstone The label indicates the level of verification that has been done and you can view the research reports.

Case Studies

CV Vetting
Through this cooperation, MyOfficialStory users can have their CV validated by Sandstone before circulation. This third party vetting adds value for job seekers, managers, human resources professionals and head-hunters.

International Transparency
With the acceleration of cross-border and transcontinental trade, the need for transparency becomes crucial. To facilitate the process, businessmen can check the documents of their choice in all languages and can then provide a rapid, complete and unquestionable references to their counterparties (CVs, reports, press articles, personal survey ...)

For more information, please contact www.sandstone.lu or www.myofficialstory.com