Type along, let Big Brother know.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dan Sgambelluri
  • Start date Start date
Why via hardware, I wonder?

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http://c0x2.de/lol/lol.html

I was opening up my almost brand new Dell 600m laptop, to replace
a broken PCMCIA slot riser on the motherboard. As soon as I got
the keyboard off, I noticed a small cable running from the keyboard
connection underneath a piece of metal protecting the motherboard.

photo

I figured "No Big Deal", and continued with the dissasembly.
But when I got the metal panels off, I saw a small white heatshink-wrapped
package. Being ever-curious, I sliced the heatshrink open. I found a
little circuit board inside.

photo

Being an EE by trade, this piqued my curiosity considerably. On one
side of the board, one Atmel AT45D041A four megabit Flash memory chip.

photo

Looking further, I saw that the other end of the cable was connected
to the integrated ethernet board.

....

What could this mean? I called Dell tech support about it, and they
said, and I quote, "The intregrated service tag identifier is there
for assisting customers in the event of lost or misplaced personal
information." He then hung up.

A little more research, and I found that that board spliced in between
the keyboard and the ethernet chip is little more than a Keyghost
hardware keylogger.


The reasons Dell would put this in thier laptops can only be left up
to your imagination. It would be very impractical to hand-anylze
the logs, and very CPU-intensive to do so on a computer for every
person that purchased a dell laptop. Why are these keyloggers here?
I recently almost found out.

I called the police, as having a keylogger unknown to me in my laptop
is a serious offense. They told me to call the Department of Homeland
Security. At this point, I am in disbelief. Why would the DHS have
a keylogger in my laptop? It was surreal.

So I called them, and they told me to submit a Freedom of Information
Act request. This is what I got back:

photo
 
cor said:
<garbage snipped>
Click to expand...

Y'know, the first time I read this crap, it was ammusing, but this is
the third time it's appeared in the last few weeks, and it's getting
rather old.

Notan
 
Notan said:
Y'know, the first time I read this crap, it was ammusing, but this is
the third time it's appeared in the last few weeks, and it's getting
rather old.

Notan
Click to expand...


I wondered why not via software. Much easier.
 
In the future it would be better if you would research before posting
instead of after.
 
For some reason this message appears blank. I think it it my double
tin foil hat working to block out the evil rays.
 
Bill said:
For some reason this message appears blank. I think it it my double
tin foil hat working to block out the evil rays.
Click to expand...

The satellites can still record your thoughts, Bill; I'd add another layer,
shiny side *in*, if I were you.

Jon
 
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160
Yes, this one was a hoax, but not an impossible one.
Check your keyboard cabling.
Click to expand...

Yes, but why would anyone mass keylog anything?

Anyway, if Dell was going to keylog anything they'd probably build it
into their keyboard designs so it would be impossible to notice. Its
also a wee bit paranoid to advise checking your keyboard cabling if you
aren't doing anything that is too specacular, they'll likely leave you
alone - that is assuming you believe in 'them'.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (MingW32)
Comment: http://members.cox.net/dwhagar/personal-key.asc
Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFCwhdobPwf4VgkRDsRA00jAKCdDhkI893JA8uIcqhEkTl9OSE9qACeJMfT
43GZ2zAiJaptRvFch4BnhDo=
=vaqy
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
 
Are your computers TEMPEST secure?
If not or you do not know what that means, perhaps you should quit and get
reasonable.

Just about anything is possible...except total security.

How secure do you want your computer?
To answer that question, you first need to answer other questions such as:
How much time do you want to spend continuously working on security?
How much money do you have.
After answering the last two questions, realize you will need to spend 100%
and you still will not be totally secure.
 
Cyclops said:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160


Yes, but why would anyone mass keylog anything?

Anyway, if Dell was going to keylog anything they'd probably build it
into their keyboard designs so it would be impossible to notice.
Click to expand...

Dell makes keyboards?
Most of the time such a company just stamps a logo.
Its
also a wee bit paranoid to advise checking your keyboard cabling if you
aren't doing anything that is too specacular, they'll likely leave you
alone - that is assuming you believe in 'them'.
Click to expand...


Unless is fine with you for someone else to take your identity.
An activity log device could pick your passwords, credit cards, address,
contact list, etc. ... or if you do not care about your company's
secrets getting to the competition or to the feds.
 
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