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Shroomism
Space Travellin



Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Your laptop computer and lack of privacy
#7669346 - 11/23/07 07:28 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Kind of old, but I figured I'd post it anyway.
GOVERNMENT AND COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS CAUGHT INSTALLING HARD-WIRED KEYSTROKE LOGGERS INTO ALL NEW LAPTOP COMPUTERS!
Turner Radio Network | October 4, 2006
Devices capture everything you ever type, then can send it via your ethernet card to the Dept. of Homeland Security without your knowledge, consent or a search warrant each time you log onto the internet!
Freedom Of Information Act Requests For Explanation From DHS, refused.
I was opening up my almost brand new 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.
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.
Being an EE by trade, this piqued my curiosity considerably. On one side of the board, one Atmel AT45D041A four megabit Flash memory chip.
On the other side, one Microchip Technology PIC16F876 Programmable Interrupt Controller, along with a little Fairchild Semiconductor CD4066BCM quad bilateral switch.
Looking further, I saw that the other end of the cable was connected to the integrated ethernet board.
What could this mean? I called the manufacturer's 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 a computer manufacturer would put this in their 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 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:

Under the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) the only items exempt from public disclosure are items relating to "law enforcement tools and techniques" and "items relating to national security."
The real life implications of this are plain: Computer manufacturers appear to be cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security to make every person who buys a new computer subject to immediate, unrestricted government recording of everything they do on those computers! EVERYTHING !
This information can be sent to DHS, online, without your knowledge or consent, without a search warrant or even probable cause! That's why this device is hard-wired directly into the ethernet card, which communicates over the internet!
I am not certain how long this information will be permitted to remain online for all the world to see before the government takes some type of action to attempt to have it removed from public view. I URGE you to take copy of this page immediately and spread this information to everyone you know immediately! The more people who find out about this, the more can protect themselves and raise a HUGE outcry to force government and computer manufacturers to immediately CEASE installing these devices in new computers!
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FecalDildo
Fat LadiesBingo.


Registered: 04/25/04
Posts: 9,645
Loc: Ass Flavour Pie Factory.
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Shroomism]
#7669380 - 11/23/07 07:49 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Par and Noier Positronics LTD produced a range head mounted personal security systems crafted from an advanced microfine aluminum shielding matrix that are capable of blocking these devices.
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beneath
One Way Street


Registered: 10/30/07
Posts: 1,239
Loc: The un-united kingdom
Last seen: 11 years, 7 months
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Shroomism]
#7669413 - 11/23/07 08:00 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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what the fuck? is this really true?
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kidaihuan
First Growery Ban



Registered: 07/25/07
Posts: 3,173
Loc: Shanghai, China
Last seen: 13 years, 3 months
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: beneath]
#7669464 - 11/23/07 08:22 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Time to start importing Chinese laptops?
I'm open to export them to you at low cost... (really low, my living expenses are tiny. Hell, I'd do it profitless.)
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: kidaihuan]
#7669481 - 11/23/07 08:30 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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> what the fuck? is this really true?
I first read about it a long time ago. In the last five years I fixed more laptop computers than I can count and not once have I ever seen any sort of odd hardware as described above. I've seen plenty of odd stuff in laptops, everything from peanut butter to dead lizards, but no phantom hardware key logger.
http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/dellbug.asp
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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allreadyused
The Liquor



Registered: 09/10/07
Posts: 480
Loc: Trailer Park, Nova Scotia
Last seen: 8 years, 23 days
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Seuss]
#7710333 - 12/03/07 11:15 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Seuss said: dead lizards
????????????????????
Interesting
-------------------- Everything I say is for entertainment. Fuck the ASPCA
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Shroomism
Space Travellin



Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: allreadyused]
#7710388 - 12/03/07 11:30 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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How the hell does a lizard get inside a laptop??
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allreadyused
The Liquor



Registered: 09/10/07
Posts: 480
Loc: Trailer Park, Nova Scotia
Last seen: 8 years, 23 days
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Shroomism]
#7710538 - 12/03/07 12:02 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Shroomism said: How the hell does a lizard get inside a laptop??
That's what I was wondering. I have some theories... It crawled inside and died. The guy who owned the laptop put the dead lizard inside as a joke for the amusement of the person fixing it. The lizard got inside while the laptop was being assembled at the manufacturer and later died; or the person who assembled the laptop put it inside as a joke for whoever would ever open the laptop. And my final theory is, aliens and or a government conspiracy.
-------------------- Everything I say is for entertainment. Fuck the ASPCA
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Shroomism]
#7710688 - 12/03/07 12:24 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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> How the hell does a lizard get inside a laptop??
Through the PCMCIA slot(s). Insert card, lizard go crunch. I've also seen them in power supplies. They climb in through the vent holes while the supply is off, then turn crispy when somebody hits the power button.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Seuss]
#7711440 - 12/03/07 03:20 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Seuss said: > How the hell does a lizard get inside a laptop??
Through the PCMCIA slot(s). Insert card, lizard go crunch. I've also seen them in power supplies. They climb in through the vent holes while the supply is off, then turn crispy when somebody hits the power button.
you crazy carribeans and your nutty hardware...
Seuss's computer repair service and mobile repair lab
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 2 hours, 52 minutes
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: johnm214]
#7713704 - 12/04/07 12:16 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I call bullshit.
The whole article reads like someone made it all up and threw in some technical details to throw off the skeptics.
This isn't how the department of homeland security operates - they don't sneak keyloggers in everywhere. They may be big and stupid and many other things, but they don't work like that.
If they did that, people would notice for sure. When computer security experts suspect that a system has been compromised by hackers, they monitor every packet that the ethernet controller sends. If it sent all keystroke data anywhere, it would be quickly noticed by a paranoid admin.
One possibility is this article was written by a clueless paranoid person with an EE degree. Darker interpretations are possible; this may be disinformation written by the cia. They sometimes release seemingly credible information like this which is actually false so other information that really is true gets overlooked.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#7714002 - 12/04/07 04:39 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I don't have a picture of the PCMCIA lizard, but here is one I took from a power supply a few years ago:
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: Your laptop computer and lack of privacy [Re: Seuss]
#7714954 - 12/04/07 11:32 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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haha
Did that short out the supply, or did it just broil the liard gently?
That's an interesting problem you folks run into down there.
I was in Aruba for a week once.... those little bastards were everywhere, and they were not affraid of you at all
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