Is Big Brother logging your keystrokes?

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

[Budgie]

chromance.de dell keylogger

Mirrored by iBabes.org - Babevoting

 

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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.



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 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:

[Egon]

Ping.

[Allegra]

Another idea: Type the word BOMB about 3000 times and wait.

And you might even put the words "dirty" and "nuclear" in front of it a few times just to really make it interesting.

;-)

[dinodino]

Post it on Slashdot (www.slashdot.org) for immediate and rapid debunking.

[jammer]

Why is it a hoax? What did you investigate? What were the findings? Are they real or a message, "we're going to kick your terrorist ass" from the Justice Department?

[newsgatherer]

I care, can this thing be safley removed? Let me ask this, can I simply cut it out? Or will that mess up my lap top? Should ZI look inside the keyboard of my desktop also?

As an online newspaper that has done a report, almost ready for publication, that includes names, not to be used in the report, only for my own info, and details about infiltration of our border with canada.

[Lurking in Kansas]

Makes you think though.

Yes, it does make me think. It makes me think you need to put down your screwdriver and get out of the house more.

PS: Welcome to FR.

[Tribune7]

bump

[Zacs Mom]

This reminds me of a little java program I have that creates a pair of eye balls which follow your mouse anywhere it moves on the screen. If I can find it, I'll put it up a page where you can see it (while it watches you - lol) in action.

[alnick]

And what proof is there that the letter regarding the FOIA request pertains to the computer? None.

If you're paranoid about the chip, remove it.

[two23]

bump for later--to see how long it takes to expose the hoax.

[Northern Alliance]

I have a hard time believing this, but if it is true, then call the ACLU (and post their response).

[R. Scott]

Interesting – and just when I was thinking of getting rid of my old obsolete Compaq desk top for a new notebook.
If true, any computer monitoring my internet activity would probably be bored into safe mode.

[MaxMax]

I washed my car the other day and happened to notice serial numbers on my tires.
Well, I didn't think anything of it at the time.

2-day's later I happened to drop my ice cream on the ground next to my tire
and noticed that the numbers had changed. I'M NOT KIDDING!

The government somehow has installed a number sequencer inside of the radial
on my tire to track my movements and mileage!!

Blasted alien technology! It's BUSH'S FAULT!

[Nathan Zachary]

"I'd like to know if there's anything similar in desktops."

Put a post-it on the back so you remember to have a look next time you have the cover off. It should be simple to find on a desk top.

[listenhillary]

Did you see the URL? "lol/lol"

[bmwcyle]

bttt for later

[Gorzaloon]

While this post is a joke, the reason I read it through is simply this:

Watch your firewall logs when you turn on your new Dell.

They did, in fact, have a few programs like "support.exe" hammering on the firewall all the time.

And in fact, on their online "support" forums, explanations were refused and inquiries ignored regarding this constant polling.

I like my Dell. But I cannot trust them, and will not buy another because of the stonewalling I got when asking what they were doing with my cable connection. I have every right to know.

All those "helpful" programs have been removed and muzzled.

[Right Wing Assault]

Look at the blurred out address. Long and beaurocratic looking. Clearly not the address of regular guy. Also, the blurred address is in Washington, DC. I wonder where the guy who wrote this lives? DC?

[listenhillary]

Good tips. You remember what the names of all of the .exe files were?

[two23]

Yes I did and the link to the mirror site:
Debunked at snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/dellbug.asp