The New FBI

The New FBI
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2002

Fifteen minutes after British Airways Flight 229 left London's Heathrow Airport Wednesday and eight hours before it arrived in Baltimore, the FBI already knew the name, passport number, place of birth and 20 other tidbits of information about every man, woman and child aboard.

Even how long many planned to stay in the United States and where.

Before Sept. 11, that was rarely the case, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart. Before Sept. 11, the FBI focused almost exclusively on investigating crimes and terrorist incidents that had already occurred. Now the bureau's focus is on preventing terrorist incidents before they happen, and that means a change in the way it does business.

Take wiretaps, for example. A little-known court on the sixth floor of the Justice Department secretly hears all FBI terrorism wiretap requests. Bob Blitzer, former head of the bureau's anti-terrorism effort, thinks last year the bureau filed well over 1,000 requests - a new record.

"I think information is more important than evidence because information can lead to prevention," said Blitzer.

And the FBI has some new tools to get that information, as Mafia bookie Nicky Scarfo found out the hard way.

The FBI had fitted Scarfo's computer with a top-secret device that monitored what he typed as he typed it, exposing his entire bookmaking operation.

Privacy experts were stunned to learn the bureau even had such bugs.

"We've moved away from the era of alligator clips on the telephone wires to very sophisticated, high-end surveillance techniques that are classified and the details are kept from public view," said David Sobel, a privacy expert.

To understand what foreign suspects are saying on wiretaps, the bureau is hiring hundreds of translators.

And the same undercover teams of disguised FBI experts who took film of a Russian spy are now being used to watch and follow people tied to terrorist investigations.

The hardest part, lawmen acknowledge, is knowing who to follow in the first place. In January alone, 740,000 foreign nationals arrived in this country every single day.

"The FBI had fitted Scarfo's computer with a top-secret device"

Top secret as in:

Q. What is the KeyGhost?
KeyGhost™ installs even when computer is logged out, password protected, locked or switched off.

A. The KeyGhost is used to log all keystrokes on a computer. It is a tiny device that clips onto the keyboard cable. It installs in less than 12 seconds. Take a slideshow tour of how it all works.

Q. How do I install the KeyGhost?
A. Here are pictures of how to install a KeyGhost device.

Q. Can I record the keystrokes on one computer and retrieve them on another computer?
A. Yes, the KeyGhost device can be unplugged and moved around without any trouble. Record the keystrokes on one machine, and retrieve them on another.

Q. Can I unplug the device without losing the keystrokes?
A. Yes, the KeyGhost device uses a permanent form of memory which doesn't need batteries.

Q. What happens if the keystroke log fills up?
A. The most recent keystrokes are preserved, and the oldest ones are lost. For example, the KeyGhost Pro stores 500,000 keystrokes. When the log is full, it will overwrite the oldest ones gradually with the newest ones. In this manner, it stores the most recent 500,000 keystrokes.

Q. No software to install at all? Just plug it in? But how do I retrieve the keystrokes?
A. Its very simple and quick to retrieve keystrokes.

Q. Why do I want a KeyGhost device when I can use a key logger program available off the internet?
A. There are several reasons why a software program may not always be the best option. If the target computer is password protected, it will be almost impossible to install a software keylogger. The KeyGhost device installs in a few seconds, onto any desktop PC with any operating system. The KeyGhost device can be installed when the computer is switched off. It will also pick up passwords used to access the BIOS before boot up, unlike software programs.

Q. Can the KeyGhost device be detected by special software?
A. No, installation of a KeyGhost device does not affect the computers operation in any way. A software program could not detect the recording of keystrokes.

Q. What if someone else types in the backdoor password by mistake?
A. Good question. The password can be between 8-12 characters. It is suggested that common words like 'the' are not used for the password, for obvious reasons. Choose a password with no meaning such as 'kghostlogger' and everything should be fine.

Q. How do I change the password?
A. After bringing up the configuration menu, there is an option to change the password. The retrieve keystroke example shows how this is possible.

Q. There are unusual characters in the log
A. This can occur if you are using another language. Unless the local is set to 'english' the angle brackets and other formatting characters in the log may come out incorrectly.

Q. How long can the backdoor password be?
A. Up to 12 characters, made up of letters only

Q. That figure of 2,000,000 keystrokes looks like a typo. Explain.
A. Yes, it can store this many characters in its memory. (See KeyGhost II Pro SE).

Q. Does the KeyGhost work on Laptops?
A. Because of the many different brands, and power specifications of laptop keyboard and docking ports, it is quite hard to predict if the KeyGhost will work favourably with your laptop. In order for it to function you will need to use an external keyboard in the back of the laptop's PS/2 port. Any keys typed on the laptop keyboard will not be recorded, only those typed on the external keyboard will be recorded. Some laptops do not accept keys typed at high speed on an external keyboard, so the Turbo Download Adapter is recommended for use with the laptop, otherwise the 'Keystroke Ghosting' may have to be set at a slower speed to retrieve the log.

Q. How to fix Microsoft Word 2000 and "double numbering" in the menu
A. Go into Tools .. Autocorrect .. Autoformat as you type .. and switch off 'automatic numbered lists'.

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