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GOVERNMENT AND COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS CAUGHT SNOOPING

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AintIgreat Donating Member (53 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:26 AM
Original message
GOVERNMENT AND COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS CAUGHT SNOOPING
GOVERNMENT AND COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS CAUGHT INSTALLING HARD-WIRED KEYSTROKE LOGGERS INTO ALL NEW LAPTOP COMPUTERS!
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!

-- Hal Turner http://www.HalTurnerShow.com

LIMITED COPYRIGHT WAIVER

I hereby waive, in a limited way, copyright on this article as follows. You may republish and redistribute this article ON CONDITION OF ATTRIBUTION AS FOLLOWS: "Courtesy: Hal Turner Radio Show http://www.HalTurnerShow.com"
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Tsiyu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:29 AM
Response to Original message
1. very interesting n/t
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slay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:31 AM
Response to Original message
2. Hoax
At least that's what my research shows:

Just in case you’ve seen that web page floating around implicating Dell in some wacked out government conspiracy by suggesting they fit a 4mb keylogger between the keyboard end of some guy’s 600m and the Ethernet adapter, we’d like to point out a few key bits, having been inside a Dell laptop or forty.

more:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000317047049/

<snip>
Reader comment: Tian says: "The letter accompanied with the story about Dell laptop's keylogger is fake as well. If you do a search for dept. of homeland security's logo, it is a blue colour circular logo with an eagle in it. The one on the fake letter is a five-pointed star, which is commonly used for Sheriff's office."

more:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/06/16/conspiracy_theory_of.html
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Dogmudgeon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:34 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. That's a pleasant relief
But when you consider how these hoaxes get started, you come to the inescapable conclusion that "paranoia runs deep".

Now, why would people possibly be scared of their Government?

--p!
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Dogmudgeon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:32 AM
Response to Original message
3. It's a PIC chip?
They can be hacked.

Oh yes, can they be hacked!

It would be a trivial exercise for a microcontroller programmer to set the thing to send a pithy message through the pipe.

I'm waiting for RFID hacking to become easier, then leave several well-designed "toys" around Wal-Mart during the Xmas rush.

Because Good Works™.

--p!
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Fox Mulder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:33 AM
Response to Original message
4. If this is true...
is there any way that you can just simply remove the device? Or will it f-up your computer and render it useless?

:shrug:
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The Velveteen Ocelot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:42 AM
Response to Original message
6. I just made the horrible mistake of clicking on the Hal Turner link
Edited on Wed Oct-05-05 12:44 AM by ocelot
and found myself in a cybercesspool of really, really extreme right-wingnuttery. I don't know who this Hal Turner lunatic is, but he's obviously off somewhere way to the right of Darth Vader. Really scary, nasty, racist stuff. Eww. I have to go autoclave my iBook now.
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AintIgreat Donating Member (53 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:48 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. Yes he is trash! Worse than drudge I went to his site too and got all
bent out of shape, I didn't know idiots like that existed well except for bush and monkeys.
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mshasta Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-05 12:47 AM
Response to Original message
7. hey !!! are you talking about our
Edited on Wed Oct-05-05 12:50 AM by mshasta
government doing weird things behind our backs? :sarcasm:
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