The Spy at Harrinton High (webcam case)

[MicaelS]

This investigation into the remote spying allegedly being conducted against students at Lower Merion represents an attempt to find proof of spying and a look into the toolchain used to accomplish spying. Taking a look at the LMSD Staff List, Mike Perbix is listed as a Network Tech at LMSD. Mr. Perbix has a large online web forum footprint as well as a personal blog, and a lot of his posts, attributed to his role at Lower Merion, provide insight into the tools, methods, and capabilities deployed against students at LMSD. Of the three network techs employed at LMSD, Mr. Perbix appears to have been the mastermind behind a massive, highly effective digital panopticon.

The primary piece of evidence, already being reported on by a Fox affiliate, is this amazing promotional webcast for a remote monitoring product named LANRev. In it, Mike Perbix identifies himself as a high school network tech, and then speaks at length about using the track-and-monitor features of LanRev to take surreptitious remote pictures through a high school laptop webcam. A note of particular pride is evident in his voice when he talks about finding a way outside of LANRev to enable "curtain mode", a special remote administration mode that makes remote control of a laptop invisible to the victim. Listen at 35:47, when he says:

"you're controlling someone's machine, you don't want them to know what you're doing"
-Mike Perbix

It isn't until 37 minutes into the video till Perbix begins talking about the Theft Tracking feature, which causes the laptop to go into a mode where it beacons its location and silent webcam screenshots out to an Internet server controlled by the school.

More at link

http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2010/02/spy-at-harrington-high.html

Here he is describing how the tracking system works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLB4LNFvbFI

List of LMSD IT Staff

http://www.lmsd.org/sections/about/depart/tech/default.php?t=departments&p=depart_tech_techstaff

A Federal Grand Jury has now been convened.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/02/fbi-grand-jury-now-probing-high-school-webcam-spying.ars

[leftofcool]

1. This just gets more and more disgusting

I know PCIntern is just going nuts! I sure would be.

[MicaelS]

3. Oh yes, I would.

I really hope this sets a precedent to start cracking down on overzealous school administrations, and an end to Zero Tolerance.

[PCIntern]

9. 'Nuts' isn't the word...

When I find the word, I'll post it...

[Quantess]

2. The unfortunately named, Mike Perbix.

I'm sure he has nicknames in his community.

[Quantess]

4. Ugh! Look at this video clip of naive students using their webcam as a mirror

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vza_bMuy42M&feature=related

[ThomCat]

5. Great! A FederalGrand Jury Needed to be convened.

There was No Damned Way this was just about security. They were spying on these kids, and they admitted it. The only questions are, to what extent, on how many student, and how prurient and lurid was the spying?

People need to go to jail for this.

[PCIntern]

7. To quote the gentleman in the film "Putney Swope":

"No shit!"

[elehhhhna]

8. i smell perverts

and i'll bet THEY smell prison.

somebody went into seriously risky business in the trouble zone! the district could have just lojacked the laptops.

[pokerfan]

6. k&r

[hayu_lol]

11. "...kids will always test limits..."

yup, they will, but that is no excuse for invading their privacy. What a sorry excuse for a culture we have today when crap like this is thought ok to do.

The kids should return every one of these laptops and refuse to check any more out.

The admins should be terminated with prejudice and blackballed for life from schools and teaching.

Perhaps prison for the people who ordered this.

[mzteris]

10. ugh! he reminds me of

Rush.




:puke:

[PCIntern]

12. "Neuuumannnn"...