Are there keyloggers on Samsung laptops?

[Calz]

*Heads up* if you have one of the two models mentioned. :smash:



A security researcher says he discovered keylogging software installed on two brand-new Samsung laptops that could be used to monitor all activities on the computer remotely.

Mohamed Hassan, founder of NetSec Consulting, discovered StarLogger software on Samsung laptops with model numbers R525 and 540 after running security scanning software on the systems when he bought them last month, he writes in a guest column in Network World posted today.

Windows-based StarLogger starts up when the computer is turned on, records all keystrokes made on the computer, can be difficult to detect, and can be set to periodically send surreptitious e-mails with information gleaned from the computer to a predetermined e-mail address, with screen capture images attached.



http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20048896-245.html

*** adding 2nd source ***

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42349281/ns/technology_and_science-security/

[str8thinker]

This appeared just now in our local Australian paper:

Samsung denies shipping laptops with secret spyware (http://www.theage.com.au/technology/security/samsung-denies-shipping-laptops-with-secret-spyware-20110331-1che2.html)

It seems the original article that brought this to light came from Network World (http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2011/032811sec2.html).


The [Samsung] supervisor who spoke with me was not sure how this software ended up in the new laptop thus put me on hold. He confirmed that yes, Samsung did knowingly put this software on the laptop to, as he put it, "monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used."

In other words, Samsung wanted to gather usage data without obtaining consent from laptop owners.

While in the Sony BMG security incident described in the first article in this pair one had to buy and install the CD on one's computer, Samsung has gone one step further by actually preinstalling the monitoring software on its brand laptops. This is a déjà vu security incident with far reaching potential consequences. In the words of the of former FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful." (FTC, 2007).

http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2011/040411sec1.html

[loveandgratitude]

How do you disable StarLogger as I have it on my computer when I start it up?

[Calz]

How do you disable StarLogger as I have it on my computer when I start it up?

look for this:



Related:

• How to detect and remove StarLogger

... in the first link:

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20048896-245.html#ixzz1IARHr5kJ

[Icecold]

Why are they manufacturers sued into bankruptcy for violating privacy????

Slap on the wrist and don't do it again....:(