Interesting read concerning Samsung.

[msmrx57]

http://www.networkworld.com/communit...er-its-laptops

So if you have a Samsung laptop you get spied upon? Is this even legal?

[x88x]

False alarm. The article is updated with new info. It was a false-positive on the scan.

[diluzio91]

Yep. It was a false alarm brought on by the slovik language folder. Viper is a little too invasive for my tastes

[Konrad]

Even though the (blatantly illegal) keylogger is very likely a false alarm, it still wouldn't be the first time an OEM embedded firmware contaminants or software/driver rootkits into their machines. DRM features like CSS, once vilified and challenged, are now standard issue with every new CD-DVD drive (lol, even the ones which can only read media). I fear what sort of crap they'll be forcing us to swallow once technologies like UEFI become commonplace on consumer machinery.

Even I'm not paranoid enough to DIY my own keyboard controller and compile my OS straight from sourcecode. Let alone compile my own BIOS firmware or even consider fabbing out entire MBBs. Starting to get close, though, especially with laptop devices.

[x88x]

(blatantly illegal) keylogger

Well, the keylogging software itself is not illegal, but yes, if it were installed on a factory shipped computer without the buyer's knowledge, it would be illegal. The key point (at least in the US) is that caveat about the owner's knowledge/consent. As long as you have that, you can do whatever the heck you want to the system (even if Apple and Sony might try and convince you otherwise.. -_^ ).

[Konrad]

I can't see any merit in Samsung/etc preinstalling keyloggers. They might offer something of the sort as an option in some sort of enterprise or security package, but (given exactly the sort of fear/controversy outlined in the OP's link) they'd probably steer clear of keyloggers entirely. DRM and proprietary encryption they'll do shamelessly, provided of course it "adds value" to their product.

Besides, only a fool uses branded OS installs on critical machinery ... at the very least, savvy people will wipe bundled junkware, clean things up, and install/configure security software from trusted (actually trusted, not necessarily Microsoft- or OEM-trusted) sources. As if IE and WMP integration weren't bad enough, I've seen factory setups which launch IE with four rows of (all useless) third party toolbars.