Check Your New Computer Thoroughly Before Using It.

Samsung installs keylogger on its laptops

http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/samsung-installs-keylogger-its-laptops

A user discovered a keylogger pre-installed on two brand-new Samsung laptops that the company admitted was there to "monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used."
Mohamed Hassan wrote in Mich Kabay’s Security Strategies newsletter that as soon as he received his Samsung R525 laptop, he ran a full system scan and found a commercial keylogger called StarLogger.
StarLogger claims it records every keystroke made on the computer, even on password-protected boxes, starting up whenever the computer starts up. The software emails results at intervals to a specified email address and will even include screen captures.
Hassan ended up buying a second Samsung laptop, a model R540, and found the same keylogger installed on that one.
"The fact that on both models the same files were found in the same location supported the suspicion that the hardware manufacturer, Samsung, must know about this software on its brand-new laptops," he writes.
Hassan reports that at first Samsung Support personnel denied that they installed the software and directed him to Microsoft, but then eventually admitted that Samsung was responsible.
As Hassan notes, the incident is reminiscent of the Sony BMG rootkit fiasco of 2005. At the time, Sony BMG used a rootkit to monitor computer user behavior and limit how music CDs were used on the computer.
Kabay says that Samsung has not responded to further requests for comment.

Deborah Platt Majoras, "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful." (FTC, 2007). Samsung's conduct may be illegal; even if it is eventually ruled legal by the courts, the issue has legal, ethical, and privacy implications for both the businesses and individuals who may purchase and use Samsung laptops. Samsung could also be liable should the vast amount of information collected through StarLogger fall into the wrong hands.
[Mich Kabay adds:]
We contacted three public relations officers for Samsung for comment about this issue and gave them a week to send us their comments. No one from the company replied.
Good luck, Samsung! We see a class-action lawsuit in your future….
Moar! :mad: