So how did Lower Merion School District monitor their laptops?
In this article, Stryde Hax (no relation to your humble commentator) does a fine bit of detective work on the technology that Lower Merion School District MAY have used to “monitor” their laptops. I’m struck by just how little difference there is between “remote administration tools” and spyware. Like most things, I guess it all comes down to intent.
It will be interesting to see if the anti-virus vendors add this suite to their signature list. Most of the major AV vendors flag VNC as a possibly hostile program. Will this be next?
Categories: security Tags: civil liberties, laptop, malware
Children, Webcams and Electrical Tape
Parents protect your children. If your child’s computer has a webcam on it please physically disable it in some way when it’s not in use. If it’s a laptop, put a piece of electrical tape over the lens. If it’s on a desktop computer put a paper bag over it. You can remove the tape or bag if the webcam needs to be used.
In addition to virii which can unexpectedly turn the camera on, and remote technicians who may unexpectedly turn the camera on we now have a new threat… School administrators.
