Keystroke Logger Faces Federal Wiretap Charges 346
securitas writes "In what prosecutors say is the first case of its kind, a former insurance claims manager was indicted on federal wiretapping charges for allegedly installing a keystroke logger on another employee's computer. The device was secretly installed 'on a PC used by a secretary to senior executives at Bristol West Insurance Group.' Reuters reports that the man, who had been fired, was gathering information for a class action lawsuit against his former employer. SecurityFocus interviews would-be keystroke logger user Larry Lee Ropp who reportedly installed the KEYKatcher device on the PC."
Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
"I must thank you for this great invention. Early this year, I discovered my 14-year-old daughter was on the ICQ with a person with a name of "P****". I was shocked and did not know what to do. I then e-mailed the editor of Parent and Child and they reccommended me to do a search on the internet. I was very fortunate to have purchased a KEYKatcher. The ability to read my daughter's e-mail has helped us to make the right decision about the school she would attend last September..."
I mean, is there any useful use for this device at all?
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
eg. student types in http://192.168.0.1/admin then we know about it (ficticious example: idea is that the kid is going somewhere he shouldn't).
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2, Insightful)
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Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2, Insightful)
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Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Insightful)
Every single person who uses the excuse "I can play God because you signed the policy agreement" should be bludgeoned to a pulp with wet noodles.
Why wet noodles? It'll take longer to achieve the pulp stage and sting more.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
As a former university sysadmin, there were times when we would find out someone was breaking the rules, but to enforce them we had to have real evidence. This involved surveillance, usually electronic/email. We then made our case to the dean of students, and if they agreed that the rules were broken, punishment was handed out. The student always had the ability to appeal to higher authorities if they thought they'd been mistreated or the punishment was too harsh. Enough checks and balances that it was never abused; we didn't snoop on students who had not done anything to arouse suspicion, and I can't recall any cases where we went to any great depths investigating anyone who wasn't found to be guilty of enough of an infraction to justify our time.
That said, I think continuous keystroke logging is excessive and likely more prone to abuse, but still, there is NOT any absolute guarantee of privacy, even if I'm using my own equipment. That's why the FBI can go to a judge and get permission to wiretap a suspect (let's leave aside the fact that I believe that PATRIOT has gutted a lot of the appropriate checks and balances in this system). The other side of that is that you can't just wiretap someone because you want to, and getting back OT, that's what happened here. Regardless of how noble the cause, the means was illegal.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
You've never had to deal with rule breakers, have you?
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This sums up my whole issue with Big Brother techniques such as keyloggers.
Even former university sysadmins play favorites. Teachers play favorites, parents play favorites, PEOPLE IN GENERAL play favorites. While playing favorites is a natural part of human existence there's no good to come of installing more and more systems to further antagonize those who aren't the favorite.
In our society the people writing the rules are far too priveleg
Consent (Score:5, Insightful)
As adults, they may be presented with similar policies. Only this time, they have the "choice" of consenting or losing their job.
Re:Consent (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course they don't. They're students. When were you ever given a choice in school -- "Well, you can read The Scarlet Letter, or you can play with your gameboy." This is no different from teachers walking around the classroom to make sure everyone's doing their assignment.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Funny)
Anyone (hereafter referred to as "we") in the employ of NBNWU designated by appropriate management can monitor any activities of any student, employee, or casual visitor to to your dorm at any time. We reserve the right to record any activities, up to and including really gymnastic-quality sex. We reserve the right to distribute said information and cool tapes if we want to. Get over it.
If you (student/employee/casual sex encounter) do not like this, we suggest therapy for your sad case of paranoia.
If you (student) do not like this, you are free to quit this institution and become free to obtain any employment you desire in the fast-growing field of janitorial work.
We reserve the right to give your ass up to the Feds on command. Or even if we feel they may be interested. Or if you seem suspicious to us in any way.
We feel that you (student/employee/casual encounter) should feel safer in the hands of a benevolent power such as We; what are you complaining about, hippy? Something to hide? Hmm?
We are broke, and are of necessity closing down Student Health Services for lack of funds. This will not deter us from investing 23 million dollars in an all-campus surveillance system necessitiated by the vicious attack on one of our coeds by Millie the pit-poodle.
All independent ad-hoc "dark" networks, and of course independently created wireless networks are forbidden as they violate the purpose of maintaining the public safety of NBNWU; unmonitored communications are sadly reliquated to the distant past. 9-11 9-11 9-11, and of course, 9-11.
We at NBNWU also feel that consistent with our finest traditions of preparing our graduates for the rigors of the working world, our students should acclimate themselves to the weekly anal examinations, virginity and drug tests, and loyalty oaths prepared by your loving administration. We love our President, our God, and our Alumni Association.
Your tuition will be raised by 15% this year. If you have a problem with this, take it up with the 10,000 people waiting to get in behind your expelled butt.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Interesting)
And BTW, for running a
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Can it recognise the phrases in different fonts/colours?
Lessons learned... (Score:5, Insightful)
In the meantime, we shall have to rely on the usual methods of camera's, microphones, keyloggers and traitors. I think we can learn a lot from former Soviet-Russia and sortlike countries that have executed this behaviour in great practical ways...
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, kids in schools can not prevent the search of their lockers, as the school owns the lockers. I imagine it is this same logic that is extended to computers owned by the school.
The same unfortunately is applicable to many places of employment. Owning the equipment gives employers the right to monitor it. I believe that this was decided in the supreme court.
You should never assume that you have privacy on equipment you do not own.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone with an ounce of honest thought realizes that watchful Big Brother wouldn't have prevented Columbine. Watchful Big Brother always sides with the majority popular clique. If anything watchful Big Brother would've helped the priveleged students antagonize their scapegoat prey and would've brought the whole situation to a head much earlier.
Which isn't a bad thing. Armchair parents and water-cooler gossips needed a wakeup call. I don't condone the end result of those actions but, in all honesty, the clique nature of our social system is just begging for it.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
Most of it is pathological. Parents and school administrators are scared. So naturally they will do anything they can think of to prevent another Columbine from happening. More cops and cameras in schools are the first things that comes to mind.
But I think you touched upon a larger issue. Since 9/11 we as a nation have lived in a constant state of fear, much of it irrational.
Where do we stop and look at ourselves and ask what are w
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
> schools you will see cameras everywhere.
and worse - there were cameras at columbine, recording the shooting but not preventing anything.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
You should never assume that you have privacy on equipment you do not own.
OK, then I suppose you'd be fine with a clothing store videoing their customers in the changing room and selling the tapes on the Internet. After all, those people have no expectation of privacy since they don't own the store.
Similarly, an ISP would be permitted to decrypt the passwords of their clients, rummage through the data stored on their servers and see if there's anything useful or naughty in there.
We must concede that
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Insightful)
I am just stating fact. It's true that it would be wrong for companies to place video equipment in changing rooms and bathrooms, and in fact there are laws specifically preventing this.
You can be sure that you are covered by five different cameras as you enter and leave changing rooms. Also, most stores have spies close to these areas.
So much as ISPs and computer privacy is concerned, I wouldn't say they have the right to do anything. but that does not mean they don't have some capability and can use it covertly. One example might be is if you are a spammer.
Also as you know, the FBI can intercept much of your email traffic with carnivore if they wanted to, and because of the patriot act they do not need to get a court order to do so anymore.
Privacy is not a constitutional right. Modern electronics means that we as citizens are going to monitored and watched more than ever before.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll remember that when I watch the fireworks the next fourth of July. For all the good it will do me.
Evidently I don't have enough privacy rights to stop the government from searching through my library records, seeing what books I buy, or reading my emails in the name of stopping terrorism (and doing so without a court order). Thanks to the patriot act.
Then there is Total Information Awareness reborn [matrix-at.org] which is the marrying of commercial and government databases to rob me of even more privacy, and echelon [echelonwatch.org]
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
What if the childs surfing for porn? Emailing a friend about commiting suicide? Chatting with perverts? Planning a murder of a teacher? You thi
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Interesting)
If parents and mentors were even close to taking responsibility for their children they'd pick up on these issues long before a keylogger alerts them to it.
Ode to a generation that is completely self-absorbed until the last possible moment when "DANGER WILL ROBINSON" is blaring over loudspeakers.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Insightful)
And since most people own damn little, they effectively have no privacy. Should your landlord have the same right to monitor their tenants? Suppose someone is sneaking in an overnight visitor in violation of the lease? Should the landlord be able to monitor your communications to find this out? They own the building, you don't.
Privacy rights that extend only as far as you own the computer equipment are effectively useless, as they would cease to exist once your networked data travels outside your property boundary. After all, the phone/cable company owns the wires, and you are using their equipment.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're talking to a trusted friend/family member about something personal (traumatic event in your life for instance) and someone walks in the room, do you modify your behavior? Of course. Does that mean you shouldn't have been talking about it? Of course not. People do have legitimate reasons to keep secrets. Doing so isn't evidence that what you were talking about or doing is wrong.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Big brother is truly alive and well... I guess Orwell got it wrong by 20-30 years, but that's irrelevant.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Interesting)
Are you going to bug the bathrooms to find out if anyone is making drug deals? What's so special about the internet that you feel you should monitor usage on such a personal level?
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
If a student starts accessing material of an unsuitable nature, who gets it in the neck? we do. Parents like to know that their children are safe when they are at school.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm a parent, and I wouldn't send my kids to a school with a policy like yours. That policy is not, by the way, the same as offering "filter-free, non-monitored use of the internet". There are ways of achieving a safe and humane environment without logging every keystroke, and it's disingenuous to imply that there aren't.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
This isn't a new problem as certain parents have long sq
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Rationalize whatever you want, but he's correct, you are the Orwellian Big Brother, and what you're doing is dispicable.
Then again, I guess you're probably just bored shitless as an IT guy in school and need something to get your jollies from.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
FWIW I consider the attacks on the parent poster flamebait. If I could mod them as such again, I would.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course, since I type in Dvorak, it wouldn't be able to figure out what the heck I'm typing (since I use a software driver to convert a QWERTY keyboard).
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm sure it works well for you, but don't put all your trust in it. It's ridiculously easy to fool something like that - ridiculously easy.
Wouldn't it be better to use policies and actually restrict their actions, as opposed to trying to half-ass guess when they're doing something wrong so you can send out the heavies? It's kinda like an automated CCTV system that looks for people in black/white striped tops, wearing masks and carrying black bags with dollar signs on... The sort of students who know how to get round stuff like that are the ones you want to be watching. Ironic, really... By using that approach to security, you've made yourself less secure.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
The question in the back of my mind on this article though: what would they have done if it was a software keylogger, instead of a hardware one? Do the wiretap laws still apply in the same capacity? I understand from TFA that the fact that it logged emails made him a target for it.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, there are very few cases, but... I installed a (software) key logger on my own box in order to get the raw data needed to figure out my personal letter frequency in typing -- the standard English frequency wouldn't apply, as I do a lot of C and C++ coding. (How often do you see semi-colons, let alone curly braces, in standard English writing?)
A nice side benefit is that I could review the key log -- to see if anyone else had been using my computer.
? Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
I can't think of anything that's terribly legal. I knew there was a reason I never do anything important on publically-accessible terminals. I guess it's a nice device to own if you're a bad parent with a tinfoil hat.
How on earth would just using the device make you "a bad parent with a tinfoil hat"?
Contrary to kid's beliefs, most parents have little interest in snooping on whether your friend Monica likes Jeff and also got new shoes, or whatever. However, it would be nice to have some forensic mate
Re:? Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you misunderstood what I said, instead of only hearing what you wanted to hear. I said that it's a device that a bad parent with a tinfoil hat might find useful. Not that using the device makes you a bad parent with a tinfoil hat. Is the difference clear?
Read the AC's comment below mine, he/she states the point you're looking to refute: clicky. [slashdot.org]
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
Definitely. If you're a writer of some kind, install a KeyKatcher and you've got an instant backup of everything you've written. If your word processor crashes, no problem; fire up KeyKatcher and cut and paste everything you've lost. Beautiful stuff.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Insightful)
No. Not unless you think like this:
Dear god, think of the children. WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?
The correct solution is called parenting. There is no substitute for parental supervision and being involved with your children's activities. You wouldn't let a child watch whatever TV station they want, completely unsupervised - so why would you do the same with an internet-enabled computer? Call me old fashioned, but I don't even think a child should be allowed access to a net-connected computer unless it's in a shared, plainly visible family room environment.
Using tricks to snoop on your kids like this will breed an attitude of distrust and paranoia. You'll also only find out what they're up to after the event. Instead of working against them, you should actively work with them.
Plus, with a software solution - you actually have to check the logs from time to time. If you care so little that you'd rather a piece of software babysat your child, eventually you'll stop reading the logs because that involves effort.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
There's a report on the BBC today (sorry, at work, no link) about how British kids are getting less sleep than their parents' generation because so many children have one or more of: TV, PlayStation, PC in their bedroom. I'm in my 30s and can remember being told that "if you don't turn that radio off, you'll lose it." The idea of having a 'net connection in my bedroom boggles my mind.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:2)
That link in full:
BBC Newsround [bbc.co.uk] - for kids! Oh the shame!
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah!! Damn kids, they should be doing exactly what their parents were doing at their age...
Taking lots of mind altering drugs and having unprotected sex with complete strangers!!
What is the world coming to!
Why is it that every generation feels the need to tell the next how much they lacked discipline! Thats part of being a kid! Consider it compensation for the next 45-50 years you will be stuck behind a desk.
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Insightful)
Getting serious (slightly...) for a minute... I don't feel that "my" generation needs to tell the younger generation that "they lack discipline". That's just passing the buck. It's my generation's responsibility to *provide* discipline - even if that means saying "you can stay up all night surfing pr0n once you leave home/reach 18/run away and join the circus - and not before!
But yeah, back to the humour... I'm just bitter!
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:3, Interesting)
Friends with children who are computer literate often ask me if there's a way to limit the log on time for the children's accounts. I've no children myself but I always advice against the technical way. If there's an apparent problem (homework not being done properly, neglect of friends, socialising with the wrong kind of people etc.) parents have to dedicate time to their kids and find an agreement togethe
Re:Just slightly OT (Score:5, Interesting)
Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:3, Insightful)
Wiretapping laws actually vary from state to state. Some states allow you to secretly record a conversation as long as you are a part of that conversation. A few states do not allow this - you have to tell people you are recording them.
In this instance, the guy at the insurance company was not a party to the conversations going on. Therefore he was obviously in danger of violating the law.
Being a whistleblower means that you call up the FBI and you let them do the investigating. Here, he was playing the r
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:4, Informative)
Wiretapping laws vary state to state [rcfp.org].
There are also federal wiretapping laws covering much the same thing. They are not mutually exclusive. It just happens that some states extend federal law.
This guy was investigated by a federal grand jury, hence federal law applies to him.
But so does state law, and he could be charged under that too. Like Linda Tripp was for recording Monica Lewinsky's calls.
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:2)
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:2)
The Dept of course denies this, and i'm having to wonder if this is just a means to distance themselves from any sort of legal mess that could come along with encouraging a wiretap without a warrant. Then again, maybe im just wearing this tinfoil hat backwards.
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:2)
Re:Federal wiretapping charges? (Score:3, Interesting)
That's a good question. When I worked for DishNetwork we were instructed to stop talking if the customer said that the were recording the conversation. We were instructed to tell them that we didn't give our permission for them to record us, right before we stopped talking. We were also instructed that legally they HAD to stop recording us once we said that..
This is why (Score:5, Funny)
Not only does it keep you secure, but you might score a brand-new keylogger for free.
Yeah! (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, but... (Score:2)
What a contradiction! (Score:5, Insightful)
It raises an important question, I think: are keyloggers wiretapping devices? They don't involve telecommunications lines directly, so can they be considered in the same class?
Some food for thought.
Re:What a contradiction! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What a contradiction! (Score:2)
In practice, though, you'd likely use the alphanumeric keys conveniently provided for just this purpose.
Re:What a contradiction! (Score:5, Insightful)
In New York federal investigators used a search warrant ( sneek and peek ) to install a keylogger on a mob boss's computer to steal his pgp keys. They DID NOT HAVE A WIRETAP WARRANT. You can now see the contradiction inherent in this prosecution. Go after this guy and possibly let a mob boss off on appeal because the information they used to convict him is now tainted.
Of course if they had gotten a wiretap warrant in the first place this would not have been a problem, but they did not have the evidence to get wiretap only a search warrant they have differnt levels of proof of illegal doings
It sounds like he went to far... (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, so it's "okay" (Score:4, Insightful)
He was... he was helping the government investigate a corrupt company, yeah! He was James Bond! Saving the innocent from themselves!
Yeah... he had no intention whatsoever of joining a competing company and stealing the client list.
Good. (Score:2, Insightful)
Good. It is not the decision for just any man to make, on when to invade someones privacy. (Most) Laws exist for a reason. This man broke one. Hopefully he'll spend some time in jail.
Wiretap law - 18 USC Section 2511 (Score:5, Informative)
Read all about it here [cornell.edu].
Certainly contravenes EU law (Score:5, Informative)
However, there have been very few convictions under these laws, only a couple of "hacking" cases in the UK afaiaa.
It's not only about domestic/workplace espionage. Spyware vendors (a species that rates somewhere between slimemolds and spammers) use similar techniques to spy on and report back on people's use of their computer.
This guy is an idiot..... (Score:4, Insightful)
Not the smartest thing to do. He deservse whatever he gets.
Re:This guy is an idiot..... (Score:4, Funny)
Ah, but if we start basing justice on lack-of-smarts, there's no telling who'd end up with what they "deservse" ;)
Re:This guy is an idiot..... (Score:4, Funny)
What if... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What if... (Score:4, Insightful)
There is nothing wrong with monitoring yourself.
Remember, this case is about an individual installing monitoring other people with out their consent or knowledge.
In theory, if spyware were installed with out a note in the EULA saying so, and no other "I agree to let you know everything I do and where I go"... then yes, you could get them for wiretapping.
I've used a keyboard logger (Score:5, Interesting)
thinkgeek disclaimer? (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/5a05/ [thinkgeek.com]
disclaimer: please do not buy this product and use it for what you think you were going to use it for, thank you... same with that x10 camera you were thinking about too, while we're at it
Robin Hood (Score:4, Interesting)
So we've got this guy working for an insurance company who decides to inform the Dept. of Insurance that they are cancelling policies unlawfully. This is a good thing and brave of him to do it. Hopefully his motivations were purely good and not just because he was pissed he didn't get a raise last year or something.
And let's face it, insurance companies are the some of the worst kinds of organizations in corporate America. They collect huge sums of money via premiums - that are based in people's fear that something terrible could happen. And then as soon as you need them (you have an accident, someone in your family gets ill, etc.), they immediately initate every effort to not pay you in your time of need. I know it's how they do business, but it's a disgrace. I have experienced this first hand more than once ...
Back to the story, the guy then plants a keystroke logger on a secretary's PC in order to collect further info for his crusade and to aid lawyers in a class action suit against his company. He obviously crossed a line here. And in the middle of this, he finds himself fired (curious). So he asks a former co-worker to retrieve the logger for him? And of course being a good insurance company employee, she rats him out.
I applaud his intentions, if they were indeed based in fairness and the public good. He did get carried away for sure by planting the bug. But I can't believe the stupidity of (1) admitting he planted it to a former co-worker and (2) expecting her to help him retrieve it and f--k the company she still worked for. I guess he really was a bit of a dreamer ...
Software keyloggers (Score:3, Interesting)
Ain't That A &!^(# (Score:4, Interesting)
I was just thinking last year how stupid these insurance companies were for always sending cancellation notice as opposed to a bill. (I live in Michigan.) So when I actually get a cancellation notice I don't know if its simply a bill, or an actual cancellation notice.
I have never received a bill from an insurance company, only cancellation notices, and I've been with at least 5 different ones. What more info is needed? we know they do this.
For those who didnt RTFA, Ropp was trying to get the list of people who they pulled this fast one on, from the companies password protected (DMCA anyone?) database.
More power to you Ropp. If the government mandates one must buy something, that thing should be heavily regulated by the government. racket.
My keylogger experience (Score:5, Interesting)
I was working for the President of a company who seemed to have information about others that left me wondering. So, I ran a program, (I believe it was Spycop), to scan for anything nefarious on my computer. Nothing found, fortunately.
However I shared this program with a colleague and she ran it and found a keylogger that would send emails from her company laptop, to a blind email account. He apparently had a thing for her roomate, a former employee, and was using this to spy.
My colleague was shocked that this would happen, but as it appeared to have been non-functional for a while due to internet login issues, she didn't say anything, and I told her what to delete to kill the program from running.
That way, any deletion of the software could at least appear to be accidental.
That does it! (Score:3, Funny)
Sure it may be a little slower, but hey, I'm paid by the hour!
Almost .... there ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Should keylogging be considered wiretapping? NO. It is a distinctly different technology and all lumping things together does is make it easier to confuse the issue the next time someone wants a warrant to do something -similar-.
Keylogging, network interception and a whole host of other things are still quite different from basic phone taps. They should be given a distinct category that can be properly defined.
If anything, the expectation of privacy on the line between your computer and your keyboard is MUCH higher than any expectation people have today for phones (when was the last time you started typing and realized someone else was typing on your computer as well
Plus, you can't expect that by listening in on a phone you are going to regularly hear someone's social security # (my bank uses it for my login id
In the end I think the guy should be penalized more than wiretapping, but not -as- a wiretapper.
Does this contradict the Scarfo case? (Score:5, Informative)
Now the government is prosecuting someone for doing the exact same thing. Has anyone else noticed this contradiction, or am I missing some important distinction?
Re:Does this contradict the Scarfo case? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Does this contradict the Scarfo case? (Score:5, Interesting)
For those that don't know...
In New York federal investigators used a search warrant to physically alter Scarfo's computer to install a hardware keyboard logger so that they could retrieve his pgp passwords This search warrant was a sneek and peek. They then went back in a month and took the computer on another search warrant.
At no time did they have a wiretap warrant, they claimed that they didn't need one. This case seems like they are contradicting themselves in several ways. By prosecuting this grey hat, they may be giving Scarfo grounds for an appeal of his conviction based on the fact that the evidence was tainted.
The reason this is important is that the requirements are more stringent for a wiretap warrant then for a search warrant, if they had had proper evidence they would have use it to get a wiretap, but they didn't.
Re:Does this contradict the Scarfo case? (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but you missed the boat. In that case, the key logger was designed so that it would be DISABLED when it detected an internet connection. A keylogger that doesn't disable itself will capture keystrokes being sent over the internet, which then becomes a wire-tap.
Re:Tight Security (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:how can you tell if KeyK. is running? (Score:3, Funny)
First off, see if your employer doesn't want you getting any information about the program. They might try to prevent this by blocking access to the si... oh, wait...