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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Samsung may be the wrong choice in a laptop.

Lifehacker today had an article describing how Samsung has shipped a few different versions of their laptops with Keyloggers pre-installed on the system. A Mohamed Hassan found the keylogger after purchasing a Samsung laptop, taking it home, and running his preferred anti-virus software. After removal of the keylogger software, Hassan returned the laptop due to a different issue (video display driver problem) and picked up a different laptop also made by Samsung. This laptop as well had the same software loaded in the same folder as the previous laptop. The keylogger is called "StarLogger".

Lifehacker article
The Discovery by Hassan
Samsung's response to Hassan when confronted

So in short, if you have a Samsung laptop, or any other really, make sure you run a full system scan on your computer to check for the normal stuff but now you need to make sure the manufacturer didn't preload dangerous and privacy invasive programs on your computer.

My preferred anti-virus? I currently use Microsoft Security Essentials.  It's free and is one of the most highly recommended anti-virus programs for Windows Vista/7.  I also run Malwarebytes every week or two.

Enough of the serious stuff.  Here's a video that absolutely makes me think it should be a new advertising campaign for why you should not text while driving.


BEFORE YOU WATCH THIS!!!

There are a few things to watch for. Obviously the guy playing Mario Kart. He does some random, crazy, weird, funny things throughout the entirety of the video. At 1:57 the "ad campaign for why you should not text while driving" occurs and is the most important part of the video lol. Also the guy in the tan jacket makes some pretty weird faces. Props the the guys on the piano as they are quite talented at playing and the singing isn't bad though it couldn't be considered farther away from my taste in music. Also there's a mini-remix at the end. Check it out.

Posted by Kontingency at 3:52 PM

39 comments:

  1. SeanMarch 30, 2011 at 4:26 PM

    Wow. Bye non-existent respect for Samsung. And dat video man, dat video.

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  2. 123March 30, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    what did i just watch 5 minutes of

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  3. R. CuttsMarch 30, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    i watched te whole video without looking away from the guy on mario kart :D

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  4. Jessica ThompsonMarch 30, 2011 at 4:47 PM

    Hhaha funny... ANd yeah fuck samsung.
    alphabetalife.blogspot.com

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  5. frameaj1March 30, 2011 at 4:50 PM

    Was quite cool, that tan guy has 3 arms 0.o

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  6. UnknownMarch 30, 2011 at 5:04 PM

    Too bad, I have their laptop. I hope that it's not infected ;/ Gonna reinstall system.

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  7. 3DS-GamesMarch 30, 2011 at 6:20 PM

    I've never been a huge fan of samsung computers

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  8. AdamMarch 30, 2011 at 8:25 PM

    How the hell do these pre-loaded viruses and keyloggers even make it onto the install image?! I guess maybe someone slipped an employee a couple bucks? Pretty off-putting though - won't be getting a samsung any time soon.

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  9. IssacMarch 30, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    it had a keylogger, i dont think there allowed to do it....right

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  10. KontingencyMarch 30, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    @Adam: If you read the 3rd link about Samsung's response to these findings they apparently knew about it all along and it was not an accident but a way for Samsung to see what the computer was being used for.

    @Issac: No they are most certainly not. This is an illegal violation of personal privacy and they can be sued for it if your privacy is truly violated due to this software.

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  11. Blog HuntMarch 31, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    That's crazy!!! Are they allowed to do that?

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  12. christopherMarch 31, 2011 at 12:52 AM

    alienware all the way (LOL) xD

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  13. Joseph WhiteMarch 31, 2011 at 12:56 AM

    Hahahahaha why he did not pause the game!!!!???

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  14. RankMarch 31, 2011 at 12:57 AM

    good thing i built my pc

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  15. JaredMarch 31, 2011 at 1:24 AM

    haha yikes, run spyware!!

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  16. AnonymousMarch 31, 2011 at 1:28 AM

    what about asus....

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  17. TheGeneralMarch 31, 2011 at 1:48 AM

    Been looking for a new laptop. Nice info.

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  18. taioMarch 31, 2011 at 5:03 AM

    superb

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  19. BrAd?March 31, 2011 at 5:04 AM

    Yeah, wouldn't have bought one anyway :/

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  20. ErikMarch 31, 2011 at 5:05 AM

    Also read this on LifeHacker... not good man :|

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  21. JayMarch 31, 2011 at 8:00 AM

    too bad, i thought samsung was an ok brand.

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  22. OscarMarch 31, 2011 at 9:43 AM

    Urhh, I hate Samsung.

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  23. Whoog TunesMarch 31, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    just bought an HP myself. i cant complain

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  24. Wayward DispositionMarch 31, 2011 at 12:13 PM

    Those keyloggers! I wonder what their real purpose behind having that damned keylogger on their laptops was. Oh well, now they're in big trouble.

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  25. MoMarch 31, 2011 at 12:36 PM

    wtf i have a samsung laptop
    i will check for this
    thanks for the info

    ReplyDelete
  26. UnknownMarch 31, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    ahah will follow and comment back

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  27. Big UnicornMarch 31, 2011 at 5:10 PM

    I'm a fan of avira antivir

    bigunicorn.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. naekidMarch 31, 2011 at 6:17 PM

    lol to the dood in the background pretending to play xbox.

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  29. R3tardedm0nkeyMarch 31, 2011 at 6:40 PM

    Lol at the video, can't believe Samsung do that!

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  30. GeojourMarch 31, 2011 at 7:31 PM

    Man, I would not be very surprised if Microsoft has a few of these evil piles of code in their OS

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  31. AnonymousApril 1, 2011 at 4:53 AM

    i don't get why you would want a samsung in the first place

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  32. DragmireApril 1, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Keyloggers? Not cool. Glad I don't have a Samsung.

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  33. level85nerdApril 1, 2011 at 11:02 AM

    I like my samsung handy

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  34. Patti D.April 1, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    A key logger? that is insane!

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  35. Jessica ThompsonApril 2, 2011 at 5:49 AM

    Keylogger? How irresponsible. Followed! alphabetalife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. SamApril 2, 2011 at 7:35 AM

    Awesome blog!!
    Instant followed!!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Blog HuntApril 3, 2011 at 3:47 AM

    Keyloggers tsk tsk tsk..!

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  38. A70 8TracApril 6, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    I use Avast personally, and have never had a problem.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Crème FraicheApril 6, 2011 at 6:01 PM

    absolutely if you need to go with a PC i highly recommend Dell. their customer support sucks, so make sure you know how to troubleshoot. but their products are very cheap and honestly most of their laptop models offer a lot of power (large HDDs, loads of RAM and decent bus speed, Intel processors, etc)

    ReplyDelete

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