p2pnet - rss feed: EFF cracks Secret Service code
p2p news / p2pnet:- EFF researchers have cracked a code which allows the US Secret Service to track information from Xerox DocuColor printers. And they believe similar codes may also feature on printers made by Canon, Epson, HP, IBM and Dell, among others
“Underground democracy movements that produce political or religious pamphlets and flyers, like the Russian samizdat of the 1980s, will always need the anonymity of simple paper documents, but this technology makes it easier for governments to find dissenters,” says EFF senior staff attorney Lee Tien.
“Even worse, it shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising everyday equipment like printers.
“The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?”
Some colour laser printers secretly hide tiny tracking dots in every document, says the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation). The mini-markers are ostensibly to help identify counterfeiters but, “We’ve found that the dots from at least one line of printers encode the date and time your document was printed, as well as the serial number of the printer,” says EFF staff technologist Seth David Schoen, going on:
“The dots are yellow, less than one millimeter in diameter, and are typically repeated over each page of a document. In order to see the pattern, you need a blue light, a magnifying glass, or a microscope (for instructions on how to see the dots. Go here for more on how to do this.
Meanwhile, researchers Schoen, EFF intern Robert Lee and volunteers Patrick Murphy and Joel Alwen compared dots from test pages sent in by EFF supporters, noting similarities and differences in their arrangement, and then found a simple way to read the pattern.
“So far, we’ve only broken the code for Xerox DocuColor printers,” says Schoen. “But we believe that other models from other manufacturers include the same personally identifiable information in their tracking dots.”
You can decode your own Xerox DocuColor prints using EFF’s automated program here.
“Xerox previously admitted that it provided these tracking dots to the government, but indicated that only the Secret Service had the ability to read the code,” says the EFF.
“The Secret Service maintains that it only uses the information for criminal counterfeit investigations. However, there are no laws to prevent the government from abusing this information.
The EFF says it’s still working on cracking the codes from other printers and we need the public’s help. Go here to find out how you can make your own test pages to be included in the EFF research.
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October 17th, 2005 at 1:10 pm
Cool. Does anyone know if SAMSUNG have these ‘codes’???? So far, SAMSUNG have been a good company, I sure hope they didn’t fall into US hands!!!
October 17th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
For years, I have been telling people to buy their computer equipment in
another city and to pay cash. I also have been telling them NOT to fill out the stupid registration cards. I quit buying HP quite some time ago because of their habit of overcharging for their product and forcing people to register in order to get a “rebate”. Many of the people I talked to thought I was into tinfoil hats for making my suggestions. I guess now, I can point them to this site. Even the most well intentioned people never know when a document from years agao might arise to bite them in the ass. Now, the fingerprint information is there for any cop, wannabe spy, lawyer, or politician to trace and match. Welcome to 1984 Police States of Amerika.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:39 pm
I have often wondered if CD-R or DVD burners and/or burning software might embed hidden information such as serial numbers into burned discs. If it were the case, “they” could make those few bits needed a lot harder to find than yellow dots…
October 17th, 2005 at 6:38 pm
Nice thinking, but if you are running windows and getting your updates over the internet your computer actually sends back all sorts of info to Microsoft. Which could include your printer serial number. But you can sleep safely knowing they won’t share it with the government.
So I guess you need to buy your computer equipment anonymously and then never connect it to the internet.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:56 pm
Or you could just use Linux… remember to compile your kernel.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:24 pm
I don’t run Winblows, At least not on any computer connected to any network.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:28 pm
A nice software countermeasure would be to add a bunch of yellow dots exactly the same color as the encoded SS information to any document that is being printed. The S.S. or other government agencies would have a hard time extracting infomation if there was a yellow dot in each place that would be used for encoding the information. This is one of many ways of fighting back.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:38 pm
Was this a Bush idea?
Bush should explain.
Congress should explain.
Name withdheld due to fear.
October 17th, 2005 at 8:55 pm
You know, this story would fit in pretty well in this documentary:
http://www.revradio.org/movies/ml.wmv
October 17th, 2005 at 9:47 pm
Bush having an idea?
That is funny.
Sounds more like one of those guvmnt “intelligence” bureau programs.
That is not funny.
Congress acting like they are accountable to the people who elected them?
That’s funny too!
But not very funny…
October 17th, 2005 at 10:04 pm
this is old news- color copying machine manufacturers have been including the tracking feature since the mid 90’s. at that time US Treasury was experiencing counterfeit currency violations by individuals using the copiers. it is an investigative tool that provides a trail to the machine used to counterfeit.
October 17th, 2005 at 10:27 pm
I think it’s very simplistic to blame Bush or any politician. they are puppets, pawns to the real power brokers in this country. those power brokers control both parties and owe no allegence to any party, only to money and POWER. I don’t know why people automaticly think changing one person in government will secure our future.
October 17th, 2005 at 10:32 pm
“it is an investigative tool that provides a trail to the machine used to counterfeit.”
And to investigate anyone printing documents that big government or anyone (with money) else.
Actually to detect counterfeiter or drug dealers is easy. They are the ones that have money to spend and no visible means of income. These are are very visible but big government sees nothing.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
October 18th, 2005 at 4:10 am
Now if i was a real conspiracy theorist, i’d argue that the EFF was allowed to discover this, because it’s already been made obsolete by a new technique that the govt’s don’t think we’ll figure out for another 10 or 20 years ;o)
But it is pretty scary stuff. God knows what the intelligence services are demanding that hardware makers put into their crap nowdays.
October 18th, 2005 at 6:03 am
“Counterfeiting” is good. The paper that is called moeny is backed by nothing. The Federal Reserve (which is a private corporation as federal as Federal Express) and the government decide how much “money” is printed each year. The only thing that gives this paper any value is the fairy tale that it is worth more than the cent or two it takes to print it. “Counterfeiters” are doing basically the same thing that the government and the Federal Reserve (inc.) are doing. They are taking a piece of paper and are giving the illusion of value to it.
When this paper tiger falls, you will hear a lot of crying throughout the land. “Counterfeiting” has the power to do to the government-cartel alliance what filesharing is doing to the studios.
October 18th, 2005 at 6:28 am
Every four years, I see the same idiocy played out on the lamescream media and talk among the people. This idiocy is know as the “Lessor of 2 Evils” syndrome. Even after many years of being screwed by members of the Democrat-Republican party, we the people continue to vote these people into office.
People need to see the Republican-Democratic PART*Y* for what it effective is. It is effectively ONE SINGLE PARTY. I gave a kind of sad chuckle when I went places and heard the lemmings argue about which candidate (Bush or Kerry) should be in office.
When asked who I was voting for, I said, “Michael Peroutka.” I could see the puzzled look on peoples faces when they said, “who is he?” I told people about the Constitution Party and also about other parties with which I had some disagreement.
The response that I got from the people was usually, “Huh? I never heard of them.”
I would always reply, “Well that is why I’m telling you about them.” People do not realize that they have a real choice if only they would excercise it.
This country will only change for the better when people start excercising their RESPONSIBILITY to society and learn what their true powers are. As voters, they have real power if they will quit throwing it away on members of the Democrat-republican party. People need to research other political parties such as the Libertarian, Constitution, Veterans, Green, Socialist, Reform and other parties.
It would also be very good for people to learn about the real power that they hold when they serve on a jury. People should spend a few minutes (or more) looking at http://www.fija.org . By visiting this website, people may realize that the judge in a court room is not God, but simply a lawyer who has been given too much power. I personally would never convict someone for violating an unconstitutional law. I would also aquit any defendent who is shushed by a judge when he or she is trying to present his or her defense. If I am in the jury box, then I AM THE BOSS, not the judge. I only have to keep quiet enough to keep from being dismissed from the jury. YOU HAVE THE SAM POWER IF YOU ARE ON A JURY. Use it wisely!!!!
In the Police States of Amerika, we do not need a new President as much as a renewed constitutional government. For over the last hundred years, the rules of the game were that those who had the gold made the rule. Now, there is an opportunity to change that.
October 18th, 2005 at 7:53 am
I worked for Xerox for 13 plus years and found them INCREDIBLY ethical and they invented items we take for grant it today such as the mouse in their Palo Alto Research Center. You people should be ashamed of yourselves for bashing such a fine company who has assisted ALL of us in our day to day technology that even bears other companies names. I KNEW about this technology with the original Docucolor 40, the flagship color copier and it was imprinted in the owners manual that there was anti-counterfitting mechanisms imprinted on documents. What is this EFF guy attempting to counterfeit money??? Is he publishing communist related materials….GET OVER IT AND LEAVE THE DOCUMENT COMPANY ALONE….THEY ARE WORKING TO PROTECT ALL OF US..and YES conterfeit can impact all of us if taken advantage to such a degree in our economy. THIS IS NOTHING NEW GUYS….If you don’t want a serial number printed….don’t copy anything!!!
Brett Kroll of California wrote this and is proud of Xerox!!! OH AND GET THIS….this site calls me an anonymous coward…LOL - what the hell do they think they are asking for with no protection over VERY HIGH quality color printing that could be passed on to them as bogus….PONDER THAT ONE
October 18th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
I for one do not blame Zerox for putting this feature into their printers. A company like Zerox does have to maintain good relations with the government. With that said, I do not agree with the technology. As a hacker, I am not condemning the company, but I will still excercise my right to make the product that I bought and now own perform to my specifications. I do make suggestions on how to defeat this technology by writing programs that fill each spot where the serial number is encoded with a yellow dot so that the the embedded area will read all ones.
“Why is it important if you are not counterfeiting money to defeat this type of technology?” you may ask. Here is the answer. People in this country may decide to publish anonymously evidence of government corruption. Those who wish to cover up this government corruption may have influence to be able to force the seller of the product to release information about the buyer.
By the way, I am not saying that I condone counterfeiting, but the value of the paper that we call “money” is nothing but a fairy tale. The paper money that we use today is no longer backed by anything but blind faith. It cost just as much to print a $5 note as it costs to print a $100 note. Notes are printed at the whim of the Federal government and Federal Reserve (The Federal Reserve is as federal as Federal Express… It is a private company and not a government agency). The issuance of unbacked paper for money is clearly unconstitutional.
Here are sections of the Constitution that apply to money
Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 5
[Congress shall have Power … ] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, …;
Art. I Sec. 10 Cl. 1
[No State shall …] make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; …
Yes, the government and Federal Reserve are in the counterfeiting business. They just want to keeps the average Joe from competing with them in their criminal enterprise. Zerox is caught in the middle.
This is just something to think anout.
October 18th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
Rafael, if the investigators spent all of their time on people who have more money then their listed incomes, then they would be watching the politicians!
October 18th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
Every CDROM burner burns its identifying serial number onto the blank CD when you burn it.
FACT
As for DVDs I don’t know.
October 19th, 2005 at 12:36 pm
“Is he publishing communist related materials….”
Here we go again. The facists attacking the messenger (and not the message). I thought the days of cold war propaganda were over.
“if you don’t want a serial number printed….don’t copy anything!!!”
Next we will be told that if we do not want our neighbors to be big government spies, we should move to another country! This person has never read the American Constitution’s First Ammendmenet nor the Supreme Courts decision that protects anonymity (based on the First Ammendment).
It is amazing how people to pretend to be patriotic know and understand so little about their own Constitution and how unpatriotic they really are!
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
October 19th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
I agree 100%. Not only are federal, state, and local governments ignoreing the First Amendment to the Constitution, they are also ignoring the Fourth Amendment. Students in the county next to mine
(Jackson County, Florida) will be forced to submit to random body searches (also know as drug screenings). It is a shame that government are forcing people to give up their rights in order to participate in society.
I am no proponent of drug use, however I have been the victim of a false positive. Despite protests of my innocence, I was terminated from my job without due process. I was re-instated after the drug testing company admitted to a transcription error in the paperwork. Had someone had not been honest and forthcoming, I would have been without a job and also been known as a drug user.
Fight for your rights or lose them. We all need to stick together.
October 19th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
As long as your not doing anything illegal you have nothing to worry about. The age of complete annonymity is over folks. It was over long before 1984. Get over it, don’t break the law, and STFU.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:18 pm
Nice grammar. It matches your limited understanding of the issue of privacy. Not everything people do, even if legal, is something they want others to know about.
October 19th, 2005 at 6:29 pm
Yeah crack the firmware to add….when not just kill the subroutine that does that instead…..oh no, now I’ve done it…..the ITIP are here, thats the Information Technology/Internet Police…..yeah, they are coming, kicking down cubicles along the way….oh never mind that is just somebody having issues with XP! Whew! Guess my brakelines are cut by now, the ITIP operate surreptitiously, never out in the open. They just gather information….oh and somewhere in this mess some said Amerika, that is a veiled socialist thing….But this poster is correct the Fascist Oligarchic powers of the neocons are more closely aligned with the S.S. than the KGB….ciao
October 19th, 2005 at 6:38 pm
I agree, being informed in an unbiased manner by going to source material is the only way to assure your rights. Knowledge is Power, why do you think secrets exist??? They allow someone to have an advantage over another, and have reprecussions when discovered. Hey thats kinda like gasoline, you can put it in your car where a controlled explosion happens, or you can put in a can next to your lawn mower on the wrong side by the muffler on a summers day and do irreparable harm to yourself from the uncontrolled explosion. Thus knowledge is the gasoline of forward prgress for our puny little race here on the outer rim of the galaxyin a backwater section of the galactic cluster in a galactic wall far from the center of the universe……yeah, politics matter…..buy me a cookie mom…..the infernal nature of control through the encouragement of the abdication of responsibility by expecting life to be easy is exploited by those members of our human race who still think collecting shiny object is cool! ……ciao
October 19th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
And as knowledge is outlawed (ie drm work arounds for fair use) printed copies ca be traced to the ‘outlaws’ who had the audacity to print them and pass them around. …
October 19th, 2005 at 11:44 pm
what an idiot
October 20th, 2005 at 5:31 am
Quote:
> Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 5
> [Congress shall have Power … ] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, …;
> Art. I Sec. 10 Cl. 1
> [No State shall …] make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; …
Huge difference.
*Congress*, a branch of the Federal Government, is the only US governmental institution with the write to make fiat money (our paper money, having value only because the gov’t says it does). Individual states cannot make their own money, save for allowing gold and silver coin to be used.
US government isn’t counterfeiting anything. They’re merely carrying out their constitutional mandate. The constitution nowhere denies Congress the right to make unbacked paper money. It merely denies states the right to do that.
October 20th, 2005 at 11:42 am
You have nothing to worry about as long as the laws don’t change. As we have seen with the patriot act our laws do change, mostly toward the more oppressive side. What happens if they pass a law “to protect you” that you don’t agree with? Will you lay down and take it like a little bitch? Or will you take a stand and be a consiencious objector.
The more we allow our privacy to be eroded, the less free our nation will be. I’m never buying a Xerox printer again.
October 23rd, 2005 at 2:47 am
Yeah not everything people do, even if legal, they want other people to know about…
lets list some possibilities:
1 - Sexual deviations (like S&M) its not illegal, but people dont want other people to know about it.
2 - Commiting adultery its not illegal, but people dont want other people to know about it.
3 - And whatever else you can fit here.
I can’t think of a single thing that I do I wouldn’t want other people to know about. IF there is anything at all you do you don’t want other people to know about, you either have some psichological issues or you are doing something wrong and you know it! Even if the law allows you to do it.
October 23rd, 2005 at 2:51 am
Yes, the constitution protects anonymity… because the founding fathers never thought people would be as deviated and unreliable as they are today.
If I have to give away all my “anonymity” so more drug dealers and terrorists go to jail, I will that willingly.
Like I stated in another post, if there is something you do that you don’t want other people to know about, even if legal, it is because you either have mental issues or you know you are doing something morally wrong. Nobody that is completely innocent worries about the government reading what you print.