Online privacy is a tricky business.
Web surfers want to believe that everything they do on the internet is done securely and anonymously. That no one is monitoring their every mouse click, or bookmarking their bookmarks. And for the most part, it's safe to assume the FBI or some malicious program is not tracking your keystrokes or spying on your browsing habits.
Tech giant Samsung came under fire over the alleged inclusion of keylogger software within not one, but two models of laptops. The accusation, however, proved to be a case of mistaken identity.
NetworkWorld wrote about the story of Mohamed Hassan, a Canadian IT professional who alleged to have discovered the keylogger software "StarLogger" on two successive laptop purchases.
"These were new systems. They weren't used for anything," he said. "I could give them the benefit of the doubt on the first one. But then when I got a second model, a different model from a different store, that tells me that Samsung is aware of the problem."
Hassan relayed that both laptops were new, and even purchased in different stores -- the first from Best Buy, and the second from FutureShop.
According to creator de Willebois Consulting's description of the software, Starlogger is "a keystrokes record utility used to capture, monitor, and record everything typed into a computer and is able to create screen captures regularly."
Hassan said that when he had contacted Samsung to question them about the apparent inclusion of the keylogger, a customer support representative told him, "We just put it there to find out how the computer is being used." An odd response, considering neither laptop actually contained the monitoring program.
A short post on its SamsungTomorrow blog points out that there is no Starlogger on the laptops at all. Rather, the virus scan Hassan ran on both machines mistakenly labeled a harmless language support folder titled "SL" as "Starlogger."
The company reasoned that "SL" refers to the "Slovene" language setting, causing the mix-up.
Since the statement was issued, others have verified that Samsung is correct.
"I have used the tool that discovered it for six years now and I am yet to see it misidentify an item throughout the years," Hassan wrote before the real culprit was identified, referring to security program VIPRE.
Alex Eckelberry, the General Manager of GFI Security which oversees the software, issued a statement regarding the grand misunderstanding.
"We apologize to the author Mohamed Hassan, to Samsung, as well as any users who may have been affected by this false positive," he said. "The detection was based off of a rarely-used and aggressive VIPRE detection method, using folder paths as a heuristic."
Eckelberry admitted that "false positives do happen," and despite the "incredibly embarrassing" error assured users that the company takes the matter very seriously. "I have met with the senior managers in the area this morning to handle what happened and to continue to improve our processes."
"Incredibly embarrassing" may also be an apt descriptor for not just VIPRE management, but Hassan and NetworkWorld contributor Mich Kabay - the latter of which had taken Samsung's slow reaction time to his inquiries as proof they were responsible.
"Good luck, Samsung! We see a class-action lawsuit in your future," Kabay wrote in the original article. The professor later lightened up, and in an update to the twisty story admitted he was happy with Samsung's "positive and collaborative response."
