Details on the methodology behind the Pennsylvania school spy case are uncovered

By on Feb 24, 2010 at 8:37 AM
News February 24, 2010

harriton-high

You have probably read about the Harriton High spy case where the school administration of the Lower Merion School District (LMSD) is being accused of using school-issued MacBooks to spy remotely on its students. The case has received national attention and is now the subject of a FBI investigation. What you might not have read is this detailed investigation by Stryde Hax, a security consultant who probes the methodology and possibly identifies the person(s) behind this abuse of technology. Stryde Hax makes a connection between the LANRev software supposedly used to spy remotely on the students and Mike Perbix, a Network Tech at LMSD. Mr. Perbix stars in a promotional webcast for LANRev in which he boasts of the software’s ability to spy remotely without user detection. Stryde Hax also uncovers comments from former and current students that paint a picture of a school that forced students to use school-issued MacBooks, confiscated personal laptops that were used in lieu of the school-issued hardware, claimed that the green blinking webcam light was a glitch, and expelled students that tried to remove or disable the remote spy software. Tying it all together, Stryde Hax reverse engineers the LANRev software to take a peek at its inner workings and demonstrates its usage as a very stealthy remote spying solution. With content that is worthy of the best Tom Clancy novel, Stryde Hax’s lengthy blog post is filled with details on the Orwellian nature of this case.

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  • Gus

    I’d be checking for hidden cameras in the the girls bathroom at that school. Sickos.

    • dinoSnake

      The problem is that they aren’t “sickos”.

      This seems to be a completely and utterly “rational” decision by them and I don’t believe the basis is sexual. I believe that THEY believe that they have the right to morally judge their students, where ever and when ever they choose, and implemented this scheme consciously to forward that agenda.

      Which makes them WORSE than sickos, because a true “sicko” is not responsible for many of their actions due to a true mental illness. These are the types of people all Americans must be vigilant against – the people who proclaim themselves better than everyone else, able to judge others whilst no one judges them, and impress their beliefs on others through forced or mandatory actions such as laws.

    • RU12

      Better check the boys bathrooms and locker room too.

  • ChocoTaco

    As a new resident of Lower Merion Township in PA, and as I am working for a company where my boss sends his kids to Lower Merion schools and actually has one of these laptops on question, I hope they get sued for millions. If you want to monitor kids at school, fine. That is acceptable. But to spy on them AT HOME – and without even letting them know they were subject to monitoring – this is ten times the privacy issue those illegal wiretaps of years past ever were.

    • tammy

      I hope someone goes to jail over this, but sued for millions? Where do you think that money will come from? The answer is — the school district/taxpayers! I totally get the privacy concern and this is definitely a criminal case. Jobs should be lost. People should be jailed. Sued for millions, though? You think that is where you property taxes should go right now?

      • NoHypeHere

        Fortunately for that school district, if they get sued for millions, from what I have heard, the people there are rich! Now you may dispute that, but defining ones social-economic status is an easy thing to do. Just as Barack Obama on down the line of any democrat politician.

        It’s a “Liberal” thing, you wouldn’t understand! : )

      • Soddy

        So it’s ok to sue simply because the people there are rich? I wouldn’t call that a “Liberal” thing, I would call that a “jackass” thing.

      • rmcgoff

        He’s saying that simply suing them is not enough, being that the residents are extraordinarily rich, so suing them for millions would not cause them economic hardship. Jailing them, however, while not necessarily causing economic hardship, would be very unpleasant.

        Please learn to understand sarcasm.

      • ChocoTaco

        I understand the money comes from the taxpayers. However, Lower Merion is one of the richest townships in PA. There are lawyers on every street corner here. Lower Merion also has some of the best rated schools in the entire state, too. They have most of the brightest kids, and apparently some of the dumbest administrators.

        That being said, a lawsuit may be necessary for two reasons:

        - It would be a class action most likely, so the students and parents would get the money as compensation – it would go back to the taxpayers in a way.

        - It needs to be a severe penalty to make sure that it NEVER happens again. ANYWHERE.

        And yes, I would love to see some people get jailtime out of this.

  • Sym

    i bet mike parbix has jumicam on his iphone too..

  • http://twitter.com/tarund Tarun D.

    Whomever was involved with this should be sued, fired and banned from ever working in IT. When you work in IT you don’t do shit like this. Just horrible ethics.

  • Snail

    nobody cares

    • slim

      Thought provoking.

  • http://www.excitedetroit.com Teasastips

    Is this what we have to look forward to when Homeland Security invades our privacy?

  • Ryan

    Holy shit, this is unreal.

  • Mofo

    Anyone who says they wouldn’t use this technology to watch seniors in the showrr is big liar. If there is grass on the baseball field then play ball

  • jay

    I would like to address a pet peeve of mine – the misuse of the word methodology. In this story the word appears twice – once in the title and once in the body of the story. The meaning of methedology is – the study of methods!!! The definition of method is: a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, esp. a systematic or established one.

    The correct title of this article should be: Details on the method behind the Pennsylvania school spy case are uncovered.

    • Spellcheck

      I find it funny how your claiming to be so PC yet can’t even type the very word your up in arms over… as what is methedology? You spelled it right once, but the second time goofed… and considering the “e” and “o” keys are not close to one another a simple typo doesn’t qute make sense…

      • Dave

        HA! Epic win for Spellcheck

  • Fyrfyter

    I hope everyone there has a pot of gold, or a backup job, with the FBI now involved, I would say every administrator and those on the school board, are going to be out of work in short order. I’ll bet all those apple computers go bye-bye as well. Wonder what apple thinks of all of this? Apple, the company that loves to spy on you, and doesn’t care what you think!

    • JS

      This has zero to do with Apple. Troll.

  • Eric

    I was willing to cut the district some slack at first. Using technological means to recover a laptop which included phone home and snapshots from the camera is a legitimate use. Had the student been disciplined for being caught with a suspected lost or stolen laptop then that would have been appropriate.

    But it’s continued to get stranger from there. There is so much more to this story and I would just presume let the courts sort it out.

  • Brian

    At a minimum, Federal Wiretap laws were violated here…The Administration deserves censure and criminal punishment. Ignorance is no excuse, especially given the increased media attention since 9/11 and the formation of homeland security. Even, a simple dot the I’s and crossing the T’s with the district’s legal council, would have revealed such a violation.

  • badchad

    My money is on the “Network tech” taking the fall for the higher ups.

  • George Orwell

    Go read my book “1984″…get a clue

  • Ed

    Something as simple as a Post-It note over the lens “disables” the camera (but not the sound). Easily removable with no trace. Students could be advised of this method. Also, some clay in the microphone could muffle the sound significantly.

    • Steve

      Why would you use a post-it not or clay if you DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THE CAMERA WAS BEING USED?!

  • StevenGlansburg

    no one gave the obligatory “what’s the big deal? If you aren’t doing anything wrong, then it’s not a big deal” response

    • Delaware Daddy

      I can’t think of how many times my wife, kids and I leave our laptops on. I can see it now my daughter or yours has left her school supplied laptop on and some sicko powers up the webcam to see whats going on and watches as she undresses at night or gets dressed after a shower. Is it still no big deal? Invasion of privacy and unlawful search, has never been easier to prove and those are to just get things started. If an image of that occuring them you get kiddie porn charges too!

  • Conee

    If I were the student and I knew beforehand that someone was spying on me, I will put the laptop’s cam in-front of a big sinister poster and say, “This is what you get for spying!” 24/7.. lol

    Every school has their own policies for their student, but this one is quite absurd and getting out of hand. Details: The verdict about the school compiled.

  • barnum

    I think that the whole “green light glitch” is quite laughable. The entire school population is in possession of these macs and they’re going to say that every sing macbook given out has this glitch? You would think there’s a student smart enough to call bullshit on it, saying “Either you should return all these defects, or you guys are doing something fucked up, and I don’t like it.” The gullibility of this generation astounds me.

  • Irradiated

    If the FBI is doing their job, they confiscated Mr. Perbix’s computers before he had a chance to get rid of any evidence. I would be willing to bet there were pics taken that qualify for prosecution for manufacturing child porn. Anyone who had any authority & knowledge of the spying at this school should be subjected to criminal prosecution.

  • maxpayne79

    Bizzare

  • http://(null) sikkboy

    I still don’t understand what these dumbass school district officials were thinking. Clearly one of the dumbest moves ever.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: East San Gabriel Valley California, USA

    • Josh

      Agreed.
      And I’d like to say one other thing although it has no relation to the article: No one cares about what phone you used to post your comment and more importantly no one gives a FUCK where you’re from when you did it.

      Posted from BRG Mobile (My Fucking Laptop) at: Your mom’s house, Fuckville, USA.

      • rmcgoff

        Dear Josh,

        The BGR iPhone application automatically adds that as a signature to every post. Please get a fucking clue and calm down.

        Regards,
        Ryan

      • Josh

        the “at:” portion is extra. it’s for dumb fuck poopfaces

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