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

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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